DNA Analysis of the Kazakh tribe ‘Uisun’ and the ancient Kyrgyz tribe ‘Wusun’: A research study titled "The Medieval Mongolian Roots of Y-Chromosomal Lineages from South Kazakhstan," conducted by an international team of researchers, explores the origins and genetic connections between these tribes through DNA analysis.
«The majority of the Kazakhs from South Kazakhstan belongs to the 12 clans of the Senior Zhuz. According to traditional genealogy, nine of these clans have a common ancestor and constitute the Uissun tribe. There are three main hypotheses of the clans’ origin, namely, origin from early Wusuns, from Niru’un Mongols, or from Darligin Mongols.
We genotyped 490 samples of South Kazakhs by 35 Y-chromosomal SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism) and 17 STRs (short tandem repeat). Additionally, 133 samples from citizen science projects were included into the study.
We found that three Uissun clans have unique Y-chromosomal profiles, but the remaining six Uissun clans and one non-Uissun clan share a common paternal gene pool. They share a high frequency (> 40%) of the C2-ST haplogroup (marked by the SNP F3796), which is associated with the early Niru’un Mongols.
Phylogenetic analysis of this haplogroup carried out on 743 individuals from 25 populations of Eurasia has revealed a set of haplotype clusters, three of which contain the Uissun haplotypes. The demographic expansion of these clusters dates back to the 13-fourteenth century, coinciding with the time of the Uissun’s ancestor Maiky-biy known from historical sources.
In addition, it coincides with the expansion period of the Mongol Empire in the Late Middle Ages. A comparison of the results with published aDNA (ancient deoxyribonucleic acid) data and modern Y haplogroups frequencies suggest an origin of Uissuns from Niru’un Mongols rather than from Wusuns or Darligin Mongols.
The Y-chromosomal variation in South Kazakh clans indicates their common origin in 13th–14th centuries AD, in agreement with the traditional genealogy. Though genetically there were at least three ancestral lineages instead of the traditional single ancestor. The majority of the Y-chromosomal lineages of South Kazakhstan was brought by the migration of the population related to the medieval Niru’un Mongols.
Kazakh clans are structured into three main socio-territorial groups called Senior, Middle, and Junior Zhuzes. Twelve clans of the Senior Zhuz mainly reside in the South Kazakhstan.
According to the traditional genealogy of the Kazakhs, also known as Shezhire, nine out of 12 clans share a common ancestor known as Maiky-biy.
Historical sources mention that he led the western part of the Golden Horde under Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. These nine clans altogether form the Uissun tribe. The three remaining clans (Jalair, Kanly, and Shanyshkly) have their own ancestors and are considered as genealogically unrelated to each other and to Uissun clans.
There are three main hypotheses of the origin of the Uissun tribe. The first one is the origin from the early Wusuns, people of Iranian or Tocharian origin, who lived in the Tarim river basin. This area is adjacent to the location of the current residence of the Uissuns.
The other two versions imply a more distant migration from Mongolia. According to the genealogy, Maiky-biy either belongs to the clan of Ushin being a part of the Darligin Mongols, or to the clan of Baarin being a part the Niru’un Mongols.
Phylogenetic analysis of haplogroup С2-F3796
We performed the detailed phylogenetic analysis of the most frequent haplogroup among the Uissuns – C2*-ST (40%). This haplogroup, also known as Star Cluster (ST), is clearly distinguished within M217(xM48, M407) by STR haplotypes. It corresponds to the subclade marked by the SNP F3796. This lineage had spread rapidly over the steppe in Eurasia during the conquests of the Mongol Empire.
It has been presumably associated with the haplotype of Genghis Khan or his relatives. The highest frequencies of the C2-ST were found in Kazakhs from the Kerey clan of the Middle Zhuz (77%), Buryats from the Bargut clan (46%), Hazaras (38%) ; Uzbeks from Afghanistan (35%), and Mongols (35%).
Whose descendants are the clans of South Kazakhstan?
We found that C2-F3796 subclade of haplogroup C2-ST is the most common in the population of South Kazakhstan. In this sense C2-ST is a key to decipher direct paternal ancestor of the Senior Zhuz clans.
