New Delhi: How did our ancestors document the origin of their roots, and how scientific were their methods? How diverse are the country’s traditions on genealogy writing, and how is such work preserved for generations? What are the roots of the people who live in this country and what are their ancestral identities?

Questions like this will be deliberated at the RSS-backed Prajnya Pravah’s third edition of ‘Lokmanthan’, the Colloquium of Nation First Thinkers and Practitioners, organised along with other RSS affiliates such as Samskar Bharati, Vijnana Bharati, Sahitya Parishad, Itihas Sankalan Samiti and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, in Guwahati from September 22 to September 24. While RSS leaders, including general Dattatreya Hosabale, are expected to participate in the event, vice-president of India Jagdeep Dhankhar and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sharma are also expected to speak.

J Nandakumar, the national convenor of Prajna Pravah, told ET that Indian traditions of genealogy writing or Vanshavali lekhan have a long, continuous history of chronicling the journey of families, and in some ways, have worked as an ancient, effective form of census.

Genealogy is the study of families and tracing of ancestries to prove kinship and pedigrees. But experts say it often cannot provide definitive answers about geographic origins and ancient migrations of communities.

Organisations such as the Akhil Bharatiya Vanshawali Sanrakshan evam Samvardhan Sansthan (ABVSSS) backed by RSS…