Paniya DNA
Genetic origins and closest populations · India (Kerala) · South Asia
The Paniya live in the Wayanad hills of northern Kerala and the neighbouring parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Their name is usually explained as 'workers', a reminder of their long history as agricultural labourers for local landowners, and they speak Paniya, a Dravidian language close to Malayalam. In our model, the Paniya average is 96.8% South Asian hunter-gatherer related, with tiny Southeast Asian Neolithic (1.9%) and Papuan and Near Oceanian (1.3%) traces. That figure needs care: the component is measured with the Irula, a tribal people of the nearby Nilgiri hills, as a proxy, so it mainly shows that the Paniya are very similar to the Irula, not that they preserve an unmixed ancient population. The closest modern averages are the Adiyan of Kerala (0.0206), Kodava samples with an Adivasi profile, the Kadar and the Malayan, all forest communities of the Western Ghats. No ancient genome comes close (0.1488 for the nearest).
- Ancient components in our model: South Asian hunter-gatherer related (Irula proxy) 96.8%, Southeast Asian Neolithic farmers 1.9%, Papuan and Near Oceanian 1.3%
- Closest modern population in our data: Adiyan (Kerala), distance 0.0206
- Closest ancient group in our data: Andaman Islands 100BP (Great Andamanese), distance 0.1488
Paniya is one of the 335 modern populations in our population genetics atlas. The numbers on this page describe the average Global25 (G25) genome of the Paniya individuals sampled in India (Kerala). Like every population average, it smooths over a lot of variation between individuals.
Ancient make-up of the Paniya average
Modelled with deep ancestral reference populations, the Paniya average is explained almost entirely by South Asian hunter-gatherer related (Irula proxy) (96.8%). The South Asian hunter-gatherer related (Irula proxy) component reflects the deep hunter-gatherer ancestry of South Asia (Ancient Ancestral South Indians). That does not make the population uniform: the model simply has no finer reference population for this part of the world, and the closest populations below show the detail it cannot.
Smaller traces of Southeast Asian Neolithic farmers and Papuan and Near Oceanian (under 5% each) also appear. At that level they can reflect real minor ancestry, but also simple model noise, so they should not be over-read. The fit is loose (fit distance 0.042), which usually means that none of the available reference populations is a close stand-in for part of this ancestry, so read the percentages as rough. This population was modelled with a global set of reference populations (ancient genomes, plus modern stand-ins where no suitable ancient genome exists), because West Eurasian sources alone cannot describe it.
Closest modern populations to Paniya
Ranking every modern population by genetic distance puts Adiyan (Kerala) first for Paniya, at 0.021, then Kodava (Adivasi Profile) and Kadar. By the tenth closest (Pulliyar) the distance grows to 0.040, a common pattern for a population that shares ancestry with its neighbours while keeping a profile of its own.
| # | Population | Distance | Closeness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adiyan (Kerala) | 0.0206 | Very close |
| 2 | Kodava (Adivasi Profile) | 0.0285 | Close |
| 3 | Kadar | 0.0311 | Close |
| 4 | Malayan | 0.0330 | Close |
| 5 | Kurumba | 0.0344 | Close |
| 6 | Gond (Madhya Pradesh) | 0.0381 | Close |
| 7 | Paliyan (Tamil Nadu) | 0.0382 | Close |
| 8 | Halba (Chhattisgarh) | 0.0393 | Close |
| 9 | Nihali | 0.0399 | Close |
| 10 | Pulliyar | 0.0402 | Close |
Distances are Euclidean distances between averaged G25 coordinates. On our scale, below 0.025 is very close, below 0.050 close, below 0.080 moderate, and beyond that distant.
Closest ancient populations to Paniya
If we search ancient DNA for the best match to Paniya, Andaman Islands 100BP (Great Andamanese) (c. 1850 AD) comes first, at 0.149, with Laos Hoabinhian next. Even the best ancient match is distant, so the modern population is better described as a blend of several ancestral sources than as the continuation of one. A close ancient match is not proof of direct descent: it means those individuals carried a similar overall mix of ancestry.
