Baghatur

Baghatur is an old Altaic term for a warrior, a military commander, or an epic hero. The word was introduced in the Middle Ages to many non-Altaic languages by conquering Turkic- and Mongol-speaking nomads, and now exists in different forms such as the Russian "Богатырь (Bogatyr)", Bulgarian "Багатур", Polish "Bohater" (meaning hero), Persian and North Indian "Bahadur", and Georgian "Bagatur". It is also preserved in the modern Turkic and Mongol languages as Turkish "Batur", Tatar and Kazakh "Батыр (Batyr)", Uzbek "Batyr" and Mongolian "Baatar" (as in Ulaanbaatar) as well as in Hungarian "Bátor". Also cognate is the Tibetan "dpa' rtul" or "warrior," as in th the "dpa' rtul sum cu" of the Tibetan Epic of Gesar.Fact|date=October 2007

Usage

The term was first used by the steppe peoples to the north and west of China as early as the seventh century. [C. Fleischer, "Bahādor", in Encyclopaedia Iranica] [Grousset 194.] It is attested for the Köktürk khanate in the eighth century, and among the Bulgars of Danube Bulgaria in the ninth century. The word was common among the Mongols and became especially widespread, as an honorific title, in Genghis Khan's 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, in Timurid dynasties etc.

The term Baghatur and its variants - Bahadur, Bagatur, or Baghadur, has also been attested as a personal name belonging to several important historical figures, including:
# Yesugei , the father of Genghis Khan
#Baghatur Khagan, Khagan of the Khazars, c. 760.
#The Mongol general Subutai is referred to in the "Secret History of the Mongols" as "ba'tur".
#Ilkhan Abu Said took the name bahadur khan after defeating Uzbek khan of Golden Horde.
#Two Mughal emperors were named Bahadur Shah: Bahadur Shah I and Bahadur Shah Zafar II.
#Banda Singh Bahadur, great sikh warrior and general
#Stephen IX Báthory (1533-1586), Prince of Transylvania and King of Poland.
#Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, the second Indian soldier to be so honored, was known as "Sam Bahadur."
#Punk bahadur aka Jassa Singh Catretwala known all over carteret for exploits on track deafeated Jassa Singh ohiowala in the battle of madagadcar and was crowned Punk bahadur.

ee also

* Alıp
* Alpawıt.

Notes

References

*Brook, Kevin Alan. "The Jews of Khazaria." 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006.
*Grousset, R. "The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia". Rutgers Univ. Press, 1988.
*Saunders, J. "The History of the Mongol Conquests". Univ. of Penn. Press, 2001.