The term "Mongol-Tatars" entered scientific use not earlier than the 19th century. This is how the scientists called the totality of peoples, probably of Mongolian and Turkic origin, who made a series of conquest campaigns in the 13th century under the leadership of Temujin, who was nicknamed Genghis Khan (great khan in Turkic), and then his successors.
"Mongolo-Tatars" - such a people did not exist
The expression "Mongol-Tatars" goes back to the work of the papal ambassador Plano Carpini "History of the Mongols, which we call Tatars". Carpini in 1245-1247 made a diplomatic mission to Central Asia, to the great khan Guyuk. Prior to that, the conquerors were called in European chronicles only "Tatars", just as they were always called in Russian chronicles (the latter never knew the term "Mongols").
It is obvious that already during the campaigns against the states of Central Asia, not to mention the invasion of Eastern Europe, the so-called "Mongol-Tatars" represented a whole complex of tribes, and a predominant place among them, as can be judged by the names of the khans that have come down to us, their wives and confidants were occupied by Turkic, not Mongolian peoples. Of course, they have a very distant relationship to modern both Mongols and Tatars. In a sense, all the peoples of these linguistic groups on the territory of Russia and the former USSR are descendants of the "Mongol-Tatar" conquerors.
Therefore, in any question that is based on the "Mongol-Tatars", first of all, there should be a definition: who do we mean by this name - in reality, a people that never existed? However, maybe there is no need for these ethnic definitions? Does modern science have any more concrete clues than digging up long-forgotten meanings of words in ancient manuscripts?
Haplogroup Genghis Khan
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In recent decades, research on population genetics has expanded widely. It is known that all of humanity is divided into haplogroups according to the type of the Y-chromosome, transmitted to descendants through the direct male line, and mt-DNA, transmitted through the direct female line (but also present in men). These studies, carried out among the peoples of Central Asia, revealed, in particular, an interesting fact of the wide distribution there of several clades (branches) of the Y-chromosomal haplogroup C. With a high probability, it is associated with the conquest of these territories and extensive migrations of the population. Three clusters of this haplogroup, to which 70% of the surveyed representatives of the Central Asian population belong, arose, according to the "molecular clock", between 700 and 1300. AD That is, in the era of intensive migration of the Turks to the west,including the period of the "Mongol-Tatar" conquests.
At the same time, among scientists there is no consensus about which particular haplogroup was the carrier of Genghis Khan himself. Although, it would seem, this can be established, since there are many clans that consider themselves direct descendants of Genghis Khan. But the fact of the matter is that they belong to slightly different genetic clusters. Most of all supporters of the hypothesis that this is one of the hoards of haplogroup C3.
The relative majority of the population of Central Asia belongs to various clusters of haplogroup C3. The largest number of their carriers was found among the Hazara people living in the interior regions of Afghanistan - up to 40%. In Afghanistan, the Hazaras are considered direct descendants of the conquerors who came with Genghis Khan. It can be stated that in this case the ancient legends do not lie. 30% of carriers of this Y-chromosome among the Chinese of Inner Mongolia (autonomous region of the PRC), 25% - among the Mongols of Inner Mongolia, 20% - among the Mongols of the Mongolian Republic, Kazakhs and Uyghurs of the PRC, about 10% - among the Kazakhs of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Chinese in the north of the PRC.
When the results of a study on the C3-M217 cluster, which showed its wide distribution in Central Asia, were first published, it caused a wave of comments that at least 16 million direct descendants of Genghis Khan live in the world. In fact, the mutation that formed this gene occurred long before Genghis Khan. So, if the identification of the haplogroup of Genghis Khan with this haplogroup is correct, then the people who belonged to this genetic cluster are, obviously, the descendants of a common ancestor with Genghis Khan, but not Genghis Khan himself.
Meanwhile, according to another study by French scientists, the birthplace of the three late genetic clusters, to which the majority of the population of Central Asia belongs, is Manchuria. Their carriers now live in all states of Central Asia, as well as in Mongolia, Northeast China and Xinjiang. Consequently, the carriers of this genotype are many Mongols, Kazakhs, Uighurs, Kirghiz, Uzbeks, Turkmens, a local group of Chinese (most likely, Omani Manchus). Representatives of these haplogroups were identified among the Yakuts, Evenks and Khakass.
However, among the peoples of Russia, there is no sufficiently representative sample to judge the prevalence among them of certain haplogroups. For purely historical reasons, we can assume that the predominant carriers of the "Mongol-Tatar" Y-chromosomes (if they are correctly identified) should be Buryats, Tuvans, Kalmyks, Yakuts, Siberian Tatars … However, without extensive genetic research on the territory of the Russian Federation, we cannot yet to assert this definitely.
Genghis Khan was … European?
A sensational discovery was made in 2016 by South Korean and Mongolian scientists who excavated the graves of Tavan Tolgoi in Mongolia, where members of the Borjigin clan, to which Temujin (Genghis Khan) belonged, are believed to be buried. Most of the buried have amulets with the sign of the Borjigin family. Radiocarbon analysis indicated the period when the burial could have taken place - 1150-1250. AD That is, this is the time immediately preceding the conquests of the "Mongol-Tatars" or the very period of these conquests.
Genetic analysis of the remains showed that the people in the burial belonged to various mt-DNA (maternal) haplogroups typical for Central Asia. Skull features are also typical of the Mongoloid race. In this case, the Y-chromosomal haplogroup in all four men was the same - R1b-M343.
Among modern people, the highest frequency of occurrence of the R1b clade - in Western Europe - is above 60%. Further to the east, its share decreases: in Central Europe from 30 to 60%, among Russians on the Russian Plain - about 10% (among Russians, a close haplogroup R1a is common). In Transbaikalia, it is practically gone.
This discovery was all the more surprising. It, according to some scientists, agrees well with the evidence that Genghis Khan himself had green eyes, which clearly indicates a Caucasian admixture.
However, scientists do not yet know how to reconcile this discovery with data on the modern distribution of haplogroups. Indeed, according to written sources, Genghis Khan left many descendants. And if he really was a bearer of haplogroup R1, then there should be a lot of its bearers in Central Asia now, which is not observed.
Therefore, most likely, not the blood relatives of Genghis Khan, but the brothers of his clan, fell into the excavated family grave of the Borjigins. The very question of what to consider as the "genes of Genghis Khan" and which of the modern peoples inherited the "blood of the Mongol-Tatars" to the greatest extent, remains open in science.
Yaroslav Butakov