The common western rendering asGreat Khan (orGrand Khan), notably in the case of theMongol Empire, is a translation ofYekhe Khagan (Great Emperor orИх Хаан).
The term is of unknown origin and might be a loanword from theRouran language.[3] Canadian sinologistEdwin G. Pulleyblank first suggested that aXiongnu title, transcribed as護于 (Old Chinese: *hʷaʔ-hʷaʰ) might have been the original behindTurkicqaɣan ~xaɣan.[4][5] According toAlexander Vovin the term comes fromqaγan (meaning "emperor" or "supreme ruler") and was later borrowed and used in several languages, especially in Mongolic.[6][7]
Turkic andMongolic (orPara-Mongolic) origin has been suggested by a number of scholars includingRamstedt, Shiratori, Pulleyblank,Sinor andDoerfer, and was reportedly first used by theXianbei, as recorded inBook of Song.[8] While Sinor believesqaγan orqapγan is an intensification ofqan just asqap-qara is an intensification ofqara "black", in Turkic (with the eventual loss of thep), Shiratori rejects a Turkic etymology, instead supporting a Mongolic origin for bothqan and the female formqatun.[9][10]
According to Vovin, the word*qa-qan "great-qan" (*qa- for "great" or "supreme") is of non-Altaic origin, but instead linked toYeniseian*qεʔ ~ qaʔ "big, great". The origin ofqan itself is harder according to Vovin. He says that the origin for the wordqan is not found in any reconstructed proto-language and was used widely by Turkic, Mongolic, Chinese and Korean people with variations fromkan, qan, han and hwan. A relation exists possibly to the Yeniseian words*qʌ:j or*χʌ:j meaning "ruler".
It may be impossible to prove the ultimate origin of the title, but Vovin says: "Thus, it seems to be quite likely that the ultimate source of bothqaγan andqan can be traced back to Xiong-nu and Yeniseian".[4]
Dybo (2007) suggests that the ultimate etymological root of Khagan comes from the MiddleIranian *hva-kama- ‘self-ruler, emperor’, following the view ofBenveniste (1966).Savelyev & Jeong (2020) note that both the etymological root for Khagan and its female equivalentKhatun may be derived fromEastern Iranian languages, specifically from "EarlySaka *hvatuñ, cf. the attested Soghdian wordsxwt'w ‘ruler’ (< *hva-tāvya-) andxwt'yn ‘wife of the ruler’ (< *hva-tāvyani)".[11]
The title was first seen in a speech between 283 and 289, when theXianbei chiefTuyuhun tried to escape from his younger stepbrotherMurong Hui, and began his route from theLiaodong Peninsula to the areas ofOrdos Desert. In the speech one of Murong's generals, Yinalou, addressed him askehan (Chinese:可寒, laterChinese:可汗); some sources suggests that Tuyuhun might also have used the title after settling atQinghai Lake in the 3rd century.[8][12]
TheAvar Khaganate (567–804), who may have included Rouran elements after theGöktürks crushed the Rouran ruling Mongolia, also used this title. TheAvars invadedEurope, and for over a century ruled the Carpathian region. Westerners Latinized the title "Khagan" into "Gaganus" (inHistoria Francorum), "Cagan" (in theAnnales Fuldenses), or "Cacano" (in theHistoria Langobardorum).
