Genghis Khan DNA test is offered

A survey first identified the spread of Genghis Khan's descendants

A restaurant is offering free DNA tests in a bid to find descendants of infamous Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan.

Shish is launching the scheme to mark Mongolia's elections which sees citizens allowed to register surnames for the first time since the 1920s.

The swab taken from the inside cheek will be sent to DNA company Oxford Ancestors for testing.

The results will take two months and descendants will win a free meal for two. The offer lasts from 3 to 9 July.

Oxford Ancestors will be applying its new 'Y-Clan' service - a special set of tests launched in June 2004 specifically designed to identify descendants of Genghis Khan.

Descendants include Dracula

It is estimated that 17 million people worldwide - including the British Royal Family, Iranian Royalty, and the family of Dracula - are direct descendents of Genghis Khan.

He founded an empire which, at its height, stretched from The Sea Of Japan, across Russia and northern India, to the edges of modern day Eastern Europe.

The spread of Genghis Khan's descendants was first identified during a 10-year long survey by Oxford University, which analysed the DNA of male inhabitants throughout the area of the former Mongol Empire.

During 70 years of communist rule, Mongolians were forbidden to have surnames - tribal names which bound them to ancestors such as Genghis Khan.

Since 1990, the new democratic government has launched an initiative to register surnames in order to qualify for an identity card necessary to vote in last week's elections.

By Monday 28 June, 50,000 Mongolians had adopted the name of 'Borjigid' - the clan of Genghis Khan.

Shish has branches in Willesden, north London, and in Old Street, east London.