Exploring the lineage: Who is related to Genghis Khan today?

In addition to setting the foundation for one of the largest empires in human history, Genghis Khan also reshaped sociopolitical life across many continents. Aside from that, the guy simply loved having children. Thanks to his love of sowing his wild oats, combined with his rapid expansion across Eurasia, an estimated 1 in 200 people can trace their genetics to him. Where does the line end? Well, today we're figuring out how many people are actually related to Genghis Khan. Let's learn all the history we possibly can. During the 13th century, Mongols were polygamists. The men could have as many wives as they could afford. And we mean that literally. You could literally buy a wife. But not all wives were purchased, and many women served multiple functions throughout Mongol society. Khan and his first wife, Berta, were no different. She was essential to his future conquest, mainly in the Department of Heir Production. Khan and Berta were introduced by their fathers when they were 10 years old. The papas negotiated their children's arranged marriage. And Genghis, known at the time as Temujin, lived with Berta's tribe until they were married. From then on, they had a typical romance. Boy falls in love with girl, they get married. Girl gets kidnapped by enemies of the future king, and boy goes to rescue her, destroying everyone in his path along the way. Classic. When Genghis's son was born, the question of his paternity came up, as Berta was abducted by the Merkit tribal confederation for around eight months. Though he couldn't be certain, Genghis still raised his son, Jochi, as his own. In addition to Jochi, the couple became the proud parents of three other sons and five daughters. His sons had military and leadership achievements of their own, although no one can escape the shadow of that father. But Genghis's daughters also played a role in securing Genghis Khan's growing empire through marriage. Utilizing them for key diplomatic roles, Khan married his daughters off to trustworthy allies who would become specifically chosen to rule neighboring kingdoms. Khan raised his kids like a game of human chess. Where's his world's greatest dad mug? Bereta wasn't the only special lady in Genghis' heart. Taking wives from the tribes he conquered was pretty common for Khan. Hulan was given to him after he defeated her father's tribe in battle. She would go on to be a leader on her own right, managing strategically placed land. But marriage wasn't forever in Genghis Khan's world. One of the later wives in his club eventually married one of Khan's generals. And not to be outdone in the wife swapping game, another of Khan's wives would go on to marry Khan's son. Those family barbecues must have been pretty awkward. Historian Jack Weatherford argues that Genghis Khan did not have more than four wives at any given time. But many of his concubines were admittedly indistinguishable from wives. And considering women were part of the reward, Khan claimed when taking over a tribe, it can be guesstimated that he fathered hundreds of children in his life, if only reality TV existed back then. Genghis wasn't the only member of the Khan family to engage in extra, extra, extra, extramarital affairs. Once they were old enough, the children who fought alongside their father would eventually take on many wives of their own, just like dad did. While it was possible Jochi may not have been his biological son, Genghis still treated him as such. And if anyone had a problem with it, they wisely kept it to themselves. Jochi did more than his part in continuing the Mongol tradition of taking a bunch of wives and fathering a bunch of kids. It's speculated that his offspring numbered anywhere from 14 to 40 children. And don't get too comfy, Jochi, because they all have baseball games this weekend. Genghis Khan's three sons by his first wife all received parts of his empire when he died in 1227 CE. His third son took on the mantle as the second Great Khan, while the others ruled the West and the Mongolian plains, respectively. Yes, we know who Dad's favorite was. While the primary wife of Genghis's third son, you know, the second great Khan, never produced any heirs, that guy's other wife racked up five sons. If she had failed to have any kids, he would have presumably broken a third emergency wife out of a glass case. A relative of Bertha, Chagatai, was Genghis Khan's second son's main squeeze, and she gave birth to four sons. Anybody need a glass of water? Altogether, the three sons of the king produced at least 20 heirs. