Genghis Khan: Father To Millions

Discovery News ^ | 6-22-2004 | Rossella Lorenzi

[blam]

Genghis Khan: Father to Millions?

By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040621/gallery/genghis_goto.jpg>

Statue of the Mongol Emperor

June 22, 2004 —Genghis Khan left a legacy shared by 16 million people alive today, according to a book by a Oxford geneticist who identified the Mongol emperor as the most successful alpha male in human history.

Regarded by the Mongolians as the father of their nation, Genghis Khan was born around 1162. A military and political genius, he united the tribes of Mongolia and conquered half of the known world with a cavalry riding on grass-fed ponies.

By the time Genghis died in 1227, his empire stretched from the Pacific coast of China to the Caspian Sea.

Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at Oxford University and author of "Adam's Curse," a study of the Y chromosome, believes Genghis's "super Y" chromosome survived and proliferated as far as the British Isles. He has just begun to check it at Oxford Ancestors, a leading provider of DNA-based services for use in personal ancestry research.

"We will offer British men genetic tests to see if they are Genghis's descendants. It is possible that the Mongol emperor's Y chromosome spread as far as the U.K. through gradual immigration from further East over the centuries," Sykes told Discovery News.

The genetic testing follows another Oxford study, which involved a survey of the Y chromosome — which is passed unchanged from father to son — from all over Central Asia.

The researchers found one Y chromosome fingerprint that was identical in eight percent of the male population.

"This was highly unusual and suggested that they may all have descended from one man living in the fairly recent past. By seeing what small changes had occurred, it was possible to estimate the time at which this common ancestor lived, and it was consistent with an origin in the 12th or 13th century," Sykes said.

Matching that evidence with the overlap between where the chromosome was abundant and the geographical extent of the Mongol empire established by Genghis Khan in the 12th century, the researchers concluded it was Genghis' chromosome.

The Mongol emperor's habit of killing the men and inseminating the women when his army conquered a new territory, coupled with handing the Empire and other wealth to his sons, and their sons, would explain how the chromosome came to such prevalence today, said Sykes.

The final piece of evidence came from the Hazara, a hill tribe in Pakistan who had a strong oral history of being descended from Genghis Khan.

"The Y chromosome was present in the Hazara, but not in the surrounding tribes, who did not have this oral history. Though the evidence is circumstantial, it is, I believe, very strong," Sykes said.

Finding Genghis Khan's tomb, one of the great secrets of all time, could provide the definitive evidence, leading to a direct comparison of Genghis' Y chromosome with those of modern men.

Sykes' hypothesis seems to be consistent with history, according to David Morgan, a Mongol history specialist at the University of Wisconsin.

"There's no reason to doubt that Genghis Khan fathered a good crop of children, if one is to believe the testimony of contemporaries," Morgan told Discovery News.

[wardaddy]

Tarim Basin Caucazoids.

[VadeRetro]

Genghis, that priapic Mongol
Made whoopee with many a strong girl.
So many descendants
Would be his dependents ...
His tax bill would not scare a Scotsman.

(OK, you try rhyming with "Mongol" sometime.)

[PatrickHenry]

Across the steppes of Asia,
Ghenghis conquered and took his pleasure,
Spawning kiddies left and right,
Sometimes several in one night,
His progeny are now beyond measure.

[blam]

"Tarim Basin Caucazoids."

Yup, relatives.

[judgeandjury]

Then I suppose you've never had that particular remark directed at someone you love. I don't care if it is a pun, it's a very insensitive word. If he'd made some sort of a pun featuring, oh, "Jap", would that be funny, too?

A word is only offensive if you let it offend you.

[wardaddy]

This stuff is truly fascinating, thanks for posting.

It really interests me and I should read more.

[PatrickHenry]

When it's all said and done,
Who had more fun,
Whether in enemies dead,
Or girls in his bed,
Than Ghenghis Khan,
He's way out ahead!

[blam]

"This stuff is truly fascinating, thanks for posting."

You're welcome.

" It really interests me and I should read more."

Living on the deep steppes was impossible for humans before the domestication of the horse and the invention of the wheel.

[wardaddy]

Those two and a phoentic alphabet are benchmarks of civilization highwater marks.

Runes are a lesser benchmark, the transition to symbols representing oral sounds is a critical and is only found at the high end.

[FreedomCalls]

The final piece of evidence came from the Hazara, a hill tribe in Pakistan who had a strong oral history of being descended from Genghis Khan.

I thought the Hazara claimed to be descended from Alexander the Great. Will they claim to be descended from George Bush or Osama bin Laden next?

[blam]

The Hazara Of Central Afghanistan

"The Hazara, sometimes called the Hazara Mongols, represent the last remnants of the great Mongol dynasties that came through the area that is now Afghanistan in the early part of the 13th Century. Although the historical evidence is sketchy, it appears that the Hazara entered central Afghanistan sometime between 1229 AD and 1447 AD. The Hazaras’ Mongol origins can be seen in their Central Asian features including high cheekbones, sparse beards, and epicanthic eye folds, which distinguish them from the surrounding ethnic groups. The name Hazara is thought to derive from the Persian word, Hezar, which means "thousand," referring to a military unit in the Mongol army, but there is no historical evidence that troops were actually garrisoned in the area."

[Corin Stormhands]

This is NOT PC run amok. Yes, it used to be the accepted and recognized term in the medical community. The medical community also used to use leeches, force sterilization and perform lobotomies.

Your example of Iraq my be correct, but it is not germane to this argument.

[Corin Stormhands]

A word is only offensive if you let it offend you.

Excellent point, Butthead.

[VOA]

The Mongol emperor's habit of killing the men and inseminating the women when
his army conquered a new territory

When asked why he did it, he replied:
"Because I could"

(just like Bill Clinton said)

[VOA]

I've heard that the Jewish name "Cohen" comes from "Khan" as well.

"Genghis Cohen"
The name of a Kosher Chinese food place in the Los Angeles area. Honest.
I only heard of them via radio adverts...but haven't heard one in maybe five years.

[VadeRetro]

Genghis said with a yawn,
"I have oodles of spawn!
And my legions oppress many nations.
It is good to be Khan,
To have groupies who fawn,
And time for all kinds of relations."

[Plutarch]

Some of the Mongol tribes were literate, so we have written collections of the history and traditions of the Mongols. One of the most telling is Genghis Khan's purported statement. While still in his formative years as a rising chieftain, he once asked some friends what the greatest pleasure was. After they variously answered hunting, falconry, or archery, Genghis is reputed to have said:

"The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer his enemies and drive them before him. To ride their horses and take away their possessions. To see the faces of those who were dear to them bedewed with tears, and to clasp their wives and daughters in his arms"

[PatrickHenry]

From China's coast to the Urals,
Genghis had plenty of girls,
His conquests and booty,
Brought him oodles of cuties,
That's the way history unfurls.

[VadeRetro]

Ruler of the world,
I have many offpring sprung.
It left me just dead.

[ZULU]

I'm sure he banned the kind of torture the American people have been subjected to of late - having to watch their own fellow-citizens and soldiers brutalized by half-baked savages who live to boast of it.

Genghis Khan was a great man.

The new book is based on a translation of "The Secret History of the Mongols" a recently deciphered manuscript which recorded the deeds of the great Genghis.

At one point one of his successors actually sent an embassy to the Pope requesting an alliance between the Mongols and Christian Crusaders to wipe out the Muslims.

Unfortunately it never came off.