Original paper
Rajputs and their AB0 blood groups
Shukla, B. R. K.; Tyagi, Deepak
Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie Band 65 Heft 2 (1973), p. 237 - 244
17 references
published: Oct 1, 1973
ArtNo. ESP168006502010, Price: 19.00 €
Abstract
Rajputs constitute an important social group in Hindu society and enjoy a status next to Brahmins. They come from different parts of India and are said to have a varied origin. They practice hypergamy and each sept maintains exogamy, thereby restricting the flow of genes to the larger group of Rajputs. They are claimed to have assimilated other ethnic strains. Besides, there are a number of lower caste groups in and around Uttar Pradesh who have been absorbing a regular and large degree of high caste genes by way of exploitation from the Mughal period. It has also been claimed that Rajputs of Eastern and Western districts of North India exhibit notable differences. The pattern of their marriage suggests some kind of a geographical preference which might be a matter of convenience, for usually people prefer to marry in nearby regions. Rajputs of Uttar Pradesh are an immigrant group and might have settled hundreds of years ago assimilating some of the traits of the population of Eastern districts by way of inter-mixture. It is likely that all Rajputs may be the product of the same parental population yet the inter-mixture with local populations in different degrees may have resulted into regional differentiation, which is quite interesting from a genetical stand point. Therefore, it was considered worthwhile to find out as to which caste group specific genetic elements are represented among the Rajputs of different regions. In view of this, in the present paper an attempt has been made to understand the genetical elements of this po pulation using AB0 blood groups as the Marker genes. In addition to this an attempt has also been made to see as to how far Rajputs of Lucknow are similar or dissimilar with the Rajputs of other regions and whether the present Rajputs exhibit homogeneity or heterogeneity with different tribal populations who claim their Rajput ancestory. For this 300 unrelated Rajputs of Lucknow have been tested for AB0 blood groups. The relevant sera were supplied by the K. G.'s Medical College, Lucknow. The analysis of AB0 blood groups shows that among the Rajputs of Lucknow blood group "B" is highest, followed by group "0" and "A", whereas the frequency of "AB" is lowest (10.6 %). It is seen that the frequency of "r" is highest followed by "q" with a low frequency of "p" gene. The X2 test suggests that the Rajputs of Lucknow show homogeneity with the Rajputs of Kumaon, Chamba, Punjab, Simla, Palampur and Khasa Rajputs and heterogeneity with Kulu and Garwhal Rajputs. On comparison with certain tribal groups claiming Rajput ancestory, we find that except Bhatus, Bhoksas and Gujars, the rest of the tribes make heterogeneous clusters.
Kurzfassung
Die Rajputs sind eine bedeutende Volksgruppe der Hindu-Gesellschaft. Sie haben einen den Brahmins nahestehenden Sozialstatus. Sie haben offenbar unterschiedlichen Ursprung. Rajputs sind extrem endogam; jede Unterabteilung ist hingegen exogam. Es wurde bisher angenommen, daß die Rajputs der Ostregion Nordindiens auffällige Unterschiede zu denen der Westregion aufweisen. Wir untersuchten daher, welche spezifische genetische Merkmalsverteilung bei den Rajputs verschiedener Regionen auftritt. Als Markierer wurden die AB0-Blutgruppen herangezogen. Weiterhin testeten wir, inwieweit sich die Rajputs von Lucknow von denen anderer Regionen sowie von Stämmen, die sich angeblich von Rajput-Ahnen herleiten, hinsichtlich der AB0-Verteilung unterscheiden. Bei den Rajputs von Lucknow überwiegt die Blutgruppe B. Mit abnehmender Häufigkeit folgen die Gruppen 0, A und AB. In der AB0-Verteilung unterscheiden sich die Rajputs von Lucknow nicht von denen aus den Regionen Kumaon, Chamba, Punjab, Simla, Palampur und Khasa. Abweichende Verteilung ergab sich dagegen bei den Kulu und Garhwal Rajputs. Mit Ausnahme der Bhatus, Bhoksas und Gujars ergeben die restlichen Stämme, die sich auf Rajputs zurückführen, einheitliche "cluster".
Keywords
blood groups • castes • hypergamy • exogamy • population • tribes • genetic elements • Marker genes • Rajputs • Lucknow • India