Khatun[a] (/xəˈtuːn/khə-TOON) is a title of the female counterpart to akhan or akhagan of theMongol Empire.
Before the advent ofIslam in Central Asia, Khatun was the title of the queen ofBukhara. According to theEncyclopaedia of Islam, "Khatun [is] a title ofSogdian origin borne by the wives and female relatives of theGöktürks and subsequent Turkish rulers."[1]
According to Bruno De Nicola inWomen in Mongol Iran: The Khatuns, 1206–1335, the linguistic origins of the term "khatun" are unknown, though possibly of Old Turkic or Sogdian origin. De Nicola states that prior to the spread of the Mongols across Central Asia, Khatun meant 'lady' or 'noblewoman' and is found in broad usage in medieval Persian and Arabic texts.[2]
Peter Benjamin Golden observed that the titleqatun appeared among theGöktürks as the title for thekhagan's wife and was borrowed fromSogdianxwāten "wife of the ruler"[3] Earlier, BritishOrientalistGerard Clauson (1891–1974) definedxa:tun as "'lady' and the like" and says there is "no reasonable doubt that it is taken from Sogdianxwt'yn (xwatēn), in Sogdianxwt'y ('lord, ruler') andxwt'yn 'lord's or ruler's wife'), "which is precisely the meaning ofxa:tun in the early period."[4]
InUzbek, the language spoken in modern-day Bukhara, inUzbekistan, the word is spelledxotin and has come to simply refer to any woman. InTurkish, it is writtenhatun. The general Turkish word for 'woman',kadın, is adoublet derived from the same origin.[5]
Valide hatun was the title held by the mother of anOttoman sultan before the 16th century.
By the beginning of the 16th century, thehatun title for imperial princesses, the sultan's mother and the sultan's chief consort was replaced bysultan. This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.[6] Consequently, thevalide hatun title turned intovalide sultan.
| Name | Birth name | Origin | Consort of | Becamevalide | Ceased to bevalide | Death | Sultan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nilüfer Hatun نیلوفر خاتون | unknown | Greek | Orhan I | March 1362 son's ascension | 1363 | Murad I (son) | |
| Gülçiçek Hatun كلچیچك خاتون | Maria | Greek | Murad I | 16 June 1389 son's ascension | c. 1400 | Bayezid I (son) | |
| Devlet Hatun دولت خاتون | unknown | unknown | Bayezid I | 5 July 1413 son's ascension | 26 May 1421 son's death | 1422 | Mehmed I (son) |
| Emine Hatun امینہ خاتون | Emine | Dulkadirid | Mehmed I | 26 May 1421 son's ascension | August 1444 son's abdication | Murad II (son) | |
| September 1446 son's reinstatement | 1449 | ||||||
| Hüma Hatun هما خاتون | Stella or Esther | disputed | Murad II | August 1444 son's first ascension | September 1446 | Mehmed II (son) | |
| Mara Despina Hatun | Mara | Serbian | Murad II | 1457 her return to the Ottoman court | 3 May 1481 stepson's death | Mehmed II (stepson) | |
| Gülbahar Hatun گل بھار مکرمه خاتون | unknown | Greek orAlbanian | Mehmed II | 3 May 1481 son's ascension | 1492 | Bayezid II (son) | |