Description
Haplogroup R2 is the South Asian sister clade of R1, found predominantly in the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. Unlike R1a and R1b — which spread dramatically with Bronze Age steppe migrations — R2 appears to have been present in South Asia long before the Indo-European expansions and may represent a lineage associated with the Indus Valley Civilisation or its predecessors. R2 is found at 5–15% frequency across South Asia, with peaks among some Dravidian and upper-caste populations. It is also found at low frequencies in Iran, Afghanistan, and isolated Central Asian populations.
Interesting Fact
Haplogroup R2 has been proposed as a possible genetic signature of the Indus Valley Civilisation — the Bronze Age urban culture of the northwestern Indian subcontinent — because it predates the R1a-heavy Indo-Aryan steppe migration and is found at elevated frequencies in regions that were the heartland of Harappan culture.
Distribution by Ethnicity
| Ethnic distribution | Region | Frequency | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pashtuns | South Asia / Central Asia | n=200 | |
| North Indians (Brahmin) | South Asia | n=400 | |
| South Indians (average) | South Asia | n=800 | |
| Pakistanis (average) | South Asia | n=600 | |
| Sri Lankans | South Asia | n=200 | |
| Iranians | Near East | n=500 |
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References
- Sengupta et al. (2006) — Polarity and temporality of high-resolution Y-chromosome distributions in India identify both indigenous and exogenous expansions and reveal minor genetic influence of Central Asian pastoralists. American Journal of Human Genetics 78(2), 202–221.
- Underhill et al. (2010) — Separating the post-Glacial coancestry of European and Asian Y chromosomes within haplogroup R1a. European Journal of Human Genetics 18, 479–484.
- Chiaroni et al. (2009) — Y chromosome diversity, human expansion, drift, and cultural evolution. PNAS 106(48), 20174–20179.