New Study on Afghanistan's Genetics

[Toramana]

Please let's get back to topic

MNS what do you make out of this study? As I see the data from the tables, R1aa1 is again the dominant haplogroup found in 49 of the 87 samples which is around 56% and G2c-M377 which is around 15%. Where do you think might have the G2c-M377 come from?

[Midnight_Sun]

OK I'm looking at the Table (Figure S8)that were provided with the article and I observe the Pathan-Pashtuns in the study:

Y-Haplogroups

Haplogroup G-M377: 10 (G2b, G2c)

Haplogroup G-M406: 2 (G2a?)

Haplogroup G-M285: 1 (G1)

Haplogroup G-P15: 1 (G2a)

Origins: Unknown, Possibly Turkic/Eurasian/Middle Eastern. Arabs, Pashtuns, Jews, Kurds, Turks, a few Kashmiris and Burusho carry it to some frequency.

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Haplogroup H-M69: 3

Haplogroup H-M82: 6

Origins: South India, high frequency in Gypsy/Romani people

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Haplogroup: J-M530: 1

Haplogroup: J-M410: 2

Haplogroup: J-Unlisted: 3

Origins: Middle-Eastern/Mediterranean

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Haplogroup: L-M357: 2

Haplogroup: L-M76: 5

Origins: Pakistan/India; found to some frequency among Pashtuns, Burusho, Kalash, Pakistanis & Indians, some Arabs

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Haplogroup: Q-M242: 1

Haplogroup: Q-M346: 3

Origins: Northern Asia, Found commonly among Native Americans, Siberians, and some Turks

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Haplogroup: R-M198: 57 - (R1a)

Haplogropu R-M124: 2 (R2a)

Haplogroup R-L23: 2 (R1b)

Origins: Between Eastern Europe, Caucasus Area, Asia Minor, and Central Asia.


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Haplogroup C-M130: 1

Origins: Mongolia, NE Asia

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Haplogroup O-P201: 1

Origins: Southeast Asia

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Haplogroup: T-M70: 1

Origins: West Asia, found commonly among Egyptians, Omani, Tanzanians, Ethiopians. Low frequencies among Tajiks, Turks, Afghans, Europeans, etc.


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Totals:

104 Pashtuns in the table (Figure S8): 55% Pashtuns in this Table were R1a, 59% for Haplogroup R overall. Again, significant R1a found among Pashtuns. Rather homogeneous compared to other ethnic groups as the article says.

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I will analyze mtDNA next.

[Kushan Prince]

^ how do you know this 50% wasn't taken from one pashtun tribe and incorectly put for all pashtuns? For instance the yousafzai have 50% r1a while different tribes may show much higher percentage compared to other tribes. The whole thing seems a bit curropted just like pashtuns being 42% in Afghanistan.

[Midnight_Sun]

Kushan, read the article. It says specifically Pashtuns living in Hindu Kush mountains: Specifically Pashtuns in Baghlan and Kunduz, as well as previous studies of "Pathans" of Pakistan.

Specific tribes has nothing to do with it.

[Kushan Prince]

Kushan, read the article. It says specifically Pashtuns living in Hindu Kush mountains: Specifically Pashtuns in Baghland and Kunduz, as well as previous studies of "Pathans" of Pakistan.

Specific tribes has nothing to do with it.

So practicly Northern Pashtuns right? Most Pashtuns in the north are recent arrivals to the region (like my family) and it would take a few more generations to ruin the bloodline by mixing with tajiks or uzbeks.

Just my opinion

[Midnight_Sun]

Kushan, please make more effort in trying to understand genetics in a broader scale than just 'pure blood' myths.

Pashtuns are not pure blood, not even close, and that's a good thing.

[Midnight_Sun]

Maternal Ancestry (mtDNA) For Pashtuns in Hindu Kush Study:

Pashtun

n=90

Eurasian Ancestry: 51.1%

South Asian Ancestry: 27.8%

East Asian Ancestry: 10.0%


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Some of the South Asian components can also be found in Eurasia, so it's probably good not to jump to conclusions.

--

Some interesting results:

U2 Ancestry was the most prevalent for Pashtun. I myself am U2c1.

Pashtuns had the most South Asian affinity of all ethnic groups, followed closely by Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek, then Turkmen.

Tajiks, Turkmens, Uzbeks and Pashtuns ranged over 50% Eurasian affinities, while Hazaras had the least. (No surprises there).

