I'm Indian with a red beard. Is there documented history of people with these physical characteristics in India?

by 4KWL

I’m an Indian male who is 18 years old and my beard is coming in and many people have pointed out that it’s a copperish color. My hair is fully black. My dad and all of my uncles beards are fully black. I’ve been wondering about why this is the case. For more context, I’m North Indian (Punjabi) and also have somewhat light skin. Would taking a 23 and Me type of test provide insights?

gynnis-scholasticus

Interesting question! I tried to look up some earlier threads for you, but I had trouble finding any. Many historians are however quite critical of DNA tests like 23andMe, which you can read about in this answer by u/mouse55, this by u/Cyclopean_Binoculars, and this blog post by our u/Spencer_A_McDaniel