G2b1 (M377) Edit
Main article: Haplogroup G-M377 (Y-DNA)
G-M377, now also known as G2b1, has previously been designated G2b and G2c. A clade of closely related Ashkenazi Jews represent virtually all G2b persons, with just three other G2b haplotypes having been reported so far: one Turk from Kars in northeast Turkey near Armenia, one Pashtun, and one Burusho in Pakistan.
The extreme rarity of G-M377 in northern Pakistan could indicate that G2b in this area originates outside the region and was brought there in the historic period, perhaps from further west (Pakistan was part of both the Achaemenid Persian Empire, conquered by Alexander the Great, and then formed a part of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom). These two reported Pakistani G-M377 haplotypes are quite divergent from the Ashkenazi Jewish clade, and therefore do not at all indicate a recent common origin. The Turkish G-M377 is somewhat closer, but not identical. It remains to be seen if testing will reveal G-M377 haplotypes in other populations — this is some indication that G-M377 occurs at low levels in the Near East.
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