Editing Tajiks (section)

== Genetics ==
[[File:Young girls from northern Afghanistan-2012.jpg|thumb|Tajik girls in [[Khwahan, Afghanistan]]|250x250px]]
A 2014 study of the [[mtDNA haplogroup|maternal haplogroups]] of Tajiks from Tajikistan revealed substantial admixture of West Eurasian and East Eurasian lineages, and also the presence of minor South Asian and North African lineages, as well.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ovchinnikov|first1=Igor V.|last2=Malek|first2=Mathew J.|last3=Drees|first3=Kenneth|last4=Kholina|first4=Olga I.|title=Mitochondrial DNA variation in Tajiks living in Tajikistan|journal=Legal Medicine|date=2014|volume=16|issue=6|pages=390–395|doi=10.1016/j.legalmed.2014.07.009|pmid=25155918 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1344622314001278|language=en|issn=1344-6223|access-date=17 January 2023|archive-date=17 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117234343/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1344622314001278|url-status=live}} "The Tajik mtDNA pool was characterized by substantial admixture of western and eastern Eurasian haplogroups, 62.6% and 26.4% sequences, respectively. It also contained 9.9% of South Asian and 1.1% of African haplotypes."</ref> Another study reports that "the Tajik [[mtDNA]] pool gene pool harbors nearly equal proportions of [[eastern Eurasia]]n and [[western Eurasia]]n haplotypes."<ref>{{cite journal | last=Irwin | first=Jodi A. | title=The mtDNA composition of Uzbekistan: a microcosm of Central Asian patterns | journal=International Journal of Legal Medicine | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=124 | issue=3 | date=6 February 2010 | issn=0937-9827 | doi=10.1007/s00414-009-0406-z | pages=195–204| pmid=20140442 | s2cid=2759130 }} "The Tajik mtDNA gene pool harbors nearly equal proportions of eastern Eurasian and western Eurasian haplotypes"...."The genetic features of other ethnic populations likely also reflect their documented demographic histories. For instance, the small mtDNA distance between the Tajik and Uzbek populations suggests a recent shared history. Tajiks and Uzbeks were only formally differentiated in 1929 when the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic was established, and up to 40% of the current Uzbek population is of Tajik ancestry (Library of Congress Federal Research Division Country Profile: Uzbekistan Feb 2007)."</ref>

West Eurasian maternal lineages included haplogroups H, J, K, T, I, W and U.<ref>{{harvnb|Ovchinnikov|Malek|Drees|Kholina|2014|p=392|ps=: "The western Eurasian component is represented by haplo-
groups HV/, HV0, H, J, K, T, and U of the macrohaplogroup R, and haplogroups I and W of the macrohaplogroup N [22]."}}</ref> East Eurasian lineages included haplogroups M, C, Z, D, G, A, Y and B.<ref>{{harvnb|Ovchinnikov|Malek|Drees|Kholina|2014|p=392|ps=: "The eastern Eurasian component is represented by haplogroups M8, M10, C, Z, D, G of the macrohaplogroup M, haplogroups A and Y1 of the macrohaplogroup N, and haplogroup B of the macrohaplogroup R [22]."}}</ref> South Asian lineages detected in this study included haplogroups M and R.<ref>{{harvnb|Ovchinnikov|Malek|Drees|Kholina|2014|p=392|ps=: "The south Asian component is {{sic|comprised|hide=y| of}} nine mtDNA sequences (9.9%) belonging to the macrohaplogroups M and R [22]. Two sequences were assigned to main branches of M including M3a1 (1.1%) and M30 (1.1%). Macrohaplogroup R was represented by six mtDNA sequences (6.6%) belonging to R0a (1 sample), R1 (2 samples), R2 (1 sample), and R5a (2 samples). One Tajik mtDNA sequence (1.1%) belonged to aforementioned U2b2,
a south Asian autochthonous subhaplogroup of the macrohaplogroup R [25]."}}</ref> One lineage in the Tajik sample was assigned to the North African maternal haplogroup X2j.<ref>{{harvnb|Ovchinnikov|Malek|Drees|Kholina|2014|p=392|ps=: "One Tajik mtDNA sequence (1.1%) was assigned to subhaplogroup X2j. X2j is considered to be of North African origin [23]."}}</ref>

