The term nökör (Mongolian: нөхөр comrade, companion, friend)[1][2] was applied in the time of Genghis Khan to soldiers who abandoned their family ties and devoted themselves exclusively to their leader.[3] The nature of their bond to the leader was of friendship or individual pledges, rather than hereditary obligations.[4] They were valiant and loyal fighters.[5] Many of the most prominent generals of Genghis Khan were nökhör.[3]
Today the term is used more loosely.[3] Derivatives of the term are found in several languages, including Azerbaijani (nökər), Armenian (նոքար nokʽar), Persian (نوکر nokar), Hindustani (نَوکَر/नौकर naukar), Bengali (নওকর nôukôr) and Hungarian (nyögér).[6]
References
edit- ^ Togan, Isenbike (1998). Flexibility and Limitation in Steppe Formations The Kerait Khanate and Chinggis Khan. Brill. p. 111. ISBN 9789004108028.
- ^ Russian History: Histoire Russe Volume 28, Issues 1-4. University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh. 2001. p. 164. ISBN 9789004108028.
- ^ a b c "Nökhör". Britannica. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ Hope, Michael (2016). Power, Politics, and Tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Īlkhānate of Iran. Oxford University Press. pp. 36–37. ISBN 9780191081071.
- ^ Herbert Franke; Denis C. Twitchett, eds. (1978). The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368. Cambridge University Press. p. 22. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521243315. ISBN 9780521243315.
- ^ Róna-Tas and Berta. (2011) West Old Turkic, vol. 2, p. 623-25
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