"Batir" redirects here. For the commune in Cimişlia district, Moldova, see
Batîr.
Look up bahadur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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]
Etymology and distribution
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adding to it. (January 2021)
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 Chinese as 冒頓 (with -n for foreign -r), now pronounced
Mòdùn ~ Màodùn in
standard 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.
Titles Incorporating Bahadur
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.
List of individuals with this title
The term Baghatur and its variants – Bahadur, Bagatur, or Baghadur, was adopted by the following historical individuals:
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.