Genghis Khan was One of the World's Deadliest Rulers, and 16 Million of His Descendants are Alive Today
The 100 Deadliest Episodes in Human History
1. Second World War (Worldwide 1939-45)Death Toll: 65 million
Germany and Japan decide that the world would be a lot better place without all those damn foreigners.
2. Genghis Khan (Asia 1206-27)
Death Toll: 40 million
The Mongols’ attacks may have reduced the entire world population by as much as 11 percent.
3. Mao Zedong (China 1949-75)
Death Toll: 40 million
Communist policies badly messed up China.
4. Famines in British India (1769, 1876, 1896, 1943)
Death Toll: 27 million
Colonial policies badly messed up India.
5. Fall of the Ming Dynasty (China 1635-62)
Death Toll: 25 million
The pinnacle of Chinese civilization succumbed to internal rebellion and external invaders.
6. Taiping Rebellion (China 1850-64)
Death Toll: 20 million
A messianic uprising of Chinese Christians.
7. Stalin (Soviet Union 1928-53)
Death Toll: 20 million
The second most evil moustache in history.
8. Mideast Slave Trade (ca. 700-1900)
Death Toll: 19 million
It wasn't really like this.
9. Tamerlane (Central Asia 1370-1405)
Death Toll: 17 million
A Mongol warlord tried a bit too hard to be like Genghis Khan.
10. Atlantic Slave Trade (1452-1807)
Death Toll: 16 million
Someone's got to do the dirty work.
How could 16 million men, living in an area stretching from China to the Middle East, share the identical genetic footprint of one man, Genghis Khan?
That vast region precisely matches the range of Genghis Khan's dominion, through which he led his 13th century Mongol armies on the greatest orgy of pillage, rape and slaughter known to history. It was a phenomenal achievement, accomplished in just 20 years. At the time of his death in 1227, Genghis ruled an empire twice the size of Rome's, and it changed the world forever. His original name was Temujin, but he took the title of Genghis Khan, or 'Universal Ruler,' when he united the fractious Mongolian tribes in 1206. He and his pony-mounted archers then set out on a whirlwind of foreign conquest and destruction. Genghis and his hordes annihilated every community which resisted them, killing or enslaving men, then distributing captured women among themselves and raping them. [Source]
11 Fathers of Asia: Does DNA Testing Prove 800 Million Men are Descendants of 11, with 16 Million Living Today?
January 30, 2015DNA Center - Researchers suggest Genghis Khan and ten other powerful Asian rulers dating back to 1300 BC share distinctive sequences in Y-chromosomes—part of our DNA that only men carry—with over 800 million men living today. Perhaps as many as 16 million men are directly tied to Genghis Khan himself.
Published in the European Journal of Human Genetics and highlighted in a Daily Mail feature on January 28, 2015, the study links prolific leaders in Asia to men living today, by studying the distribution of gene sequences in today’s populations. Researchers analyzed the Y chromosomes of 5,231 men from 127 different populations around Asia. They found 11 common Y chromosome sequences that cropped up repeatedly in the genomes they examined; 37.8 percent of the men tested belonged to one of these 11 lineages.
Geneticists have found lineage clusters, but cannot clearly identify the original individuals unless their remains are found and tested. They believe the only men with the opportunity to father as many children needed to create these large clusters would have been warlords of Mongolia like Genghis Khan 800 years ago.
Writing in the European of Human Genetics, professor Mark Jobling wrote:
“High reproductive success if often associated with high social status, ‘prestigious’ men having higher intramarital fertility, lower offspring mortality and access to a greater number of wives.Richard Gray of the Daily Mail wrote:
“If the tomb of leaders like Genghis Khan are ever unearthed, it could result in the ultimate paternity test for millions of men around the world. The only way to know for sure who these 11 founding fathers were will be to find their remains and extract DNA.”
Genghis Khan a Prolific Lover, DNA Data Implies
February 14, 2003
National Geographic News - Genghis Khan, the fearsome Mongolian warrior of the 13th century, may
have done more than rule the largest empire in the world; according to a
recently published genetic study, he may have helped populate it too.
An international group of geneticists studying Y-chromosome data have found that nearly 8 percent of the men living in the region of the former Mongol empire carry y-chromosomes that are nearly identical. That translates to 0.5 percent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million descendants living today.
The spread of the chromosome could be the result of natural selection, in which an extremely fit individual manages to pass on some sort of biological advantage. The authors think this scenario is unlikely. They suggest that the unique set of circumstances surrounding the establishment of the Mongol empire led to the spread.
