New research finds India link to Shroud of Turin, believed to be Jesus Christ's burial cloth. Did Romans import linen?

New research published this week suggested that the ‘Shroud of Turin’ — believed to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ — may have links with India. The shroud has been the centre of debates for centuries, with many questioning its authenticity.

The Indian connection

Now, researchers claim the Romans may have "imported" linen or yarn used to weave the shroud from the Indus Valley region.

The latest research paper titled "Genetic Analysis of Environmental DNA on the Shroud of Turin" (bioRxiv, March 2026) revealed that roughly 38.7 percent to 40 percent of the identifiable human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) found on the Shroud belongs to haplogroups typical of South Asia (India).

It suggested that the presence of approximately 38.7 percent of Indian ethnic lineages could have resulted from historical interactions or the Romans importing linen from regions near the Indus Valley, associated with the term "Hindoyin" found in rabbinic texts.

"The presence of 38.7 percent of the overall human genomic data from Indian lineages is unexpected and is potentially linked to historical interactions associated with importing linen or yarn from regions near the Indus Valley, referred to as “Hindoyin” according to rabbinic texts (10)," read the paper, by the researchers from the University of Padova.

Notably, the term "Shroud", derived from the Greek "Sindôn" meaning fine linen, may be related to Sindh, a region renowned for its high-quality textiles.

"Historical evidence supports trade links between India and the Mediterranean, underscoring the significance of these textiles and inviting further exploration of ancient cultural interactions and trade practices," the paper added.

"Indeed, the biblical scholar Levergne stated that the term "Sindôn"

refers to a fabric of Indian origin, valued for its qualities and used for various and multiple purposes (48)," it further stated.

In brief, the outcomes from the analysis of the DNA traces found on the Shroud of Turin suggested "the potentially extensive exposure of the cloth in the Mediterranean region and the possibility that the yarn was produced in India."

The research claims to provides "original insights" into the diversity of DNA extracted from samples collected in 1978 from the Turin Shroud, revealing its biological complexity through rigorous DNA and metagenomic analyses.

It said that analysis of the DNA extracted from organic particles and textile strands sampled from the Shroud revealed "chloroplast and mitochondrial genome sequences representing multiple plant species, as well as various human biogeographical origins.

Apart from the presence of at least 19 plant species, the researchers found "sequences from at least 14 people of different geographic ancestry, based on the Eurasian haplogroups identified which are common to Western Europe and North-eastern Africa, as

well as from the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus region, and also rare haplotypes from the Indian sub-continent (9)."

What is Shroud of Turin?

Britannica says Shroud of Turin is a length of linen that is purported to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ. It has been preserved since 1578 in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy.

Meanwhile, a study published in NIH stated that the Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth measuring 4.4 m by 1.1 m "bearing the faint imprint of head-to-head, frontal and dorsal body images of a man with apparent wounds, laid out in death as if the images had been formed while the cloth was longitudinally folded over a human body."

"The positions of bloodstains are consistent with the specific details of Jesus’ crucifixion: the thorns on the head, the scourging, the nail wounds on feet and wrists, and the wound in the side. There are many triangular holes with charred edges made by a documented fire of 1532. Several water stains are also visible," it adds.