Genghis Khan:
A Little PR Problem? (Part IV)
By Dr. Rizwana Rahim
Chicago, IL
We know when Genghis
Khan died but the accounts vary on how exactly.
One account says: In 1226, he was on his way to
attack the Hsi Hsia kingdom, and his horse, surprised
by a wild boar, panicked and threw the ‘universal
ruler’ on the ground. He never recovered from
the injuries. On his deathbed, ‘The Secret
History’ mentions, he called all his sons
for a family conference to name his successor. The
brothers argued, and one of them (‘Chaghtai’,
a predecessor of Moghul empire) refused to have
his oldest brother (Juchi) succeeding his father,
and even called Juchi a “bastard,” pointing
to his questionable paternity. Genghis was hurt;
their mother Borte was not present. Chaghtai then
suggested Ogodei (the 3rd son) as a compromise.
Genghis agreed, but in the course of the discussion
he offered some fatherly advice, such as: “Without
the vision of a goal, a man cannot manage his own
life, much less the lives of others.” “The
old tunic (or ‘deel’) fits better and
is always more comfortable …while the new
or untried ‘deel’ is quickly torn.”
“It will be easy to forget your vision and
purpose once you have fine clothes, fast horses
and beautiful women … [if you do that] you
will be no better than a slave and you will surely
lose everything.”
Genghis, 60-65 then, died in August, 1227, somewhere
south of Yinchuan. His body was taken to Mongolia.
Those who happened to see the procession were killed.
At his funeral, 40 “moonlike” virgins
and 40 horses were also sacrificed. Then, those
who attended the funeral (2,000 people) were massacred
by 800 soldiers, who in turn were killed. All this
barbarism to preserve the secret of his tomb’s
locale !
The only personal with comparable cruelty (or worse)
was Timur (1369-1405). He may even have out-Genghis
Genghis: killed between 15-20 million, according
to several sources including the New York Times,
Chicago Tribune, etc. Not a direct descendant of
Genghis, he was a son-in-law in the Genghis Khan
family. Among Timur’s descendents was Babur
(of Moghul Empire) who was 13th generation of Genghis’
second son, Chaghtai.
Apart from the land conquered, Genghis Khan had
a huge genetic imprint on the succeeding generations
beyond his empire, even today. In humans and other
mammals, Y-chromosome is present only in the males
(XY) -- the females have (XX) -- which is why most
of Y chromosome goes from father to son, almost
unchanged, generation after generation. This is
also the reason why Y-chromosome studies have been
so very useful in genealogical studies, specifically
on the patrilineal side. It is the smallest chromosome,
with about 75 genes.
A recent genetics study by an Oxford University
research team identifies a Y-chromosome lineage
that seems to have originated in Mongolia between
800 to 1,200 years (average ~1,000 years) ago. They
examined Y-chromosomes of 2,123 men from across
Asia, from the Pacific to the Caspian Sea. Several
Y-chromosomal features were found in 16 populations
throughout this vast area. One Y-chromosomal-associated
imprint was identical in about 8% of the men, or
about 0.5% of the world’s total population
(an estimated 16 million people, or 1 out of 200
living males). Chris Tyler-Smith, the leader of
the study, proposes that this “has spread
by a novel form of social selection resulting from
their behavior.”
At least 25% of the men in the Hazaras, a group
of Mongolian-looking people now living in Pakistan
and Afghanistan, carry at least one genetic imprints
of Genghis’ Y-chromosome. Today’s Hazaras,
as I mentioned above, are the descendants of about
1,000 men of Genghis’ army that settled in
the Bamiyan valley in 1220s. Many men of this group
can recite their genealogies going back about 34
generations to Genghis Khan.
One thing Genghis and his descendents did routinely
was to rape and enslave women from the lands they
conquered. Each had his large harem, re-populated
periodically. Genghis is reported to have had 500
wives. Genghis had said: “The greatest pleasure
is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before
you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear
to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and
clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.”
These factors did fit into the pattern researchers
were looking for: A vast area where harems were
common within a polygamous society!
If Genghis’ bones were ever found, DNA can
be extracted for comparisons; this will confirm
this conclusion. But the major problem is that Genghis’
burial place is still a secret (though the area
has been narrowed down), and even if his tomb is
located, the Mongols are most unlikely to allow
disturbing the remains: it’s sacrilegious
in their religion. This paternal ancestor was a
Mongol, but not necessarily Genghis, who died in
1227. The timeframe given 800-1200 (average ~1,000)
years would point to a couple of generations before
him, perhaps his patrilineal grandfather or someone
older, as the most recent ‘common ancestor’.
References:
1. J. Weatherford. Genghis Khan and the Making of
the Modern World. Rown Publishers, NY. 2004
2. Zerjal, T. et. al. The Genetic Legacy of the
Mongols. Am. J. Hum. Genet., 72:717-721, 2003)
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