Khan (title)

Khan from Central in addition to Eastern Eurasian Steppe to refer to the chief or ruler. It number one appears among a Rouran in addition to then the Göktürks as a variant of khagan sovereign, emperor and implied a subordinate ruler. In the Seljuk Empire, it was the highest noble title, ranking above malik king and emir prince. In the Mongol Empire it signified the ruler of a horde ulus, while the ruler of all the Mongols was the khagan or great khan. The designation subsequently declined in importance. In Safavid dynasty it was the denomination of a provincial governor, and in Mughal India it was a high noble vintage restricted to courtiers. After the downfall of the Mughals it was used promiscuously and became a surname. Khan and its female forms arise in many personal names, generally without all nobiliary of political relevance, although it remains a common part of noble names as well.

Etymology

The origin of the term is disputed and unknown, possibly a loanword from the Ruanruan language. According to Vovin 2007, 2010 the term comes from qaγan meaning emperor or supreme ruler and was later used in several languages, particularly in Turkic and Mongolic.

A Turkic and Para-Mongolic origin has been suggested by a number of scholars including Ramstedt, Shiratori, Sinor and Doerfer, and was reportedly first used by the Xianbei.

According to Vovin, the word *qa-qan "great-qan" *qa- for "great" or "supreme" is of non-Altaic origin, but instead linked to Yeniseian *qεʔ "big" or "great". The origin of qan itself is harder according to Vovin. He says that the origin for the word qan is not found in any reconstructed proto-language and was used widely by Turkic, Mongolic, Chinese and Korean people with variations from kan, qan, han and hwan. A version exists possibly to the Yeniseian words *qij or *qaj meaning "ruler".

It may be impossible to prove theorigin of the title, but Vovin says: "Thus, it seems to be quite likely that the ultimate mention of both qaγan and qan can be traced back to Xiong-nu and Yeniseian".