Peopling of Rajasthan, India: Evaluating the gene flow from east and west

Rajasthan is a state located in the north-western part of India and it has been cited as a major route of human migration since ancient times. The present study was conducted to find out the genetic affinity of Rajasthani population with the population living in its east as well as the west. In particular, we compared them with the population of Pakistan which shares the common geographical boundary with the Rajasthan while also having a look at their inter and intra population affinities with the population belonging to other Indian states. We investigated the genetic structure and population parameters of Rajasthani populations obtained for twenty polymorphic autosomal STR loci from 669 unrelated individuals belonging to its three population groups including Mina, Gujjar and the admixed population of Rajasthan. The studied populations showed a wide range of genetic diversity and besides the genetic structure of the studied populations, it was found that the average heterozygosity value was highest among the populations of Rajasthan, possibly, because of gene flow from different directions. Various statistical analyses suggested that the Rajasthani populations had a higher affinity with the North Indian populations rather than with the Pakistani population.