𐱃𐰺𐰴𐰣
tarχan
Meaning:
high-ranking dignitary (title)
The origin of tarkan is disputed. Several explanations have been proposed:
- A compound of an otherwise uncertain title element tar and qan “ruler”.
- A connection with Turkic tar- “to disperse, scatter”, perhaps originally describing a military leader; the proposed formation is not morphologically established.
- A wider Inner Asian comparison with Mongolian darqan “privileged dignitary; artisan”, whose historical relationship to the Turkic title is unresolved.
None of these etymologies has been demonstrated conclusively.
Examples
Translations
German:
hoher Würdenträger (Titel)
Russian:
высокопоставленный сановник (титул)
Turkish (Azerbaijan):
yüksək rütbəli dövlət məmuru (titul)
Turkish (Türkiye):
yüksek rütbeli devlet görevlisi (unvan)
Bibliography 4
-
Dr. Jens Wilkens (2021) Handwörterbuch des Altuigurischen | Eski Uygurcanın El Sözlüğüp. 677, entry ¹t(a)rhan ~ tarhanp. 677, entry ¹t(a)rhan ~ tarhan
¹t(a)rhan ~ tarhan ein Titel, ein Titel eines Herrschers || bir unvan, bir hükümdarın unvanlarından biri (s./bk. Chin. 達官 da guan; Spätmittelchin. that kuan, Mo. darqan) -
Marcel Erdal (2004) A Grammar of Old Turkicp. 158, §3.121p. 128, §2.5p. 158, §3.121
In the Orkhon and Imperial Uygur inscriptions, the Common Turkic +lAr competes with the suffixes +(U)t, +(A)n and +s. +(U)t (which may have been borrowed together with the bases it is used with) appears e.g. in tarkat, säŋüt and tegit, the plurals of the titles tarkan, säŋün and tegin. See OTWF 78-79 for documentation and subsequent retention. In (post-inscriptional) Uygur, the ‘normal’ plural suffix +lAr was added unto these forms, giving the common tegitlär ‘princes’ or (in MaitrH XVI 11r25) bägitlär ‘the lords’. otuz tegit oglanï ... birlä (MaitrH, colophon,24) ‘together with his 30 prince(ly) sons’ still has the simple form. p. 128, §2.5Rarely, suffixes starting with a vowel retain this vowel in all positions, in which case bases ending in a vowel elide theirs: +(U)t, which expresses plurality with titles, appears e.g. in tarkat, säŋüt and tegit, the plurals of the titles tarkan, säŋün and tegin; it may have been borrowed together with these bases, possibly from a Mongolic language. Suffixes which thus replace a part of their base are called dominant. Dominance (first described for Turkic in Erdal 1979a) never applies to single-syllable vowel bases, as it would change them beyond recognition. It is also found with the suffixes -Xš and -Xn and one or two others. -
Gerard Clauson (1972) An etimological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkishpp. 539b–540a, entry tarxa:n (?darxa:n)pp. 539b–540a, entry tarxa:n (?darxa:n)
F tarxa:n (?darxa:n) a title of great antiquity, prob. pre-Turkish discussed at great length (14½ pages) in Doerfer II 879. In spite of his scepticism, Prof. Pulleyblank’s theory in ‘The Consonantal System of Old Chinese’, Asia Major, N.s. IX, 1962, p. 91, that it represents the Hsiung-nu title of their supreme ruler, shan-yü (in Old Chinese *dan-yway for darxan) seems the best explanation yet of its origin. Like tegin it forms its Plur. in -t, tarxat, for *tarxa(n)t. It is likely that in this word the Runic and Uyğ. k represented x, cf. the form in Kaş. In Turkish it had ceased to be the supreme title and was not even, like tegin and şad, peculiar to the royal family, but it was still a high title, and prob. carried administrative responsibilities. In this sense it cannot be traced in Turkish after xi. It became an early l.-w. in Mong. as darxan (Haenisch 32, Kow. 1676) where it meant not much more than ‘a person exempt from ordinary taxation’, and later merely ‘artisan, craftsman’. The occurrence in Çağ. is no doubt a reborrowing fr. Mong. Türkü viii (in the list of persons to whom the inscription is addressed; my younger brothers, sons, united clan, people, in the east the şadapıt begs) yirya: tarxat buyruq begler ‘in the west the tarxans, officials, and begs’ I S 1; otherwise only a component in P.N.s İnançu: Apa: Yarğan Tarxan I W 2; Apa: Tarxan II S 13; [gap] Taman Tarxan Tonukuk Boyla: Bağa: Tarxan (described as buyruk ‘officials’) II S 14; the last also in T 6; Işvara: Tamğan Tarxan Ongin 4: viii ff. Man. [gap] Tarxan TT II 6, 22: Yen. Çavuş Tun Tarxan Mal. 30, 3; Tarxan Saŋu:n do. 32, 7: Uyğ. viii (I gave the Çik people a totok (military governor) and) ışvaras tarxat anta: ançu: lad[ım] ‘presented ışvaras and tarxans to them there’ Şu. S 2: ix Kutluğ Bağa: Tarxan Suci 4: viii ff. Bud. (in the list of dignitaries in the first Pfahl. after one saŋun and before three more) Kenç Turmış Tarxan, It Tarxan, … Sarığ Baş Tarxan Pfahl. 10, 15–16; (in a similar list in the third Pfahl., after ‘our son, our younger brother, our sons-in-law’) tarxanımız Temir Tirek Tegin, El Asmış Tegin do. 23, 14; Tarxan occurs as an element in other P.N.s in do. 23, 17–24: Xak. xi tarxa:n ‘a pagan word’ (ism cāhili) meaning ‘chief’ (al-amīr, Kaş.’s usual translation of beg) Kaş. I 436: Çağ. xv ff. tarxan (1) ‘a person who is exempt from all government taxes; any loot which comes into his possession in military operations is allotted to him; he can attend the royal court without special permission; and he can commit up to nine offences without being called to account’; (2) ‘the name of a tribe (or class ?) of notables (nām-i ṭāyifa az aʿāẓim) of the ulus of Çağatay’ (followed by a history of their origin) San. 155r. 1. -
M Räsänen, I Kecskeméti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachenp. 464, entry tar-χanp. 464, entry tar-χan
tar-χan: mtü. tarχan, tärkän, atü. uig. tarχan, tarkan ’Tarchan (eine Würde)’, čag. osm. tarχan ’Tarchan, der privilegierte Stand’, kzk. darkan ’Liebling des Chans’, soj. darγan ’кузнец’
= mo. (KWb. 78) dar-qan ’Schmied’, ’Edelmann’
< uig. tar ’ein Titel’ + χan
Vgl. daruγa 133b
