I am not a guy who reads a lot about history, I am just somebody who is curious about where my ancestors are from.
I was born in the Indian part of Punjab into a Sikh Family (Kshatriya Caste, if that matters?). My grand parents though were born in the Punjab now in Pakistan but moved to India after the partition.
I and most of my relatives do not look like most Indians from the Eastern or Southern states. I am relatively tall(6 Feet) and have a lighter complexion. Please understand my question isnt what race I am, I am just curious where Punjabi(and other North Indian) people came from since there is a common clear difference in appearances of North-West Indians and East Indians and South Indians.
Ive read theories where people say we are have Indo-Aryan and Dravadian genes, some say we are middle eastern, and some say we are fully Dravadian, although I am not sure if these sources have some sort of a racial bias in them.
It would be great if I could get a simplified explanation from a non-biased historian. Im a total History-noob and JUST discovered this Sub-Reddit. Thanks!!!
TLDR; Punjabi people in India descendents of? Curious! Not Racist! :(
First, I'll have to take an assumption. Which is, you are a Jatt (correct me if I am wrong, but I am of the impression that modern Jatts are classified Kshatriya. Frankly, my knowledge of Sikh casts isn't really good.) Of course, this also assumes that you are also ethnically Jatt, not people who migrated to Punjab later.
Assuming you are a Jatt, there is a good chance (again, one of the widely accepted theories, not the absolute truth because there is no certainty) you arrived in India with the White Huns/Hephthalites. Several classes of Jatts, while important in the Hephthalites, were not really the top notch in social structure the Huns themselves were.
After the Hephthalites were defeated, several of the higher class became Rajputs. Jatts were distributed throughout the caste system (considering they didn't quite enjoy the same privileges as the Hunnic tribes themselves). Plus, large swathes of Jat population at the time were nomadic.
In the same vein, several Indian clans took to the new nomenclature as well. Many of the kshatriyas of the north became Rajputs, and many in the geographic north west became Jatts/Jaats and Rajputs.
Finally, most likely, your ancestors were from Central Asia. Although there is a chance you could be Indo-European.
PS: There is no such thing as Indo-Aryan. Subscribing to that dated and incorrect theory would describe you as "Aryan." What you probably meant was Indo-European.