Dr Vinay K Nandicoori, director, CCMB, said “These findings conclusively demonstrate the demographic changes and population shifts in western India associated with multiple migrations. Some of these occurred as early as the Middle Ages, and some as recently as post-independence.”
Sindhi migration over decades
India’s west coast, a large region between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, is home to diverse human populations. It has witnessed migrations of various West Eurasian groups, including Portuguese, Middle Easterners, Jews, Parsees, and Christian missionaries. Recent genetic studies have focused on a few groups such as Parsis, Jews, and Catholics, but the origins and genetic relationships of many southwest coast communities remain largely unexplored.
One such community is the Indian Sindhis, who have lived on the west coast in Maharashtra for centuries. Due to their geographical proximity to the Sindh region in Pakistan, Sindhis migrated to western India over generations. While Pakistani Sindhis have been extensively studied, very limited genetic information exists about Indian Sindhis, who are socio-culturally distinct on the Konkan coast.
