(Redirected from Khakhan):''For other titles related to and uses of
Khan, see that article''
'Khagan' or 'Great Khan' (
Old Turkic ''kaɣan''; ; alternatively spelled ''Chagan, Khaghan, Kagan, Kağan, Qagan, Qaghan''), is a title of
imperial rank in the
Turkic and
Mongolian languages equal to the status of
emperor and someone who rules a Khaganate (empire, greater than an ordinary
Khan, but often referred to as such in western languages). It may also be translated as ''
Khan of
Khans'', equivalent to
King of Kings. The 'Great Khans' in world history were
Genghis Khan,
Ögedei Khan,
Guyuk Khan,
Mongke Khan and
Kublai Khan of the
Mongol Empire.
In modern Mongolian, the title became ''
Khaan'' with the 'g' sound becoming almost silent or non-existent [''i.e.,'' a very light voiceless velar fricative]. The common western rendering as Great Khan or Grand Khan, notably in the case of the
Mongol Empire, is technically not correct, but it has been well established by long-standing convention and is reasonably clear in suggesting paramount status.
Origin
The title was first seen in a speech between 283－289, when the Xianbei chief
Murong Tuyuhun tried to escape from his younger step-brother
Murong Hui, and began his route from
Liaodong to the areas of
Ordos Desert. In the speech one of the Murong's general named Yinalou addressed him as kehan (可寒, later as 可汗), some sources suggests that Tuyuhun might also used the title after settled at
Koko Nor in the 3rd century.
[1]
The first to adopt the title for the state was the nomadic
Juan Juan confederacy (4th–6th century AD) or the
Xianbei, on China's northern border.
The
Avars, who may have included Juan Juan elements after the Turks crushed the Juan Juan who ruled Mongolia, also used this title. The Avars invaded Europe, and for over a century ruled the Hungarian region. Westerners Latinized the title "Khagan" into "Gaganus" or ''Cagan et Iugurro principibus Hunorum''.
Mongolian Khagans
Main articles: List of Mongol Khans
The
Mongolian script on the right writes "Genghis Khan" and the two dots in the second word means
English "g" and is therefore written as "Khagan."
By far the most famous incumbents were from the dynasty of the
Mongol conqueror
Genghis Khan, who united all Mongol nomad tribes. His grandson
Kublai Khan founded the
Yuan Dynasty in
China.
The ruling descendants of (the senior line of the house of) Genghis Khan are often referred to as the ''Great (or Grand) Khans''. These include
Ögedei Khan,
Güyük Khan,
Möngke Khan and
Kublai Khan.
''
The Secret History of the Mongols'', written for that very dynasty, clearly distinguishes ''Khaghan'' and ''Khan'': only Genghis and his descendants are called ''Khaghan'', while other rulers are referred to as ''Khan''. Over time, though, the distinction became blurred by the large number of rulers who claimed it.
The ''gh'' sound in "Khaghan" later weakened and disappeared becoming ''Khaan'' in Modern
Mongolian.
Among Turkic peoples
The title became associated with the
Ashina rulers of the
Göktürks and their dynastic successors among such peoples as the
Khazars (confer the compound military title
Khagan Bek). Minor rulers were rather relegated to the lower title of
Khan.
Interestingly, both 'Khakhan' as such and the
Turkish form '''Hakan''', with the specification in
Arabic ''al-Barrayn wa al-Bahrayn'' (meaning literally "of both lands and both seas"), or rather fully in
Ottoman Turkish 'Hakan ül-Berreyn vel-Bahreyn', were among the titles in the official full style of the Great Sultan (and later Caliph) of the
Ottoman Empire (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 specifical 'regional' titles, starting with Protector of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem), reflecting the historical legitimation of the dynasty's rule as political successor to various conquered (often Islamised) states.
Among the Slavs
Main articles: Rus' Khaganate
In the early 10th century, princes of Eastern Slavs employed the title of ''kagan'' (or ''qaghan''), reported by the Arab geographer
Ibn Rusta writing between 903 and 913. This tradition endured in the eleventh century, as the
metropolitan of
Russia Hilarion calls both
grand prince Vladimir (978–1015) and grand prince
Iaroslav (1019–1054) by the title of ''kagan'', while a graffito on the walls of the Cathedral of St.
Sophia in
Kiev gives the same title to the son of Iaroslav, grand prince
Sviatoslav II (1073–1076).
Notes
1. Zhou 1985, p. 3-6
Sources and references
★ Mark Whittow, ''The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025'', University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1996.
★ Zhou, Weizhou [1985] (2006). ''A History of Tuyuhun''. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press. ISBN 7-5633-6044-1.
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