"This is a clear example that culture plays a very big role in patterns of genetic variation and diversity in human populations," said geneticist Spencer Wells, one of the 23 co-authors of the paper. "It's the first documented case when human culture has caused a single genetic lineage to increase to such an enormous extent in just a few hundred years."Legacy of Genghis Khan
To have such a startling impact on a population required a special set of circumstances, all of which are met by Genghis Khan and his male relatives, the authors note in the study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Khan's empire at the time of his death extended across Asia, from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea. His military conquests were frequently characterized by the wholesale slaughter of the vanquished. His descendants extended the empire and maintained power in the region for several hundred years, in civilizations in which harems and concubines were the norm. And the males were markedly prolific.
Khan's eldest son, Tushi, is reported to have had 40 sons. Documents written during or just after Khan's reign say that after a conquest, looting, pillaging, and rape were the spoils of war for all soldiers, but that Khan got first pick of the beautiful women. His grandson, Kubilai Khan, who established the Yuan Dynasty in China, had 22 legitimate sons, and was reported to have added 30 virgins to his harem each year.
"The historically documented events accompanying the establishment of the Mongol empire would have contributed directly to the spread of this lineage," the authors conclude.Tracking the Y-Chromosome
The study looked at blood samples collected over a period of ten years from more than 40 populations living in and around the former Mongol empire.
Geneticists use the Y-chromosome in population studies such as this because it doesn't recombine as other parts of the genome do. When it comes to eye color, or height, or resistance or susceptibility to particular diseases, each parent contributes half of a child's DNA, which join together to form a new genetic combination. The Y-chromosome is passed on as a chunk of DNA from father to son, basically unchanged through generations except for random mutations.
These random mutations, which happen naturally and are usually harmless, are called markers. Once the markers have been identified, geneticists can go back in time and trace them to the point at which they first occurred, defining a unique lineage of descent.
In this particular instance, the lineage originated 1,000 years ago. The authors aren't saying that the genetic mutations defining the lineage originated with Khan, who was born around 1162; they are more likely to have been passed on to him by a great great grandfather.
The lineage was found in only one population outside of the former Mongolian empire, in Pakistan.
"The Hazaras [of Pakistan] gave us our first clue to the connection with Genghis Khan," said Wells. "They have a long oral tradition that says they're his direct descendants."Of course, the connection to Genghis Khan will never be a certainty unless his grave is found and his DNA could be extracted. Until then, geneticists will continue to seek out isolated populations in the hope of unraveling the mysteries of geographic origin and relatedness told by our genes.
Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire - History Channel
1 in 200 men direct descendants of Genghis Khan [Excerpt]
August 5, 2010Razib Khan - It may be that in the near future we’ll find something peculiar about the carriers of this particular haplotype, but until then, this map speaks for itself:
The haplotype we’re focusing on clearly tracks the boundaries of the Mongol Empire as it was at the death of Genghis Khan. The main exception to this are the Hazara people of central Afghanistan, who importantly have a claim of paternal descent from Mongol soldiers who fled turmoil in Persia after the collapse of Mongol rule over that nation. Also, the shaded areas are regions where the population density was, and is, relatively low in relation to later societies which the Mongols conquered in East and West Asia. Finally, the shaded areas were under domination of Genghiside lineages for far longer than Yuan China or the Ilkhanate of Persia. In Mongolia, northeast China, and throughout Central Asia, Genghiside lineages were paramount down to the era of the “Great Game” between Russia and the British Empire.
The 2003 paper (by National Geographic, see above) isn’t the last word. Here’s a table from a 2007 paper which surveyed groups which include many groups currently resident within the Russian Federation:
Of interest in this table is the relatively higher frequency among the Kazakh sample than among the Kalmyks. The Kalmyks are a people who were a fragment of the aforementioned Zunghar Empire who took refuge in the Russian Empire. They make the claim to be the only indigenous people of Europe who are Buddhists (Kalmykia is to the west of the Urals and Volga). Though more closely related to the Mongols proper than the Turkic Kazakhs in culture and genes, they do not seem to carry the lineage of Genghis Khan, as was reputedly the case in the 18th century when the Genghiside led Mongol tribes fought them as arriviste interlopers. In contrast the Kazakhs have presumably mixed for centuries with the remnants of the Golden Horde. It is interesting to note that the 2007 Genghis Khan biopic Mongol had funding from the government of Kazakhstan, again attesting to the prestige which he still retains outside of Mongolia in Inner Asia.
