Khatun ( ) is a title of the female counterpart to a
khan or a
khagan
Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...
of the
Turkic Khaganates and in the subsequent
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...
.
Etymology and history
Before the advent of
Islam in Central Asia, Khatun was the title of the queen of
Bukhara
Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...
. According to the
Encyclopaedia of Islam
The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...
, "Khatun
sa title of
Sogdian origin borne by the wives and female relatives of the
Göktürks
The Göktürks (; ), also known as Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks, were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main powe ...
and subsequent Turkish rulers."
According to Bruno De Nicola in ''Women 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.
Peter Benjamin Golden
Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American professor emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic peoples, Turkic and Central Asian studies, such as ''An int ...
observed that the title ''qatun'' appeared among the
Göktürks
The Göktürks (; ), also known as Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks, were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main powe ...
as the title for the
khagan
Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...
's wife and was borrowed from
Sogdian ''xwāten'' "wife of the ruler" Earlier, British
Orientalist Gerard Clauson
Sir Gerard Leslie Makins Clauson (28 April 1891 – 1 May 1974) was an English civil servant, businessman, and Orientalist best known for his studies of the Turkic languages. He was born in Malta.
The eldest son of Major Sir John Eugene Clauso ...
(1891–1974) defined ''xa:tun'' as "'lady' and the like" and says there is "no reasonable doubt that it is taken from Sogdian ''xwt'yn'' (''xwatēn''), in Sogdian ''xwt'y'' ('lord, ruler') and ''xwt'yn'' 'lord's or ruler's wife'), "which is precisely the meaning of ''xa:tun'' in the early period."
Modern usage
In
Uzbek, the language spoken in modern-day Bukhara, in
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
, image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg
, symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem
, national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
, the word is spelled ''
xotin'' and has come to simply refer to any woman. In
Turkish, it is written ''
hatun.'' The general Turkish word for 'woman', ''
kadın'', is a
doublet derived from the same origin.
Notable Khatuns
*
Sara Khatun, mother of
Uzun Hasan
*
Qutluğ Säbäg Qatun, queen regent of the
Second Turkic Khaganate
*
Börte, wife of
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
*
Töregene Khatun (d. 1246), wife of
Ogedei Khan, regent of the Mongol Empire from 1241 to 1246
*
Ebuskun, wife of
Mutukan
*
Boraqchin, wife of
Batu khan
*
Oghul Qaimish, wife of
Guyuk Khan
*
Chabi, wife of
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...
*
Dayfa Khatun, ayyubid princess
*
Doquz Khatun, wife of
Hulagu Khan
*
Gurju Khatun, wife of
Kaykhusraw II
*
Buluqhan Khatun, wife of
Abaqa Khan
*
Kokejin/Bairam egchi, wife of
Zhenjin
*
Bulugan, wife of
Temur Khan
*
Dagi khatun, wife of Darmabala
*
Radnashiri, wife of
Ayurbarwada khan
*
Despina Khatun
Theodora Megale Komnene (), also known as Despina Khatun (; from the Greek title '' despoina'' and Turco-Mongol title ''khatun'', both meaning "lady"), was the daughter of John IV of Trebizond and Bagrationi who married the Aq Qoyunlu ruler U ...
, wife of
Uzun Hasan
*
Samur Khatun, daughter of
Elbeg khan
*
Mandukhai Khatun, wife of
Dayan Khan
*
Erketü Qatun, wife of
Altan Khan
*
Syeda Momena Khatun, daughter of
Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah
*
Anu Khatun, wife of
Sengge and
Galdan Boshugtu Khan
*
Momine Khatun, mother of
Atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the ti ...
Jahan Pahlavan Jahan Pahlavan () was a rank champion in the Iranian Guards before the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah.
In the book Shahnameh, Ferdowsi calls Rostam, the son of Zāl, "Jahan Pahlavan".
In contemporary Iranian history, Gholamreza Takhti is referred to as t ...
. The
mausoleum in Nakhichevan was built by Jahan Pahlavan in honor of her.
*
Rabia Bala Hatun (died 1324), wife of
Sultan Osman I
*
Gülçiçek Hatun (fl. 14th century), wife of Sultan Murad I
*
Devlet Hatun
Devlet Hatun (, "''reign''"; died in 1422) was a concubine of Sultan Bayezid I, and the mother of Mehmed I of the Ottoman Empire.
Biography
Devlet Hatun was a concubinage in Islam, slave concubine of Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and the mother of ...
(died 1411), wife of
Sultan Bayezid I
*
Gülfem Hatun (died 1561/1562), consort of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent
*
Canfeda Hatun (died 1600) was a lady-in-waiting to Nurbanu Sultan
*
Şemsiruhsar Hatun (died 1613), consort of Sultan
Murad III
Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...
*
Melike Mama Hatun Saltukid female ruler (reigned between 1191 and 1200)
*
Nene Hatun (1857–1955), Turkish folk heroine
*
Halime Hatun (?–c.1281), the wife of
Ertugrul Ghazi
Valide Hatun
Valide Hatun was the title held by the "legal mother" of a ruling Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
before the 16th century.
By the beginning of the 16th century, the title hatun for sultan's mother, princesses, and sultan's main consort was replaced by "
sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
" and they started to carry it after their given names. This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.
Consequently, the title valide hatun also turned into
valide sultan.
List of valide hatuns
Given name
*
Ayşe Hatun Önal, Turkish model
*
Hatun Sürücü, German murder victim
*
Khatun Sapnara, Bangladeshi-born British judge
See also
*
Khanum
*
Begum
*
Baig
*
Begzada
*
List of Mongol khatuns
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
; Works cited
*
Further reading
*
{{Post-imperial Mongolia
Court titles
Royal titles
Noble titles
Titles in Bangladesh
Titles in Afghanistan
Titles in Pakistan
Ottoman titles
Sogdian words and phrases
History of the Turkic peoples
Mongolian nobility
Turkish words and phrases
Bengali words and phrases
Bengali Muslim surnames
Women's social titles
Women from the Mongol Empire