Y-DNA: tracing the family’s origins back in time

Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups are a part of male-specific genetic inheritance from ancestor to ancestor in a direct line. In a way, they are the genetic signature of every individual and they form an unbreakable chain from our most recent to our most distant ancestors. They provide information about how each male is related genetically to every other male, when their last common ancestor lived and many other data which help us understand where our ancestors lived.

The Dukagjini family has been tested via Omar El Adli Dukaginzade, direct male descendant of Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha. He belongs to haplogroup J-L283 under subclade J-PH1751>Z38299>Y46913>Y47962. J-L283 is a very common haplogroup among Albanians. It has been first found in the Balkans 3500 ago years in an area connected to the people historically known as Illyrians in the Iron Age. About ~16-20% of all Albanian males belong to J-L283. It is particularly common under J-PH1751 from which the Dukagjini descend in northern Albania. The genetic links of the Dukagjini to important bloodlines of northern Albania reinforces the historical perception according to which Albanian noble families shared blood ties with the communities they led and precisely because of their common bloodlines the memory of some families was so well preserved. The Dukagjini-Dukaginzade shared a common ancestor who lived in the late 14th century about 650 years with a person from the area of Lezha and another individual who maintains an Arbëreshë origin. Such a geneaological spread coincides with the history of the Dukagjini, who were concentrated in Lezha and several of them settled permanently in Italy.

As more knowledge is accumulated about no longer existing Dukagjini branches, Y-DNA testing will help improve information about how the family branched out in the Mediterranean and Europe and how branches were related to each other.