Kyrgyz: Ancestors of the Scandinavian Vikings - I. Rozhansky and A. Klyosov

I. Rozhansky and A. Klyosov - "It is shown that the R1a1 haplotypes from Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan) display the greatest similarity to Scandinavian haplotypes of the same R1a1 haplogroup.

The common ancestor of the “Kyrgyz” haplotypes and the “young” Scandinavian haplotypes lived 2,800–3,000 years ago—this marks the beginning of the re-settlement of Europe by carriers of R1a1 haplotypes from the Russian Plain.

Both the “young” Scandinavian haplotypes of this haplogroup and three-quarters of the “Kyrgyz” haplotypes share a common ancestor who lived in the middle of the 1st millennium AD.

All of this corresponds with the notion that in the middle of the 1st millennium AD, during the era known as the Great Migration Period, there was a migration of haplotype carriers from “Asia” (which could mean either the Russian Plain or Central Asia, including present-day Kyrgyzstan), descendants of the Aryans (haplogroup R1a1) during their migration into India and Iran.

According to data obtained from the analysis of Scandinavian haplotypes of haplogroup Q, this migration may have been joint or parallel with carriers of haplogroup Q, who in turn likely originated from southern Siberia, with a common ancestor around 12,000 years ago.

In Issue No. 6 of the Bulletin (Rozhansky and Klyosov, 2009), we examined Scandinavian haplotypes of haplogroup R1a1 in detail and reached a preliminary conclusion that the common ancestor of the R1a1 branch that arrived in Scandinavia in the middle of the 1st millennium AD came from “Asia,” as the Black Sea and Caspian steppe regions and everything beyond the Don River were then called.

Three thousand years before that, his ancestors had arrived from Europe to the Russian Plain and its southern steppe part.

Throughout the 1st millennium BC, and again in the middle of the 1st millennium AD during the Great Migration Period, descendants of R1a1 migrated back into Europe.

Those who returned in the 3rd–6th centuries AD, especially to Scandinavia, carried additional mutations in their haplotypes, including the 19–21 mutation in YCAII, the DYS389I = 14 mutation, the DYS447 = 23 mutation, the DYS565 = 12 mutation, and a number of others.

Numerous historical accounts describe the arrival of these “Asian” tribes in Scandinavia, briefly outlined in the earlier article (Rozhansky and Klyosov, 2009). We will briefly summarize them again here for continuity and before presenting new data.

Before the arrival from the east of a new wave of R1a1 in the middle of the 1st millennium, various tribes lived in southern Scandinavia and northern Europe. These were apparently carriers of haplogroups R1a1, R1b1, I1, and I2. If other haplogroups were present, they were certainly in the minority.

In Cornelius Tacitus’s work On the Origin of the Germanic Peoples and the Location of Germany (1st century AD), the Marsi, Gambrivii, Suebi, Vandilii, and Tungri are mentioned, and it is noted that these are authentic and ancient names.

Tacitus notes that among the Germanic peoples, it was sometimes customary to commit a horse to the flames along with the deceased. This is fundamentally different from the eastern burial practice, where the horse was buried in the same grave as its master—something that begins to reappear in Scandinavia starting from the middle of the 1st millennium AD.

All of Tacitus’s descriptions refer to the beginning of our era, prior to the Great Migration Period and the arrival of the new wave of R1a1 carriers in Scandinavia.

According to David Faux (2007, preprint), this migration wave has been largely overlooked in academic literature, because the collapse of the Roman Empire effectively halted historical research in Europe for centuries—until around the 13th century (according to other sources, the 11th–12th centuries), especially in Scandinavia.

Faux associates the arrival of R1a1 with the Caucasus and/or Central Asia, although he does not provide clear justification for this classification. He also believes that this wave from Asia was the ethnic and genealogical origin of the Vikings.

The history of the Vikings is often traced back to the year 793, with the attack on Lindisfarne Monastery in Northumbria, England.

On the other hand, Faux takes an extreme position, calling haplogroup R1a1 “rare” and attributing virtually all R1a1 found in Europe to this wave from Asia in the middle of the 1st millennium. At the time, Faux was unaware of archaeological finds of R1a1 in Europe dating back 4,600 years.

Faux dates the migration of R1a1 into Scandinavia from the east to between 375 and 550 AD. Around that time, numerous figurines with Asian motifs began to appear in Scandinavian excavations—often attributed to the Scythians.

