Khanum

Khanum, Khanom, or Khanoum (Kazakh: Hanym, Arabic: هانم‎, Uzbek: Xonim, Azerbaijani: Xanım, Turkish: Hanım, Persian: خانم‎, Hindi: ख़ानुम, Bengali: খাঁনম/খানম, Urdu: خانم‎, Albanian: Hanëm) is a female royal and aristocratic title that was originally derived through a Central Asian title, and later used in the Middle East and South Asia. It is the feminine equivalent of the title Khan for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Mongol tribes living north and northwest of modern-day China.[1] "Khan" is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation[2] for their chief between 283 and 289.[3] The Rourans were the first people who used the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors, replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom Grousset and others assume to be Turkic.[4]

In Turkish, it is spelled Hanım. The title of Hanımefendi is a combination of the words Khanum (tr. Hanım) and efendi.

Today, the term is used as a way to respectfully address women of any social rank. "Khanum" is the eastern equivalent of "madam", or more colloquially, "ma'am".

In South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Baluchistan and North India, Khanum has been adapted for use as an honorific for Muslim women of high social status.

See also

References
  1. The Illustrated Weekly of India, Volume 90. Times of India Press. 1969. p. 4. In the original meaning “begum” and “khanum” are the feminine equivalents or counterparts of “beg” and “khan”—like the English “lord” and “lady”.
  2. Henning, W. B., 'A Farewell to the Khagan of the Aq-Aqataran',"Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African studies – University of London", Vol 14, No 3, p 501–522
  3. Zhou 1985, p. 3–6
  4. René Grousset (1988). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia now. Rutgers University Press. pp. 61, 585, n. 92. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9.
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