Thiruvananthapuram: Studies show that Nair, Ezhava and Thiya communities in Kerala are more genetically related to the Central Eurasian steppe-Iranian population. According to a study by CSIR’s Hyderabad-based Center for Cellular Molecular Biology, the Dravidian lineage is evident in all the three communities.
The lineage of the Dravidians or the Indo-European peoples from the Gangetic valley is not evident in the Nair-Ezhava tribes. Instead, they have their roots in the northwestern region. The same roots have been found for two communities in Karnataka. The Bund, a coastal community in Karnataka, and the Hoysala Brahmins in Dakshina Kannada claim the same lineage.
The study covered five soldier / landlord communities living along the southwest coast of the Indian subcontinent. The study also finds that all five communities may have originated from the north-western Indo-European group. Genetic studies also show that the Reddys in Andhra Pradesh were more closely associated with the Vedic Brahmins.
Scientists estimate that these communities, which originated in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent and concentrated in the Godavari basin, may not have migrated to the coastal areas of Kerala and Karnataka. Of these, the Nairs are the most closely related to Central Eurasia.
None of the five species studied showed significant association with the Indo-European sections of the Gangetic basin. The Middle East component is evident in the Theya, Reddy and Vedic Brahmin communities.
The study also suggests that they may have inherited this element from their ancestors during their migration from the Godavari basin to the west coast. Preliminary studies have found that the Nair-Ezhava communities are closely associated with the Northwest Indian community, especially the Jat Sikh community. New research confirms this genetically.
The Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology in Thiruvananthapuram, the Center for Fingerprinting in Hyderabad and the Center for Applied Zoology in Mangalore University have also collaborated on the study.