khagans

Khagan, also transcribed as qaghan, qağan, or kahn, is a title of imperial rank used by rulers in the Turkic and Mongolic worlds of Central Asia. Derived from a common Turkic-Mongolic root meaning "ruler" or "emperor," the term is typically rendered in English as "Great Khan" to indicate supremacy above ordinary khans.

Historically, a khagan ruled over a khaganate, a political formation consisting of several tribes or regions united under a single overlord. The Göktürks, in the 6th century, employed the office of the khagan, sometimes with rival eastern and western lines. The title later became central to Mongol imperial practice; Genghis Khan was proclaimed Khagan of the Mongols in 1206, establishing a personal claim to supreme rule that was inherited by his successors and used in conjunction with other imperial titles as the empire expanded.

After the empire fractured into separate khanates, the practical authority of the khagan varied by state and period. In some contexts the title was retained as a ceremonial or lineage-based distinction, while in others the term was supplanted by "khan" for regional rulers or by the elevated "emperor" for those who controlled large, sedentary domains such as the Yuan dynasty.

Today the term Khagan is used in scholarly discussions of Central Asian political culture to distinguish the highest monarchs from subordinate khans, and to describe the ideological framework of imperial rule in Turkic and Mongolic histories.