Niraj Rai

Rare 2200 year old copper coin depicting Shiva found in Ujjain. @AmitRaiJain1

Chuffed to see dad reading my new book "The Origins of Agriculture in the Bronze Age Indus Civilization" (Available from @CambridgeUP now in hardback and digital form) #IndusCivilization #archaeology #archaeobotany #archaeologicalscience #harappa #India #Pakistan

Dr. @NirajRai3 in Science Chronicle. sciencechronicle.in/2025/07/13/wid… “The dawn of animal domestication 6,500 years ago unleashed a hidden epidemic crisis across Eurasia, with zoonotic diseases becoming more widespread about 5,000 years ago. Analysis of DNA from the teeth and bones of…

My article on Widespread animal domestication caused disease surge 5,000 years ago. sciencechronicle.in/2025/07/13/wid…

Our breakthrough studies on Sinhalese population of SriLanka suggest a prehistoric elite group migration to Sri Lanka and transmitted the language but not genes. sciencechronicle.in/2025/07/01/sri…

My editorial on the ground breaking research published yesterday. India currently experiencing high endogamy practiced, the reason why some rare, harmful mutations have become more common in some Indian groups. Tracing anceint Indian Ancestry and diseases sciencechronicle.in/2025/06/28/a-g…

Rajasthan dig reveals 3,500-year-old settlement and River channel: This ancient river system nourished early human settlements and connects Bahaj to the larger Saraswati basin culture. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/ra…

Those keen & eligible may please apply below for an interesting short term project at @fihcr_info

Happy to share our new research article on demographic and migratory history of Sri Lanka. This is one of the detailed genetic studies ever done on Sri Lankan population. @MaanasaRaghavan @CurrentBiology cell.com/current-biolog…

To be recognised on stage by Dr. Vikram Sampath was a moment of pride for the FIHCR team—with each of us bringing different strengths, held together by a shared commitment to telling India’s history with honesty and depth.🇮🇳✨ @vikramsampath 🙏🏼

Nearly 4000 years old Royal burials and War Chariot are found from Tilwara, Meerut. The findings and Archaeological context are similar to Sinauli.

Wow!

We have generated ancient genomic data of extinct Indian Cheetah for the first time! Now it’s time to resurrect Indian Cheetah using aDNA and gene editing methods adopted to reintroduce Dire Wolf got extinct 11000 years ago. nature.com/articles/s4159… reuters.com/science/us-com…

Our study in the news. "A new study reconstructing the Arabian Peninsula’s ancient past adds clues to how early humans left the African continent." nationalgeographic.com/environment/ar…

Happy Rama Navami to everyone. Wish that the divine blessings of Lord Rama bring prosperity, peace and virtue to everyone’s life.

For nearly 12 years, my work on rare #geneticDisorders among the people of #JammuKashmir has uncovered a critical reality: these disorders, which should be rare, are alarmingly common. This rise is largely driven by a widespread lack of understanding about #biology, heredity, and…

I was playing around with a new script and thought I'd share these two plots that are somewhat of an update (with more ancients/moderns) of Fig. 2 of my 2017 paper + two plots that color code individuals by population Fst in the standard W. Eurasian PCA. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC55…

Excellent research article on consanguinity and serious health related issues among modern day Pakistanis. nature.com/articles/s4146…

nature.com/articles/s4158…

Our research publications on Vadnagar archaeological site paid off our hard work and have been recognised in a book launch event by the Union Home Minister of India. It’s a proud moment for me and my institution. @BSIP_official @GovtOfGujarat