Thapar Romila
Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2014 Jun 26;6(11):a008599. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a008599.
Attempts have been made recently to determine the identity of the so-called "Aryans" as components of the Indian population by using DNA analysis. This is largely to ascertain whether they were indigenous to India or were foreign arrivals. Similar attempts have been made to trace the origins of caste groups on the basis of varna identities and record their distribution. The results so far have been contradictory and, therefore, not of much help to social historians. There are problems in the defining of categories and the techniques of analysis. Aryan is a linguistic and cultural category and not a biological one. Caste groups have no well-defined and invariable boundaries despite marriage codes. Various other categories have been assimilated into particular castes as part of the evolution of social history on the subcontinent. A few examples of these are discussed. The problems with using DNA analysis are also touched on.
最近有人试图通过DNA分析来确定所谓“雅利安人”作为印度人口组成部分的身份。这主要是为了确定他们是印度本土人还是外来者。人们也基于瓦尔纳身份进行了类似尝试，以追溯种姓群体的起源并记录其分布。到目前为止，结果相互矛盾，因此对社会历史学家帮助不大。在类别定义和分析技术方面存在问题。雅利安是一个语言和文化类别，而非生物学类别。尽管有婚姻规范，种姓群体并没有明确且不变的界限。在次大陆社会历史的演变过程中，其他各种类别已被融入特定种姓。文中讨论了其中一些例子。还提到了使用DNA分析存在的问题。
