[For many years, visitors were barred from the isolated
towns. Slowly, two were opened up, and in 2010 the regional government opened
all four Brogpa villages in a push for tourism. Now, the populations are
experiencing a wave of curious visitors coming to marvel at their surprising
appearance, including backpackers and scholars—and even, most strangely, women
hoping to tap into the supposedly pure genetic pool.]
By Nina Strochlic
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IndiaPictures/UIG via Getty
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Are the
Brogpas of Kashmir in India really the last bastion of purebred Aryans? Their
claims have led to both academic controversy and localized conflict.
A cluster of remote Himalayan villages
claim to hold a bastion of purebred Aryans—the last in the world completely
un-muddied by the outside gene pool.
For decades, visitors have been drawn to the Ladakh province
of Kashmir in India by the promise of a master race that has remained intact
for thousands of years. The Brogpas, or Brokpas, say they are the purest
remnants of light-skinned European invaders who, legend has it, traveled
through India thousands of years ago.
Living in the villages of Dah and Beema more than 10,000
feet up the mountains, their obscure and relatively unreachable territory has
kept their DNA incubated from outside interference. Traditionally, the
community has eschewed visitors and strangers to their towns, and strictly
forbade outside marriage.
They’re are not exactly a reflection of the platinum skinned
image advertised by the Nazi’s vicious campaign, but some Brogpas have blue
eyes, lighter skin, and stand taller than residents of surrounding communities.
For many years, visitors were barred from the isolated
towns. Slowly, two were opened up, and in 2010 the regional government opened
all four Brogpa villages in a push for tourism. Now, the populations are
experiencing a wave of curious visitors coming to marvel at their surprising
appearance, including backpackers and scholars—and even, most strangely, women
hoping to tap into the supposedly pure genetic pool.
In 2007, Indian filmmaker Sanjeev Sivan traveled to the
community and made a documentary called The Achtung Baby: In Search of
Purity. In it, he investigates stories of German women who come in
Ladakh seeking to impregnate themselves with what they consider pure-Aryan sperm.
“It’s not wrong, what I’m doing,” the unnamed woman says,
hinting at an organized system behind the transaction. “I’m paying for what I
want.”
The tribe’s true origins are impossible to place — though
that hasn’t stopped large amounts of speculation. One popular legend claims the
community is the remainder of Alexander the Great’s army, who left descendants
scattered in the path they cut across Asia.
In a remote location with little means for economic
development, the Brogpas have cultivating this identity to their advantage. The
region is marketed for visitors as “Aryan Valley,” and many citizens have taken
to tacking on “Aryan” to their last names. For the Brogpas, transforming into a
tourist attraction may offer their community a way to generate much-needed
income.
“The origin of Brokpas is lost in antiquity,” a
research article from
the University of Delhi notes. “Phenotypically, they have Mediterranean
features and fair skins, many of them have blond hair and blue eyes. They have
preserved in their language and social customs many archaic traits of their
Aryan ancestors through endogamy and oral tradition.”
The theory of Indo-Aryans was propelled in
the mid-1800s by German linguist Max Muller, who believed that Indians were
descendants of light-skinned Aryan conquerors coming from Central Asia
thousands of years ago.
But a 2011 study of genetic evidence from 30 ethnic groups
in India disproved this theory. “There is no genetic evidence that Indo-Aryans
invaded or migrated to India or even something such as Aryans existed,” Dr.
Lalji Singh, a coauthor of the study told India Today.
This concept has been adopted in varying forms, and most
notoriously held that the ancestors of these Indo-European invaders were
originally Nordic. This was later repurposed in Europe as an explanation for
racial superiority, and the term “Aryan” came to define a white race.
“Brogpas do not associate their Aryanism with its ‘dirty and
cruel’ history in Germany and elsewhere, though the two cannot be
disassociated,” anthropologist Mona Bhan, a professor at DePauw
University told Al Jazeera recently.
Bhan believes the whole concept of Aryan roots traces back
to the British colonialists and their interest in racial categorization to
subject certain lower castes. “There is also an underlying current here to
reclaim a particular kind of nationalist pride and masculinity that relies on
Brogpa bodies to bolster the superiority of Indian genes,” she said.
Despite the distinctions between a German and Indian version
of the pristine Aryan bloodline, conflict isn’t too far behind when claims of
genetic purity start getting thrown about. The Brogpas are located in the
disputed zone between India and Pakistan, and surrounded by one of the world’s
longest running conflicts.
In a recent article in ‘The Journal of Cultural
Anthropology,’ Bhan writes that
branding the tribe as a pure and indigenous population has actually fueled
tensions between different ethnic groups in the Kashmir region. Militant groups
operating in the disputed area have been using this categorization as a
historical root for their positions in the conflict. She writes that they “rely
on the discourse of Aryan and Hindu indigeneity to validate their hold on
India’s disputed territory [and are] laying new grounds for intensely violent
politics.”
Whether or not their ancestry claims can be proven, the
Brogpas aren’t the only one boasting of a set of surprising features to
distinguish themselves from their countrymen. In Peru, a light-skinned citizens
are rumored to
be ancestors of the Celts, and in China, one village claims
to be descended from a long-lost band of Roman soldiers. Now that’s a truly
diverse trans-continental contingency.
