Sri Lanka's Vedda Tribals Have Genetic Affinity with Indian Ethnic Groups: Study

Researchers of the Hyderabad-based CCMB and several other institutions have analysed DNA collected from the Vedda tribal population of Sri Lanka. The study revealed close genetic links between Sri Lankan Veddas and Indian ethnic groups. These findings will contribute to further understanding of the rich genetic diversity in South Asia, the researchers said.

Hyderabad (Telangana) : The new finding of a study is that the Vedic tribal population of Sri Lanka has close ties with Indians. The research by the city-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) along with several other institutions has revealed genetic affinity between Vedic tribals in Sri Lanka and some tribal groups in South India. The Sri Lankan Veddas are found to be among the least studied indigenous populations.

The language and cultural characteristics of Sri Lanka's small forest-dwelling Vedic population have been thought to be unique. But they were found to have some similarities relating to the habits of the tribal populations in India. However, there was no scientific evidence based on genetics about this. For this reason, historians and scientists have long been interested in knowing their origins for a long time.

In the present study, it was revealed that the Veddas of Sri Lanka has no close linguistic similarities with the Indian populations thought they have got genetic affinity.

Now, about 10 researchers from institutions along with those from CCMB in Hyderabad have studied the origins of the Vedic population. ''We have collected DNA from the Vedic population living in Sri Lanka. We have compared it with the DNA data bank we have. Similarities were found with the tribal groups of the south like Kallar and Paliar. After migrating to India from Africa thousands of years ago, some tribes may have migrated to Sri Lanka," said Dr. Thangaraj, Chief Scientist of CCMB, who participated in the research.

''We have genetic links not only with Sri Lanka but also with South Asian countries. Therefore, it will contribute to further understanding of genetic diversity in South Asia,'' CCMB Director Dr. Vinaykumar Nandikuri stated.

The study made an analysis of high-resolution autosomal and mitochondrial genomes. The research was recently published in the journal - Mitochondrion, the CCMB said.

The researchers said that the genetic link between the Sri Lankan Vedic populations and the Indian ethnic people predates linguistic diversifications. There is the notion of a shared genetic heritage and that the Vedic populations might have passed through a genetic drift. The latest study throws light on why the massive cultural and linguistic changes in modern times could not impact the Vedda populations much.

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