Let’s jump back to the conclusion of the original paper:
…Several scenarios, which are not mutually exclusive, could explain its rapid spread: (1) all populations carrying star-cluster chromosomes could have descended from a common ancestral population in which it was present at high frequency; (2) many or most Mongols at the time of the Mongol empire could have carried these chromosomes; (3) it could have been restricted to Genghis Khan and his close male-line relatives, and this specific lineage could have spread as a result of their activities.
Explanation 1 is unlikely because these populations do not share other Y haplotypes, and explanation 2 is difficult to reconcile with the high Y-haplotype diversity of modern Mongolians…
The historically documented events accompanying the establishment of the Mongol empire would have contributed directly to the spread of this lineage by Genghis Khan and his relatives, but perhaps as important was the establishment of a long-lasting male dynasty. This scenario shows selection acting on a group of related men; group selection has been much discussed…and is distinguished by the property that the increased fitness of the group is not reducible to the increased fitness of the individuals.
It is unclear whether this is the case here. Our findings nevertheless demonstrate a novel form of selection in human populations on the basis of social prestige. A founder effect of this magnitude will have influenced allele frequencies elsewhere in the genome: mitochondrial DNA lineages will not be affected, since males do not transmit their mitochondrial DNA, but, in the simplest models, the founder male will have been the ancestor of each autosomal sequence in 4% of the population and X-chromosomal sequence in 2.7%, with implications for the medical genetics of the region….Garrett Hardin, pioneer of the “tragedy of the commons” model, also asserted that “nice guys finish last.” From what I know of the history it does not seem that Genghis Khan was any more evil or sociopathic than Julius Caesar, Charlemagne or Alexander the Great. What he had on his side was simply scale of success. So I don’t know if it truly is an example of nice guys finishing last. The biography gleaned from The Secret History of the Mongols doesn’t indicate the level of self-destructive sociopathy of Stalin or Ivan the Terrible. Rather, Genghis Khan was able to gather around himself a cadre of followers who were willing to stick with him through thick and thin.
In the life and legacy of the great Mongol warlord I suspect we see the patterns of male domination and power projection which were the norm after the decline of hunter-gatherers, and before the rise of the mass consumer society. During this period complex civilizations built on rents extracted from subsistence agriculturalists arose. These civilizations were dominated by powerful men, who could accrue to themselves massive surpluses, and translate those surpluses into reproductive advantage. This was not possible in the hunter-gatherer world where reproductive variance was constrained by the reality that allocation of resources was relatively equitable from person to person. But with agriculture and village society inequality shot up, and the winner-take-all dynamic came to the fore. And so the appearance on the scene genetically of super-Y lineages. Over the past 200 years the pendulum has started to shift back, thanks to the spread of Western values and normative monogamy, which dampens the potential unequal reproductive outcomes between the rich and the poor.
Addendum: Since my surname is Khan, I should admit that I am not a direct descendant of Genghis Khan through the male line. I’m R1a1a. In South Asia “Khan” was an honorific for Muslims.
DNA Sequence of Genghis Khan’s Descendant
January 4, 2012
DNA Diagnostics Center - Scientists in China have completed the genome sequence for Genghis Khan’s direct descendant—the first complete genome sequence from a representative of the Mongolian population.
The unnamed man is Khan’s 34th- generation descendant, who was chosen for his fully defined family pedigree dating back to the 13th century, and the absence of intermarriage with other ethnic groups. This may have been particularly important, because Khan is famous for being prolific. According to the article:
A study released in 2003 revealed that 8 percent of the males living in the regions of the former Mongolian Empire carried a nearly identical Y chromosome, suggesting that they were all direct descendants of Genghis Khan and his many sons. According to the study, as many as 0.5 percent of all males on the planet today may be descendants of Genghis Khan.The scientists’ goal in decoding this genome sequence is to explore genetic differences and examine the characteristics of genetic diseases found among the Mongolian people.
Genome sequencing also provides information that scientists can use in tracing a person’s ancestry. As indicated above, testing the Y chromosome is often used to trace paternal lineages. DNA Diagnostics Center offers Y-chromosome comparison testing to investigate a possible paternal lineage between two males.
Our Ancestry division also offers a Y-STR test that gives ancestry researchers their Y haplogroup—revealing the geographic origins of their direct paternal ancestor. Genghis Khan belongs to the Haplogroup C.
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