The Secret History of the Mongols, written for that very dynasty, clearly distinguishesKhagan andKhan: onlyGenghis Khan and his ruling descendants are calledKhagan, while other rulers are referred to asKhan.[citation needed] The title "Khagan" or "Khaan" most literally translates to "great/supreme ruler" in the Mongol language, and by extension "sovereign", "monarch", "high king", or "emperor". The title can also be expanded with the addition of "Yekhe" (meaning "great" or "grand") to produce "Yekhe Khagan", meaning "Great Emperor".[citation needed]
Thus, the Yuan is sometimes referred to as theEmpire of the Great Khan, coexisting with the other independent Mongol-ruled khanates in the west, including theChagatai Khanate andGolden Horde. Only theIlkhanate truly recognized the Yuan's overlordship as allies (although it was effectively autonomous). Because Kublai founded the Yuan, the members of the other branches of theBorjigin could take part in the election of a new Khagan as the supporters of one or other of the contestants, but they could not enter the contest as candidates themselves.[23]
Later,[d] Yuan emperors made peace with the three western khanates of the Mongol Empire and were considered as their nominal suzerain.[24] The nominal supremacy, while based on nothing like the same foundations as that of the earlier khagans (such as the continued border clashes among them), did last for a few decades, until the Yuan dynasty collapsed in 1368.[e]
After the breakdown of Mongol Empire and the fall of the Yuan dynasty in the mid-14th century, the Mongols turned into a political turmoil.Dayan Khan (1464–1517/1543) once revived the Emperor's authority and recovered its reputation on theMongolian Plateau, but with the distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs it again caused decentralized rule. The last Khagan of theChahars,Ligdan Khan, died in 1634 while fighting theJurchen-ledLater Jin dynasty. In contemporaryMongolian language the words "Khaan" and "Khan" have different meanings, whileEnglish language usually does not differentiate between them. The title is also used as a generic term for a king or emperor (asэзэн хаан,ezen khaan), as in "Испанийн хаан Хуан Карлос" (Ispaniin khaan Khuan Karlos, "king/khaan of Spain Juan Carlos").[citation needed]
The title became associated with theAshina ruling clan of theGöktürks and their dynastic successors among such peoples as theKhazars (cf. the compound military titleKhagan Bek). Minor rulers were rather relegated to the lower title of khan.
Both Khagan as such and theTurkish form Hakan, with the specification inArabical-Barrayn wa al-Bahrayn (meaning literally "of both lands and both seas"), or rather fully inOttoman TurkishHakan ül-Berreyn vel-Bahreyn, were among the titles in the official full style of the Great Sultan (and later Caliph) of theOttoman Empire, reflecting the historical legitimation of the dynasty's rule as political successor to various conquered (often Islamised) states. (The title began: Sultan Hân N.N.,Padishah,Hünkar, Sovereign of the House of Osman,Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe; next followed a series of specifically "regional" titles, starting with Protector of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.)
"Khagan" is the second title ofSafavid andQajar shahs (kings) of Iran. For example, Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar, Fath Ali Shah and other Qajar shahs used this title. The nickname of Shah Ismail and other Safavid shahs isKagan-i Suleyman shan (Khagan with the glory of Solomon).
Ottoman rulers, after the 14th century, used only two titles "shah" and "khan" until end of the empire.[25] Sultans likeMehmed the Conqueror andSuleiman the Magnificent used the title "Khagan of the two seas".[26][27] Yazıcıoğlu Ali, in early 15th century, tracedOsman's genealogy toOghuz Khagan, the mythical ancestors of Western Turks, through his senior grandson of his senior son, so giving the Ottoman sultans primacy amongTurkish monarchs.[28] Though it was not entirely an imitation ofGenghis Khanid doctrine, the Oghuz claim to sovereignty followed the same pattern.Bayezid I advanced this claim againstTimur, who denigrated the Ottoman lineage.[29]
TheBook of Wei, a Chinese history book, records that the title Khagan (可汗) and the titleHuángdì (皇帝) are the same.[30]Emperor Taizong of Tang was crownedTian Kehan, or "heavenly Khagan" after defeating theTujue (Göktürks).[31][32][33] A later letter sent by the Tang court to theYenisei Kirghiz Qaghan explained that "the peoples of the northwest" had requested Tang Taizong to become the "Heavenly Qaghan".[34] TheTang dynasty Chinese emperors were recognized as khagans of the Turks at least from 665 to 705; moreover, two appeal letters from the Turkic hybrid rulers, Ashina Qutluγ Ton Tardu in 727, the Yabgu ofTokharistan, and Yina Tudun Qule in 741, the king ofTashkent, addressingEmperor Xuanzong of Tang asTian Kehan during theUmayyad expansion.[35][36]
The name "Chinese khagan" (Khāqān-i Chīn, "Khagan of China") referring to the ruler of China (i.e.Emperor of China) as a symbol of power[37] appeared in medievalTurco-Persian literature works like the great 11th-century epic poemShahnameh,[38] which were circulated widely inPersia,Central Asia, andXinjiang. During the Manchu-ledQing dynasty whichextended into Inner Asia by the 18th century, their Turkic Muslim subjects (and surrounding Muslim khanates like theKhanate of Kokand) associated the Qing rulers with this name and commonly referred to the Qing emperors as the "Chinese khagan" (Khāqān-i Chīn).[39][40]
In the early 10th century, theRus' people employed the title ofkagan (orqaghan), reported by the Persian geographerAhmad ibn Rustah, who wrote between 903 and 913.
