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“The archaeologists who made the study noted that ‘Southern Indian ancestry was estimated at 42–49%’ for the Cambodian individual whose remains they were studying. They identified ‘Irula, Mala, and Vellalar’ caste types as the most likely South Asian contributors to the ancient individual’s genome. These are all specifically low-caste non-Brahmin groups. It appears that we are dealing with the emigration of a large and socially varied group of Indian individuals, leading to intermarriage with Cambodians and the emergence of mixed-marriage families. This implies a varied mercantile diaspora rather than just the boatloads of literate Brahmins who record their own presence on inscriptions. It also helps explain the presence of non-Vedic, non-Brahmanical Tamil folk and village guardian deities like Aiyanar turning up from the beginning in shrines across the region, where he seems to have been worshipped as the Protector of Travellers and the Night Guardian of Reservoirs” — William Dalrymple