Faux considers the Scythians to be a tribe from the southern part of Central Asia, hence his attribution of the origin region of the R1a1 migration into Scandinavia during the mid-1st millennium AD.

The style and nature of religious rituals in Scandinavia also changed dramatically in the middle of the 1st millennium AD.

We will not analyze folk legends, traditions, or sagas that are presumed to describe that era. These are discussed in sufficient detail in Faux’s aforementioned preprint and in the book by Yu. N. Drozdov (2008).

We will briefly list just a few works. In The Saga of the Skjöldungs, by an unknown author, it is said that Odin, the father of Skjöld, came from Asia and, after subjugating the local inhabitants, came to rule over the northern part of Europe (Saxony, Denmark, Sweden).

Odin is said to have come from lands north of the Maeotian Marsh (i.e., the Sea of Azov), meaning the territories stretching from the Azov-Caspian steppes to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, according to ancient and early medieval authors.

These lands were referred to by the ancient Scandinavians as “Great and Cold Svitjod.” Interestingly, that era is described in The Ynglinga Saga as “in those days Roman chiefs [hödvingar] conducted campaigns across all lands and subjugated all peoples,” also presenting a migratory version of the origin of a significant portion of the Scandinavian peoples.

The same idea appears in Description of the Earth III, a 13th-century historical-geographical work:

“The North was settled by Turks and people from Asia.Therefore, we can confidently say that along with them came the language that we call Northern, and this language spread across Saxland, Danmork, and Svitjod, Norway, and part of England. The leader of this people was Odin, son of Thor.”

It is worth noting that ancient sources referred to the territories east of the Tanais (Don River) as “Asia.”

In the work by Rozhansky and Klyosov (2009), it was noted that the Scandinavian R1a1 haplotypes fall into two groups in terms of their common ancestors. The older group has a common ancestor who lived about 4,100 years ago, which correlates well with archaeological data, likely representing the Corded Ware culture.

The relatively younger group, or branch, has a common ancestor who lived 1,700±220 years ago (approximately the 4th century AD) or 1,475±320 years ago (approximately the 6th century AD).

This also corresponds well with archaeological and historical data, although these patterns have only recently started to emerge more clearly.

In this work, we focus on the question of where— from which region or regions— the carriers of haplogroup R1a1 (and as it turns out, haplogroup Q as well) might have come to Scandinavia.

R1a1 Haplotypes of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan)

In a recent article (Underhill et al., 2009), a fairly large dataset of R1a1 haplotypes from various regions and countries of the world was presented, including for the first time a series of extended (39-marker) haplotypes of modern inhabitants of Kyrgyzstan, numbering 56 individuals.

The methodology for analyzing and calibrating 39-marker haplotypes was described in our earlier work (Klyosov and Rozhansky, 2009).

Figure 1 presents a tree of 39-marker haplotypes that includes all 170 haplotypes published in the Underhill et al. (2009) study, one-third of which are from the Kyrgyz region.

It was found that 41 of the “Kyrgyz” haplotypes clustered into a single, clearly localized branch (on the right side of the tree), evidently descending from a relatively recent common ancestor. The remaining 15 haplotypes are scattered throughout the tree, in its older parts.

If we exclude results of more recent migrations—namely the “West Slavic,” “Central European,” and “Northern Eurasian” branches (whose common ancestors date to 2,700–1,600 years ago)—the Kyrgyz haplotypes fall within the range of 4,500–3,500 years ago. This corresponds to the dating of Aryan haplotypes on the Russian Plain.

This reflects the migration route of the Aryans into India, Iran, and Southern Siberia. As shown in the work by Klyosov (2009), based on 10-marker haplotypes from Kyrgyzstan (an independent haplotype sample), all the “Kyrgyz” haplotypes are a legacy of the Aryans (haplogroup R1a1), with a common ancestor dating back 4,750±500 years. However, the population has since gone through a series of genetic bottlenecks.

In other words, the Aryans, in their migration to India and Iran, followed the “northern route”—through Central Asia.

Verification of the younger right-hand “Kyrgyz” branch using both linear and logarithmic convergence methods—i.e., quantitative alignment between the number of mutations and the number of base haplotypes (Rozhansky and Klyosov, 2009)—and using a strict triple convergence criterion (i.e., on three segments of all haplotypes in the branch) showed that the convergence is nearly perfect, with a convergence coefficient of 1.007±0.002.

