Abstract:
This dissertation is part of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan
(HEC) funded project, “Enthnogenetic elaboration of KP through Dental
Morphology and DNA analysis”. This study focused on five major ethnic
groups (Gujars, Jadoons, Syeds, Tanolis, and Yousafzais) of Buner and Swabi
Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, through investigations of
variations in morphological traits of the permanent tooth crown, and by
molecular anthropology based on mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA
analyses. The frequencies of seven dental traits, of the Arizona State
University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) were scored as 17 toothtrait
combinations for each sample, encompassing a total sample size of 688
individuals. These data were compared to data collected in an identical
fashion among samples of prehistoric inhabitants of the Indus Valley,
southern Central Asia, and west-central peninsular India, as well as to
samples of living members of ethnic groups from Abbottabad, Chitral,
Haripur, and Mansehra Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to samples of
living members of ethnic groups residing in Gilgit-Baltistan. Similarities in
dental trait frequencies were assessed with C.A.B. Smith’s mean measure of
divergence distance (MMD). Intergroup patterning in the diagonal pairwise
matrix of MMD values was subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis with
Ward’s method, neighbor-joining cluster analysis, and multidimensional
scaling with both Kruskal’s and Guttman’s methods. Results indicate that the
five ethnic groups from Buner and Swabi Districts possess no affinities to the
prehistoric samples from southern Central Asia, or the Indus Valley. Likewise,
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they share no affinities to populations, either prehistoric or living, of
peninsular Indians. Among the samples of contemporary ethnic groups of
Pakistan, the Jadoons of Swabi District (JADsb) and the MadakLasht of
Chitral District are almost always identified as outliers with few affinities to
the other samples considered in this study. The two Yousafzai samples (YSFb,
YSFsb) and the two Wakhi samples (WAKg, WAKs) tended to exhibit closest
affinities to one another, as do the two Gujar samples (GUJb, GUJsb) and two
of the Syed samples (SYDb, SYDsb), albeit to a lesser extent. There does not
seem to be a consistent separation of samples from the Hindu
Kush/Karakoram highlands (i.e., Chitral District, Gilgit-Baltistan versus those
occupying the foothills and northern rim of the Indus Valley (i.e., Abbotabad,
Buner, Haripur, Mansehra, Swabi Districts), While members of these ethnic
groups tended to show relatively close affinities to other self-identifying
members of that ethnic group, regardless of sampling locality, this was not
true for Tanolis, for the sample from Mansehra District exhibits no affinities to
the sample of Tanolis from Swabi District (TANsb).
Maternal genetic ancestry was explored by analyzing the mtDNA coding
regions and control region sequence variation. Though this analysis, a total of
54 mtDNA haplogroups was identified, majority (50.53%) of them being
western Eurasian lineages, suggesting somewhat greater affinity with West
Eurasian populations relative to populations of other world regions. South
Asian lineages account for 39% of the lineages found among members of the
five sampled ethnic groups of Buner and Swabi Districts, while East Eurasian
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lineages account for 10.17%. West Eurasian lineages were found with greatest
frequency among the Gujars (62.3%), while lowest frequencies occurred
among the Tanolis (47.01%). The most prevalent haplogroup among all the
five ethnic groups was H with a frequency of 11.53%, while the frequencies of
U7 (6.98%), J1 (4.70%), W (4.70%) and HV (3.64%) was recorded. Frequencies
of South Asian lineages were found to be highest among Tanolis (47.76%),
while lowest frequencies occurred among Syeds (26.77%). Haplogroup U2
(8.35%), M3 (5.61%), and R5 (4.1%) were the most frequent South Asian
lineages found in the present study. Jadoons were found to exhibit the heist
frequency of East Eurasian lineages (15.15%), while lowest frequencies were
found among the Gujars (4.1%).” Haplogroup D was found to be the most
prevalent East Eurasian lineage, representing 3.64% individuals.
Genetic variations in the non-recombining segment of the Y-chromosome
(NRY) were characterized using 32 binary markers and 19 short tandem
repeats (STRs). These markers yielded 11 haplogroups across the five
population samples. The majority of the Y-chromosomes were found to
belong to haplogroups R1a1a (50%), R1b1a (17.4%) and O3 (13.86%). Highest
frequencies of haplogroup R1a1a-M17 were found among the Syed samples
(89.15%), while lowest frequencies occurred among the Jadoons (5.26%).
Western Eurasian haplogroup R1b1a-M297 was only found among the Tanoli
males included in the study, while Jadoon Y-chromosomes were
predominantly of haplogroup O3 (76.32%). South Asian haplogroup L was
found with highest frequencies among the Gujars (20.97%), while lowest
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frequencies occurred in the sample of Jadoon males (3.51%). Overall, this
study provides high resolution data sets for both uniparental lineage systems
(mtDNA, Y-chromosome), as well insight into the genetic diversity
encompassed by the five sampled ethnic groups of Buner and Swabi Districts,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.