A population genetics perspective of the Indus Valley through uniparentally-inherited markers

Analysis of mtDNA and Y-chromosome variation in the Indo-Gangetic plains shows that it was a region where genetic components of different geographical origins (from west, east and south) met. The genetic architecture of the populations now living in the area comprise genetic components dating back to different time-periods during the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic. mtDNA data analysis has demonstrated a number of deep-rooting lineages of Pleistocene origin that may be witness to the arrival of the first settlers of South and Southwest Asia after humans left Africa around 60,000 YBP. In addition, comparisons of Y-chromosome and mtDNA data have indicated a number of recent and sexually asymmetrical demographic events, such as the migrations of the Parsis from Iran to India, and the maternal traces of the East African slave trade.