Descendent of Genghis Khan found!
 

Tom Robinson had long wondered about his family tree. He never suspected its roots might lie in the Mongolian steppe.

The Florida accountant knew that his great, great-grandfather had come to the United States from England — but beyond that his research drew a blank. So he turned to the burgeoning field of "bioarchaeology," having his DNA tested to see what it revealed about his origins.

He was in for a surprise. According to a British geneticist who pioneered the research, Robinson appears to be a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, the Mongol warrior who conquered vast tracts of Asia and Europe in the 13th century.

Robinson said he was startled when he received a call from the firm Oxford Ancestors about a surprising ancestor uncovered by his DNA tests.

"My first impression was, 'Oh no, who is it' — imagining it was Adolf Hitler or something like that," said Robinson, 48. "So I was actually pleasantly surprised."

Robinson thinks his forebear, whose name has long been a byword for violence and cruelty, has had a bad press.

"In addition to being a conqueror, he was a great administrator," said Robinson, who has been reading up on Genghis Khan. "Their system of governance was fairly sophisticated."

Established in 2001 by Oxford University geneticist Bryan Sykes, Oxford Ancestors offers DNA testing to people around the world eager to trace their genetic roots.

Sykes believes DNA can be used to map humanity's common ancestry. In 1994, he extracted DNA from a frozen 5,000-year-old corpse found in the Tyrolean Alps, and identified a woman living in Britain as his descendant.

Sykes' 2001 book "The Seven Daughters of Eve" claimed that 95 percent of Europeans are descended from seven tribal matriarchs — he dubbed them Ursula, Xenia, Helena, Velda, Tara, Katrine and Jasmine — who lived between 10,000 and 45,000 years ago.

He also believes most Europeans can trace their descent to "Five Sons of Adam," and offers tests to identify these paternal ancestral clans by mapping patterns of DNA within the Y chromosome, the genetic material handed down from fathers to sons that changes little over generations.

Women have two X chromosomes, while men carry one X chromosome and one Y, so only men can take the paternal ancestry test.

Research published in the American Journal of Human Genetics in 2003 suggested that 16 to 17 million men, most in Central Asia, shared a form of the Y chromosome that indicates a common ancestor.

Sykes said the obvious candidate is Genghis Khan, who stormed the world with his armies, conquering territory and siring many children. Lacking any tissue samples from the Mongol ruler — whose tomb has never been found — the tests are based on an assessment of probabilities.

"This is circumstantial evidence but it is very good evidence," said Sykes. "I think it does mean that people who carry this chromosome are direct patrilineal descendants of Genghis Khan.

"How this chromosome came to be so prominent was that when he conquered new territory Genghis Khan would kill the men and routinely inseminate all the women."

Some scientists are less certain the chromosome points directly to the Mongol chief.

"It's a little bit of a stretch as far as I'm concerned," said Peter Underhill, a Stanford University geneticist who thinks the distinctive Y chromosome would have been present in many members of Genghis Khan's closely interrelated tribe.

"Genghis Khan had this marker, but Joe Smith in the Genghis Khan army also had this Y chromosome."

Proven or not, Robinson's link may well make him a celebrity in Mongolia, a vast country of 2.5 million sandwiched between China and Russia renowned for its rolling grasslands, sturdy horses and nomadic herders.

This year the country is celebrating the 800th anniversary of 1206, the year a warrior named Temujin united the nomadic steppe tribes and took the title Genghis Khan — Universal Ruler.

He and his descendants built — and then lost — an empire that stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Danube.

Condemned during Mongolia's 70 years of communist rule as a symbol of a backward past, Genghis Khan is now celebrated by Mongolians as the father of their nation

Many Western academics also have reassessed the great Khan's legacy, arguing that he was a brilliant military tactician, innovative ruler and early globalizer whose empire saw an unprecedented mingling of goods and cultures along the Silk Road trade route linking China to Europe.

Robinson, an associate professor of accountancy at the University of Miami, said he hoped to travel to Mongolia next year.

He's begun to wonder about similarities between himself and his purported ancestor. He has no military background, but says he is comfortable in a leadership role.

"When I practiced as a CPA I ran the department."

