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The Indian subcontinent was populated by numerous groups prior to the arrival of West Eurasian groups such as the Ancient Iranians and the Indo-Europeans. Indigenous South Asian ancestry, called Ancient Ancestral South Indian, is a divergent branch of Ancient East Eurasians and forms the largest ancestral component of the Dravidian peoples (excluding Brahmins, the Brahui and some other groups),[1][2][3] the Munda people and the Bhil people (including Warli).[4] The indigenous populations of North-Eastern regions are the Sino-Tibetans and Khasi people, descended from other branches of Ancient East Eurasians. These groups constitute a significant portion of the population of the Indian subcontinent (more than 20%).
The Government of India doesn't recognise or classify indigenous peoples. The official marker Scheduled Tribe (also called Janjati or Adivasi) refers to heterogeneous tribal groups rather than indigenous peoples. Different indigenous groups populated various parts of the subcontinent at different times predating Indo-Iranian migration to those regions. Some indigenous groups like Bhils have a Dravidic ancestry but speak an Indo-Aryan language.
The earliest peoples migrated to the southern coastal part of the subcontinent via the Coastal Migration around 46000 years ago.[5] These people, are referred to as Ancestral Ancient South Indians, and are believed to be the origin of Dravidian culture and languages. More than 10,000 years ago, Ancient Iranian populations migrated into India and mixed with AASI to form the Indus Valley Civilisation people. They were primarily composed of Ancient Iranian ancestry with minor amounts of AASI ancestry. Between 4000 and 3500 years ago, the Indo-Aryans migrated into India from the northwest and mixed with the IVC people to form Ancestral North Indians, which makes up the ancestry of most modern-day Indo-Aryans. The AASI people of South India had minor admixture with IVC people to form Ancestral South Indians. The Ancestral South Indian component is largely composed of AASI and some Ancient Iranian ancestry and forms the ancestry of most modern day Dravidians as well as non-Dravidian speaking Bhil and Munda peoples. The Andamanese peoples have a genetic component similar to AASI. Sino-Tibetans inhabit mountainous parts of north-eastern India and the Himalayan regions.
The Andamanese people are genetically related to the AASI and thus to most modern-day Dravidians as well.
Most of the modern-day Dravidian peoples, excluding the Panch-Dravida and some other groups, are mostly composed of the Ancestral South Indian component (see above section) which is mostly indigenous Ancestral Ancient South Indian and some degree of Ancient Iranian hunter gatherer ancestry.[6] The Bhils show a closer genetic affinity to Mundas and other Dravidians than to Indo-Europeans even though they speak Indo-European languages.
Austroasiatic peoples migrated sometimes between 10000 and 4600 years to India from Southeast Asia. They include Khasi and Munda populations. Munda populations however comprise mainly Dravidian ancestry as the original Munda migrants were mostly male who intermarried with neighbouring Dravidian populations.
Sino–Tibetans originated in upper Chinese plains (Yellow river basin) and migrated to Northeast India and Southeast Asia, and the Tibetan plateau and Himalayas. They form a majority in Northeast India except Assam was settled by Indo-Aryans and Tripura more recently in the past century.