This demonstrates that all 41 haplotypes in the “young” branch descend from a single common ancestor (within the framework of DNA genealogy).

Figure 1. A tree of 170 R1a1a 39-marker haplotypes, where all 56 haplotypes from Kyrgyzstan are numbered from 2059 to 2114. Some “Kyrgyz” haplotypes from the older branch are marked with the symbol ‘K’. In the middle right— the “young” branch of Kyrgyz haplotypes.*

The base (ancestral) haplotype of this right-side branch in 21-marker format:

13 25 16 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 32 — 15 9 10 11 11 23 14 21 31

And in 39-marker format:

13 25 16 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 32 — 15 9 10 11 11 23 14 21 31 — 11 19 23 16 20 11 14 12 — 10 14 12 30 11 24 9 16 23 21

All 21-marker haplotypes produced a total of 95 mutations, which is an average of 0.110±0.011 mutations per marker.

Taking into account back mutations, this corresponds to 1,600±230 years since the time of the most recent common ancestor of the branch. Since 6 out of the 41 haplotypes are identical (i.e., base haplotypes), then:

[ln(41/6)] / 0.038 = 51 generations, or adjusted for back mutations: 54 generations,

which equals 1,350±570 years to the common ancestor—though this has a larger margin of error than the mutation-based calculation.

All 39-marker haplotypes include 158 mutations, averaging 0.099±0.008 mutations per marker—which is, within error, the same mutation rate as in the 21-marker haplotypes.

This once again confirms that the average mutation rates per marker are the same in both 21-marker and 39-marker haplotypes. A rate of 0.099±0.008 mutations per marker gives an estimate of 1,425±180 years to the most recent common ancestor.

All three calculations converge on virtually the same time frame—namely, the middle of the 1st millennium AD, the era of the Great Migration Period.

Thus, the common ancestor of three-quarters (41 out of 56) of the Kyrgyz R1a1 haplotypes lived in the middle of the 1st millennium AD.

One might speculate that his name was Manas, especially considering that the Kyrgyz epic refers to the time of the Yenisei Kyrgyz (6th–13th centuries), their unification, and their migration from the Altai to their current homeland in Central Asia—land which is now considered the ancestral territory of the Kyrgyz.

This subject still awaits deeper research, and it would be quite fitting if Manas, a bearer of the Aryan haplogroup, was the one who united the Kyrgyz and returned to reclaim the ancestral lands—where carriers of haplogroup R1a1 had lived 4,000–3,500 years ago.

R1a1 Haplotypes of Central Asia and Scandinavia

In the work by Rozhansky and Klyosov (2009), 21 foundational 67-marker branches of haplogroup R1a1 were identified, including their sub-branches.

Figure 2 shows a tree composed of these haplotypes and the base “Kyrgyz” haplotype, all reformatted into 21-marker haplotypes.

Figure 2. Tree of base 21-marker haplotypes of the R1a1 haplogroup branches, including the base “Kyrgyz” haplotype.

Legend:

• Kyrg – Kyrgyz

• OE – Ancient European branch (with DYS392=13)

• bc – Subclades R1a1b and R1a1c (modern names R1a1a2 and R1a1a3)

• OS1 and OS2 – “Old” Scandinavian branches (dated to 2,725 and 2,600 years ago; their common ancestor, OS, lived 4,100±700 years ago)

• WC – Western Carpathian branch

• YS1, YS2, YS3 – “Young” Scandinavian branches (1,250, 1,700, and 1,750 years ago)

• NEA – Northern Eurasian branch

• CEA – Central Eurasian branch

• WEA – Western Eurasian branch

• SEA – Southern Eurasian branch

• A – Ashkenazi branch of haplogroup R1a1

• CE1 and CE2 – Central European branches

• WS – West Slavic branch

• BC – Balto-Carpathian branch

• NC – Northern Carpathian branch

• OT – “Old Tens” (with DYS388=10)

• YT – “Young Tens”

It is evident that the base “Kyrgyz” haplotype lies on the same branch as eight other base haplotypes—five of which are Scandinavian, one is a subclade that is likely irrelevant in this context, and paired with it is an ancient European base haplotype with DYS392=13, which is not observed among the Kyrgyz haplotypes (both of the latter clearly stand out in the tree, forming a “fork”). There is also the Western Carpathian branch, which—as will be shown below—is excluded due to a large mutational distance.

