Genomic Heterogeneity of the Naga and Kuki Tribal Populations of Manipur, Northeast India.

Manipur, one of the northeastern states of India, lies on the ancient silk route and serves as a meeting point between Southeast Asia and South Asia. The origin and migration histories of Naga and Kuki tribal populations are not clearly understood. Moreover, Kukis have been traced to two different ancestries, which has created confusion among the people. The present study examined genomic affinities and differentiation of the Naga and Kuki tribal populations of Manipur, Northeast India. Twenty autosomal markers (8 Alu insertion-deletions, 12 restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms) were analyzed. Findings show genetic differences between Naga and Kuki tribal populations with respect to the allele distribution pattern, which was substantiated by genetic differentiation (GST = 5.2%) and molecular variance (AMOVA), where the highest percentage of among-group variances was observed between Naga and Kuki tribal groups (7.09%). However, genetic similarities with respect to allele distribution patterns in most of the loci were seen among their respective groups (Rongmei and Inpui, Thadou and Vaiphei). Rongmei and Inpui tribal populations (Naga group) belong to the Naga-Bodo linguistic group, and Thadou and Vaiphei (Kuki group) belong to the Northern Kuki-Chin linguistic group, suggesting that genetic similarities may not be independent of linguistic affinities. Despite differential genetic affinities, both Naga and Kuki tribal populations in Manipur show more proximity with Southeast Asian populations and Northeast Indian populations than with other Indian populations and global populations taken for comparison.

Determinants of demographic characteristics of the Lamkang tribe, Manipur.

The present study provides the demographic account of the Lamkang tribe of Manipur who suffered the bottleneck effect in 1840s and 1992. The objectives are: (i) to determine the age-sex composition of the Lamkang, (ii) to see the sex disparity among the Lamkang (iii) to examine the various biological and social factors that govern the fertility pattern among the Lamkang tribe of Manipur. The present study reveals that the Lamkang population is showing tendency towards fertility transition as evident from the population pyramid. This has shown the beginning of positive effects of education and employment on the reduction of fertility. Overall, males have a higher literacy and better occupation than their female counterparts. One-way analysis of variance reveals that the mean number of conceptions and mean number of live births show statistically significant differences with respect to women's education and family type, which is also reaffirmed by correlation analysis indicating that factors such as family type and women's education along with the other factors such as age at marriage, age at first conception, age at menarche show significant association with fertility.