Khatun ( Mongolian: хатан; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, katun; ota, خاتون, hatun or قادین ''kadın''; fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; ; hi, ख़ातून ') is a female title of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

and counterpart to " khan" or "

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 ...

" prominently used in the

Turkic Khaganate The Göktürks founded two major khanates known as the Turkic Khaganate: * First Turkic Khaganate, which then fractured into ** Western Turkic Khaganate ** Eastern Turkic Khaganate * Second Turkic Khaganate See also * Turkic khanate * List of Turk ...

s and in the subsequent

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

Etymology and history

Before the advent of

Islam in Central Asia Islam in Central Asia has existed since the beginning of Islamic history. Sunni branch of Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Central Asia. Shiism of Imami and Ismaili denominations predominating in the Pamir plateau and the wester ...

, Khatun was the title of the queen of

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

. According to the

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in ...

, "Khatun sa title of Sogdian origin borne by the wives and female relatives of the

Göktürks The Göktürks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Türük Bodun; ; ) were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and ...

and subsequent Turkish rulers." According to Bruno De Nicola in ''Women in Mongol Iran: The Khatuns, 1206-1335'', the linguistic origins of the term “khatun” are unknown, though possibly of Old Turkic or Sogdian origin. De Nicola states that prior to the spread of the Mongols across Central Asia, Khatun meant ‘lady’ or ‘noblewoman’ and is found in broad usage in medieval Persian and Arabic texts.

Peter Benjamin Golden Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic and Central Asian Studies, such as ''An i ...

observed that the title ''qatun'' appeared among the

as the title for the

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 ...

's wife and was borrowed from Sogdian ''xwāten'' "wife of the ruler" Earlier, British Orientalist

Gerard Clauson Sir Gerard Leslie Makins Clauson (28 April 1891 – 1 May 1974) was an English civil servant, businessman, and Orientalist best known for his studies of the Turkic languages. The eldest son of Major Sir John Eugene Clauson, Gerard Clauson atten ...

(1891–1974) defined ''xa:tun'' as "'lady' and the like" and says there is "no reasonable doubt that it is taken from Sogdian ''xwt'yn'' (''xwatēn''), in Sogdian ''xwt'y'' ('lord, ruler') and ''xwt'yn'' 'lord's or ruler's wife'), "which is precisely the meaning of ''xa:tun'' in the early period."

Modern usage

In Uzbek, the language spoken in modern-day Bukhara, in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, the word is spelled '' xotin'' and has come to simply refer to any woman. In Turkish, it is written ''

hatun Hatun or Khatun ( otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, Katun, ota, خاتون, Hatun or قادین ''Kadın'', uz, xotin, fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; Mongolian: , ''khatun'', хатан ''khatan''; ur, خاتون, hi, ख़ातून '; bn, খাত� ...

.'' The general Turkish word for 'woman', ''

kadın Kadin or Kadın may refer to *KADIN, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry * Kadin (name) * Kadın (title), for an imperial consort of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire *Kadin Island in southeastern Alaska * Kadin Jelovac, a village in Bosni ...

'', is a

doublet Doublet is a word derived from the Latin ''duplus'', "twofold, twice as much",