1.
Khan (title)
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Khan is originally a title for a sovereign or a military ruler, widely used by Turkic and later medieval nomadic Mongolian tribes living to the north of China. Khan also occurs as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289, the Rourans were the first people who used the titles khagan and khan for their emperors. Subsequently the Ashina adopted the title and brought it to the rest of Asia, in the middle of the sixth century the Iranians knew of a Kagan – King of the Turks. Khan now has many equivalent meanings such as commander, leader, as of 2015 khans exist in South Asia, Middle East, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Turkey. The female alternatives are Khatun, Khatoon and Khanum and these titles or names are sometimes written as Han, Kan, Hakan, Hanum, or Hatun and as xan, xanım. Khagan is rendered as Khan of Khans and it was the title of Chinese Emperor Emperor Taizong of Tang, and also the title of Genghis Khan and of the persons selected to rule the Mongol Empire. For instance Möngke Khan and Ogedei Khan would be Khagans but not Chagatai Khan, some managed to establish principalities of some importance for a while, as their military might repeatedly proved a serious threat to such empires as China and kingdoms in Central Asia. One of the earliest notable examples of such principalities in Europe was Danube Bulgaria, Khan was the official title of the ruler until 864 AD, when Kniaz Boris adopted the Eastern Orthodox faith. The title Khan became unprecedently prominent when the Mongol Temüjin created the Mongol empire, the greatest land empire the world has ever seen and his title was khagan, or Khan of Khans, but has often been abbreviated to Khan or described as Great Khan. The great leader was regarded as a khan in the middle east, ming Dynasty Chinese Emperors also used the term Xan to denote brave warriors and rulers. The title Khan was used to designate the greatest rulers of the Jurchens, while most Afghan principalities were styled emirate, there was a khanate of ethnic Uzbeks in Badakhshan since 1697. For example, in present Armenia and nearby territories to the left and right, diverse khanates existed in Dagestan, Azerbaijan, including Baku, Ganja, Jawad, Quba, Salyan, Shakki and Shirvan=Shamakha, Talysh, Nakhichevan and Karabakh. The most important of these states were, Khanate of Kazan, sibir Khanate Astrakhan Khanate Crimean Khanate. The ruling descendants of the branch of Genghis Khans dynasty are referred to as the Great Khans. The title Khan of Khans was among numerous titles used by the Sultans of the Ottoman empire as well as the rulers of the Golden Horde and its descendant states. The title Khan was also used in the Seljuk Turk dynasties of the near-east to designate a head of multiple tribes, clans or nations, jurchen and Manchu rulers also used the title Khan, for example, Nurhaci was called Genggiyen Han. Rulers of the Göktürks, Avars and Khazars used the higher title Kaghan, see the main article for more details. Khan-i-Khanan was a given to the commander-in-chief of the army of the Mughals
2.
Chagatai Khanate
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The Chagatai Khanate was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan, second son of Genghis Khan, and his descendants and successors. Initially it was a part of the Mongol Empire, but it became a functionally separate khanate with the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire after 1259. The Chagatai Khanate recognized the supremacy of the Yuan dynasty in 1304. At its height in the late 13th century, the Khanate extended from the Amu Darya south of the Aral Sea to the Altai Mountains in the border of modern-day Mongolia and China. The khanate lasted in one form or another from 1220s until the late 17th century, the eastern half remained under Chagatai khans, who were, at times, allied or at war with Timurs successors, the Timurid dynasty. Genghis Khans empire was inherited by his son, Ögedei Khan. Tolui, the youngest, the keeper of the hearth, was accorded the northern Mongolian homeland, Chagatai Khan, the second son, received Transoxiana, between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers and the area around Kashgar. He made his capital at Almaliq near what is now Yining City in northwestern China, the transition had to be ratified in a kurultai, which was duly celebrated, but without