Ancestrify

Ancestry populations · Classical Antiquity

Gandharan Swat

The urban Gandharan population of the Swat Valley in the last centuries BC and the first centuries AD, known from the fortified trade town of Barikot on the Swat river — ruled in turn by Indo-Greeks, Scythians and Kushans. One of the 33 curated source populations in the Classical Antiquity era of the Ancestrify qpAdm ancient-DNA analysis.

See plans and pricingBrowse every population

Who they were

Artistic interpretation of the Gandharan Swat (AI-generated artwork, not documentary evidence)
Period
BC 200 – 300 AD
Era in the analysis
Classical Antiquity
Role in the model
Source (left) population — a reference qpAdm tests against
In your report

The urban Gandharan population of the Swat Valley in the last centuries BC and the first centuries AD, known from the fortified trade town of Barikot on the Swat river — ruled in turn by Indo-Greeks, Scythians and Kushans. They carry the Indus-Periphery legacy of Iranian-farmer and native South Asian ancestry with a measure of steppe, and they anchor the north-western side of Classical-era South Asian models.

Artwork is an AI-generated artistic interpretation informed by the archaeological record — not documentary evidence.

Where this population sits in the model

The Ancestrify qpAdm analysis models your genome once per era. The Classical Antiquity era has 33 curated source populations, and Gandharan Swat is one of them: every candidate model for that era is a combination of these sources, tested against a fixed set of outgroup populations, and only a model that passes the statistical fit check is published — with a p-value, and a standard error on every proportion.

A reference, not a verdict: every population on this page is a source the model tests your genome against — a well-sampled point in ancient genetic space that a mixture of ancestries can be expressed in terms of. A weight on it means your genome is well described as partly resembling those people; it is never a statement that they, specifically, were your ancestors, and a population that fits well is not the only one that could.

Read how the method works on the qpAdm analysis page, or the definitions in the glossary.

Model it yourself for free

The Ancestrify Lab runs in your browser, with no account. Paste a Global25 row into an admixture calculator that covers the Classical Antiquity era, rank the closest ancient populations in the distance tool, or run f4, qpWave and qpAdm on the public panel in the AdmixTools 2 workbench. These are Global25 fits and exploratory statistics, not the formal qpAdm model of the paid analysis.

Questions

  • Who were the Gandharan Swat (BC 200 – 300 AD)?

    Gandharan Swat is one of the 33 curated source populations in the Classical Antiquity era of the Ancestrify qpAdm analysis: a group of published ancient genomes from one archaeological context, pooled as a single reference the model can test your genome against.

  • Does Gandharan Swat in my result mean they were my ancestors?

    No. A source population is a reference the model tests against, never a statement about who your ancestors were. A coefficient on this source means the ancestry those burials represent helps explain your genome to within statistical noise — similar ancestry composition, not descent from those individuals. Ancestrify never claims a population is your ancestor.

  • What does a Gandharan Swat percentage in a qpAdm model mean?

    qpAdm estimates the mixture proportions that best explain your genome as a combination of the chosen sources, given a fixed set of outgroup (right) populations, and reports a p-value for whether the model is statistically acceptable together with a standard error for every proportion. The percentage is that estimated share, with its uncertainty published beside it.

  • How do I get a qpAdm model that uses Gandharan Swat?

    Order the Ancestrify qpAdm analysis (€29.99, one-time) and upload the raw file you already have from a consumer test. Your genome is merged into the AADR reference panel and modelled across both eras; each era's model is built from that era's source populations, so a model for the Classical Antiquity era draws on Gandharan Swat where it improves the fit.

  • Can I model Gandharan Swat ancestry for free first?

    Yes. The Ancestrify Lab runs Global25 admixture calculators, a nearest-populations distance tool and an AdmixTools 2 workbench in your browser with no account, and several calculators cover the Classical Antiquity era. Those are G25 fits, not formal qpAdm models — the paid analysis is the one with a p-value.

More populations from the Classical Antiquity era

Browse the full directory of source populations, or continue with another population from the same era:

Ancestrify

Combining cutting-edge genomic science with rich historical records to map your ancestry across generations and continents.

Product
DashboardAncient OriginsYour ancestryPopulationsqpAdm analysisBuy qpAdmqpAdm Model LabGlobal25 analysisGet G25 coordinatesHow to get G25 coordinatesAncient MatchesRelative FinderNotable MatchesAncestry populationsAncient DNA testComparePricingFree toolsLive demoLeaderboardArticlesFAQAbout
Legal
Terms of ServicePrivacy NoticeRefund PolicyEditorial policyLegal noticeCredits
Connect
Contact UsSupportCommunity GroupFacebookInstagram
Card payments processed by POK Payments (RPay Ltd)
VISAMASTERCARD

© 2026 Ancestrify. All rights reserved.

Ancestrify is a trading name of Andi Thomaj, a sole trader registered in Tiranë, Albania · NUIS M61725001N