Demographics of Central Asia

Genetic history

An analysis of Scytho-Siberian matrilineal DNA lineages of Iron Age human remains from the Altai region found evidence of a mixture of West Eurasian and East Asian maternal lineages. Prior to the Iron Age, all ancient maternal lineages in the Altai region were of West Eurasian origin, however Iron Age specimens show that Western Eurasian lineages were reduced by 50%, and East Asian lineages increased by 50%. The authors suggested that the rise of East Asian mtDNA lineages likely happened within the Iron Age Scythian period.

The ancestry of modern Central Asian populations is significantly derived from later Indo-Iranian and Turkic populations.

A genetic study published in Nature in May 2018 examined the remains of four elite Türk soldiers buried between ca. 300 AD and 700 AD. 50% of the samples of Y-DNA belonged to the West Eurasian haplogroup R1, while the other 50% belonged to East Eurasian haplogroups Q and O. The extracted samples of mtDNA belonged mainly to East Eurasian haplogroups C4b1, A14 and A15c, while one specimen carried the West Eurasian haplogroup H2a. The authors suggested that Central Asian nomadic populations may have been Turkicized by East Asian elite minorities, resulting in a small but detectable increase in East Asian ancestry. However, these authors also found that Türkic period individuals were extremely genetically diverse, with some individuals being of near complete West Eurasian descent. To explain this diversity of ancestry, they propose that there were also incoming West Eurasians moving eastward on the Eurasian steppe during the Türkic period, resulting in admixture.

A 2020 study analyzed genetic data from 7 early medieval Türk skeletal remains from Eastern Turkic Khaganate burial sites in Mongolia. The authors described the Türk samples as highly diverse, carrying on average 40% West Eurasian, and 60% East Eurasian ancestry. West Eurasian ancestry in the Türks combined Sarmatian-related and BMAC ancestry, while the East Eurasian ancestry was related to Ancient Northeast Asians. The authors also observed that the Western Steppe Herder ancestry in the Türks was largely inherited from male ancestors, which also corresponds with the marked increase of paternal haplogroups such as R and J during the Türkic period in Mongolia. Admixture between East and West Eurasian ancestors of the Türkic samples was dated to 500 CE, or roughly 8 generations prior. Three of the Türkic-affiliated males carried the paternal haplogroups J2a and J1a, two carried haplogroup C-F3830, and one carried R1a-Z93. The analyzed maternal haplogroups were identified as D4, D2, B4, C4, H1 and U7.

Mongolians derive most of their ancestry from Ancient Northeast Asians (82–94%), with a variable amount of West Eurasian admixture (6-18%) from a Bronze Age Western Steppe Herder source, with Mongolians from Inner Mongolia having higher Ancient Northeast Asian component than Mongolians from Mongolia. Kazakhs derive around 60% of their ancestry from Eastern Eurasians and around 40% from Western Eurasians. Other studies model Kazakhs and Kyrgyz as a mixture of "Xinj_HE3"-related (44.8–58.9%) and "Mongolia_Xiongnu_o1"-related ancestries (41.1–55.2%), with the former component being ANE-rich. Uyghurs, Uzbeks and Turkmens can likewise be modeled as a mixture of "Turkmenistan_IA"-related (48.8–65.1%) and "Mongolia_Xiongnu_o1"-related (34.9–51.2%) components. Tajiks can be modeled as a mixture of Iranian farmer-related (43.8–52.8%), ANE-related(13.3–15.8%), Western European hunter-gatherer-related (9.5–11.8%), Baikal hunter-gatherer-related (7.7–17.1%), and Anatolian farmer-related (9.7–15.6%) ancestries. Some input from Andamanese-related groups is also detected.

A 2022 study stated that modern Central Asians can be divided into Indo-Iranian and Turko-Mongol groups; Indo-Iranian groups formed through admixture between local BMAC and Andronovo-related populations near the end of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, coinciding with the end of the Oxus Civilization. They are also closely related to Iron Age Turkmenistan individuals, who have a mixture of Western Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers/Eastern European Hunter-Gatherer (25%), Iranian Neolithic (30%) and Anatolian Farmer (35%) ancestries. Modern Indo-Iranian groups are largely continuous with these ancient groups but received some East Asian-related ancestry, represented by Baikal Hunter-Gatherer ancestry, from Turko-Mongol groups and South Asian-related ancestry, especially for Tajiks, after the Iron Age. Modern Turko-Mongol groups, in contrast, descend from Iron Age migrants to Central Asia and vary in their affinities to Indo-Iranian and ancient Baikal groups but on average, they receive 50% of their ancestry from Baikal Hunter-Gatherers and to a lesser extent, Han-related sources. Overall, the modern Yaghnobis can be used as proxies for the pre-Iron Age Indo-Iranian substrate although they received some Baikal Hunter-Gatherer ancestry that was absent in pre-Iron Age Central Asians.

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