02-22-2009, 02:18 AM
Pandyan - thanks for posting your results. Of course caste does have a genetic component. But separating the origins needs a good marker set.
It is well-known that Indians can be identified reasonably well by a sufficiently large genetic marker panel. It has identified you correctly as an Indian, which is not bad at all. But beyond that it is well known that amongst the forward caste populations of Indian it is hard to distinguish between north and south even with an extensive panel. So the panel this company seems to have was clearly not sufficient for you to be localized.
But given that you say that you are shaiva vellAlar makes things quite clear.
The core of the vellAlar jAti (though they appear to have assimilated others later) appears to have descended from the velir, who within early tamil literature itself are recorded as being of northern origin from gujArat or further north according to others. In support of this it clear from the tamil sources that they were one of the early patrons of the brAhmaNa-s of the tamil country (there is a well-known poetic cycle a velir warlord who was killed in battle who entrusted his daughters to a brAhmaNa). In shaiva-era, which is a much neglected facet of the study of Indian history, the vellAlar became patrons of the pAshupata-s and the saiddhAntika shaiva-s and were critical for the support for the latter in the south.
The other tamil groups in this company's list are:
Indian Tamil (Sri Lanka) (40)
Pallar (Tamil Nadu, India) (33)
Paraiyar (Tamil Nadu, India) (21)
Shiite Muslim (Tamil Nadu, India) (62)
Sri Lankan Tamil (Sri Lanka) (107)
Sunni Muslim (Tamil Nadu, India) (62)
Tamil (India) (103)
Tanjore Kallar (Tamil Nadu, India) (101)
Vanniyar (Tamil Nadu, India) (87)
Other than generic tamils which might include vellAlars the remains groups are clear quite removed from them in the jAti hierarchy.
It is well-known that Indians can be identified reasonably well by a sufficiently large genetic marker panel. It has identified you correctly as an Indian, which is not bad at all. But beyond that it is well known that amongst the forward caste populations of Indian it is hard to distinguish between north and south even with an extensive panel. So the panel this company seems to have was clearly not sufficient for you to be localized.
But given that you say that you are shaiva vellAlar makes things quite clear.
The core of the vellAlar jAti (though they appear to have assimilated others later) appears to have descended from the velir, who within early tamil literature itself are recorded as being of northern origin from gujArat or further north according to others. In support of this it clear from the tamil sources that they were one of the early patrons of the brAhmaNa-s of the tamil country (there is a well-known poetic cycle a velir warlord who was killed in battle who entrusted his daughters to a brAhmaNa). In shaiva-era, which is a much neglected facet of the study of Indian history, the vellAlar became patrons of the pAshupata-s and the saiddhAntika shaiva-s and were critical for the support for the latter in the south.
The other tamil groups in this company's list are:
Indian Tamil (Sri Lanka) (40)
Pallar (Tamil Nadu, India) (33)
Paraiyar (Tamil Nadu, India) (21)
Shiite Muslim (Tamil Nadu, India) (62)
Sri Lankan Tamil (Sri Lanka) (107)
Sunni Muslim (Tamil Nadu, India) (62)
Tamil (India) (103)
Tanjore Kallar (Tamil Nadu, India) (101)
Vanniyar (Tamil Nadu, India) (87)
Other than generic tamils which might include vellAlars the remains groups are clear quite removed from them in the jAti hierarchy.