The Lost Greek Soldiers of Pakistan? What DNA Found

In three valleys of Pakistan's Hindu Kush live the Kalash: a few thousand people with a faith found nowhere else in the country, and a legend that their ancestors were soldiers of Alexander the Great. Greece believed it enough to build them a museum. So what does their DNA actually say? From the valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir and the 1929 photographs of Georg Morgenstierne, to Alexander's march along the Kunar River, a Greek volunteer kidnapped by militants, and fifteen years of genetic studies that answered yes, no and maybe, this is the real story of the Kalash. Do you think the legend could be true? Tell us in the comments. Chapters 0:00 A legend in the mountains 0:28 The valleys 0:55 The legend 1:23 The Greeks arrive 1:49 The first DNA tests 2:35 An ancient people 3:02 The twist 3:30 Other suspects 4:02 Today 4:17 The answer Sources Rosenberg et al. (2002), "Genetic structure of human populations", Science 298 (1,056 people from 52 populations; at K = 6 the Kalash form their own cluster) Qamar et al. (2002), "Y-chromosomal DNA variation in Pakistan", American Journal of Human Genetics 70; critique: Kivisild et al. (2003) Firasat et al. (2007), "Y-chromosomal evidence for a limited Greek contribution to the Pathan population of Pakistan", European Journal of Human Genetics 15 (77 Greek men compared with Burusho, Kalash and Pathan men) Hellenthal et al. (2014), "A genetic atlas of human admixture history", Science 343 (1,490 people from 95 populations; Kalash admixture dated ~990–210 BC, source unknown) Ayub et al. (2015), "The Kalash genetic isolate: ancient divergence, drift, and selection", American Journal of Human Genetics 96 (23 Kalash men; split ~11,800 years ago, 95% range ~10,600–12,600) Hellenthal et al. (2016), letter to the editor, American Journal of Human Genetics 98 ("whether or not this admixture event involved the armies of Alexander the Great is an unresolved question") Narasimhan et al. (2019), "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia", Science 365 (ancient DNA including Pakistan's Swat Valley) Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, Book 4 (the Kunar/Cophen campaign, 327–326 BC) Dawn (2007), "Greek NGO sets up museum in Chitral"; Voice of Greece (2010), release of Athanasios Lerounis; Dawn (2018), Wazir Zada joins the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly What DNA can and can't tell us: ancestry estimates describe the people who were sampled, and the studies above used small samples of Kalash people. A mixing event's date doesn't name its source, and no ancient DNA from the Kalash valleys has been published yet. Photos: Georg Morgenstierne, Rumbur 1929 (National Library of Norway, public domain); Manal Ahmad Khan (CC BY 2.0); rah33l (CC BY 2.0); Noé Alfaro (CC BY 2.0); eaglestar77 (CC BY 3.0); all via Wikimedia Commons. Footage: licensed stock (Envato). Maps and charts: North Vault Films. Narration voice is AI-generated. Watch next, the Greek side of the story: Are Modern Greeks Really Greek? What Ancient DNA Says    • Are Modern Greeks Really Greek? What Ancie...   Next episode: How much Viking DNA do the Irish really carry? #Kalash #Pakistan #AlexanderTheGreat #Chitral #DNA #History ——— ORIGINS is a North Vault Films series: one question about every nation, answered with maps, archives and DNA. New films every week. Subscribe:    / @northvaultfilms   Narration: AI-assisted voice reading an original, fact-checked script. Sources are listed above.