Overall, the “Kyrgyz” haplotypes clearly cluster more closely with the Scandinavian ones, especially with the “young” Scandinavian haplotypes.

Using more quantitative parameters: the “Kyrgyz” haplotype differs by four mutations (in 21-marker format) from each of the “young” Scandinavian base haplotypes, as well as from their common ancestor.

With each of the “old” Scandinavian base haplotypes individually, the “Kyrgyz” also differs by four mutations—but six mutations from their shared ancestor.

Compared to the Russian Plain (Central Eurasian) haplotype, the difference is five mutations. With the remaining base haplotypes, the differences are even greater:

• 6 mutations from the Balto-Carpathian and Western Eurasian haplotypes

• 7 mutations from the West Slavic, Southern Eurasian, and Northern Eurasian haplotypes

• 8 mutations from the Ashkenazi Jewish, Central European, and Western Carpathian base haplotypes.

These mutation differences indicate that the common ancestor of the “Kyrgyz” and “old” Scandinavian haplotypes lived 3,500 years ago, and that of the “Kyrgyz” and Russian Plain haplotypes lived 4,225 years ago.

These correspond to Aryan times. Meanwhile, the common ancestor of the “Kyrgyz” haplotypes and the “young” Scandinavian ones lived 2,800–3,000 years ago—which marks the beginning of the resettlement of Europe by R1a1 haplotype carriers from the Russian Plain.

This dating can be explained by two settlement scenarios in Scandinavia:

1. Either a direct westward migration from the Russian Plain, and simultaneously (or earlier) an eastward migration into Central Asia (a “starburst” model centered on the Russian Plain),

2. Or a direct migration into Scandinavia from Central Asia.

Either scenario yields a time of the most recent common ancestor between the Scandinavian and Central Asian R1a1 haplotypes of 2,800–3,000 years ago.

To resolve this dilemma, independent data is needed, primarily archaeological evidence—although unfortunately, archaeology rarely deals directly with migration processes.

Haplotypes Q of Southern Siberia and Scandinavia

Another region from which “Asian haplotypes” may have migrated to Scandinavia is Southern Siberia and Eastern Kazakhstan, where at that time lived carriers of R1a1, anthropologically similar to modern Swedes and Norwegians—that is, Europoids.

If a migration from there to Northern Europe did indeed take place, it could have involved not only R1a1, but also other haplogroups.

Over more than a thousand years of cohabitation, the Aryans could have partially intermingled with the indigenous populations of southern Siberia. It is well known that, as a result of intermixing in Siberia, there was partial blending of Europoid and Mongoloid anthropological types.

The undisputed aboriginal peoples of southern Siberia, according to expert consensus, are the nearly extinct ethnic groups of the Kets and Selkups. Among them, haplogroup Q dominates, which is originally almost completely absent among Europeans.

It is logical to assume that some Europeans with this exotic (to them) Y-chromosome marker are descendants of aboriginal steppe-zone Siberians who were assimilated by the Aryans.

Figure 3. Tree of 25-marker haplotypes of haplogroup Q from the YSearch database. Haplotypes from Scandinavia are marked with the letter “S.” Two main branches of these are also marked with the same symbol.

We compiled a sample of Q haplotypes from the YSearch database, including all data on subclades of this haplogroup that are present in Scandinavia.

It consists of:

• 41 67-marker haplotypes,

• 87 37-marker haplotypes,

• 124 25-marker haplotypes,

• of which eight are from Scandinavia.

These data are considered fully representative.

The haplotype tree of haplogroup Q is shown above in Figure 3. It turns out that two clearly defined branches containing Scandinavian haplotypes of Q have the following geographic distribution:

The left branch, consisting of 15 haplotypes—one-third of which are Scandinavian Q haplotypes—includes Sweden, Norway, England, and Poland, plus the USA.

The highest number (excluding the USA) is found in England.

The base haplotype of this entire branch:

13 23 13 10 13 21 12 12 12 12 14 28 — 18 9 10 11 12 27 15 19 29 14 15 16 16

All 15 haplotypes show a total of 69 mutations from this base haplotype, which corresponds to 2,800±440 years since the most recent common ancestor.

