An analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) was done with the primary goal of clarifying the relationship of the Indian population to world populations. Phylogenetically informative RFLP sites were amplified, restricted and scored for 187 Indian-descended individuals. This sample collectively represented a geographically wide distribution, the three main religions present in the subcontinent, and three main caste groups. Thirteen haplotypes were found in the Indian population, and when combined with world population data obtained from the literature, 41 different haplotypes were found. India was found to be significantly different from all world populations under study. In agreement with previously reported results, the Indian population was found to be more similar to European populations than south-east Asian populations, with all Indian populations sharing the European-associated haplotypes 14 and 15 at high frequencies. However, high frequencies of haplotype 30 implied similarity with the Evenk population of Siberia, suggesting a possible north-central Asian origin for the Dravidian and/or Indo-Aryan migration into India. Significant geographical differentiation within India was found, with north-western India having significantly higher frequencies of haplotypes 14 and 15 than Southern India, and lower frequencies of the Evenk-associated haplotype 30. The northwest was also significantly more diverse than other regions of India, most likely due to its location on the main routes of repeated migration into India. Significant differences between religious groups were found to have a geographical basis, while caste groups were undifferentiated from each other and the main religious groups. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2008. / "Publication number: AAT 3323067."

This thesis aims at locating the position of the Jainas within the Indian religious landscape. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, novel concepts of collective religious identities and the formation of exclusive communities among religious lines have led to the establishment of the popular image of India's religious landscape as consisting of a Hindu majority and several religious minorities. This model is based on exclusive, often antagonistic religious categories. However, by discussing the position of the Jainas within the framework of India's religious pluralism, the present thesis attempts to question this popular concept. As will be argued, similar to members of other religious traditions, among Jainas too the identity discourse of the intellectual elite has introduced broader supra-locally, supra-caste-based concepts of community. However, this process of collective identity and community formation has not been based on, in Harjot Oberoi's terms, the 'construction of religious boundaries' (1994) between Jainas and Hindus. These `blurred boundaries´ between Hindus and Jainas in the modern Jaina identity discourse defy a concrete positioning of the Jainas within the framework of India's religious landscape.This thesis will begin with the analysis of the late 19th and early 20th century Jaina discourse of Western orientalists and intellectual Jainas, and its impact on the `definition´ of `Jaina values´ and the Jainas as a `community´. Mainly focusing on the regional sub-group of the Digambara Jainas of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, the research will also discuss the impact of non-middle-class `agents´ in the process of community building among Jainas. In this respect it will be argued that lay-ascetic interaction and the performance of distinct rituals and festivals largely contribute to the establishment of community among Digambara Jainas. The strict practice of Digambara ascetics also adds the element of asceticism to the `Jaina values´, which have been propagated by intellectual lay Jaina individuals and organisations from the early 20th century onwards. These propagated `Jaina values´, most prominently among them ahiṃsā and tolerance, make Jainism the most suitable religion for modern times, and symbolise ancient Indian `values´ in their `purest form´.However, regarding the Jainas as a `community´, this Jaina discourse has remained rather vague and abstract. This vagueness finds its most concrete expression in the still undecided legal status of the Jainas regarding their inclusion among the nationwide religious minorities. In comparison to other Indian religious minority traditions, the Sikhs and Buddhists in particular, the `Jaina case´ suggests a complexity of collective religious identifications in the Indian religious landscape, which defies any fixed model.