R1 clade: Background information

R1 clade: Background information

Haplogroup R

  • 23andme: “Haplogroup R is a widespread and diverse branch of the Y-chromosome tree that is extremely common in Europe, where it spread after the end of the Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. The haplogroup appears to have originated in southwestern Asia about 30,000 years ago. It then split into two main branches. R1 ultimately spread widely across Eurasia, from Iceland to Japan, whereas R2 mostly remained near its region of origin. Today it can be found in southwestern Asia and India.”

Haplogroup R1

  • 23andme: “R1 is the dominant haplogroup in Europe today, accounting for well over half of all men. After being confined to the continent’s southern fringes during the Ice Age, it expanded rapidly in the wake of the receding glaciers about 12,000 years ago. "

Haplogroup R1a and R1b

“R1a and perhaps R2 expanded in the Central/Western Asian zone close to the boundary of the Eurasian steppes somewhere between 10-15,000 years BP. These two seem to have then seeped into India at a gradual rate seeding the indigenous tribal groups with R1a1 males at some low rate. The main bulk of the less diverse R1a1 appears to have come from Western/Central Eurasia along with the other above-mentioned Western Eurasian markers where it had already differentiated into eastern and western branches. The time of divergence with the central Asian R1a1 comes to around 6000-10000yrs bp.”[MT5]

“Around approximately 5-6000 YBP, there were two males who each left behind over 100 million descendants. One bore a R1a Y-haplogroup while the other bore a R1b-L11 haplogroup. Both these men came from a related chain of cultures and likely spoke Indo-European languages. Among the Indo-Europeans there is the persistent belief of the great male common ancestor. We ārya-s call him father Manu Vaivasvata. Among our cousins, the Iranians, a similar figure appear as Yima Vivaṅhat, who like our Manu is ancient ancestor and law-giver.” [M16] “In Western Europe, related lineages within R1b-L11 expanded ~4.8–5.9 kya (Supplementary Fig. 14e), most markedly around 4.8 and 5.5 kya. The earlier of these times, 5.5 kya, is associated with the origin of the Bronze Age Yamnaya culture.” [N16 T16 ]

Haplogroup R1a1 (R-M17 or R-M198)

  • 23andme: “Haplogroup R1a1 appears to have arisen in the Near East or present-day Pakistan during the peak of the Ice Age about 18,000 years ago. Until the Ice Age began to wane about 15,000 years ago, it may have been limited to the area around the Black Sea, a region that remained relatively ice-free and hospitable while much of Eurasia was covered by glaciers and tundra.”

Influx or radiation of R1a1, R2, J2a G2 (G2-P15).

  • See R1 clade: Background information below.
  • -“The R1a1, R2, J2a G2 (G2-P15) are clearly high in upper caste, and decline in middle-lower castes and almost vanish in the lower castes.” [MT5] - 30-70% of brAhmaNa jAti-s have R1a1 Y chromosome.
  • “The R1a1 marker is elsewhere seen in the Central Asians and Eastern Europeans; J2a and G2-P15 appear to peak in the Middle East, Anatolia and the Caucusus with some presence in Europe. G2-P15 is interestingly found only in Iyer and Iyengars in this set at a high 10-12 %. Another study interestingly showed a similar rare haplotype N1a to be present in similar percentages in the Havik Brahmins of Karnataka. This marker is found elsewhere in the regions bordering the Eurasian steppe zone and to some extant in Iran. It was also found in the early European settlers belonging to the Linearbandkeramik (Haak et al in Science Magazine) who are supposed to have spread agriculture to Central and Northern Europe.”[MT5] - Anecdote: “bhrgu angirasa show high steppe component”
  • “The fascinating Lambadi tribe of Southern India is a nomadic tribe moving around with horses and cattle. I had witnessed a few bands of these nomads as a youth and was struck by their oral tradition. 40% of the Lambadi males bear the M74 mutation that marks them of Northern Asian affinities.” [M0512]
    • “The Chenchus are a most remarkable tribe in Andhra. They are completely adapted to the forest and live entirely as hunter-gatherers. They have extraordinary stamina and eat only 1 time a day. They have special position amongst the tribes of India: the caste Hindus consider them completely pure for accepting food. They are also considered eaters and makers of bhojya and bhakShya food, so a brahmin can eat from a Chenchu. Chenchus have special privileges to perform rites in the Shrisailam, Ahobilam and Bhramaramba temples and enter the garbha gR^iha normally reserved for brahmins only. They have their own priests who invoke the standard Hindu deities of whom they have good mythological knowledge with elaborate unique rituals. Interestingly, they are the only tribal population with a particular ratio of H1, R1a1 and L1 haplogroups resembling several middle caste populations of India. It is possible that they represent an ancient varNa population that degenerated to the tribal condition. Alternatively their special symbiotic association with the caste populations may have resulted in gene flow into them.”[M0512]
    • Also see R1 clade background information below.
  • Possible absorption and expansion of R2 - “kulin type bengali v1 group chatterjees are kashyapa of r2 haplogroups which originates in india.”.

Haplogroup R1a1a

  • “The fact is that the Y chromosomal phylogeny of R1a1a the world over exhibits the hallmarks of massive population expansion ~5,000 years ago. No one knows where the R1 lineages are truly from in a deep time sense, as it seems likely they were low frequency variants before their explosion."RK15
  • Population replacement in India - 10-20%

Eastern Europe (probable locus of origin)

  • “After the Ice Age, northward migrations carried R1a1a into the gradually greening territory surrendered by the receding glaciers. The abundance of R1a1a in Ukraine, where it reaches levels of about 50%, and the haplogroup’s high genetic diversity among Ukrainians, have led researchers to suggest that it expanded from the relatively ice-free region around the Black Sea about 12,000 years ago.” (23andme)
  • “The first is that 99% of modern R1a descends from R1a1a (M417), a subclade that clearly expanded from the Bronze Age onwards, not from the early Neolithic. Its phylogeny also points at an Eastern European origin.” (Eupedia)

R-Z93 (R1a1a1b2)

  • “The most striking were expansions within R1a-Z93, occurring ~4.0–4.5 kya. This time predates by a few centuries the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization, associated by some with the historical migration of Indo-European speakers from the Western Steppe into the Indian subcontinent. " [N16 ]