| # | Ancient sample or group | Period | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andaman Islands 100BP (Great Andamanese) | c. 1850 AD | 0.1488 |
| 2 | Laos Hoabinhian | Hoabinhian foragers (pre-Neolithic) | 0.1517 |
| 3 | India Uttarakhand Early Medieval Roopkund c.800CE (South Asian Profile) | c. 800 AD | 0.1604 |
| 4 | Malaysia Hoabinhian | Hoabinhian foragers (pre-Neolithic) | 0.1626 |
| 5 | China Yunnan EN Xingyi | Early Neolithic | 0.1860 |
| 6 | China Heilongjiang EUP Acheng | Early Upper Palaeolithic | 0.2035 |
| 7 | Iran EBA Shahr-i-Sokhta (IVC Profile) | Early Bronze Age | 0.2112 |
| 8 | China Tianyuan | Early Upper Palaeolithic | 0.2121 |
| 9 | Mongolia EUP Salkhit | Early Upper Palaeolithic | 0.2231 |
| 10 | Pakistan IA Aligrama | Iron Age | 0.2241 |
Ancient DNA from India
Our ancient DNA database holds 59 individuals excavated in present-day India, dated from about 2,350 BC to 1860 AD. The most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups among them are R2a (4), H1a (3) and J2b (3), and the most frequent mtDNA haplogroups are M3 (6), H1 (4) and U2 (4). These are people who lived on the same land in the past, not necessarily ancestors of today's Paniya population.
Most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups
Ancient DNA studies on India
- Blending borders: reconstructing the genetic history of the Sindhi population (2026)
- Blending borders: reconstructing the genetic history of the Sindhi population (2026)
- The Old Lady spider cave skeletons in Ladakh have diverse maternal genetic origin (2026)
- Layers in the sand: The genetic imprint of migration, culture, and Indus craft in the Thar desert (2026)
- Admixture and Genetic Connectivity: Autosomal Insights Into Indo-Aryan Speakers at the Eastern Edge of the Indian Subcontinent (2026)
- Novel 4400-year-old ancestral component in a tribe speaking a Dravidian language (2025)
- Ancient mitogenomes from Neolithic, megalithic and medieval burials suggest complex genetic history of Kashmir valley, India (2025)
- 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation (2025)
Browse them in our ancient DNA database: 59 from India.
Compare yourself with Paniya
Paste your G25 coordinates (scaled, one line, with or without a name in front) and we compute your genetic distance to the Paniya average and to its closest neighbours, right in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
| # | Population | Your distance | Closeness |
|---|
This list only covers Paniya and its neighbours. To find out which of our reports actually fits your DNA, run the free Report Finder: it runs the same fit test that every report uses before an order.
No G25 coordinates yet? Get a free simulated G25 from your raw DNA file, or order G25 coordinates.
About these numbers
A word of caution: these figures describe the average of the Paniya individuals who were sampled, not every person who identifies as Paniya. Individuals vary around that average, and identity is about history, language and family, not about a genetic score. Read this page as a map of deep ancestry, not as a definition.
Method: averaged G25 coordinates, Euclidean distances to other modern and ancient averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations (data generated 2026-10-01). Read the full method.
Go deeper than the average
This page describes the Paniya average. For your own DNA, Advanced Ancestry Report (16€) gives a full ancestry breakdown with no regional focus, in a personal PDF report.
Comprehensive DNA analysis comparing your genetics to over 2,000 modern reference populations.
More populations from South Asia
Frequently asked questions
What is the ancient genetic make-up of Paniya?
Modelled with deep ancestral reference populations, the Paniya average is about 96.8% South Asian hunter-gatherer related (Irula proxy), 1.9% Southeast Asian Neolithic farmers and 1.3% Papuan and Near Oceanian. These proportions are model estimates for a group average, not exact values for any one person.
Which populations are genetically closest to Paniya?
In the G25 data, the closest modern populations to the Paniya average are Adiyan (Kerala), Kodava (Adivasi Profile) and Kadar. The closest ancient matches are Andaman Islands 100BP (Great Andamanese), Laos Hoabinhian and India Uttarakhand Early Medieval Roopkund c.800CE (South Asian Profile).
Can a DNA test tell me if I am Paniya?
No DNA test can confirm an ethnicity or a nationality. What DNA can show is how similar your genome is to the sampled Paniya average and to its neighbours. If you have G25 coordinates, paste them in the comparison box on this page to check that for free.
Which ExploreYourDNA report suits Paniya ancestry?
Our regional report for this part of the world does not fit the Paniya average closely, so the full Advanced Ancestry Report (no regional focus) is the better choice. The DNA Mega-Analysis adds Neanderthal %, traits and closest ancient populations. The free Report Finder checks every report against your own DNA first.
Where does the data on this page come from?
From the averaged Global25 (G25) coordinates of the sampled individuals: genetic distances to other modern and ancient population averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations. The full method is described at https://www.exploreyourdna.com/populations#method.