Quite a few Melungeons (S.E. Appalachia) are having DNA testing done, some have discovered they have a close genetic match to the Chitpavan Brahmins.

I am a chitpavan and frankly I don’t know what our origins are. I am a 100% kobra – and by that all I mean is that my ancestors on paternal and maternal sides of my family were Chitpavans to as long as I can go (17th century). However, it is indeed true that many of my family members look very different than the “typical” look from the Indian sub-continent. My mother gets confused for a european person but my father is very dark. There are lots of people within my family that have light eyes – blue, green, hazel. My daughter has amazing blue eyes – I am sure partly because my wife is French but I know that I carry that gene since I know my relatives and mother have it.

I have observed similar kind of pattern in other chitpavan families. The Imperial Gazette in the 18th or 19th century published a description of Chitpavans that says “we have nordic features” and are employed as spies.

Almost all Chitpavan families have a “kulvrutanta” – a book that documents their ancestry as much as is know.

Even the word “chitpavan” has conflicting meanings: - one thought is that it means someone who has been brought back to life/purified by fire. One old story I heard is that we are descended from people found on the konkan coast. - another story says that many have origins in Chitpol and hence the name

My ancestors migrated from the konkan coast into interior Maharashtra in the 19th century – however, we were always looked on as “different”. Our staple diet is slightly different from the “rest” of the inhabitants of Maharashtra.

A few years back someone was sponsoring free DNA testing if you had chitpavan surname but I didn’t do it.

Ultra-high caste Marathi people tend to have hazel or green eyes. Light brown is also fairly common.

I dont know what is Ultra-high caste … but anyways, these are Kokanastha Brahmins of Maharashtra. (Also called Kobra). They also call themselves Chitpavan Brahmins. They are a RECENT MIGRATION to India from West Asia. They have distinct light colored eyes and light skin. Famous Kobras are model/actor Milind Soman , revolutionaries and freedom fighters such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Chafekar brothers etc. and ofcourse movie star Madhuri Dixit

However, one thing that I must admit is that many Indian communities have engaged in revisionist history, and they have effectively changed their own pedigree. The Chitpavan Brahmins, on Wikipedia, claim: (1) Berber origins, (2) Egyptian-Greek origins, (3) and Israeli origins. This highlights that they are very ashamed of their own origins.

The common wisdom and the local wisdoms indicate that their origins is from the Portuguese people who ruled there for a while. The Portuguese men intermarried with the local woman.

This is lisa from Chittagong,Bangladesh.Chittagong is the largest port city in bangladesh.Various kinds of people can be found in this city.During 17th century a lot of european traders came here and married local women to spread bussiness.One can easily find european looking people here.I myself have blonde hair,green eyes and reddish skin.A lot of portuguese and italian word can be found in the chittagonian[local language] language.Rest of the bangladeshi can not understand this language.Green,blue,hazel eyed people can also be found throughout Bangladesh.Bangladeshi people are the mixture of europoid,alpean,aryan,middle eastern people.

Bangladeshis are also part Dravidian and Chinese and Australoid.

Most people living in the colder parts of Indian subcontinent have extremly light skin. See this Indian Kashmiri Girl-http://www.delhiteam.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/kashmir_muslim_girl.jpg

See also this Tajik girl-http://farm1.static.flickr.com/78/392577802_2a0b852458.jpg?v=0

Now note the similarilty of looks and colour. In this region people in general are fairer than most Europeans.

just had to add, ALL afghans look quite asian. There is NO stereotypical look for an Asian. ALSO, there are plenty of other ethnic groups (not including ppl who have intermarried, and now identify w/ the father’s tribe) who have single eyelid folds – NOT just hazaras – this is not a trait limited to just one ethnic group inside afghanistan. Secondly, if you’re going to be talking about AFGHAN history, read a bit more. There is quite a large influence from the turks, not just the mongols, among OTHER groups.

and most afghans find it just as insulting to be linked with mongols as others do to be linked with indians (no offense to either groups). We just prefer to be considered what we are, afghans