Not exactly descendants the indo iranian farmers are regarded as an ancestral population now but they admixed heavily with the population(s) native to the Indians which are closer to aboriginal (think of the people of sentinel island) and depending one where you come from you will have differing levels of indo-Aryan or Native Indian admixture
Actual aryans were like Iranians and central asians, not blond haired blue eyed Germanic people.
What is west asian?
South Asians are South Asians. Nothing else.
South Asians (specifically modern-day Pakistan with some of it in Afghanistan and India) created the first civilization of the world. We descend from people so ancient we don't know a single thing about them except for mere speculations. As for genetics, you would need to do some kind of DNA testing but even that is not reliable for South Asians since our origins are unknown, unlike those of Iranians and other ethnic groups.
The Indus Valley Civilization predates any other civilization. It's funny that the country we called India is called India, when the Indus River doesn't even run through that country but Pakistan instead.
IVC is so ancient we don't know anything about them. Funnily enough Indians want to pretend that Hindus were the oldest civilization to discredit Islamic people but that's not true. Thank God.
why does that matter so much?
Because Indians keep trying to say that Hindus are the original people in the region, when it's not even remotely true. Why do you care?
You should read about the Indus periphery. It's an interesting theory. And well, funnily enough, the terms hindu and India are all hijacked. It stems from the Indus River which flows through Pakistan only and Kashmir. It doesn't even apply to the country that lies east of Pakistan. I guess they know deep down and that's why they call their country bharat instead of India.
I just have an interest in anthropology, not specifically in the indian subcontinent
Yes, religious group. And that's not true. There is definitely genetic variety between Hindus and Islamic people in South Asia. We have lived side by side for each other for centuries and we have never mixed with each other. Our cultures, rules and values are entirely different. Lumping them in the same category is just illogical.
I'd have to look that up. Well, there's definitely a genetic variety between every single human, not exactly how we measure that tbh, but "we have never mixed" is quite of a nonsense statement by all means, this is just not how different humans populations tend to interact with each other, not even in way less diverse regions like east asia. That's just very unlikely given the proximity.
I am talking about since the arrival of Islam, we have never mixed. Didn't think I'd have to spell it out for you.
