Khagan or
Great Khan (
Old Turkic ; ; ; 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
Khanate, but often referred to as such in western languages).
It may also be translated as
Khan of Khans, equivalent to
King of Kings. 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
ğ in modern Turkish
Kağan is also silent. This is probably partly because "khagan" is a political term used to refer to an
emperor. After the effective breakup of the
Mongol Empire, there was no official khagan and all of the sections were broken up into areas ruled by a regular ruler or
Khan who didn't have to answer to any Khagan therefore making the term obsolete.
Kağan is a common
Turkish name in Turkey
The common western rendering as Great Khan or Grand Khan, notably in the case of the
Mongol Empire, is translation of
Yekhe Khagan (Great Emperor or Их Хаан).
Origin
The title was first seen in a speech between 283 and 289, when the
Xianbei chief
Murong Tuyuhun tried to escape from his younger stepbrother
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 have used the title after settling at
Koko Nor in the 3rd century.
The
Rourans were the first people who used the titles Khagan and
Khan for their emperors (which are, therefore, assumed to be
Mongolic in origin), replacing the
Chanyu of the
Xiongnu, whom Grousset and others assume to be
Turkic.
The
Avars, who may have included Juan Juan elements after the
Göktürks crushed the Juan Juan who ruled Mongolia, also used this title. The Avars invaded
Europe, and for over a century ruled the Carpathian region. Westerners Latinized the title "Khagan" into "Gaganus" or
Cagan et Iugurro principibus Hunorum.
Mongol Khagans
The Secret History of the Mongols, written for that very dynasty, clearly distinguishes
Khagan and
Khan: only Genghis and his ruling descendants are called
Khagan, while other rulers are referred to as
Khan. The
g sound in "Khagan" later weakened and disappeared becoming
Khaan in modern
Mongolian. Khagan or Khaan refers Emperor or King in Mongolian language, however, Yekhe Khagan means Great Khagan or Grand Emperor.
The Mongol Empire began to politically split with the civil war in 1260-1264 and the death of Kublai Khan in 1294, but the term Ikh Khagan (Great Khan, or Emperor) was still used by the
Chingisid rulers of the
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), who assumed the role of
Chinese emperors, and after 1368 it continued to be used in
Post-imperial Mongolia. Thus, the Yuan is usually referred to as the
Empire of the Great Khan, coexisting with the de facto independent Mongol khanates in the west, including the
Chagatai Khanate and
Golden Horde. Only the
Ilkhanate truly recognized the Yuan's overlordship as allies. Because Kublai founded the Yuan Dynasty, the members of the other branches of the
Borjigin 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. In 1304
Temur Khan (r. 1294-1307), the grandson of Kublai, made peace with the three western khanates of the Mongol Empire and was recognized as suzerain of the Empire. The tradition that western khans presented tributes to Khagans lasted until the end of the Yuan's regime in China. Thus, Mongol Emperors of the Yuan held the title of Great Khan of all Mongol Khanates (of the Mongol Empire). Mongolian last Khagan
Ligdan of
Chahar died in 1634 while fighting the
Qing Dynasty founded by the
Manchus.
The Khagans of the
Mongol Empire were:
The Mongol Empire and gray areas are Mongol vassals except for Central Europe
:
- Qutuqtu Mongolian title: Khuslen (Хүслэн); Chinese title: Mingzong - 1329;
Among Turkic peoples
The title became associated with the
Ashina rulers of the
Göktürks and their dynastic successors among such peoples as the
Khazars (cf. 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.
Chinese Khagans
Emperor
Taizong of Tang was crowned
Tian Kehan, or "heavenly Khagan" after defeating the
Tujue (
Göktürks). The
Tang Dynasty Chinese Emperors were recognized as Khagans of the Turks from 665-705. However, we have two appeal letters from the Turkic hybrid rulers, Ashina Qutluγ Ton Tardu in
727, the Yabgu of
Tokharistan, and Yina Tudun Qule in
741, the king of
Tashkent, addressing
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang as
Tian Kehan during the
Umayyad expansion.
Among the Norsemen and Slavs
In the early 10th century, the
Rus' people 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
Ukraine-Rus 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).
See also