^Beginning in the last years (1304) ofTemür Khan, grandson of Kublai; most medieval historians such as Rashid al-Din and Alugh Beg Mirza described him as Grand khaan. See: Universal history and The Shajrat ul Atrak
^During this period the Mongol emperors of the Yuan held the (nominal) title of Great Khan of all Mongol Khanates (of the Mongol Empire), of which the three western Mongol khanates still showed their respect in several cases. For example, the Ilkhans' coins carried the Khagan's name up until the early 14th century. It was also once said that Khagan is "the blessing of the creator" at the court of the Golden Horde during the reign ofOzbek Khan (1313–1341).
^abShen Yue (493).宋書 [Book of Song] (in Chinese). Vol. 96. quote: "樓喜拜曰：「處可寒。」虜言「處可寒」，宋言爾官家也。" translation: "Lou [the envoy of the younger brother toT'u-yü-hun] was glad. He bowed and said: "Chu k'o han處可寒". The barbarian words ch'u k'o han mean in the language ofSong, 'Be it so, sire (爾官家)'." byPulleyblank, Edwin G. (1962)."The consonantal system of Old Chinese. Part II"(PDF).Asia Major.9: 206‒265, at p. 261. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2014-12-16.
^Hüseyin Yılmaz, (2018),Caliphate Redefined: The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought, p. 124
^Cihan Yüksel Muslu, (2014), The Ottomans and the Mamluks: Imperial Diplomacy and Warfare in the Islamic World, p. 118
^Evliya Çelebi,Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa in the Seventeenth Century, p. 19
^Colin Imber, (2002),The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650, p. 95
^Douglas Streusand, (2010),Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals, p. 66
^Wei Shou (554).魏書 [Book of Wei] (in Chinese). Vol. 103.「丘豆伐」猶魏言駕馭開張也，「可汗」猶魏言皇帝也。["Qiu Dou Fa" is similar to the Wei word for controlling and opening up, and "Khan" is similar to the Wei word for emperor.]
^Scott Latourette, Kenneth (1964).The Chinese, their history and culture. Vol. 1–2 (4th, reprint ed.). Macmillan. p. 144.territories within his empire. He took the title "Heavenly Khan," thus designating himself as their ruler. A little later the Western Turks, although then at the height of their power, were badly defeated, and the Uighurs, a Turkish tribe, were detached from them and became sturdy supporters of the T'ang in the Gobi. The Khitan, Mongols in Eastern Mongolia and Southern Manchuria, made their submission (630). In the Tarim basin
^Drompp, Michael Robert (2005).Tang China and the collapse of the Uighur Empire: a documentary history. illustrated. Vol. 13. Brill. p. 126.ISBN978-90-04-14129-2 – via Brill's Inner Asian library.the successes of Tang Taizong and to his taking the title of "Heavenly Qaghan" at the request of "the peoples of the northwest" in 630/631. The letter goes on to describe how Taizong's envoy was sent to pacify the Kirghiz in 632/633 and how in 647/648 a Kirghiz chieftain came to the Tang court where he was granted titles, including commander-in-chief of the Kirghiz (Jian-kun). All of this implied Kirghiz subordination to Tang authority, at least in Chinese eyes. According to the letter, Kirghiz tribute had come to the Tang court "uninterruptedly" until the end of the Tianbao reign period (742–756) when Kirghiz contact with the Tang state was cut off by the rise of Uighur power in Mongolia.