the presence of Batu Khan, the independent-minded khan of the Golden Horde. The Ögedite ulus was dismembered, only the Ögedites who did not immediately go into opposition were given minor fiefs, Chagatai died in 1242, shortly after his brother Ögedei. For nearly twenty years after this the Chagatai Khanate was little more than a dependency of the Mongol central government, the cities of Transoxiana, while located within the boundaries of the khanate, were administrated by officials who answered directly to the Great Khan. Most of the Chagatayids first supported Kublai but in 1269 they joined forces with the House of Ögedei, baraq was soon confined to Transoxiana and forced to become a vassal of Kaidu. At the same time, he was at odds with Abaqa Khan, the Ilkhan, baraq attacked first, but was defeated by the Ilkhanate army and forced to return to Transoxiana, where he died not long after. The next several Chagatayid khans were appointed by Kaidu, who maintained a hold upon the khanate until his death and he finally found a suitable khan in Baraqs son Duwa, who participated in Kaidus wars with Kublai khan and his successors of the Yuan dynasty. The two rulers also were active against the Ilkhanate, after Kaidus death in 1301, Duwa threw off his allegiance to his successor. He also made peace with the Yuan dynasty and paid tributes to the Yuan court, Duwa left behind numerous sons, many of whom became khans themselves. Included among these are Kebek, who instituted a standardization of the coinage and selected a sedentary capital, and Tarmashirin, Tarmashirin, however, was brought down by a rebellion of the tribes in the eastern provinces, and the khanate became increasingly unstable in the following years. In 1346 a tribal chief, Amir Qazaghan, killed the Chagatai khan Qazan Khan ibn Yasaur during a revolt, the Chagatai Khanate split into two parts in the 1340s. In Transoxiana in the west, the mostly Muslim tribes, led by the Qaraunas amirs, seized control
3.
Kadan
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Kadan was the son of the second Great Khan of the Mongols Ögedei and a concubine. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan and the brother of Güyük Khan, during the Mongol invasion of Europe, Kadan, along with Baidar and Orda Khan, led the Mongol diversionary force that attacked Poland, while the main Mongol force struck the Kingdom of Hungary. In early 1241, Kadans forces sacked the Polish towns of Lublin, Zawichost, Kadan then attacked Masovia, while Baidar burned the evacuated Polish capital, Kraków and then Bytom, and Orda Khan ravaged the southwestern border of Lithuania and the Polish Baltic coast. The three leaders were then to attack the Silesian capital Breslau, after defeating some forces of Konrad I of Masovia, Kadans forces joined with Baidars and Ordas at Liegnitz. The Christian army was crushed in the ensuing Battle of Liegnitz of April 9,1241, Mongol casualties were heavier than expected in the battle, however, and Kadan was reluctant to directly attack Wenceslaus Bohemian forces. Kadan and Baidar skirmished against the Bohemians and were able to prevent the Bohemian king from helping King Béla IV of Hungary, after raiding Moravia, the Mongol diversionary force went to Hungary. During the winter of 1241-1242, Kadan sacked Buda on the way to Győr, while besieging Italian mercenaries defending Székesfehérvár, Kadan was forced to withdraw his troops after an early thaw flooded the land around the town. The Mongol prince was sent south with one tumen to search for Béla in Croatia. Kadan first sought the Hungarian king at Zagreb, which he sacked, Kadan had his Hungarian prisoners executed as supplies began to run out. To the kings surprise, Kadan headed south past Trogir toward Dubrovnik, while he was nearing Scutari, Kadan heard of the death of his father, Ögedei Khan. Kadans raids through Bulgaria on his retreat from Central Europe induced the young Kaliman I of Bulgaria to pay tribute, in 1251 Kadan accepted the election of Möngke Khan as Khagan. According to René Grousset, he helped the latter to capture Eljigidei. Kadan was loyal to Kublai Khan and supported his army against Ariq Böke in the Toluid Civil War and he commanded Mongol army at the first engagement with Ariq Böke and killed his general Alandar. In many medieval sources, Kadan was mistranslated by chroniclers as Kaidu and he is also confused with another brother, Köden, who was influential in Tibet
4.
