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Khan (surname)

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For the Mongol Derivation, see Khan (title).
Not to be confused with Kahn.

Khan (Nasta`liq: خان, Devanāgarī: ख़ान) is a surname and title of Central Asian origin, commonly found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh..

Origin

It can have one of several connotations, all related in some capacity to the title of Khan, which originated in Turkic and Central Asian traditions and was thereafter historically granted to Muslim rulers. Infiltration of the name from central Asia happened with the coming of Pashtuns into the sub-continent who used this name as a title as well as a suffix to indicate their ethnic identity.[1] The later Turks and Mughal invaders also brought the name with them. Later Muslim Rajput rulers won the title Khan as a suffix upon accepting Islam. [2]

Communities using khan as a Surname

Some of the communities that use the surname khan include the Baloch tribes in Balochistan and in Sindh; Northern Iranian Turkic tribes; the Mirasis, a community of South Asian musicians; Sudhans of Poonch; Karlal and Dhunds of Muree and miscellaneous tribes in northern Asia. It is however most commonly used as a surname name for Pashtuns and Pathans throughout the South Asian subcontinent. In India it is referred to as name for Pathans as a tribe in the same way as Brahmin or other title among them. Today Khan is used as a shorthand for a Pashtun throughout the Sub-continent i.e. a male person of acknowledgeed Pashtun origin is addressed as Khan Sahib, more often than not by a non-Pashtun, whether he has this name formally or not.

As a title

As a title, Khan has historically been used by the many Pashtuns in the Afghan territories of the current North West Frontier Province of Pakistan where the division of regions into Khanates has exited from early Muslim period e.g. the various Khanates in Swat, Hazara and Peshawar districts - notable Khan chiefs include the Bacha Khan family e.g. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Swati Khans of Agror Valley and various others throughout the Pashtun belt. Some of the other Pashtun tribes adopted Malik as the chief's title especially nearer the border with Afghanistan.[3]


The British Raj continued the Mughal practice of awarding titles such as Khan Bahadur for Muslims and Rai Bahadur for Hindus. Khan is used as a family name for the descendants of people upon whom the British bestowed the titles Khan Sahib or Khan Bahadur.

Other Usage

Khan is also a last name found in Tatars, a Muslim Turkic speaking group, mostly in Russia. Also been known to be part with Genghis Khan's army. The name Khan has also been used by the Peoples of the Caucasus since the region has a history of Turkic and Mongolic rulers.

It is now a widespread surname in most countries of Central and South Asia. Khan is the surname of over 80,000 Britons, mostly British Asian, making it the 80th most common surname in the United Kingdom, and one of only a handful in the 100 most common surnames which are of neither British nor Irish origin.[4]

Rulers, military leaders and politicians

Mongols

Afghans

File:Mirwais-Hotak.jpeg
Mirwais Khan, defeated the Persian Empire (Safavids) and founded the Afghan Hotaki dynasty in 1709.

Turkic peoples

Armenians

Scandinavians

  • Roy Khan, Norwegian singer full, name Roy Sætre Khantatat.

Georgians

South Asians

Malik Umar Hayat Khan as an Honorary Lieutenant of the 18th King George's Own Lancers, early 20th century watercolour by Major A.C. Lovett (1862-1919)

Actors and entertainers

File:Shah rukh khan wiki1.jpg
Shahrukh Khan, Bollywood superstar.
Aamir Khan, Bollywood superstar.
Salman Khan, Bollywood superstar.

Sports figures

Imran Khan, popular Pakistani cricket player of the past.
Amir Khan A Janjua Rajput with Khan surname who became the WBA Light-Welterweight World Champion.

In science and technology

File:A.Q.Khan.jpg
Abdul Qadeer Khan
  • Abdul Qadeer Khan, an engineer from Pakistan, considered the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme
  • Fazlur Khan, Bengali-American structural engineer and designer of Chicago's Sears Tower and John Hancock Center
  • M S Khan (1910–1978), a Bengali academic from Bangladesh, "father of the Library and Information Science discipline in Bangladesh"

Others

  • Irene Khan, is the seventh and current Secretary General of Amnesty International
  • Alan Khan, a South African radio and media personlity
  • Hazrat Inayat Khan, (1882–1927), the founder of Universal Sufism and the Sufi Order International
  • The (unknown) 'M Khan', the subject of many gag routines on The Mary Whitehouse Experience because of long-standing graffiti visible from a major London road [9]
  • Mohammad Sidique Khan, a London train suicide bomber
  • Mohisin Khan, a British Royal Air Force airman who refused to take part in the invasion of Iraq
  • Noor Inayat Khan, a British spy in occupied France
  • Peter Khan, an Australian born Afghan-Khan, member of the Universal House of Justice
  • Sussanne Roshan (Suzanne Roshan-Khan), an Indian interior designer, wife of Hrithik Roshan, and sister of Zayed Khan
  • Gauri Khan (Wife of Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan)
  • Syed Ahmed Khan (1817–1898), an Islamic scholar
  • Vilayat Inayat Khan, (1916–2004), former head of the Sufi Order International
  • Zia Inayat Khan, the Pir of the Sufi Order International
  • Tasmin Lucia Khan, British Bangladeshi television presenter
  • [[Raja Muhammad suleman khan], village chitti Rajgan, retiered form army and owner of private school

In fiction

  • Khan Noonien Singh, a prominent Star Trek villain in an original series episode and the principle antagonist in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  • Kamal Khan, the main villain in the James Bond film Octopussy
  • Haman Khan, a prominent Gundam villain in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the principle antagonist in its sequel Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
  • Maharaja Khan, the father of Haman Khan in the Gundam series
  • Shao Khan, the main antagonist in the Mortal Kombat video game series who is based on a typical Mongolian warlord
  • Khan, one of the villains in the Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars computer game
  • Jaghatai Khan, the Primarch of the White Scars Space Marines chapter in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe
  • Khan (comics), Marvel Comics character
  • Manga Khan, a DC Comics character
  • Khan, a character in the 2004 Bollywood film Main Hoon Na
  • My Name is Khan, a 2009 Bollywood film based on a fictional Indian character Rizwan Khan
  • Khan!, 1975 US television series based on a fictional Chinese-American detective of the same name

References

  1. ^ Khan entry in Hobson-Jobson: the Anglo-Indian dictionary
  2. ^ As cited in The Baburnama, 2002, W.M. Thackston p273.
  3. ^ See Imperial Gazetteer of the North West Frontier and Hazara Gazetteer.
  4. ^ Khan in the UK
  5. ^ Paul Ratchnevsky, Thomas Nivison Haining Blackwell publishing Page 197
  6. ^ China through the ages: history of a civilization By Franz H. Michael Page 137
  7. ^ István Vásáry, Cumans and Tatars, Cambridge University Press 2005, p.71
  8. ^ Asian Mythologies, By Yves Bonnefoy, Wendy Doniger, Gerald Honigsblum, pg. 337
  9. ^ Origin of 'M Khan' Graffiti

See also

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