Sinhalese and Adivasis migrated from Southern India: research

• Whole-genome sequence data of urban Sinhalese and two indigenous Adivasi clans in Sri Lanka revealed genetic relationships.

• Sinhalese and Adivasi are genetically closest to each other and South Indians, but Adivasi clans are genetically distinct.

• The study used whole genomes of 35 urban Sinhalese individuals and 19 individuals from two indigenous Adivasi clans.

• The study contradicted previous studies from a genetic perspective, suggesting the Sinhalese migrated from northern or northwest India around 500 BCE.

• The study found that the genetic ancestries and proportions in the Adivasi and Sinhalese are most similar to Dravidian speaking populations in Southern India.

• The Sinhalese are genetically closest to communities with higher proportions of the so-called ASI or ancestral South Indian ancestry.

• The authors suggest that the genetic-linguistic discordance may have been caused by the Sinhalese population’s migration from North India, but genetically speaking, it may have come from a group that resembles more South Indian Dravidian speakers today.

• More anthropological studies are needed to fully understand these differing genetic and cultural affinities of the Sinhalese.

Study on Sinhalese and Adivasi Genetics in Sri Lanka

• The study dated the formation of the Sinhalese genetic pool to about 3,000 years ago, aligning with the proposed migration date of the Sinhalese in the chronicles (500 BCE).

• The Adivasi, traditionally hunter-gatherers and Indigenous peoples of Sri Lanka, were already living in Sri Lanka when the Sinhalese people migrated from India to Sri Lanka about 3,000 years ago.

• The Adivasi clans are close to each other and share broad-level genetic similarities. However, the Adivasi have slightly higher levels of ancient hunter-gatherer ancestry and have maintained smaller population sizes.

• The Adivasi genomes display signatures of endogamy, which appear as long stretches of DNA inherited from a common ancestor.

• The genetic diversity among the Adivasi is lower than that in the urban populations, which may impact their health and disease status.

• The Interior Adivasi clan underwent a stronger reduction in their population size compared to the Coastal Adivasi, leading to a greater loss of their genetic diversity.

• The study was able to recapture the entire population history of the two Adivasi clans despite the small number of individuals representing the two Adivasi populations.

• The study has important implications for how humans moved across South Asia and highlights the high degree of interconnectedness between India and Sri Lanka over millennia.