And, like any self-respecting Mongolian, he can ride a horse.

"I can, though I don't often do it. You don't get much chance to ride a horse in Florida."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060607/...his_khan_s_kin

http://www.oxfordancestors.com

Raph's Girl note: I wonder if Tom Robinson is related to me? I have some Khan's on my tree and they're reportadly from Ghengis' line. I need to get those books. I wonder if the Katrina mentioned could be Katherine De Roet? The British royal family is descended from her as is Pres. Bush, John Kerry, and my family. As for Helena...if he means St. Helena then that's my family as well....Ah I love genealogy. :D

Yeah, the man who led the army that killed the men and routinely raped the women throughout Asia and Europe is nothing Hitler-like. No. Not all all.

16-17 million men... and it's all just a scientific assumption, not proven enough... Yeah, that's definitely some breaking news.


Well, "Katrina" and "Helena" are just some ancient exemplary women representing the concrete ethnic groups. They were just dubbed like that by Sykes, "Katrina" and "Helena" might not be the names they actually had.

... weren't you related to Borgias as well? Is there anyone famous you're not related to?

So some Florida accountant is a direct patrilineal descendent of a man who may or may not be Genghis Khan... along with 16-17 million other men in the world?

Slow.
News.
Day.

EDIT: Oh yeah, can't have a thread about Genghis Khan without...
http://imagesocket.com/images/201d21...320fc3d071.gif
DSCHINGHIS KHAN! Now that would be a lineage to be proud of.

I'm related to Bugsy Segal! I think if he were alive he'd be like my 5th or 6th cousin or something.

http://www.scifilm.org/images3/trekkhan4.jpg

Khaaaaaaaaaaan!

-=Falls over laughing=-

Noo..not related to the Borgia's...at least I don't think...I am descended from Pope Calixtus II tho.

Neat...I recently found out that Im related to Al Capone! :lol:

Calixtus? What was he Pope of? Mars?

No...he was uh.. Pope... :P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Calixtus_II

*kicks a rock*

Lucky people related to famous and infamos people...

My Native American ancestors killed a bunch of white people in the battle of Horseshoe Bend....Then got sent with the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma...except for the ones that escaped into the Tennesse mountians..

And my White ancestors were so poor they were lucky to have kept their families fed to extend the line to me.

Oh well...Maybe one of my decendants will be famous :D

Well ya never know... might be related to somebody famous and not know it. I could help ya out if ya want. Im always helping people with their family history. :D

I actually had a relative that researched this pretty far back. Of Course it is pretty hard to get too far back on the N.A. side....but on the white side I can go back to the 1400's. LONG line of dust farmers, criminals and linen weavers.

My only semi-noteworthy relative was a guy named Pieter Inabnit. He was executed in a Swiss prison for organizing resistance defying the a government declaration against communication between American immigrants and their Swiss relatives back in the 1600's.

I mostly have alot of gamblers, swindlers, and various other criminals in my background. Most died in prisons. Most had 12-16 kids and barely were able to make ends meet.

I'm the first in my family to finish school....maybe I am the famous one ;)

So they like, actually have Gengis Khan's Y chromosome for comparison :lol:

I'm related Millard Fillmore, who signed the Fugitive Slave Act. Hooray for being related to people who did evil things???

Among others, I'm sure... A close (relatively, no pun intended) relative is Butch Cassidy.


Stick 'em up, baby. ;) :)

I wonder who I'm related to...
Though I guess I'll never find out.

http://www.greenfilms.com/gcimages/Bruce.jpg
I could be (read: hopefully am) related to this guy. We do share a last name. :D

Hey! We're related! Im related to Millard Fillmore too! Course Im related to just about all the Presidents. Mostly via my Mayflower ancestors.

But yea if anybody wants to find out their genealogy just ask and I'll figure it out. Im a bit of a genealogist, altho not a professional like my grandparents. :D

The Southern presidents are descended from Mayflower emigrants too?

I'm kind of interested in genealogy, but I've had a relative who's handled most of that.

Cool!

"All right, Jack. Let's have it! Who have you cheated, swindled or robbed this time?" :D

Yay! I know Jester's last name now! :D