How many children did Genghis Khan have?
GENGHIS Khan is known for being a 13th century Mongolian warrior who ruled the largest empire in the world.
But aside from being a fearsome ruler, Genghis Khan had many wives - and even more children.
How many children did Genghis Khan have?
Known as the 'Super Father' Khan is thought to have fathered many children with different women.
It is thought that Khan had hundreds of Children.
He had at least four official sons and five daughters with his primary wife Börte.
The exact number of children produced by the Mongol warrior is unknown, but it could be extremely high since he is thought to have had around 500 secondary wives.
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What percent of the world is related to Khan?
In 2003, evolutionary geneticist Chris Tyler-Smith discovered that eight percent of men across 16 different Asian ethnic populations shared the same Y-chromosome pattern.
This pattern was traced back to a shared origin from about 1,000 years ago and to create so many descendants it is thought that this origin, or person, would have had to have a huge number of sons.
Genghis Khan is known in contemporary literature for fathering hundreds of children in this area, so historians and geneticists presume the common origin of the chromosome is the first Mongolian emperor himself.
According to the study, nearly eight percent of men living in the former Mongol empire carry Y-chromosomes that are nearly identical.
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That is equivalent to 0.5 percent of the worldwide male population or roughly 16 million living descendants.
At the time of his death in 1227, Genghis Khan's empire extended across Asia from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea.
Mongol conquerors would kill people in the regions they took, and harems and concubines were common.
Raping, pillaging and looting were commonly regarded as war spoils, with Khan men getting the first pick of beautiful women in newly acquired territories
Khan's eldest son, Tushi, reportedly had 40 sons.
Who was Genghis Khan?
Born in 1162, Genghis Khan was a warrior, leader and founder of the Mongol empire.
He died aged 65 in 1227. The exact cause of his death is unknown, some reports say he died during a battle against the Chinese kingdom Xi Xia, others say he fell off his horse during a hunt, and others say he died after contracting the plague.
The empire Khan founded continued to be led by his vast number of direct descendants for hundreds of years before splintering into smaller groups.