Terken is a title of high rank. It stands in three Yenisei epitaphs, E 10, E 48 and E 52.[1] In E 10 and E 52 it forms part of the name Bögü Terken. In the first of the two the name stands with the ligature alp in front of it.[2] The epitaphs are undated, and the article on the group describes them.
The meaning
The word does not have one agreed meaning. One line of study takes it for a title for ladies. It notes that in the Old Uyghur texts the title belongs first to men, and that later it serves for both sexes and then for women.[1] A second line takes it for a title of rulers below the khagan, not always held by women, comparable to “queen”.[1] The dictionary of Kāshgarī is reported to gloss it as a ruler or prince, the word with which the khans address a governor of a province, “one who is obeyed”. It is not said of a man who does not sit on the khanate.[3][1] The Kutadgu Bilig is reported to explain it as a title belonging to women.[4][1]
In the Old Uyghur texts the word stands before kunçuy, as in terken kunçuylar, which a translation renders “noble princesses”. It is explained there as a high title of women.[5] Turkic Atlas treats that word under kunçuy. Some scholars take terken in later usage to be the title of the chief wife of a ruler and kunçuy the title of his other wives.[5] Muslim Turkic states used the title for women.[1]
The origin
The origin of the word is not settled. One derivation takes the ending -han and a stem ter- and thinks the word probably Rouran in origin.[1] A second takes terken for a worn form of teŋriken.[1] A study of the title rejects this, because both forms stand in texts of the same period and the change does not fit the rules of Turkic sound and word formation. On that view the two words share only an ending.[1]
Occurrence in the runiform texts
One study of the title of a later dynasty says that it came into use first under the Uyghurs. A study of the Yenisei titles objects. The inscriptions of the Uyghur Khaganate do not have the word, and three Yenisei stones do.[1] A study of the words for women calls it absent from the runiform texts, and the Yenisei stones show it there.[5]
References
Sources
Literature
- Aydın, Erhan, Yenisey Yazıtlarında Geçen Unvanlar ve Unvan Niteleyicileri (2011)
- Osman Fikri Sertkaya, Yenisey Yazıtlarının Yayınlarındaki Bazı Okuma ve Anlamlandırmaların Düzeltilmesi, Yeni Okuma ve Anlamlandırma Teklifleri (1993)
- Hacer Tokyürek, Runik Türk Yazıtlarında ve Eski Uygur Metinlerinde Kadın Hiyerarşisi (2013)
What links here2
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Terken.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/institutions/terken/
Last revised: 8 November 2026
