What Maternal DNA Tells Us About the Konkan Coast

Left: Members of the Khārvi community circumambulating a ritual pyre built around an arecanut tree during Hōḷi (ಹೋಳಿ).
Middle: Members of the Kuḍubi community performing the traditional Gumaṭ (ಗುಮಟ್) dance during Hōḷi celebrations.
Right: A Sārasvata woman performing the sacred Cūḍi pūjā (ಚೂಡಿ ಪೂಜಾ) ritual.

The Konkan region on the picturesque west coast of India is renowned for its vibrant culture, rich folklore, and incredible ethnolinguistic diversity. But beneath the surface of traditions, language, and everyday life lies a deeply fascinating genetic story. A comprehensive scientific study on the maternal genetics of the Koṅkaṇī-speaking population offers a window into how ancient climate shifts, Holocene migrations and socio-cultural influences shaped the genetic landscape of western India.

Map showing sampling sites along the Koṅkaṇ-Malabar coast of India. Blue represents the Koṅkaṇ region and yellow represents the Malabar region. Pie chart of haplogroup frequency distribution in the studied population.

A Shared Autochthonous Baseline and Divergent Maternal Histories

When scientists examined the mitochondrial DNA (passed down exclusively from mothers to children) of over 300 mitogenomes across major Koṅkaṇī subgroups, they uncovered a complex mosaic:

  • The Ancient South Asian Foundation: At its core, the Koṅkaṇī population shares a deep-rooted Indian-specific baseline dominated by macro-haplogroup M (accounting for about 58.1% of the population).

  • Sārasvata vs. Non-Sārasvata Subgroups: The study reveals clear divergences between communities. Sārasvata groups (such as Gauḍa Sārasvata Brahmins, Citrapur Sārasvata Brahmins, and Rājāpur Sārasvata Brahmins) display West Eurasian and Steppe-linked genetic lineages. This discovery challenges the old assumption that historical migrations into South Asia were exclusively male-driven, showing that women carrying Bronze Age Steppe related ancestry also contributed significantly to the gene pool.

  • Indigenous Affinities: In contrast, non-Sārasvata communities like the Khārvi (traditionally tied to fishing) and the Kuḍubi (traditionally dependent on agriculture) exhibit genetic signatures closely aligned with indigenous tribes, pointing to historical founder events and increased genetic drift.

The Impact of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Pre-Holocene Recovery

One of the major highlights of the research is how environmental changes dictated human population structures along the west coast. Demographic modeling demonstrates that the population experienced expansions across two major windows: an early Paleolithic expansion and a subsequent post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) recovery phase.

Bayesian skyline plots for major haplogroups found in Koṅkaṇī population. “n” is the number of sequences used in the analysis.

When comparing pre-LGM and post-LGM genetic landscapes, researchers found that the pre-LGM era was characterized by a more homogenous, tight-knit cluster of foundational lineages. However, the post-LGM era (roughly between 11,700 and 19,000 years before present) saw a dramatic surge in heterogeneity. This post-LGM recovery phase was heavily driven by macro-haplogroup N lineages, which served as primary agents of internal genetic structuring within the population. Rather than being driven solely by later farming expansions, a major portion of western India's maternal diversity stems from ancient source populations that migrated and adapted during the environmental rebound following the LGM.

Bayesian Skyline Plot for haplogroup M57 including ancient individuals belonging to haplogroup M subclades (a). Phylogenetic tree for haplogroup M57 calibrated by ancient samples from haplogroup M (b)

The Trans-Indo-Iranian Coastal Corridor

How did West Eurasian and Near Eastern maternal lineages make their way to the west coast of India long before recorded history? The study points to a geographical and climatic mechanism: the trans-Indo-Iranian coastal corridor.

During the Last Glacial Maximum, locked-up ice sheets caused global sea levels to drop significantly, exposing vast stretches of coastline. In the subsequent LGM recovery phase, this lowered sea level created an accessible trans-Indo-Iranian coastal corridor. This exposed the west coast greatly easeing the spread and movement of pre-Holocene N lineages between the Iranian Plateau and the west coast of India.

Heatmap showing Nei’s distance matrix for the N lineage. Koṅkaṇī subgroups are shown in red font. Clusters correspond to the major clades observed in the hierarchical clustering phylogram.

This corridor explains why west coast populations (including Koṅkaṇī subgroups and neighboring indigenous groups) share distinct phylogenetic continuities with the Iranian Plateau and Near Eastern gene pools, providing a crucial genetic bridge connecting Western Asia to the shores of western India.

The Role of Social Stratification and Endogamy

Over the last 5,000 years, Bayesian skyline plots reveal a general decline in the effective population size of most maternal lineages. Researchers attribute this shift to the formalization of caste boundaries, institutionalized social stratification, and the long-standing cultural practice of endogamy (marrying within one's own community). These social boundaries acted as cultural barriers that locked in unique, subgroup-specific genetic signatures, preventing them from blending away.

Haplotype network for Koṅkaṇī subpopulations based on D-loop region

Conclusion

Ultimately, this study reframes the Konkan coast not just as a cultural hotspot, but as a dynamic genetic confluence. It demonstrates that the unique genetic landscape of the Konkan people is the product of a grand historical convergence: Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer roots, post-LGM climate recoveries, prehistoric migrations across the trans-Indo-Iranian coastal corridor, and centuries of structured social traditions.

Read the full paper published in Heredity at https://rdcu.be/gmny6TjRN9Ua

Location: India

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