Moreover, according to historical studies, the lifetime of the legendary ancestor of the Uissuns (the main population group of South Kazakhstan) coincides with TMRCA of the Uissun cluster.
The oldest known specimen of this lineage (subclade C2-Y4580) originated from the Mongolian-Buddhist burial of Ulus Dzhuchi (700 years ago) in Central Kazakhstan (Ulytau, Karasauyr burial ground. It is closely related to the Uissun haplogroup C2-ST.
The only sample of the Wusun culture studied to date (burial Turgen-2, Semirechye, Kazakhstan) belongs to the haplogroup R1a1a-Z93(xZ94) (subclade R1a1a-Y41571). Other ancient specimens from the Tarim Basin where Wusun lived also belonged to the haplogroup R1a1.
In contrast, all previously studied Kazakh samples belonged to another branch of R1a, namely R1a1a-Z94 (subclade Z2125). In general, R1a is not frequent among Uissun (6% only), therefore, paternal lineages of the Uissuns likely originated from the early Mongols populations rather than from the Wusun.
According to The Secret History of the Mongols, the early Mongols were divided into Niru’un and Darligin Mongols. Which one of them is the ancestor of the Uissuns?
The only successor clan of the Darligin Mongols which has been genetically studied is Konyrat (Kungirat). The haplogroup C2-M407 is present at high frequency (86%) in Konyrat, but not in the Uissuns. According to genealogy, not only the Uissuns but also the Shanyshkly clan of the Senior Zhuz are the descendants of the Niru’un Mongols with dominant C2-ST haplogroup.
In addition, C2-ST is identified by citizen scientists in several genealogical lineages of the Niru’uns (Keneges, Manghit and Katagan), and among the Hazaras which are considered to be direct descendants of the Niru’un Mongols. As a result, we suggest the origin of the Y-chromosomal lineages of the main populations of South Kazakhstan from the Niru’un Mongols.
We presented the Y-chromosomal profiles of the almost every clan from South Kazakhstan (the historical area of the Senior Zhuz of Kazakh). The results indicated the genetic similarity of the six Uissun and one non-Uissun clans to each other, while the other four clans (two Uissun and two non-Uissun clans) have the specific paternal pools.
Thus, the genetic data have not reproduced the traditional genealogy in all details; however, the genetic evidences were consistent with the common origin of the most clans from South Kazakhstan.
Moreover, the significant part of the population originated from three founders which all lived about 700–800 years ago, in contrast to one founder, according to traditional genealogy. These three clusters were identified within the C2-ST (C-F3796) haplogroup.
The first cluster is typical for most Uissun clans, the second one is common for the non-Uissun clan Jalair of South Kazakhstan, and the third one is typical for the North Kazakhstan clan of Kerey, but also includes individual samples from South Kazakhstan.
The predominance of the haplogroup C2-ST in South Kazakhstan suggests the origin of the majority of Y-chromosomal lineages from the Niru’un Mongols.
Source: "The medieval Mongolian roots of Y-chromosomal lineages from South Kazakhstan"
Authors and Affiliations:
National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Maxat Zhabagin, Dauren Yerezhepov & Ainur Akilzhanova
National Center for Biotechnology, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Maxat Zhabagin, Pavel Tarlykov & Elena Zholdybayeva
L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Zhaxylyk Sabitov
Young Researchers Alliance, Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan
Zhaxylyk Sabitov
Forensic Science Center of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Inkar Tazhigulova
Research Institute of Archeology named after K.A. Akishev, Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan
Zukhra Junissova
S. Toraighyrov Pavlodar State University, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
Rakhmetolla Akilzhanov
B&R International Joint Laboratory for Eurasian Anthropology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Lan-Hai Wei
Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, Institute of Anthropology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Lan-Hai Wei
Vavilov Institute for General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Oleg Balanovsky
Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russia
Oleg Balanovsky & Elena Balanovska
Biobank of North Eurasia, Moscow, Russia
Oleg Balanovsky & Elena Balanovska
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