Irula raw genomes 23andme format

The Irula tribe of South India is one of the region’s oldest and most distinctive indigenous communities, primarily inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills, parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.

The Irula speak Irula, a Dravidian language closely related to Tamil and Kannada.

They are well-known for their snake and rat-catching skills, often assisting in venom extraction for antivenom production in India. Many also work as agricultural laborers.

Their religious beliefs are rooted in animism, ancestor worship, and local deities. However, Hindu influence is strong, and many Irula participate in regional Hindu festivals and rituals.

The Irula are often considered descendants of pre-Aryan, indigenous South Indian populations, with possible ancestral links to the Indus Valley civilization. While direct archaeological evidence is sparse, genetic and linguistic studies suggest that tribes like the Irula may be remnants of ancient Dravidian-speaking populations that once inhabited the northwestern subcontinent before migrating southward.

The Irula, along with other South Indian tribes like the Toda and Kurumba, may thus carry cultural and genetic echoes of the ancient Harappans.

For this video, I’ve prepared the raw genomes of 2 Irula women. I ran them through my trait predictor and betacalc tools for DNA analysis.