
The Last Aryans of Ladakh - tin7in
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190502-is-this-the-last-of-the-aryans
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pattusk
> the last generation of pure-blooded people and holders of possibly the only
> untampered gene pool left in the world.

I'm no geneticist but I wonder if such statements have any scientific value or
even meaning.

What is an "untampered" gene pool? The article mentions that they are likely
to have migrated there from somewhere. Their existence was a secret to no one
in the region. That they may have had a high rate of intermarriage for
centuries due to relative seclusion seems likely. But is that tantamount to
being "pire blooded"...

~~~
danans
> I'm no geneticist but I wonder if such statements have any scientific value
> or even meaning.

There's no basis for that usage. The writer just used those terms to catch the
attention of people who are intrigued by the largely fictional concept of
"pure-blood". At most, they might have a high concentration of particular
traits due to marrying only among themselves for a long time.

The ancestry that the article itself purports for the tribe - moving from
Central to South Asia via the Indus Valley - would mean they intersected with
several different populations along that route. That route is through the
crossroads of Asia, so it's very unlikely that they are "pure-blooded" in the
way that, for example, the Sentinelese Islanders are - separated from any
other population for 10s of thousands of years.

Despite the Brokpa's current isolation, they probably share some of their
genetics with nearby South and Central Asian populations, but the article
provides no citations about their genetics, despite it's casual claims. This
article [1] suggests that nothing is known today about their genetics at all.
Curiously, it does say they are traditionally vegan.

I'm not sure that even the Sentinelese themselves are "pure-blooded" in any
sense of the word, but rather they just had an earlier branching point from
other human populations than most, with no contact since then.

[1] [https://sinchi-foundation.com/news/claims-of-aryan-
ancestry-...](https://sinchi-foundation.com/news/claims-of-aryan-ancestry-
challenging-the-lifestyle-of-vegan-and-matriarchal-brokpa/)

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dominotw
> it comes from the Sanskrit 'arya', meaning 'nobleman', and originally
> referred to a people who spoke an Indo-Iranian language and migrated from
> Central Asia to India and Iran.

I thought it referred to a hypothetical group of ppl who spoke the root
language of all indo-european group of languages. It didn't ever refer to a
specific group of ppl that are known to exist to us, only hypothetical.

I think their name "aryans" is not related to Mueller's aryan invasion theory.
Its merely a coincidence. Author seems to have conflated both of those.
Sanskrit arya has nothing to do with origins of the tribe or migration from
iran.

~~~
User23
Thanks to David Reich and others like him we know for a fact the invasion
theory is true due to genetic evidence.

Modern Europeans really are descended from asian warriors, the battle-axe
culture[1] (or corded ware culture if you want it to sound boring), who
exterminated the old indigenous Europeans about 4000 years ago.

[1][https://popular-archaeology.com/article/the-battle-axe-
cultu...](https://popular-archaeology.com/article/the-battle-axe-culture/)

~~~
HillaryBriss
I read over that article, but where does it discuss extermination?

I see statements like this:

 _Professor Anthony suggests that the spread of Yamnaya culture may have been
facilitated by a kind of protection racket, in which the Yamnaya warriors
would offer settled communities protection from gang activity, in exchange for
their vassalage._

and

 _Did this conquest take the form of a single, unstoppable wave? Certainly
not. This was a process effected in a piecemeal fashion, over the course of
millennia..._

The article mentions a _massive influx_ into the gene pool but I would think
this does not rule out, say, subjugation of an existing population and
interbreeding.

~~~
User23
Yes, killing the men, or at least eliminating their mating opportunities, and
raping the women. If there is an alternative hypothesis with greater
explanatory power that fits the facts I’d love to hear it. How else could the
indigenous y haplogroups dissappear altogether?

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dominotw
> . It was later used to refer to tribal groups who lived in the Indus River
> valleys that are now part of Pakistan and India, and it is their descendants
> who are said to make up this tiny minority found in the Ladakh region today.

curious, how was this link established?

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novacole
The phrase pure-blooded when referring to humans is utter nonsense.

~~~
dang
Maybe so, but can you please not post unsubstantive comments to HN?

~~~
msla
Calling out racism is unsubstantive?

~~~
dang
It can be. That comment was.

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wornohaulus
I am Aryan.. blood of Parashurama.. we are definitely not the last ones..
believe me..

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codecrusade
Aryan Theory is bogus and a fake narrative, Its sad that same lies are peddled
even today

