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Watch: Rakhigarhi DNA findings suggest no Aryan invasion in India  

WION Web Team
Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jun 13, 2018, 10:44 PM IST
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File photo. Photograph:(WION)

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The DNA tests of skeletal remains found at Rakhigarhi site in Haryana shows no foreign DNA suggesting that India had a local population that laid the foundation of the Vedas

It has long been a matter of debate whether the Vedic era was ushered in by the Aryans or not. One set of historians argue that the subcontinent witnessed a series of waves of human population from central Asia which ultimately made what India today is. 

Historically, this human migration pattern has been well-mapped for medieval India but its historicity remains unmapped for ancient India. 

Another set of historians argue that Vedic culture was local to the land, the Aryans were the outsiders and the Dravidians were the original inhabitants of the land.

According to reports, the DNA tests of skeletal remains found at Rakhigarhi site in Haryana shows no foreign DNA suggesting that India had a local population that laid the foundation of the Vedas. The findings oppose the theory that suggests migrants invaded India from central Asia and pushed the original inhabitants, the Dravidians, down south. 

Rakhigarhi is one of the biggest Harappan civilisation sites spread across 3,000 hectares in Haryana and is around 6,000 years old. Nearly 150 skeletal remains were tested for DNA strains and only two samples yielded relevant DNA material.