Geneticists from Mongolia and South Korea have found that Genghis Khan had European roots. They carried out a genetic analysis of bodies found on the territory of the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit and belonging to family members of the founder of the Mongol Empire. The results of the scientists' research are published in the journal PLOS ONE.
To determine the relationship between the people to whom the remains were found, scientists studied genetic markers in the mitochondrial genome - single nucleotide substitutions and mutations that affect repeated DNA fragments. In addition, hereditary material in nonsex chromosomes (autosomes) and Y chromosomes was investigated.
It was found that family members belonged to the haplogroup R1b-M343 - a group of people with a common ancestor and living mainly in Western Europe and the Southern Urals. Thus, despite their Mongoloid appearance, Genghis Khan's relatives also had European roots. Scientists believe that the khan of the Mongol Empire also belonged to the haplogroup R1b-M343, and not to C3c-M48, which is common in Asia and was believed to be related to the imperial family.
Researchers believe that the people whose bodies were found in Tavan Tolgoi could have come from marriages between the Borjigin dynasty (the clan to which Genghis Khan belonged) and the Ongud or Khongirad clans.