Genetics
Genetically, the Hazara are a mixture of western Eurasian and eastern Eurasian components, i.e. racially Eurasian. Genetic research suggests that the Hazaras of Afghanistan cluster closely with the Uzbek population of the country, while both groups are at a notable distance from Afghanistan's Tajik and Pashtun populations.[55] There is evidence of both a patrimonial and maternal relation to Turkic peoples and Mongols amongst some Hazaras.[56]
Photograph taken of ethnic Hazara men of Behsud.
East Eurasian male and female ancestry is supported by studies in genetic genealogy as well. East Asian maternal haplogroups (mtDNA) make up about 35%, suggesting that the male descendants of Turkic and Mongolic peoples were accompanied by women of East Asian ancestry, though the Hazaras as a whole have mostly west Eurasian mtDNA.[57] Women of Non-East Asian mtDNA in Hazaras are at about 65%, most which are West Eurasians and some South Asian.[58]
The most frequent paternal haplogroups found amongst the Pakistani Hazara were haplogroup C-M217 at 40%(10/25) and Haplogroup R1b at 32%[59] (8/25).
One study about paternal DNA haplogroups of the Afghanistan shows that the Y-DNA haplogroups R1a and C-M217 are the most common haplogroups, followed by J2-M172 and L-M20. Some Hazaras also have the haplogroup R1a1a-M17, E1b1b1-M35, L-M20 and H-M69, which are common in Tajiks, Pashtuns as well as Indian populations. In one study, a small minority had the haplogroup B-M60, normally found in East Africa,[60] and in one mtDNA study of Hazara, mtDNA Haplogroup L (which is of African origin) was detected at a frequency of 7.5%.[61]
A recent study shows that the Uyghurs are closely related to the Hazaras. The study also suggests a small but notable East Asian ancestry in other populations of Pakistan and India