Word.ws English Dictionary

tarkhan

tarkhan noun: an ancient Central Asian title used by various Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-European (Scythian and Tokharian) peoples, especially in the medieval era, and prominently among the successors of the Mongol Empire; it generally conferred exemption from taxation.

Noun

tarkhan (plural tarkhans)

  1. (historical) An ancient Central Asian title used by various Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-European (Scythian and Tokharian) peoples, especially in the medieval era, and prominently among the successors of the Mongol Empire; it generally conferred exemption from taxation.
    • The tarkhan, leader of the Khazar army, meets Amram, Zelikman and a green-eyed young person who claims to be Alp, the brother of Filaq.2007 May 6, Michael Chabon, “‘Gentlemen of the Road’”, in New York Times
    • Already by the time of Genghis Khan, tarkhans were exempt from taxes and various economic services; they later became a privileged estate or class. In the Kazanian society, the tarkhans constituted a privileged, landowning, and conditionally hereditary nobility which was exempted from taxes and...1980, Manfred Späth, “Beiträge zur 4. Internationalen Konferenz über Altrussische Geschichte. Begunov, "Weisse Rus".”, in Forschungen zur osteuropaischen Geschichte, Bd. 27, page 164

Proper noun capitalized: Tarkhan

Tarkhan

  1. a carpentry caste in Punjab

tarkhan meaning in Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic and Persian

tarkhan in Hindi

ancient Central Asian/Turkic title
तरख़ान tarxān

tarkhan in Punjabi

Tarkhan; a member of the Tarkhan caste, who are carpenters or joiners by trade
ਤਰਖਾਣ tarkhāṇ, ترکھان tarkhāṇ
tarkhan; an ancient Central Asian title
ਤਰਖਾਣ tarkhāṇ

tarkhan in Arabic

ancient Central Asian/Turkic title
طرخان

tarkhan in Persian

ancient Central Asian/Turkic title
ترخان tarxân

Forms of tarkhan

pluraltarkhans
alternative formTarkhan

Origin of tarkhan

From a descendant of Proto-Turkic *tarkan, ultimate origin uncertain. See Chinese 單于 (chányú) and the Wikipedia page for more. Doublet of chanyu.

Borrowed from Punjabi ਤਰਖਾਣ / تَرکھاݨ (tarkhāṇ).

Questions about tarkhan

What does tarkhan mean?
Tarkhan means an ancient Central Asian title used by various Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-European (Scythian and Tokharian) peoples, especially in the medieval era, and prominently among the successors of the Mongol Empire; it generally conferred exemption from taxation.
What is tarkhan in Hindi?
Tarkhan in Hindi is तरख़ान (tarxān). See Tarkhan meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is tarkhan?
Tarkhan can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of tarkhan?
The plural of tarkhan is tarkhans.

Words near tarkhan in the dictionary

  1. Tarkani
  2. Tarkanian
  3. tarkari
  4. tarkashi
  5. Tarkay
  6. tarkhan
  7. tarkhans
  8. Tarkhun
  9. tarkianite
  10. Tarkington
  11. Tarkingtonian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tarkhan (page history and authors); Tarkhan (page history and authors); ترکھان (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “tarkhan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tarkhan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.