[Midnight_Sun]

I thought most important sentences for our purposes are:

"Interestingly, while the Pakistani Hazara form a tight cluster, the Hazara in the Afghan Hindu Kush are more spread out. Moreover, Tajik, Uzbek and Turkmen samples collected in Afghanistan do not genetically behave like those in their respective eponymous republics. On the contrary, the Pashtun, whether from Afghanistan or Pakistan, form a more genetically homogeneous ethnic group."


And

"Kyrgyz and Pashtun display the lowest Y-chromosome genetic diversity."

That's because both Krygyz and Pashtun have high frequency of R1a1a. I wonder if there is any geographical-historical correlation? Between the groups thousands of years ago? I guess there has to be if they are related.

Also, another interesting correlation is that of Pashtuns with G2c, which is absent in all other ethnic groups. G2b and G2c is found the highest in one other population, Ashkenazi Jews, of which, 7% were G2b. There are also sporadic occurrences in the middle east among Kurds, Turks, and Arabs.

[Karachi]

Maternal Ancestry (mtDNA) For Pashtuns in Hindu Kush Study:

Pashtun

n=90

Eurasian Ancestry: 51.1%

South Asian Ancestry: 27.8%

East Asian Ancestry: 10.0%


--

Some of the South Asian components can also be found in Eurasia, so it's probably good not to jump to conclusions.

--

Some interesting results:

U2 Ancestry was the most prevalent for Pashtun. I myself am U2c1.

Pashtuns had the most South Asian affinity of all ethnic groups, followed closely by Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek, then Turkmen.

Tajiks, Turkmens, Uzbeks and Pashtuns ranged over 50% Eurasian affinities, while Hazaras had the least. (No surprises there).

do you have Ydna percentages like that?

Ydna in the whole region seems to be mostly Eurasian dominated, clearly telling us that majority of the people who came from outside were male (armies) which makes sense

I am actually still surprised at the south asian percentages being so high in all of south/central asia region, even among groups like Kalash/Burusho etc... who looks wise usually look very eastern european influenced. One would think that mountains usually act as a barrier, but in this case not so much, I wonder how the south asian component got up there to begin with

[Karachi]

Hey btw, Midnight, you are U2, this is the article published by David from Eurogenes just today: Eurogenes Blog: Mitochondrial haplogroup U2e as a maternal marker of the Proto-Indo-European expansion

[Midnight_Sun]

I haven't seen it, but thanks for the link! Looks like it's using the published data on known U2 subgroups like U2i and U2e. U2c will probably be found a lot more in Afghanistan if there are any dedicated Pashtun mtDNA studies.

[Midnight_Sun]

do you have Ydna percentages like that?

Ydna in the whole region seems to be mostly Eurasian dominated, clearly telling us that majority of the people who came from outside were male (armies) which makes sense

I am actually still surprised at the south asian percentages being so high in all of south/central asia region, even among groups like Kalash/Burusho etc... who looks wise usually look very eastern european influenced. One would think that mountains usually act as a barrier, but in this case not so much, I wonder how the south asian component got up there to begin with

I did one for the Pashtuns on the data that was given on the supplementary material. If you read up, I have organized all the Pashtun Y-DNA samples. 104 Pashtuns in the table (Figure S8): 55% Pashtuns in this Table were R1a, 59% for Haplogroup R overall

[Midnight_Sun]

Karachi,

Well the South Asian components in the study are just Haplogroups that are found frequently in South Asia. It does not necessarily mean all those haplogroups all originated there. For instance, U2 are considered Eurasian (the oldest U2 was found in Russia).

[Kushan Prince]

Kushan, please make more effort in trying to understand genetics in a broader scale than just 'pure blood' myths.

Pashtuns are not pure blood, not even close, and that's a good thing.

You still didn't understand my statement but whatever and I've heard about the G2c theory of Wikipedia. I think its all propaganda to link Pashtuns with the 10 lost tribes.

[Karachi]

Karachi,

Well the South Asian components in the study are just Haplogroups that are found frequently in South Asia. It does not necessarily mean all those haplogroups all originated there. For instance, U2 are considered Eurasian (the oldest U2 was found in Russia).

True, I was also referring to the breakdown of Kalash and Burusho people done by Zack on Harrapa project. They all have very high south asian/south indian component in them ranging from 18-25%.

One thing I still have to understand is how much of that South Indian component is actually linked to Ancestral South Indian component (ASI).

Nevertheless less, it does look like that before all the Eurasian population movements in to the area, the region must have dominated by the (ASI) population. This is the only reason one can explain why even people living up in the Hindu Kush have high amounts of this component, because in recent history, there haven't been any major movements of people from South Asia in to the Hindu Kush, at least from known history