It is estimated that the first Jewish group entered Indian Subcontinent 1,500 years ago.

Using high resolution genetic markers, an international team of scientists has found that Indian Jewish population possessed minor traces of Middle Eastern ancestry, but the majority shared genetic affinity with their local South Asian neighbours.

The study relating to the unique blend of Indian and Middle Eastern Ancestry has been published in the recent issue of the Nature’s online journal, ‘Scientific Reports’.

In the absence of archaeological evidence and with the availability of only scanty historical documentation of the Indian Jewish community, the team led by Kumaraswamy Thangaraj from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Estonian Biocentre, Tratu, Estonia, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, University of Kolkata and Genome Foundation, have traced the founder of Indian Jewish populations, using genetic data, according to a press release here on Wednesday.

The team estimated that the first migrant Jewish group entered the Indian Subcontinent about 1,500 years ago.

According to Dr. Thangaraj, the Jewish migrants married local people and as a result their original Jewish genome got diluted. Due to admixture with local people for several generations, their genetic mutations which make them susceptible for various cancers were almost absent.

There are three main distinct Jewish groups living in India — the Jews of Cochin in Kerala, South India; the Bene Israel in Mumbai, West India and Baghdadi Jews in Kolkata, East India. Each of these communities is socially linked to their neighbours than one another. CCMB Director Ch. Mohan Rao said that to trace and mixture of Indian Jewish populations, the researchers analysed the DNA of Indian Jewish people using high resolution genetic markers and compared them with native Indian populations and people from the rest of the world.

The analysis of autosomal data revealed a high level of heterogeneity among the Indian Jewish groups and their closeness with local neighbours. However, sharing of specific maternally inherited mtDNA and paternally inherited Y-chromosomal haplogroups between all the studied Indian Jewish groups and lack of them among other local Indian populations can be seen as a remnant of a shared ancestry with Middle Eastern populations.