Tarkhan

For the Punjabi tribe called Tarkhan, see Tarkhan (Punjab).

Tarkhan or Tarkhaan is an ancient Turkic rank, apparently a compound with the ambivalent title khan.

History

It was used among the Gokturks, Khazars, Uyghurs and other steppe empires, and was a high rank in the army of Timur the Lame. Tarkhans commanded miltary contingents (roughly of regimental size under the Khazar khan) and were, roughly speaking, generals. They could also be assigned as military governors of conquered regions.

Like many titles, Tarkhan also occurs as a personal name, independent of a person's rank, which makes some historical references confusing. For example, Arab texts refer to a "Tarkhan, king of the Khazars" as reigning in the mid ninth century. Whether this is a confused reference to a military official or the name of an individual Khazar khagan remains unclear.

In fiction

In C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series of novels, the apparent spelling variation Tarkaan is the title of a Calormen nobleman, tarkheena that of a noble woman.

Sources and references

(incomplete)

[Terminology in Russian history]

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