Genghis Khan - Descent

Descent

Zerjal et al. identified a Y-chromosomal lineage present in about 8% of the men in a large region of Asia (about 0.5% of the world total). The paper suggests that the pattern of variation within the lineage is consistent with a hypothesis that it originated in Mongolia about 1,000 years ago. Because the rate of such a spread would be too rapid to have occurred by genetic drift, the authors propose that the lineage is carried by likely male-line descendants of Genghis Khan, and that it has spread through social selection. In Mongolia alone as many as 200,000 of the country's 2 million people could be Khan descendants. In addition to most of the Mongol nobility up to the 20th century, the Mughal emperor Babur's mother was a descendant. Timur (also known as Tamerlane), the 14th century military leader, claimed descent from Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan was one of the most powerful warlords during his reign, as a result the harem that he kept was of enormous size. It is said that his harem reached anywhere from 2,000–3,000 women. There are so many descendants of Genghis Khan not only because of the size of his harem, but also because of the size of his sons' harems and that they ruled their own separate kingdoms.