V1 Gotra-haplogroup correlation

Intro

With this project, we propose to gather data to deduce correlations between Gotra/ pravara and Y-Haplogroup. We describe our motivations below.

Gotra and pravara

Gotra and pravara among brAhmaNa-s (V1-s for short) records claims of descent from a line of ancient sages. V1-s carefully preserve gotra-pravara information accross generations. This has been the case since ancient Vedic times. One finds clear references to gotra-s in inscriptions and texts accross India (and beyond).

Historical understanding

These gotra-s are patrilenial (father to son). Today, we are able to sequence the human genome (Y chromosome in particular) and discern rich information about ancestry and population migration. This story can be made all the more richer if correlated with gotra-pravara information.

It is natural for V1s to wonder “Where did our ancestors come from? Who were they? Were they at some point adapted into our clan, or were they natural born?” Given the prominent role of V1s in Hindu society, such questions are interesting to broader communities of Indologists and Hindu society.

Currently, several studies make do with deducing migration patterns based on text similarity and such; and the granularity of genetic studies stops at caste/ jAti/ varNa level.

Marriage and adaption decisions

Gotra and pravara remain pertinent with regards to marriage (and to a lesser extant adaption) decisions in the v1 community. With the proposed gotra-haplogroup correlation in place, genetic testing can help resolve ambiguities.

How to participate?

  • Contact details can be found below.
  • If you are male and have sequenced your genome (example with 23andme USD$79 or mapmygenome.in Rs 3.5k), send us some basic information (see example file) as well as your raw data (such as 1.txt , see tips below for accessing raw data from various services).
  • If you can sponsor our data collection effort to some extant (eg: “I can sponsor n samples”); please send us the money and/ or data.
  • Or, you can just propagate this message:

    Anyone interested in participating in this “V1 Gotra-haplogroup correlation” project please do so (details in the web page https://sanskrit.github.io/projects/data/genetic/v1-gotra-haplogroup/ ).

Accessing raw data

  • 23andme - Follow instructions here.

Data privacy

  • We will not publish your name or contact details.
  • We will ONLY make your anonymized Y haplogroup data (connected to gross details such as gotra/ pravara/ community/ region) part of our public sample set here.

Collaborators

  • Anyone interested is welcome to use and analyze the data.
  • ShrI Vagheesh Narasimhan, a leading population genetisist at UT Austin has shown interest in analysing the data when available.

FAQ

  • Does providing haplogroup suffice? Why raw data?
    • Haplogroup assignments may not be fine-grained enough.
    • Skipping Y chromosome Raw data not seem to guarantee significantly more privacy relative to just the haplogroup.
    • If very paranoid, can still provide just haplogroup data.

Contact

  • Contact details: firstname.lastname ATT gmail.com where ([firstName] = vishvas, [lastName] = vasuki)