The dominant [[Y-DNA haplogroup|paternal haplogroup]] among modern Tajiks is the Haplogroup [[R1a]] Y-DNA. ~45% of Tajik men share R1a (M17), ~18% J (M172), ~8% R2 (M124), and ~8% C (M130 & M48). Tajiks of Panjikent score 68% R1a, Tajiks of Khojant score 64% R1a.<ref>{{cite journal|pmc=56946|pmid=11526236|doi=10.1073/pnas.171305098|volume=98|issue=18|title=The Eurasian heartland: a continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity|date=August 2001|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.|pages=10244–9|last1=Wells|first1=RS|last2=Yuldasheva|first2=N|last3=Ruzibakiev|first3=R|bibcode=2001PNAS...9810244W|display-authors=etal|doi-access=free}}</ref>  According to another genetic test, 63% of Tajik male samples from Tajikistan carry R1a.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zerjal|first1=Tatiana|last2=Wells|first2=R. Spencer|last3=Yuldasheva|first3=Nadira|last4=Ruzibakiev|first4=Ruslan|last5=Tyler-Smith|first5=Chris|date=September 2002|title=A Genetic Landscape Reshaped by Recent Events: Y-Chromosomal Insights into Central Asia|journal=American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=71|issue=3|pages=466–482|doi=10.1086/342096|issn=0002-9297|pmid=12145751|pmc=419996}}</ref> This high frequency combined with low diversity of Tajik R1a reflects a strong [[founder effect]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Genetic Landscape Reshaped by Recent Events: Y-Chromosomal Insights into Central Asia|pmc=419996|pmid=12145751|doi=10.1086/342096|volume=71|issue=3|date=September 2002|pages=466–82|last1=Zerjal|first1=T|last2=Wells|first2=RS|last3=Yuldasheva|first3=N|last4=Ruzibakiev|first4=R|last5=Tyler-Smith|first5=C|journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics}}</ref>
[[File:Genetic formation of modern Tajik people.jpg|thumb|Schematic map showing the possible admixture model for Tajik populations. The time in parentheses represent a range. Arrows in different colors indicate ancestral sources and directions of the gene flows.|250x250px]]
An autosomal DNA study by Guarino-Vignon et al. (2022), suggested that modern Tajiks show genetic continuity with ancient samples from [[Tajikistan]] and [[Turkmenistan]]. The genetic ancestry of Tajiks consists largely of a West-Eurasian component (~74%), an East Asian-related component (~18%), and a South Asian component (~8%). According to the authors, the South Asian affinity of Tajiks was previously unreported, although evidence for the presence of a deep South Asian ancestry was already found previously in other Central Asian samples (e.g. among modern Turkmens and historical [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]] samples). Both historical and more recent geneflow (~1500 years ago) shaped the genetic makeup of Southern Central Asian populations, such as the Tajiks.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Guarino-Vignon|first1=Perle|last2=Marchi|first2=Nina|last3=Bendezu-Sarmiento|first3=Julio|last4=Heyer|first4=Evelyne|last5=Bon|first5=Céline|title=Genetic continuity of Indo-Iranian speakers since the Iron Age in southern Central Asia|journal=Scientific Reports|date=14 January 2022|volume=12|issue=1|page=733 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-04144-4|pmid=35031610 |pmc=8760286 |language=en|issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free|bibcode=2022NatSR..12..733G }}</ref> A follow-up study by Dai et al. (2022) estimated that the Tajiks derive between 11.6 and 18.6% ancestry from admixture with from an East-Eurasian steppe source represented by the [[Xiongnu]], with the remainder of their ancestry being derived from [[Western Steppe Herders]] and [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|BMAC]] components, as well as a small contribution from the early population associated with the [[Tarim mummies]]. The authors concluded that Tajiks "present patterns of genetic continuity of Central Asians since the Bronze Age".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dai et al. 2022|date=25 August 2022|title=The Genetic Echo of the Tarim Mummies in Modern Central Asians|url=https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/39/9/msac179/6675590?login=false|access-date=18 March 2023|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume=39 |issue=9 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msac179 |pmid=36006373 |pmc=9469894 |archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317192632/https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/39/9/msac179/6675590?login=false|url-status=live}} "The Historical Era gene flow derived from the Eastern Steppe with the representative of Mongolia_Xiongnu_o1 made a more substantial contribution to Kyrgyz and other Turkic-speaking populations (i.e., Kazakh, Uyghur, Turkmen, and Uzbek; 34.9–55.2%) higher than that to the Tajik populations (11.6–18.6%; fig. 4A), suggesting Tajiks suffer fewer impacts of the recent admixtures (Martínez-Cruz et al. 2011). Consequently, the Tajik populations generally present patterns of genetic continuity of Central Asians since the Bronze Age. Our results are consistent with linguistic and genetic evidence that the spreading of Indo-European speakers into Central Asia was earlier than the expansion of Turkic speakers (Kuz′mina and Mallory 2007; Yunusbayev et al. 2015)."</ref>