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Khagan
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- For other titles related to and uses of Khan, see that article
Khagan or Great Khan (Old Turkic ; ; ; alternatively spelled Chagan, Khaghan, Kagan, Kagan, 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).
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- For other titles related to and uses of Khan, see that article
Khagan or Great Khan (Old Turkic ; ; ; alternatively spelled Chagan, Khaghan, Kagan, Kagan, 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 g in modern Turkish Kagan is also silent.
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 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 (??, later as ??), some sources suggests that Tuyuhun might also have used the title after settling at Koko Nor in the 3rd century.
The first to adopt the title for the state was the nomadic Juan Juan confederacy (4th6th century AD) or the Xianbei, on China's northern border.
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 Hungarian 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. Over time, though, the distinction became blurred by the large number of rulers who claimed it.
The Khagans of the Mongol Empire prior to the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty were:
The Mongol Empire began to politically split with the succession war in 1260-1264 and the death of Kublai Khan, but the term 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 the Northern Yuan. Thus, the Yuan is sometimes referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan, coexisting with the virtually independent Mongol khanates in the west, including the Chagatai Khanate, Golden Horde, and the Ilkhanate. 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 nominal 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 g sound in "Khagan" 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 (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 (Gokturks). 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 Qutlu? 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 Slavs
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 (9781015) and grand prince Iaroslav (10191054) 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 (10731076).
Sources and references
- Mark Whittow, The Making of Byzantium, 6001025, 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.
- Fairbank, John King. The Cambridge History of China . Cambridge University Press, 1978.
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