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Baghatur is a historical Turkic and Mongol honorific title,[1] in origin a term for "hero" or "valiant warrior". The Papal envoy Plano Carpini (c. 1185–1252) compared the title with the equivalent of European Knighthood.[2]
The word was common among the Mongols and became especially widespread, as an honorific title, in the 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 and the Timurid dynasty, among others.[citation needed]
The concept of the Baghatur is present in Turco-Mongol folklore, one instance is the Bashkir epic poem Ural-batyr . The Bogatyr of Eastern Slavic legends is derived from the turkic term. Baghaturs were heroes of extraordinary courage, fearlessness, and decisiveness, often portrayed as being descended from heaven and capable of performing extraordinary deeds. Baghatur was the heroic ideal Turco-Mongol warriors strove to live up to, hence its use as a military honorific of glory.[citation needed]
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The term was first used by the steppe peoples to the north and west of China proper as early as the 7th century as evidenced in Sui dynasty records.[3][4] It is attested for the Second Turkic Khaganate in the 6th century, and among the Bulgars of the First Bulgarian Empire in the 6th century. Some authors claim Iranian origin of the word, the first syllable is very likely the Iranian title word *bag "god, lord".[5] According to Gerard Clauson, bağatur by origin almost certainly a Xiongnu (which Clauson proposes to be Hunnic) name, and specifically of the second Xiongnu Chanyu, whose name was transliterated by the Han Chineseas冒頓 (with -n for foreign -r), now pronounced Mòdùn ~ Màodùninstandard Chinese.[6][7]
It is also preserved in the modern Turkic and Mongol languages as AltaiБаатыр (Baatïr), Turkish Batur/Bahadır, Tatar and KazakhБатыр (Batyr), UzbekBatyr and MongolianBaatar (as in Ulaanbaatar).
It is the origin of a number of terms and names, such as Bahadur (in Persian, South Asian Muslim, Sikh and other cultures), Bahadır, Baturu, Bey, Mete, Metehan, Russian: Богатырь (Bogatyr), Polish Bohater (lit.'hero'), Hungarian: Bátor (meaning "brave"), among others.
Bahadur was often included in titles in Mughal Empire and later during the British Raj to signify a higher level of honor above the title without the word. For example:
Sawai Bahadur, used as a title for rulers of Kutch. See individuals below.
Informally used to upgrade a title or title of address (often sarcastically) in South Asia. For example Saahab Bahadur (see, for example, the movie Saheb Bahadur); Company Bahadur (for the East India Company); Angrez Bahadur (for the British Raj); and so on.
Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur, ruler of the Khanate of Khiva, had the title of Bahadur Khan. He wrote the famous epic of the Mongols called the genealogical tree of the Mongols (or General history of Tatars).
Khengarji III, was the first ruler of Kutch to be given title of Sawai Bahadur.
Madansinhji, ruler of Kutch, used Bahadur as a hereditary title.
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, the second Indian soldier to be so honored, was known as "Sam Bahadur."
Damdin Sükhbaatar, was a founding member of the Mongolian People's Party and leader of the Mongolian partisan army that liberated Khüree during the Mongolian Revolution of 1921. Enshrined as the "Father of Mongolia's Revolution", he is remembered as one of the most important figures in Mongolia's struggle for independence.
