Afghan Genetic Mysteries

Letter To The Editor This open access article is available in Human Biology: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol83/iss6/10 Letter to the Editor Afghan Genetic Mysteries I am a cultural anthropologist, and I have focused a large part of my research on Afghanistan populations. To my surprise, and despite the international attention given to this country in the last three decades, I have noted the absence of significant genetic studies intended to depict its complex population history. Available articles mainly concern those ethnic groups located across the borders, meaning that any conclusion about Afghanistan is an indirect inference, as only few Afghans living in Afghanistan or recently emigrated from Afghanistan, have been sampled (Agarwal et al. 1976; Rahimi et al. 1977; Goedde et al. 1977a and 1977b; Hirth et al. 1979 and 1982; Benkmann et al. 1980; Berti et al. 2005; Hohoff et al. 2006; Lacau et al. 2011). Afghanistan is at the crossroad of many civilizations, where Central Asian and Indo-European populations (coming from the Iranian plateau and the Indian sub-continent) have met and sometimes admixed (Bruk 1955; Orywal 1983 and 1986; Barfield 2011). As Afghanistan has been practically isolated from all neighboring regions from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, more than anywhere else today, spoken languages well identify existing ethnic groups that are fully conscious of their identity. Therefore, linguistic diversity can be used as an excellent proxy to ethnic identity. In total, there are at least thirty-two different languages and dialects in Afghanistan, belonging to four different linguistic families. Twelve languages are specific to this country: Parachi; Munji, Sangleshi-Eshkashimi (Badakhshan province); Kati, Askuni, Waigali, Prasuni (Nurestan province); Pashayi; Ningalami, Watapuri, Sawi, Tirahi (Farhadi 1969 and 1970). For more details, the generally accurate guide “The Ethnologue” can be consulted, and to this end, I will report their capitalized three-letter accession code used at the beginning of each section (Lewis 2009). Generally, the definition of Afghan ethnic groups corresponds to usual ethnological criteria: a specific political or social organization, a marked preference for endogamous marriages, the feeling of sharing a common culture, values, and memories, and a marked geographic continuity of the territory each group inhabits (Dupaigne and Rossignol 2002). Before moving on to a systematic description of the ethnic groups living in the country, I would like to highlight that traditionally it was possible to marry a woman of a group considered as inferior, while the reverse was impossible. Furthermore, while marriages between Turkmens and Tajiks or between Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Arabs could be envisaged, in the Pashtuns tribes marriages between tribes far apart from each other were unlikely and almost impossible with any other ethnic group. Almost no Afghan ethnic group can be considered fully genetically homogeneous in view of the wars, the deportation of populations, the alliances, and its possible past integration in more powerful groups after a defeat. Further, the tradition of stronger groups to accept impoverished families or clans among them, that worked unpaid in exchange of protection until a final integration, may distort a trustworthy genetic inference about ancestry (Centlivres and CentlivresDemont 1988). I understand that researchers potentially interested in Afghans have been discouraged by the political instability of the region and by its cultural complexity. While I am unable to fix the first problem, I will describe the different groups, trying to provide a list of hypotheses that can be investigated with molecular markers and highlight the cases where such investigation is likely to be unsuccessful. Most importantly, the chronology of the arrival of the different ethnic groups, largely unknown, would be enlightened by population genetics. Several useful studies could be achieved before the official departure of allied forces scheduled for 2014. The foreign influence cannot be limited to that of conquering armies, and the scientific field open to research is immense. Concerning the genetic sampling, the size and the ethnic diversity of the population of Kabul and other major cities would often suffice, and travelling to remote regions would not be required. Moreover, without mentioning many well-equipped hospitals, the universities of Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-i Sharif, Herat, or Kapisa would be eager to cooperate. While the reader may conclude that Afghanistan is just a virtual name corresponding to a territory inhabited by tribes having contrasting and independent political aspirations, my experience shows that Afghans of any ethnical belonging, although still attached to their ancient loyalties, consider themselves as citizens of a unique Afghan nation. Before moving on to the systematic description of the different ethnic groups, I would like to thank Pierre Darlu for providing useful references about genetic investigations and Nancy Wise for translating my text into English. If this letter persuades any anthropologist to start a genetic survey in Afghanistan, I will be glad to answer any inquiry sent through the editorial office of Human Biology. Meanwhile, Figure 1 can be used to geographically locate some of the groups I mention.