The lower branch of 20 Q haplotypes has a similar geographic distribution—Sweden and England (again, England has the most representatives: 8 out of 20), plus the USA and some unknown regions.

Base haplotype of this branch:

13 23 13 10 13 17 12 12 12 12 12 29 — 16 9 9 11 11 25 14 19 30 13 14 14 15

All 20 haplotypes show a total of 79 mutations from this base haplotype, which corresponds to 2,375±360 years since the most recent common ancestor.

The convergence parameters based on the logarithmic criterion for these two branches (separately) are 1.18 and 0.82, respectively. While these deviate slightly from 1, the deviation is not dramatic.

This means we can reasonably conclude that each of these branches has its own distinct common ancestor.

The geography and age of these branches fit well within the framework of the proposed scenario of migration from Asia to Northern Europe.

It is particularly notable that in the other branches of the tree, not a single Scandinavian or English haplotype appears—they are found only in these two branches.

What stands out is the very large divergence between the two base haplotypes—20 mutations on 25 markers, which separates their common ancestors by 18,575 years, placing their shared ancestor at:

(18,575 + 2,800 + 2,375) / 2 = 11,875 years ago.

That the common ancestor of haplogroup Q lived 12,000 years ago is not surprising. Nor is it surprising that such deeply diverged DNA-genealogical branches appear in Northern and Northwestern Europe.

Especially given that we are seeing only relatively recent branches, dating to approximately 2,800 and 2,400 years ago—the same period of settlement of Europe and the Russian Plain as discussed earlier.

In other words, carriers of haplogroups R1a1 and Q arrived in Northern Europe during the same time period.

We can only speculate whether these groups arrived together as part of the same tribes, or completely independently—possibly even speaking different languages, for example, Q speakers using Proto-Turkic, and R1a1 speakers using Indo-European, Aryan, or one of the Iranian dialects.

According to accompanying notes from YSearch, 22 Scandinavian haplotypes belong to haplogroup Q/Q1/Q1a3, which is not insignificant when compared to, for example, 115 haplotypes of R1a/R1a1/R1a1a.

If we isolate only the younger Scandinavian branches of those 115 (approximately 40%), then the ratio of presumed descendants of migrants becomes about 1:2 for Q to R1a1.

This was likely the haplogroup composition of the ethnic group that emerged at the turn of our era in northern Europe, bringing with them belief systems (such as the cult of Odin and the Valkyries, horse burials), elements of daily life, and a Yeniseian/Uralic superstratum in Germanic languages (e.g., man, house).

It is also possible that carriers of haplogroup N1c were part of this ethnic group, though their analysis is complicated by the substantial “background noise” from the Finns.

It is very likely that carriers of haplogroup R1b were also among the migrants, but this remains a topic for further study—ideally in collaboration with archaeologists and linguists.”

-By I. Rozhansky and A. Klyosov

“Migrations from Southern Siberia and Central Asia to Northern Europe from the Perspective of DNA Genealogy”

DNA history of the Kyrgyz

Joo-Yup Lee and Shuntu Kuang, University of Toronto, Canada

“The Xin Tangshu states that “their (the Kyrgyz) language and script were identical to those of the Uyghurs” (其文字言語，與回鶻正同) (Xin Tangshu 217b.6148). It also notes the distinct physical phenotype of the Kyrgyz.

The Xin Tangshu reports: “The people are all tall and large, with red hair, fair skin, and green eyes” (人皆長大，赤髮、皙面、綠瞳) (Xin Tangshu 217b.6147). According to the Xin Tangshu, the neighboring tribe of Boma (駁馬) or Bila (弊剌) resembled the Kyrgyz, although their language was different (Xin Tangshu 217b.6146).

This may indicate that the Kyrgyz were originally a non-Turkic people who became Turkicized during the Kök Türks period, at least partially through intertribal marriages. The Xin Tangshu states that “the Kök Türks sent women as wives to [the leaders of the Kyrgyz]” (突厥以女妻其酋豪) (Xin Tangshu 217b.6149).

Regarding Aré (阿熱), the ruler of the Kyrgyz who destroyed the Uyghur Khaganate, his wife was a Karluk woman, and his mother was a Türgesh (Xin Tangshu 217b.6149). Moreover, the Xin Tangshu states that the Kyrgyz “mixed with the Dingling” (其種雜丁零) (Xin Tangshu 217b.6146–47).

