Line R1a among Kazakhs: the Asian branch in every second tribe
The second largest paternal line among Kazakhs is R1a, 8% of the corpus. Among the neighbours in the Steppe it is at times the main line — among the Kyrgyz, among Altaians. Among Kazakhs it is found in many tribes but dominates in none.
One of the most numerous lines of Eurasia
R1a is widespread from the Baltic to India — among Poles, Russians, Pashtuns:
| People | Line share |
|---|---|
| Shors | 59% |
| Kyrgyz | 58% |
| Poles | 57% |
| Russians | 48% |
| Pashtuns | 45% |
| Altaians | 40% |
| Tajiks | 30% |
| Uyghurs | 30% |
| Uzbeks | 24% |
| Kazakhs | 8% |
Tribes on line R1a
R1a is notable in 14 tribes out of 26, highest among Oshakty:
| Tribe | Line share |
|---|---|
| Oshakty | 28% |
| Tarakty | 25% |
| Tore | 22% |
| Kozha | 21% |
| Suan | 20% |
| Argyn | 19% |
| Uak | 15% |
| Zhetiru | 14% |
| Kypshak | 13% |
| Shanyshkyly | 12% |
| Sirgeli | 10% |
| Alban | 7% |
| Kangly | 6% |
| Jalayir | 5% |
The Asian branch, not the European one
Almost all of today's R1a goes back to one ancestor who lived 5,400 years ago, and almost immediately after him it splits into two large branches — the European and the Asian.
Among Kazakhs R1a is almost entirely the Asian branch, 4,500 years old: the same as among the Kyrgyz, Tajiks and Pashtuns, not the European one, as among Poles and Russians. Inside the Asian branch there are several large branches. Among the Kyrgyz it is mostly Central Asian, and Uak and Zhetiru are on the same branch.
Among Argyn the picture is different: 88% of the tested R1a carriers are on the South Asian part of the Asian branch, today the main R1a branch of India and Pakistan. And within it Argyn has a branch of its own, 600 years old.
R-M417 - The European branch 5,000 years ago
R-Z282 - The Asian branch 4,500 years ago
R-Z93The South Asian branch 4,100 years agoR-L657Own branch among Argyn 600 years agoR-B132
Part of the R1a tree. The dashed line passes through intermediate branches.
Sources
Khussainova et al. 2022; Zhabagin et al. 2020, 2021, 2024; Zhunussova et al. 2025; open Y-DNA data.
Your R1a — on which of the Asian branches, and does your tribe, like Argyn, have a branch of its own?
The full tree of a line with the ages of all its branches, the distribution of clan lines inside each tribe, and comparison of tribes with one another — in the app.