khans

Khans are rulers who bore the title Khan in Turkic and Mongolic polities. The term derives from the ancient title khagan, or qağan, often translated as “great ruler,” and over time khan came to denote a ruler more generally. The word spread across Eurasia and entered many languages, where it could function as an office, a title, or a surname.

Historically, khans ruled in nomadic and later imperial polities. In the Mongol Empire, the Great Khan (Khagan) stood above other khans who governed semi-autonomous regions. After the empire fragmented in the 13th and 14th centuries, the realm broke into khanates—such as the Golden Horde in the northwest, the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, and the Ilkhanate in Persia—each led by a khan. The Yuan Dynasty in China was founded by a lineage descended from Genghis Khan, and its rulers were commonly described in Mongol terms as khans or khagans, even as they governed as emperors in China.

Notable khans include Genghis Khan, who united the Mongol tribes and founded the empire; Batu Khan, a grandson who ruled the Golden Horde; and Kublai Khan, who established the Yuan dynasty in China.

In modern usage, Khan survives as a common surname and honorific in South Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia, independent of any state office. The term also survives in historical names of states described as khanates and in contemporary references to traditional rulers in some communities.