Haplogroup R1a1, more specifically, its subclade R1a1a1b2 (defined by mutation Z93), is the genetic marker of the Indo-European pastoralists, who migrated from modern-day Ukraine to modern-day Iran, India, the Kazakh steppes, the Tarim Basin, the Altai Mountains region, the Yenisei River region, and western Mongolia during the Bronze Age.

Naturally, R1a1, more specifically, its subclade R1a1a1b2 (R1a-Z93), occurs at high frequency among the Turkic peoples now residing in the Yenisei River and the Altai Mountains regions in Russia.

Compared to the Tuvinians, the Khakass (whose name was created by the Soviets from Xiajiasi (黠戛斯), a Chinese name for Kyrgyz, since they were regarded as descending from the Kyrgyz have noticeably higher percentages of R1a1 (35.2%) and much lower percentages of haplogroups C (1.1%) and Q (4%). However, N is also the most prevalent haplogroup (50%) of the Khakass (Gubina et al. 2013: 339; Shi et al. 2013)

As for the Altaians, the Altai-Kizhi (southern Altaians) are characterised by a high percentage of R1a1 (50%) and low to moderate percentages of C2 (20%), Q (16.7%) and N (4.2%) (Dulik et al. 2012: 234).

The major differences between the Khakass and the southern Altaians are the lower frequency of haplogroup N (in another study, haplogroup N is found at high frequency (32%) among the Altaians in general: see Gubina et al. 2013: 329, 339) and the higher frequencies of haplogroups C2 and Q among the latter.

The descent of the Kyrgyz (Kyrgyz) of the Tien Shan Mountains region (Kyrgyzstan) from the Yenisei Kyrgyz is debated among historians.

However, among the modern Turkic peoples, the former have the highest percentage of R1a1 (over 60%).

Since the West Eurasian physiognomy of the Yenisei Kyrgyz recorded in the Xin Tangshu was in all likelihood a reflection of their Eurasian Indo-European marker R1a1a1b2 (R1a-Z93), one may conjecture that the Tien Shan Kyrgyz received their R1a1 marker from the Yenisei Kyrgyz. That is, the former are descended from the latter.

The other Y-chromosome haplogroups found among the Kyrgyz (Kyrgyz) are C2 (12~20%), O (0~15%) and N (0~4.5%).50 The lack of haplogroup Q among the Qirghiz (Kyrgyz) mostly distinguishes them from the Altaians.

During the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, the Yenisei River region was inhabited by Indo-Europeans.

The dna study of 26 ancient human specimens from the Krasnoyarsk area dated from the middle of the second millennium bc to the fourth century ad shows that the Yenisei pastoralists mostly belonged to haplogroup R1a1 (Keyser et al. 2009: 401)

The high frequency of R1a1 among the modern-day Kyrgyz and Altaians may thus prove that they are descended from the Yenisei Kyrgyz. In addition, this may explain the reason why medieval Chinese histories depict the Kyrgyz as possessing West Eurasian physiognomy.

The Y-chromosomes of the Kök Türks have not been studied. After the collapse of the Second Türk Khaganate in 745 ce, the Kök Türks became dispersed and it is difficult to identify their modern descendants.

If they were indeed descended from the Eastern Scythians aka Saka (Suo) or related to the Kyrgyz, as the Zhoushu states (Zhoushu 50.908), the Ashina (royal Türkic dynasty, possibly related to the Turko-Jewish Khazar Khaganate, according to Peter B. Golden of Rutgers University) may have belonged to the R1a1 lineage.” - Joo-Yup Lee and Shuntu Kuang, University of Toronto, Canada, “A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and Y-DNA Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples’

Volkov V.G., Kharkov V.N., Stepanov V.A.

“The Southern Altaians and the Tian Shan Kyrgyz are descendants of close relatives of the Yenisei Andronovans, most likely the descendants of the Altai Andronovans.

It is well known that linguists and ethnographers have long established a close linguistic and ethnic kinship between the Kyrgyz and the Southern Altaians.

Some historians believe that the Kyrgyz and the Southern Altaians once belonged to a single community and that the migration of the Kyrgyz from the Altai to the Tian Shan occurred relatively recently (Abramzon, 1959: 34; Abdumanapov, 2007: 95, 114).

