Gurkhan () was a

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

title meaning "Universal Ruler" and roughly equivalent to the older term ''

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...

''. It was held by the rulers of the Western Liao dynasty in the 13th century. The title was first adopted by

Yelü Dashi Yelü Dashi (; alternatively ), courtesy name Zhongde (), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Dezong of Western Liao (), was the founder of the Western Liao dynasty (Qara Khitai). He initially ruled as king from 1124 to 1132, then as e ...

(Emperor Dezong of Western Liao) in 1132.Biran, p. 38 It comes from the

Middle Mongol Middle Mongol or Middle Mongolian, was a Mongolic koiné language spoken in the Mongol Empire. Originating from Genghis Khan's home region of Northeastern Mongolia, it diversified into several Mongolic languages after the collapse of the empire ...

word "Gür" or "Kür", meaning "wide" or "general".

Christopher I. Beckwith Christopher I. Beckwith (born October 23, 1945) is an American philologist and distinguished professor in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He has a B.A. in Chinese from Ohio State Unive ...

claims that the title has the meaning "the ruler of the earth" in his book ''Empires of Silk Road''.

Notes

References

* Biran, Michal, ''The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian history'', Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Notes

References

See also