Khagan
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Khagan or Qagan is a title in the Mongolian language equal to the status of emperor and used to refer to someone who rules a khaganate or empire. The title was adopted by Ögedei Khan from the Turkic title kaɣan and 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, since the division of the Mongol Empire, emperors of the Yuan dynasty held the title of Khagan and their successors in Mongolia continued to have the title. Kağan and Kaan are common Turkish names in Turkey, the common western rendering as Great Khan, notably in the case of the Mongol Empire, is translation of Yekhe Khagan. In the speech one of the Murongs general named Yinalou addressed him as kehan, the Rouran Khaganate was the first people to use the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors, replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom Grousset and others assume to be Turkic. However, many believe the Rouran were proto-Mongols. The Avar Khaganate, who may have included Rouran elements after the Göktürks crushed the Rouran ruling Mongolia, the Avars invaded Europe, and for over a century ruled the Carpathian region. Westerners Latinized the title Khagan into Gaganus or Cagan, Khagan or Khaan refers to Emperor or King in the Mongolian language, however, Yekhe Khagan means Great Khagan or Grand Emperor. Thus, the Yuan is sometimes referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan, coexisting with the independent Mongol khanates in the west, including the Chagatai Khanate, only the Ilkhanate truly recognized the Yuans overlordship as allies. Later Yuan emperors made peace with the three khanates of the Mongol Empire and were considered as their nominal suzerain. The nominal supremacy, while based on nothing like the foundations as that of the earlier Khagans, did last for a few decades. After the breakdown of Mongol Empire and the fall of the Yuan dynasty in the mid-14th century, dayan Khan once revived Emperors authority and recovered its reputation in Mongolia, but with the distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs it again caused decentralized rule. The last Khagan of the Chahars, Ligdan Khan, died in 1634 while fighting the Qing dynasty founded by the Manchu people, in contemporary Mongolian language the word Khaan and Khan have different meanings, while English language usually does not differentiate between them. The title is used as a generic term for a king or emperor. Minor rulers were rather relegated to the title of khan. Khagan is the title of Safavid and Qajar shahs of Iran. For example, Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar, Fath Ali Shah, the nickname of Shah Ismail and other Safavid shahs is Kagan-i Suleyman shan. Emperor Taizong of Tang was crowned Tian Kehan, or heavenly Khagan after defeating the Tujue, a later letter sent by the Tang court to the Yenisei Kirghiz Qaghan explained that the peoples of the northwest had requested Tang Taizong to become the Heavenly Qaghan
5.
Orda (organization)
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An orda or horde was a historical sociopolitical and military structure found on the Eurasian Steppe, usually associated with the Turkic raiders and Mongols. This entity can be seen as the equivalent of a clan or a tribe. Some successful ordas gave rise to khanates and these structures were contemporarily referred to as ulus. It was only in the Late Middle Ages that the Slavic usage of orda was borrowed back into the Turkic languages, etymologically, the word orda comes from the Mongolic ordu which could mean camp, palace, tent, seat of power or royal court. Within the Liao Empire of the Mongolic Khitans, the word ordo was used to refer to a noblemans personal entourage or court, which included servants, retainers, and bodyguards. Emperors, empresses, and high ranking princes all had ordos of their own, the Kazakh language name for a division of an army was jüz hundred. The word via Tatar passed into East Slavic as orda, and by the 1550s into English as horde, probably via Polish, the unetymological initial h- is found in all western European forms and was likely first attached in the Polish form horda. Ordu or Ordo also means the Mongolian court, in Mongolian language, the Government Palace is literally called Zasgiin gazriin ordon. They cover it with white felt, quite often they also smear the felt with chalk or white clay and ground bones to make it gleam whiter, and they decorate the felt around the neck at the top with various fine designs. Similarly they hang up in front of the entrance felt patchwork in various patterns, they sew onto one piece others of different colours to make vines, trees, birds and animals. I have counted twenty-two oxen to one wagon, hauling along a dwelling, eleven in a row, corresponding to the width of the wagon, and another eleven in front of them. The wagons axle was as large as a ships mast, and one man stood at the entrance to the dwelling on top of the wagon, driving the oxen. On reaching the place they took down the tents from the wagons and set them on the ground, for they are light to carry. Merriam–Webster defined horde in this context as a subdivision of central Asian people or a people or tribe of nomadic life. Ordas would form when families settled in auls would find it impossible to survive in that area and were forced to move, often, periods of drought would coincide with the rise in the number of ordas. Ordas were patriarchal, with its male members constituting a military, while some ordas were able to sustain themselves from their herds, others turned to pillaging their neighbors. In subsequent fighting, some ordas were destroyed, others assimilated, the term is also used to denote separate Kazakh tribes. In modern day, there three different groupings are differentiated, the Younger Horde in western Kazakhstan, the Middle Horde in central Kazakhstan and the Older Horde in southeastern Kazakhstan
6.
