Sainil Nagare

The ancient DNA study conducted on human remains from the archaeological site of Rakhigarhi has become one of the most important scientific breakthroughs in the study of early Indian history. Rakhigarhi is one of the largest cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, and the genetic analysis of skeletons found at the site has provided valuable insights into the origins, ancestry, and population history of ancient Indians.

For decades, historians and archaeologists debated the origins of the Harappan people and their relationship with later Indian populations. The Rakhigarhi DNA research has helped answer several of these questions while also opening new discussions about the formation of Indian civilization.

The Importance of Rakhigarhi

Located in the modern state of Haryana, Rakhigarhi was a major urban center of the Indus Valley Civilization. In fact, recent excavations suggest that it may have been even larger than Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, making it one of the biggest cities of the ancient world.

Archaeological discoveries at the site include:

• planned streets and houses
• drainage systems
• pottery and tools
• jewelry and ornaments

These findings show that Rakhigarhi was a thriving urban settlement between roughly 2600–1900 BCE, during the mature phase of the Harappan civilization.

However, archaeology alone could not answer one key question: Who were the people of the Indus Valley Civilization? The answer required the use of ancient DNA analysis.

The Breakthrough DNA Study

In 2019, an international team of scientists led by geneticist David Reich and Vasant Shinde analyzed DNA extracted from a skeleton discovered at Rakhigarhi. The research was published in the journal Cell and quickly became one of the most discussed studies in the field of ancient genetics.

Ancient DNA analysis is extremely difficult in South Asia because the hot and humid climate often destroys genetic material. Despite these challenges, scientists were able to recover usable DNA from one individual buried at the site.

This single genome has provided important clues about the ancestry of the Harappan population.

A Distinct Harappan Genetic Profile

One of the most important conclusions of the Rakhigarhi DNA study is that the Harappan population had a unique genetic composition.

The genome showed a mixture of two major ancestral components:

• Ancient South Asian hunter-gatherer ancestry.
• Genetic ancestry related to early Iranian agricultural populations. 

However, the Harappan genome did not contain the steppe pastoralist ancestry associated with later Indo-European migrations. This suggests that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization developed before the arrival of steppe-related populations into South Asia.

Why is Rakhigarhi DNA important?

There was a debate going on regarding the origins of Harappan ever since its discovery in the 1920s. 

Colonial Historians like John Marshall and V. Gordon Childe believed in the idea of migration of people from Sumerian civilization into the Indus region.  Since they had the knowledge of urban life they used it to establish towns and cities in the Indian subcontinent. They argued both civilizations (Sumerian and Harappan) were urban, used seals, potter’s wheel, bronze and burnt bricks.

Even though there were limitations on this theory like Mesopotamians had a completely different script,  a much greater use of bronze, different settlement layouts, and a large-scale canal system of the kind that seems absent in the Harappan civilization.  Also Harappan cities were well planned and seals were quadrilateral in shape. Still colonial historians persisted in their theory.

Now Rakhigarhi DNA is important in this sense. First of all it proves Harappans were indigenous community. Second, it also proves Aryans were outsiders as their DNA (steppes DNA)  does not match up with Harappans. However, the latter part is conveniently ignored by nationalist historians in order to propagate the glory of indigenous nature of Harappans.  Thus the Rakhigarhi DNA study is not the end of the debate—it is the beginning of a new phase of inquiry.