Hundreds of millions of men in Asia can trace their descent back to just 11 extraordinarily prolific founding fathers, a study in the European Journal of Human Genetics suggests.
Genghis Khan, the Mongol warlord, is estimated to have around 16 million male descendants, while Giocangga, a 16th-century Manchurian general, is thought to account for 1.5 million.
Their achievements, however, are dwarfed by one nomad and eight kings of ancient agricultural societies who appear to have passed on their genetic legacy to as many as 800million people.
Geneticists collected 460 DNA samples from men in central Asia and compared them with samples from 127 different Asian populations. Analysing their Y chromosomes, which are inherited only from the father, researchers found 11 types. Three of the 11 dynasties seem to be medieval nomads from the steppes of central Asia, while the other eight are older, settled civilisations.
Mark Jobling, professor of genetics at Leicester, who led the study, said the tyrants of the steppe were highly mobile horse-riders who spread their Y chromosomes far and wide.
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In the absence of DNA samples from the warlords, however, it is impossible to be certain of the bloodline’s origins. All genetics can definitely say is that 11 men in central Asia had a whale of a time between 700BC and 1300AD.