Kaidu
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Kaidu was the leader of the House of Ögedei and the de facto khan of the Chagatai Khanate, a division of the Mongol Empire. He ruled part of modern-day Xinjiang and Central Asia during the 13th century, and actively opposed his cousin, Kublai Khan, medieval chroniclers often mistranslated Kadan as Kaidu, mistakenly placing Kaidu at the Battle of Legnica. Kadan was the brother of Güyük, and Kaidus uncle, Kaidu was the son of Kashin a grandson of Ögedei Khan and a great-grandson of Genghis Khan and Börte. His mothers name was Shabkana Khatun from the Bekrin tribe of mountaineers that were neither Mongols, meanwhile, the Chagatayid Khan Alghu, who supported Kublai as Khagan, ravaged the lands of Kaidu. This forced Kaidu to make an alliance with Berke, the khan of the Golden Horde. After the defeat of Ariq Böke in 1264, Kublai summoned Kaidu to his court, possibly to discuss the future of the empire, but Kaidu avoided appearing at his court and said that his horses were too thin to bear long distance travel. Because Genghis Khan had made a law that all branches of the family had to approve the granting of the title of Great Khan, in 1266 Baraq was dispatched to Central Asia to take the throne of Chagatai. Kublai instigated Baraq to attack him in 1268, at first Baraq defeated Kaidu, however, the former was defeated by the latter with the assistance of Möngke-Temür, successor of Berke. When Baraq advanced towards Kaidu, the set a trap for the invaders troops on the bank of the Jaxartes. Transoxiana was then ravaged by Kaidu, Baraq fled to Samarkand, then Bukhara, plundering the cities along the way in an attempt to rebuild his army. These actions alarmed Kaidu, who did not want the region to be further devastated, Kaidu also needed to free up his army for a potential conflict with Kublai. Peace was therefore proposed, and Baraq was pressured by the governors of the areas of the khanate, Masud Beg and Daifu. He did, and peace was declared, although sources conflict on the time, rashid al-Din claims that the meeting took place in the spring of 1269 in Talas, while Wassaf writes that it took place around 1267 to the south of Samarkand. Either way, two-thirds of Transoxiana were granted to Baraq, while the third went to Kaidu. Kaidu also gained control of the region around Bukhara, neither side gained control of the cities, the administration of these instead devolved to Masud Beg, while Baraq and Kaidu agreed to reside only in the deserts and mountains. Kaidu convinced Baraq to attack Persia under the Ilkhanids, Baraq suffered a large defeat at Herat on July 22,1270 against Abagha. Baraq died en route to meet Kaidu who had been waiting for his weakness, the Chagatayid princes including Mubarak Shah submitted to Kaidu and proclaimed him as their overlord. Sons of Baraq rebelled against Kaidu but they were defeated, many of the Chagatayid princes fled to the Ilkhanate
7.
