Everyone was Wrong about Ghengis Khan

There's an oft-quoted statistic that something like 5% of people are related to Genghis Khan. And the guy did have a lot of kids. But the truth is more complicated. Here's how we use Y chromosome analysis and small groups of genetic mutations to see how we're all related to each other.

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[USAKShipping-xsew]

If Ghengis Khan isn't necessarily our biological ancestor, is he just our Steppe Father?

[MrFleem]

"Not the father!"
*Genghis Khan dances across the stage*

[huslenenhjin]

As a Mongolian I am now convinced that I’m related to 8 billion people

[skullheadO]

that side shot of "AND HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND." felt like I was subtly being told to find the One piece and claim the treasure within

[Katterrena]

When I had a friend tell me he was related to Genghis Khan and I remembered he was from a Mughal family from Pakistan and his family name happens to be the same as one of Genghis Khan’s official sons, I was like “well you certainly have the best chance of it.”

[theratman]

Here in Kazakhstan we have a specific word to refer to the descendants of Chinggis Khan - “Ақсуйек” (literally “White bone”) or “Чингизид” (“Chingissid”). And one of my great grandmothers was one of the descendants and distantly related to Shoqan Walikhanov, a Kazakh ethnographer and historian who himself was a great grandson of Ablai Khan.
It is important in Kazakh culture to know your first seven ancestors so either families themselves or mosques would keep some records of familial lines. And it would be quite interesting to see one day a study conducted using both genetic material and historical records but the latter are sadly not as accessible. It took quite a while for my family to rebuild my dad's line while searching only for male ancestors so I can only imagine how laborious it would be to just collect all of this information

[dreboerte]

Thank you so much for this throughly researched video. As a Mongol myself, I always tell people about Chinggis Khan's remains never been found so it's too assumptive about he was the only culprit. Thousand s of years before him nomads followed pastures into Europe and Hungry migrated like pulse few hundred years apart. Plus the silk road contributed immensely to the dispersal of the DNA no doubt.

[apollion]

We love your curly hair and are glad you survived the process of its acquisition

[DianeOBCD]

Oh wow! I have never expected to hear about Tatars from you! Hello from Tatarstan!

[DomyTheMad]

i think it's FAR more likely that this theorethical Mongolian ancestor ACTUALLY was an ancestor of many of his men, potentially including the Khan himself.
it's unlikely one man sired that many children.
It's far more likely a common ancestor will be found amongst an invading army.. >.>

i'm honestly a bit annoyed at myself for not realizing this obvious truth earlier.

[ChagataiKhan]

Interesting fact: In Kazakhstan, descendants of Genghis Khan still exist, known as the Töre (dynasty) . You can read about the Töre on Wikipedia. One of the most famous descendants of Genghis Khan in Central Asia was the Kazakh scholar Shoqan Walikhanov. In 1856, the great Kyrgyz epic "Manas" was first recorded on paper by Shoqan Walikhanov. The Kazakh researcher Walikhanov is considered the scholar who first published records of the epic "Manas."
Kazakhs and Mongols also share common clans, such as the Naimans, Jalairs, and Khongirads.

[kevincherry]

“And have never been found” side shot was like straight out of Goonies

[laurelbayless]

Chingis Khan existed in the context of all in which he lived and all that came before him

[iamlalapalooza]

thank you.. and an interesting addition to this is that Ghengis' first wife, the mother of those 4 sons, was very smart and savvy and accomplished alot in her life.. i forget her name but she is famous. edit: Borte

[goktimusprime]

Was anyone else expecting John Green to make a cameo with his Mongolian "charge" video clip from Crash Course?

[beatboxfmj]

I like everyone's already forgot Hank survived cancer, looking good brotha

[Overfloable]

Such a wonderful, heartwarming and unifying message at the end. That's Hank Green in his truest form <3.

[crazycatlady]

World Politics: "As 'such and such' group, we're unique.'
Human Biology: "Umm, not really."

[AltaicGigachad]

As Genghis Khan's empire grew, his army became decreasingly Mongol in any ethnic sense Even in the early days it had been drawn from a confederation of Turco-Mongol tribes to which Uighurs, Kirghiz and others were gradually added. By the time the Khan died in 1227, Turkish warriors greatly outnumbered real Mongols whose role was now that of a leading élite.

[TrevorClarke]

I'm pretty upset there wasn't a single "except the Mongols" clip of JG from crash course history