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of little Khans running around Mongolia during the 13th century. During the time of his rule, Genghis Khan's sons were keen to spread Mongol influence and DNA all over the place. This became a tradition from generation to generation. Kublai Khan, grandson to the great Genghis Khan and founder of the Yuan dynasty in China, followed in his dad and granddad's footsteps by sowing his wild oats enough to produce dozens of sons. That's several laser tag teams. Not much is known about Kublai's first wife, but we do know she wasn't the only woman in his life. In true grandson of Genghis Khan fashion, he kept picking up wives to add to his collection. But it was his wife, Chabi, who gave birth to four sons. And if you believe Marco Polo, Kublai had an additional 18 male offspring who all had a legitimate claim to his name. And these were only the children he fathered with his official on paper wives. If you add in all the kids he had with his many concubines, that number spikes up another 25 points. Man, that's a whole laser tag tournament. And all that raiding and pillaging spread the Khan family bloodline far and wide. Genghis Khan ruled enough lands to keep any ordinary ruler happy. But being no ordinary ruler, Khan's empire eventually expanded across Asia and into Eastern Europe by the mid-14th century. Khan's sons overseeing much of this expansion meant that the cultural and biological interactions would eventually perpetuate the spread of Mongol DNA, specifically the kind that belonged to Genghis Khan himself. Khan had a policy of defeating his enemies, grabbing all the loot he could, and taking women as prizes. Untold number of children were born during this time, and his hordes passed along his infamous blood. Ask anyone with eyes back in the 13th century, eyes that weren't knocked out of their head by the Mongols, that is, and they would have told you that Khan's family was spreading like wildfire. But it wasn't until science caught up with all his conquering that the true scale of Khan's effect on the human population was revealed. In 2003, researchers collected blood from populations throughout the former Mongol Empire. Lead evolutionary biologist Chris Tyler-Smith found some unusual features in the Y-chromosome lineage carried by 8% of the men in the region. This unique pattern shows up in about 0.5% of the planet's total. And after deducting that the chromosome pattern originated in Mongolia about 1,000 years ago, it was all but confirmed this was no coincidence. That's the Khan gene, buddy. Based on the global male population in 2003, about 16 million men were estimated to have DNA dating back to Genghis Khan. He was the Nick Cannon of the Mongolian conquerors. Right now, some of you may be asking, how many women are related to Genghis Khan? Believe it or not, scientists have no idea. It's unlikely we'll ever really know. You see, the Y chromosome is essentially a biological switch that turns an embryo into a male child. So it's only present in males, meaning researchers can only test dudes. Historical research supports the claim that Genghis Khan had roughly the same amount of female offspring as he did male. But because women have no Y chromosome to study, it's difficult to determine any connection between Khan and his possible grandchildren. However, women can trace their descent via their male relatives. They make a very specific 23andMe kit for this? Building your empire as an ancestor of one of the best to ever do it became a point of pride for folks in the centuries immediately following Khan's death. For instance, Timur, who came into power in the mid-14th century, claimed to be a descendant of the great Khan, which was a pretty good reference to have in those days. He would go on to found the Timurid Empire as the Mongolian Empire was beginning its decline in Central Asia. Now, there may have never actually been a connection between Timur and Genghis Khan. So to be on the safe side, Timur married several women who were said to be descended from Genghis Khan. Like an aggressive shortstop, it's important to cover your bases. Today, people still have blood fever when it comes to being part of the Khan clan. In 2004, London restaurant Sheesh offered free dinner to anyone who could prove to be a descendant of Genghis Khan. They provided the test, giving out one per week, so customers could find out for themselves. But once you get to drawing blood for a free meal, maybe it's time to just pony up the cash. Genghis Khan was a super stud, and that is a scientific term. No, really. Science has found 11 so-called super studs throughout history. And again, we are not making this up. These were men who went to great lengths to cement a long legacy by spreading their genes as aggressively as possible. And it's hard to deny that it worked, at least for Genghis Khan. We are still talking about him, some of us more than others. Outside of Genghis, it's impossible to pin down these super studs with 100% accuracy. But scientists are pretty sure about two of them. For instance, there's Zhuo Changan, a Chinese chieftain from the 16th century Qing dynasty, whose DNA was carried by approximately 3.3% of the males sampled in East Asia. Those are respectable numbers. And across the pond, DNA from Irish King Niall Noígíallach was found, again by a uniqueness in that pesky Y chromosome. It was found in 8% of all of Ireland's population, and even in 2% of New York, including celebs like Stephen Colbert. However, because Niall had no verifiable remains and is considered by some historians to be a mere myth and not, in fact, a real dude, this data should be taken with a DNA helix of salt.