Mongols
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The Mongols are an East-Central Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They also live as minorities in other regions of China, as well as in Russia, Mongolian people belonging to the Buryat and Kalmyk subgroups live predominantly in the Russian federal subjects of Buryatia and Kalmykia. The Mongols are bound together by a heritage and ethnic identity. Their indigenous dialects are known as the Mongolian language. The ancestors of the modern-day Mongols are referred to as Proto-Mongols, broadly defined, the term includes the Mongols proper, Buryats, Oirats, the Kalmyk people and the Southern Mongols. The latter comprises the Abaga Mongols, Abaganar, Aohans, Baarins, Gorlos Mongols, Jalaids, Jaruud, Khishigten, Khuuchid, Muumyangan, the designation Mongol briefly appeared in 8th century records of Tang China to describe a tribe of Shiwei. It resurfaced in the late 11th century during the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty, after the fall of the Liao in 1125, the Khamag Mongols became a leading tribe on the Mongolian Plateau. However, their wars with the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Tatar confederation had weakened them, in the thirteenth century, the word Mongol grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic-speaking tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan. In various times Mongolic peoples have been equated with the Scythians, the Magog, based on Chinese historical texts the ancestry of the Mongolic peoples can be traced back to the Donghu, a nomadic confederation occupying eastern Mongolia and Manchuria. The identity of the Xiongnu is still debated today, although some scholars maintain that they were proto-Mongols, they were more likely a multi-ethnic group of Mongolic and Turkic tribes. It has been suggested that the language of the Huns was related to the Hünnü, the Donghu are mentioned by Sima Qian as already existing in Inner Mongolia north of Yan in 699–632 BCE along with the Shanrong. Mentions in the Yi Zhou Shu and the Classic of Mountains, the Xianbei chieftain was appointed joint guardian of the ritual torch along with Xiong Yi. These early Xianbei came from the nearby Zhukaigou culture in the Ordos Desert, where maternal DNA corresponds to the Mongol Daur people, the Zhukaigou Xianbei had trade relations with the Shang. In the late 2nd century, the Han dynasty scholar Fu Qian wrote in his commentary Jixie that Shanrong, againm in Inner Mongolia another closely connected core Mongolic Xianbei region was the Upper Xiajiadian culture where the Donghu confederation was centered. After the Donghu were defeated by Xiongnu king Modu Chanyu, the Xianbei, tadun Khan of the Wuhuan was the ancestor of the proto-Mongolic Kumo Xi. The Wuhuan are of the direct Donghu royal line and the New Book of Tang says that in 209 BCE, the Xianbei, however, were of the lateral Donghu line and had a somewhat separate identity, although they shared the same language with the Wuhuan. In 49 CE the Xianbei ruler Bianhe raided and defeated the Xiongnu, killing 2000, the Xianbei reached their peak under Tanshihuai Khan who expanded the vast, but short lived, Xianbei state. Three prominent groups split from the Xianbei state as recorded by the Chinese histories, the Rouran, the Khitan people, besides these three Xianbei groups, there were others such as the Murong, Duan and Tuoba
8.
History of Central Asia
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The history of Central Asia concerns the history of the various peoples that have inhabited Central Asia. The lifestyle of people has been determined primarily by the areas climate. The aridity of the region makes agriculture difficult and distance from the sea cut it off from much trade, thus, few major cities developed in the region. Nomadic horse peoples of the steppe dominated the area for millennia, relations between the steppe nomads and the settled people in and around Central Asia were marked by conflict. The dominance of the nomads ended in the 16th century as firearms allowed settled people to control of the region. The Russian Empire, the Qing Dynasty of China, and other powers expanded into the area, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, five Central Asian countries gained independence — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. In all of the new states, former Communist Party officials retained power as local strongmen, recent genetic studies have concluded that modern humans arrived in the region 40,000 to 50,000 years ago. The archaeological evidence of population in region is sparse, whereas evidence of human habitation in Africa. Some studies have identified this region as the likeliest source of the populations who later inhabited Europe, Siberia. According to the Kurgan hypothesis, the north-west of the region is considered to be the source of the root of the Indo-European languages. As early as 4500 BC, small communities had developed permanent settlements, around this time, some of these communities began the domestication of the horse. Initially, the horses were bred solely for their meat, as a source of food, by 4000 BCE it is believed that they were used for transportation purposes, wheeled wagons began making an appearance during this time. Once the utility of the horse as a means of transportation became clear the horses began being bred for strength, by 2000 BC, war chariots had spoked wheels, thus being made more manoeuvrable, and dominated the battlefields. Scattered nomadic groups maintained herds of sheep, goats, horses, and camels, the people lived in yurts – tents made of hides and wood that could be disassembled and transported. Each group had several yurts, each accommodating about five people, while the semi-arid plains were dominated by the nomads, small city-states and sedentary agrarian societies arose in the more humid areas of Central Asia. These cultures, particularly Bactria-Margiana, have been posited as possible representatives of the hypothetical Aryan culture ancestral to the speakers of the Indo-Iranian languages, later the strongest of Sogdian city states of the Fergana Valley rose to prominence. After the 1st century BC, these cities became home to the traders of the Silk Road, the steppe nomads were dependent on these settled people for a wide array of goods that were impossible for transient populations to produce. The nomads traded for these when they could, but because they generally did not produce goods of interest to sedentary people, a wide variety of people came to populate the steppes
