View source for Il khan

{{Short description|Mongolian and Turkic ruler title}}
{{distinguish|Ilhan}}
{{for|a Turkish footballer|Emirhan İlkhan}}
'''Il Khan''' (also ''il-khan'', ''ilkhan'', ''elkhan'', etc.),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tyrrell|first=Maliheh S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4N_dneMybQC&pg=PA34|title=Aesopian Literary Dimensions of Azerbaijani Literature of the Soviet Period, 1920-1990|date=2000|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-0169-8|pages=34|language=en}}</ref> in [[Turkic languages]] and [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]], is a title of leadership. It combines the title [[khan (title)|''khan'']] with the prefix ''el/il'', from the word ''ulus'' – 'tribe, clan', 'the people', 'nation', 'homeland', 'state', 'tribal union', etc.<ref>Древнетюркский словарь (''{{ill|Ancient Turkic Dictionary|ru|ь}}''),  Leningrad, Nauka Publishers, 1969, pp. 168—169.</ref>
==Meaning==
The exact meaning depends on context:
*Khan of the nation. The earliest mention of a similar title in this meaning, namely "Illig Qaghan", refers to [[Bumin Qaghan]] and dates to 552 CE. (In fact, [[Nikolai Gumilyov]] transcribes Bumin's title as "ilkhan".)<ref>Гумилёв Л. Н. Древние тюрки. — СПб., 2002. — С. 113—115.</ref>
*More recently, the tribal chief that heads both branches of the [[Bakhtiari people]], under whom several ''khans'' operate (20th century CE).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Salzman|first=Philip C.|date=1967|title=Political Organization among Nomadic Peoples|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/986038|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=111|issue=2|pages=124–125|jstor=986038|issn=0003-049X}}</ref>
In the context of the [[Hulagu Khan|Hulaguid dynasty]], commonly known as the [[Ilkhanate]], the title ''Ilkhan'' was borne by the descendants of Hulagu and later other [[Borjigin]] princes in [[Persia]], starting from c. 1259-1265.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jackson|first=Peter|title=The Mongols & the Islamic world : from conquest to conversion| year=2017|isbn=978-0-300-22728-4|location=New Haven|pages=138–139 |oclc=980348050}}, citing {{Cite book|last=Kolbas|first=Judith G. |title=The Mongols in Iran : Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu, 1220-1309|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-7007-0667-4|location=London|at=172–4 and n. 168 at 189 |oclc=57344095}} for 1265, and {{Cite journal|last=Amitai|first=Reuven|title=Evidence for the Early Use of the Title Ilkhan among the Mongols|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|issue=3rd Ser., 1 |year=1991|volume=1 |pages= 353–362 |doi=10.1017/S1356186300001176|s2cid=162308410 |url=https://www.academia.edu/28597887}}, for 1259.</ref> Two interpretations have been proposed:
*'submissive', 'peaceable', 'obedient', or 'subservient' khan, or 'polity prince'. Possibly equivalent to Chinese {{Lang|zh-latn|kuo-wang}}, and to Islamic ''[[sultan]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Allsen|first=Thomas T.| title=Culture and conquest in Mongol Eurasia|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-511-01782-0|location=Cambridge, UK|oclc=52611293|pages=21–22}}</ref> Here the lesser "khanship" intended to indicate the initial deference of Hulagu to [[Möngke Khan]] and his successor Great Khans of the [[Mongol empire]].
*Sovereign khan. From ''ilig khan''. It was possibly equivalent to Chinese {{Lang|zh-latn|zhenming huangdi}} ('Emperor with a genuine mandate'). It was to be construed as a power over regional affairs, not in opposition to the Great Khan, yet not conferred by him.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jackson|first=Peter|title=The Mongols & the Islamic world : from conquest to conversion| year=2017|isbn=978-0-300-22728-4|location=New Haven|pages=138–139 |oclc=980348050}}</ref>
==In fiction==
*In [[BattleTech]], the IlKhan is the highest leader of The Clans.
==See also==
*[[Elbasy]] ('Head of the Nation')
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|last=Doerfer|first=Gerhard|url=https://opendata.uni-halle.de//handle/1981185920/38353|title=Türkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen |volume=Bd 2. Türkische Elemente im Neupersischen : alif bis tā |date=1965|publisher=Steiner|doi=10.25673/38110 |at=[https://opendata.uni-halle.de/explore?bitstream_id=3be9fe0d-f663-4c8f-b874-8a9355c70ad9&handle=1981185920/34386&provider=iiif-image&multipart=true pp. 207-209] |language=de}}
[[Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership]]
[[Category:Turkic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Men's social titles]]