In modern Mongolian, the title became '' Khaan '' with the 'g' sound becoming almost silent or non-existent. The common western rendering as Great Khan or Grand Khan, notably in the case of the Mongol Empire , is technically not correct, but it has been well established by long-standing convention and is reasonably clear in suggesting paramount status.
Also the word "Hun" or "Khun" in Caucasian Avars language means "To Hold" "To Belong". The Hun word for leader or king "Kagan" in Caucasian Avar language pronounced "Q'uaKhun" translated as "To Whom The Power Belongs" or "The Power Holder". It also means "the One who rules." The capital city of Caucasian Avars Khunzakh is translated "The city of Huns"
- The first known use of the title was by the nomadic Juan Juan confederacy (4th-6th century AD) or the Xianbei , on China's northern border.
- The Avars , who may have included Juan Juan elements after the Turks crushed the Juan Juan who ruled Mongolia, also used this title. The Avars invaded Europe, and for over a century ruled the Hungarian region. Westerners Latinized the title "Khagan" into "Gaganus".
- By far the most famous incumbents were from the dynasty of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan , who united all Mongol nomad tribes and welded them into such an efficient military machine that he outdid Alexander the Great's conquests greatly in founding the Mongol Empire . His grandson Kublai Khan founded the Yuan Dynasty in China .The ruling descendents of (the senior line of the house of) Genghis Khan are often referred to as the ''Great (or Grand) Khans''. These include Ögedei Khan , Güyük Khan , Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan .'' The Secret History Of The Mongols '', written for that very dynasty, clearly distinguishes ''Khaghan'' and ''Khan'': only Genghis and his descendants are called ''Khaghan'', while other rulers are referred to as ''Khan''. Over time, though, the distinction became blurred by the large number of rulers who claimed it.
- The ''gh'' sound in "Khaghan" later weakened and disappeared becoming ''Khaan'' in Modern Mongolian .
- See also List Of Mongol Khans .
- The title became associated with the Ashina rulers of the Gokturks and their dynastic successors among such peoples as the Khazars . Minor rulers were rather relegated to the lower title of Khan .
- Interestingly, the Turkish form '', with the specification in Arabic ''al-Barrayn wa al-Bahrayn'' (meaning literally "of both lands and both seas"), or rather fully in Turkish '''Hakan ül-Berreyn vel-Bahreyn''', was one of the prominent additional titles in the official full style of the Great Sultan (and later Caliph) of the Ottoman Empire (Sultan Hân N.N., Padishah , ''Hünkar'', Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan Of Sultans , Khan of Khans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe; next followed a series of specifical 'regional' titles, starting with Protector of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem), reflecting the historical legitimation of the dynasty's rule as political successor to various conquered (often islamised) states.
- In the early 10th century the princes of Eastern Slavs employed the title of ''kagan'' (or ''qaghan''), reported by the Arab geographer Ibn Rusta writing between 903 and 913. This tradition endured in the eleventh century, as the Metropolitan of Russia Hilarion calls both Grand Prince Vladimir (978-1015) and grand prince Iaroslav (1019-1054) by the title of ''kagan'', while a grafitto on the walls of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev gives the same title to the son of Iaroslav, grand prince Sviatoslav II (1073-1076).
see: Mark Whittow, ''The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025'', University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1996.
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