It is also highly probable that the spread of Indo-Iranian languages in this region is linked specifically to the R-L342.2 subclade.

At the same time, there is virtually no doubt that representatives of this subclade formed the core of the Indo-Aryans who ‘invaded’ India approximately 3,500 years ago.

The haplotypes of the carriers of the Andronovo and Tagar cultures show the greatest similarity with the haplotypes of the Southern Altaians and the Tian Shan Kyrgyz.

Preliminary results indicate the following: while the distribution range of the SNP marker L342.2 is significant, it remains confined within Asia.

In Europe, this SNP marker is practically absent, except among populations of clear Asian origin, such as Ashkenazi Jews, as well as Lithuanian and Volga Tatars.

This SNP marker is more frequently found among the following population groups: Arabs (primarily those living on the border with Iraq), Turks, Pakistanis, North and South Indians, Afghans, Southern Altaians, Tian Shan Kyrgyz, and Bashkirs.

According to most researchers specializing in Aryan studies, the semi-nomadic pastoralist tribes of the Srubnaya and Andronovo cultural-historical communities represent the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European language family.

These tribes are possibly the legendary Aryans who, in the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE, entered ancient Iran, crossed the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan, and invaded the Indus Valley.

The modal 15-marker haplotype of one of the Southern Altaian groups within haplogroup R1a1a, as presented in O.A. Balaganskaya’s study (Balaganskaya, 2011: 22), fully coincides with the modal haplotype of the most numerous R1a1a cluster among the Tian Shan Kyrgyz.”-Volkov V.G., Kharkov V.N., Stepanov V.A, “The Andronovo and Tagar Cultures in Light of Genetic Data”

Wen, Shao-qing; Du, Pan-xin; Sun, Chang; Cui, Wei; Xu, Yi-ran; Meng, Hai-liang; Shi, Mei-sen; Zhu, Bo-feng; Li, Hui, Nature

"The Kyrgyz are a trans-border ethnic group, mainly living in Kyrgyzstan. They lived on the upper reaches of Yenisei River in the south of the Minusinsk Basin and dispersed among many stock-raising peoples of the Sayano-Altai from the 6th to 13th century.

They appeared as Gekun (鬲昆) in the Chinese annals Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian, 91 B.C.), as Jiankun (坚昆)in Hanshu (Book of Han, 92 A.D.), as Hegu (纥骨)inBeishi (History of Northern Dynasties, 659 A.D.), as Qigu (契骨)inZhoushu (Book of Zhou, 636 A.D.) and Suishu (Book of Sui, 636 A.D.), as Jiegu (结骨)in Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang, 945 A.D.) and Tang Huiyao (Institutional History of Tang, 618–907 A.D.), as Xiajiasi (黠戛斯)in Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang, 1060 A.D.),  (History of Liao, 1344 A.D.), and Songshi (History of Song, 1345 A.D.), as Heliqisi (纥里迄斯)in Jinshi (History of Jin, 1344 A.D.), as Jilijisi (吉利吉思)in Y uanshi (History of Yuan, 1370 A.D.) and Mingshi (History of Ming, 1739 A.D.), and as Bulute (布鲁特)in Qing Shigao (Draft History of Qing, 1927 A.D.).

(KAF supplement: Alexander Bernshtam: “The first records of the ancient Gyan-Gunn-Kyrgyz date back to approximately 209-201 BCE, when, according to Chinese chronicles, the Hunnic chieftain Modu Shanyu subdued several tribes, among them the Dinlins and the Gégūn (aka Gyan-Gunn or Jyan-Kün)

Sima Qian Records of the Grand Historian Vol. 110  "後北服渾庾、屈射、丁零、鬲昆、薪犁之國。…… 是時漢初定中國，……。" translation: "Later in the North [Modun] subdued the Hunyu, Qushe, Dingling, Gekun, and Xinli nations. [...] It was when the Han had just stabilized the Central Region, [...]. [i.e. 202 BCE]")

Notably, according to the records of Xin Tangshu, the majority of the Jiegu people are “all tall and big and have red hair, white faces, and green eyes”and the ones with “dark hair and eyes”claimed to be the descendants of Li Ling, grandson of the famous general Li Guang during the Han Dynasty.

The Kyrgyz are an admixed population between the East and the West. Different patterns have been observed in the patrilineal gene pool of the Kyrgyz.

