And it is not as if Indians have not ventured out and influenced other regions massively either, especially in the early centuries of the Common Era. But there was one crucial and telling difference: they also had Steppe ancestry of about 22 per cent. Remember we said the present-day Indian population is a product of the mingling between the ANI [Harappans (First Indians + Zagros agriculturists) + Steppe pastoralists] and ASI (Harappans + First Indians)? And those with higher levels of Steppe ancestry seem to have had a central role in sustaining or spreading early Vedic culture. Excerpted from Early Indians by Tony Joseph, published by Juggernaut, Rs 531

Source: The Telegraph January 07, 2019 14:26 UTC