Khatun (Persian: خاتون - Khātūn, Turkish: Hatun) is a female title of nobility and alternative to male "khan" prominently used in the First Turkish Empire and in the subsequent Mongol Empire. It is equivalent to "queen" or "empress" approximately.
Although the title gained prominence among the Turko-Mongol tribes of Inner Asia, it is - like the titles Tarkhan, Beg and Yabghu - not of Altaic, but of Indo-European (in this case Middle Iranian) Sogdian origin.[1][2][3]
Before the advent of Islam in Central Asia, Khatun was the title of the Queen of Bukhara. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam:[2]
| “ | Khatun [is] a title of Sogdian origin borne by the wives and female relatives of the T'u-chüeh and subsequent Turkish rulers. | ” |
Notable Khatuns
See also
References
- ^ Carter Vaughn Findley, "Turks in World History", Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 45: "... Many elements of Non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft [...] for example, as in the case of khatun [...] and beg [...] both terms being of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish. ..."
- ^ a b Fatima Mernissi, "The Forgotten Queens of Islam", University of Minnesota Press, 1993. pg 21: "... Khatun 'is a title of Sogdian origin borne by the wives and female relatives of the Tu-chueh and subsequent Turkish Rulers ..."
- ^ Leslie P. Peirce, "The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire", Oxford University Press, 1993. pg 312: "... On the title Khatun, see Boyle, 'Khatun', 1933, according to whom it was of Soghdian origin and was borne by wives and female relations of various Turkish Rulers. ..."
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