Baghatur is an old Altaic term for a warrior, a military commander, or an epic hero. The word was introduced in the Middle Ages to many non-Altaic languages by conquering Turkic- and Mongol-speaking nomads, and now exists in different forms such as the Russian Богатырь (Bogatyr), Polish Bohater (meaning hero), Persian and North Indian Bahadur, and Georgian Bagatur. It is also preserved in the modern Turkic and Mongol languages as Turkish Batur, Tatar and Kazakh Batır, Uzbek Batyr and Mongolian Baatar (as in Ulaanbaatar) as well as in Hungarian Bátor. Also cognate is the Tibetan dpa' rtul or "warrior," as in th the dpa' rtul sum cu of the Tibetan Epic of Gesar.
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Usage
The term was first used by the steppe peoples to the north and west of China as early as the seventh century.[1][2] It is attested for the Köktürk khanate in the eighth century, and among the Bulgars of Danube Bulgaria in the ninth century. The word was common among the Mongols and became especially widespread, as a honorific title, in Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire in the 13th century; the title persisted in its successor-states, and later came to be adopted also as a regnal title in the ilkhanate, in Timurid dynasties etc. The term Baghatur and its variants - Bahadur, Bagatur, or Baghadur, has also been attested as a personal name belonging to several important historical figures, including:
- Yesugei , the father of Genghis Khan
- Baghatur Khagan, Khagan of the Khazars, c. 760.
- The Mongol general Subutai is referred to in the Secret History of the Mongols as ba'tur.
- Ilkhan Abu said took the name bahadur khan after defeating Uzbek khan of Golden Horde.
- Two Mughal emperors were named Bahadur Shah: Bahadur Shah I and Bahadur Shah Zafar II.
- Banda Singh Bahadur, great sikh warrior and general
- Stephen IX Báthory (1533-1586), Prince of Transylvania and King of Poland.
Notes
- ^ C. Fleischer, "Bahādor", in Encyclopaedia Iranica
- ^ Grousset 194.
References
- Brook, Kevin Alan. The Jews of Khazaria. 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006.
- Grousset, R. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers Univ. Press, 1988.
- Saunders, J. The History of the Mongol Conquests. Univ. of Penn. Press, 2001.
