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Inbreeding in the State of Karnataka, South India

Article in Human Heredity · February 1982

DOI: 10.1159/000153252 · Source: PubMed

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 Hum. Herecl. 32 : 8-10 (1982)

Inbreeding in the State of Karnataka, South India

A. Radha Rama Devi, N. Appaji Rao, A. H. Billies

Health Centre and Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, and
Department of Human Biology, Chelsea College, University of London, UK

Key Words. Inbreeding • New-borns • Karnataka • South India

Abstract. The inbreeding patterns and coefficient of inbreeding (F) of 3,350 new-borns
in Bangalore, Karnataka were determined. A total of 29.24% were born of consanguineous
marriages, F = 0.02313. Inbreeding was most common among the Hindus: 23.56% of
their marriages were uncle-niece, F for the group was 0.02670.

Introduction lions. It is anticipated that the 1981 census will

The high rates of consanguineous mar­
riages among the populations of the South
Indian States of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu have been extensively documented
[Dronamraju and Meera Khan, 1963; Cen-
terwall and Centerwall, 1966; Sanghvi,
1966; Marly and Jamil, 1972; Rao and In-
baraj, 1977, 1979, 1980], By comparison
little evidence exists relating to inbreeding
in the population of the neighbouring state
of Karnataka. For this reason, while con­
ducting a prospective screening programme
on new-born children in the State for blood
amino acid disorders, data was also collect­
ed on the current levels of inbreeding.
Materials and Methods
In the last census taken in 1971, the popula­
show a marked increase in both of these figures,
particularly with respect to Bangalore since the
city has rapidly developed during the last 30 years
into a major industrial centre. To ascertain the de­
gree of consanguinity of the individual new-borns,
a total of 3,350 nursing mothers were surveyed
from seventeen hospitals, maternity homes and
health centres in the Bangalore area. In the ab­
sence of written records, the mothers were inter­
viewed in their own language, predominantly
Kannada, by a member of the clinical, nursing or
paramedical staffs of he respective units.
Results
The results obtained with the entire sam­
ple are presented in table I. In 53 cases the
data supplied were incomplete; excluding
these subjects, the coefficient of inbreeding
of the population (F) was 0.02313. The
types of marriages and the coefficients of in-
breeding found in each of the three major
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tion of the state of Karnataka was 29.30 millions religious subgroups are reproduced in tables
and that of Bangalore, the capital, was 1.65 mil­ II and III.
King's College London
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Inbreeding in Karnataka 9

Discussion rapid growth of the population of Bangalore

during the last 10 years, mostly due to the
The level of inbreeding found in this migration of rural couples into the city. It is
Karnatakan population is on a par with that probable that rural couples formed a signifi­
reported for Andhra Pradesh and Tamil cant proportion of the population studied
Nadu; indeed the overall coefficient of in- and, traditionally, inbreeding rates have
breeding is greater than that of equivalent been higher in the villages than in the towns
urban groups in those two states [Murty and and cities. If full family pedigrees were con­
Jamil, 1972; Rao and Inbaraj, 1977], An structed, the value for the total coefficient
explanation for this finding lies in the very of inbreeding would have been even larger
because of inbreeding in previous genera­
Table I. Consanguinity in Karnataka tions. The prime cause of the large inbreed­
ing value in Bangalore is the very high rate
Marriage Number Percent of uncle-niece marriages among the Hindus
who formed the majority of the sample. At
Total studied 3,350
Non-consanguineous 2,327 69.46
23.56%, it is far in excess of published val­
Consanguineous ues from other comparable areas of South
Beyond second cousin 38 1.13 India.
Second cousin 181 5.40 Inbreeding at this level is believed to
First cousin 327 9.76 have been practised by the Dravidian Hindu
Uncle-niece 424 12.66
Incomplete data
population for over 2,000 years [Centerwall
53 1.58
et al., 1969]. Obviously such disadvantages

Table II. Consanguinity and religion

Religion non-consan­ Beyond 2nd 2nd cousin 1st cousin Uncle-niece Unknown Total
guineous cousin

Hindu 1,596 25 133 245 376 38 2,413

Muslim 493 9 38 63 31 8 642
Christian 236 4 10 19 17 7 293
Other 2 0 0 0 0 0 2

Total 2,327 38 181 327 424 53 3,350

Table III. Coefficient of inbreeding and religious group

Religious group Number Incidence in Inbreeding, % Coefficient of

population, % inbreeding

Hindu 2,413 72.03 32.26 0.02670

Muslim 642 19.16 21.96 0.01309
Christian
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293 8.75 17.06 0.01183

Other 2 0.06 0 0
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10
as may exist from the expression in the pop­
ulation of recessive iethals due to the in­
creased homozygosity of the inbred off­
spring, are held to be out-weighed by the so­
cial benefits which acme from consangui­
neous marriages; mainly the maintenance of
family structure and property. As earlier re­
ported in Andhra Pradesh [Dronamraju and
Meera Khan, 1963; Sanghvi, 1966J the
inbred patterns of marriage are also fol­
lowed by the Muslim and Christian com­
munities although to a considerably reduced
extent (tables II and III). Interestingly, half
of the Christian uncle-niece marriages were
between members of the Roman Catholic
faith which would seem to indicate a partial
compliance with the prevailing social habits
in the face of Church disapprobation. How­
ever, it is also possible that a number of
these couples were recent converts to Ro­
man Catholicism.
Despite the historical and current prefer­
ence for consanguineous marriages in the
Karnatakan population, future demographic
changes may impose a restriction on such
unions, particularly of the uncle-niece type.
Urbanization and industrialization have al­
ready caused large-scale movements of the
population. Child marriages are now illegal
and family sizes are rapidly diminishing, es­
pecially in the Hindu and Christian com­
munities. Under these changed circum­
stances, if a brother plans to marry his elder
sister’s daughter, it will almost inevitably be
necessary for him to wait for a long period
before the marriage can take place. Ulti­
mately, this could prove to be a potent de­
terrent to the union.
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Radha Rama Devi Rao/Bittles
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the excellent techni­
cal assistance of Mr. C. Venkatesluin, Mrs. Seellta
S- Mnrlhy and Miss V. Sowmitliri.
The work was financially supported by the
British Council and the Eugenics Society, London.
References
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A.H. Bittles, PhD,
Department of Human Biology,
Chelsea College,
University of London, London (UK)
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King's College London
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