Genghis Khan unified nomadic tribes before conquering large areas of Eurasia
A new genetic analysis of a lineage found in the tombs of the Golden Horde belongs to a rarer branch of the C3* group of the Y chromosome than previously identified, suggesting that the number of descendants of Genghis Khan is smaller than previously thought.
Did 1 in every 200 men actually descends from Genghis Khan?
An ancient DNA study suggests that we were mistaken: Don’t worry (too much), he’s probably not related to the mythical Mongol warrior and conqueror.
For a long time, we have been convinced that the 13th-century founder of the Mongol Empire was so prodigiously prolific that one in every 200 men alive today carries a copy of his Y chromosome—which would make him the patriarch par excellence.
But genetics is rarely that simple. Now, ancient DNA extracted from the graves of elite members of the Golden Horde in Kazakhstan is forcing us to rethink the biological legacy of the Mongol conqueror.
In a new study, researchers sequenced the genomes of medieval rulers thought to be direct descendants of Jochithe eldest son of Genghis Khan, and discovered that these elites actually carry the C3* cluster of the Y chromosome.
This specific genetic signature became world famous after a 2003 study claimed that it belonged to Genghis Khan himself, suggesting that his achievements spread the lineage to about 8% of men in Central Asia. So in 2022, in an article of which we even did one for the ZAP channel on YouTube.
However, these individuals have a specific secondary branch and extraordinarily rare, e not the dominant version found in millions of men across Eurasia today, highlights the .
This crucial discovery, presented in a published last week in PNAS, effectively breaks the bond between the Mongol emperor and his alleged massive genetic impact on the current population.
The extraordinarily common lineage most likely belongs to a completely different patriarchwho lived a thousand years before the Mongol Empire even existed.
So if Genghis Khan didn’t generate an unbroken line of 16 million living men, How many children did he have anyway? Historical records confirm that there was four official heirs with his main wife, Börteand at least thirteen children with the remaining wives.
He also maintained a large harem of concubineswhich means he probably fathered many more children, perhaps thousands. But the exact number is one mystery completely lost in time.
Ultimately, while it was certainly prolific, the overarching myth that Genghis Khan single-handedly populated half of Eurasia It is no longer supported by science.