Extremely low Y-diversity and the presence of a high-frequency 68.9% Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a1-M17 (a diagnostic Indo-Iranian marker are striking features of Kyrgyz populations in central Asia.

Moreover, recent genome-wide SNP study on Central Asian Kyrgyz by Petr Triska et al. suggested that high levels of shared IBD blocks in Central Asian Kyrgyz and other Altaic-speaking populations from Southern Siberia (Tuva, Buryat) and North Asia (Yakut), support their recently formed common genetic core in Southern Siberia.

As reported in the other Kyrgyz populations, the highest frequencies of Haplogroup R1a1a-M17+, M198+, M458−were also present in the Northwest Chinese Kyrgyz (Urumchi Kyrgyz: 56% and Kizilsu Kyrgyz: 46%).

This haplogroup generally was frequent in a wide geographic area extending from South Asia to Central East Europe and South Siberia. Zerjal et al. postulated that it could be the most evident male genetic legacy of the “Kurgan Culture”population expansion.

We further tested the diagnostic markers R1a1a1b1a-Z282 and R1a1a1b2-Z93.

Of the 143 Kyrgyz R1a1a-M17+, M198+, M458−samples, more than 90% were assigned to Central Asian lineage R1a1a1b2-Z93

whereas the rest belonged to European lineage R1a1a1b1a-Z282.

Among the Asian R1a1a1b2-Z93 lineages, R1a1a1b2a2-Z2125 is quite common in Kyrgyzstan and Afghan Pashtuns (40%), and less frequent in other Afghan ethnic groups and some Caucasus and Iran populations (10%).

Notably, the basal lineage R1a1a1b2-Z93* is commonly distributed in the South Siberian Altai region of Russia.

Three competing hypotheses have been debated regarding the origins of the Kyrgyz: an upper Yenisei River (Minusinsk basin) origin, advocated by Russian academician G.F. Miller (1705–1783) in his History of Siberia, a Tenir Too Mountains origin, which holds that the Kyrgyz were the indigenous Central Asian, and a multiple independent origin, suggesting that the Kyrgyz consisted of at least two ethnic groups of Central Asian.

In this study, a set of 108 Y chromosome SNPs and 17 or 24 Y chromosome microsatellites was employed to trace the genetic components of the Northwest Chinese Kyrgyz paternal gene pool. We found that the Northwest Chinese Kyrgyz were characterized by the presence of two major Y chromosome haplogroups (R1a1a1b2a2a-Z2125 and C2b1a3a1-F3796).

Haplogroup R1a1a1b2a2a-Z2125 was the most common lineage Kyrgyz. It was frequent in several Central Asian populations.

It was frequent in several central Asian populations. The oldest specimen (SVP27, Utyevka VI, kurgan 7, grave 1 [2200–1900 BCE]) of this lineage originated from the Early Bronze Age Potapovka culture (closely related to the Sintashta culture) site from south of the Sok River in the Samara

oblast, Russia.

According to the published ancient DNA data, we found that, in Middle Bronze Age, Haplogroup R1a1a1b2a2a- Z2125 was mainly found in Sintashta culture population from Kamennyi Ambar 5 cemetery, western Siberia, in Fedorovo type of the Andronovo culture or Karasuk culture population from Minusinsk Basin, southern Siberia, and in Andronovo culture populations from Maitan, Ak-Moustafa, Aktogai, Kazakh Mys, Satan, Oy-Dzhaylau III, Karagash 2, Dali, and Zevakinskiy stone fence,

Kazakhstan.

Subsequently, from Late Bronze Age to Medieval Age, this lineage was observed among Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Hungary and Moldova, except for Russia and Kazakhstan.

Notably, in Tianshan area of Kyrgyzstan, the lineage was seen in Scythian_Saka and Hun people at 259-93 BCE and 286–406 CE, respectively. Therefore, on basis of the spatial and temporal distribution of haplogroup R1a1a1b2a2a-Z2125, some Kyrgyz might have a Siberian origin.” -Wen, Shao-qing; Du, Pan-xin; Sun, Chang; Cui, Wei; Xu, Yi-ran; Meng, Hai-liang; Shi, Mei-sen; Zhu, Bo-feng; Li, Hui (March 2022), "Dual origins of the Northwest Chinese Kyrgyz: the admixture of Bronze age Siberian and Medieval Niru'un Mongolian Y chromosomes", Nature

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