Kudarkin
Encyclopedia
Kudarkin was the title of a high-ranking official among the Oghuz Turks
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

. The title is reported by ibn Fadlan, who passed through Oghuz territory in the early 920s CE. Ibn Fadlan described the Kudarkin as the deputy of the Oghuz yabghu or khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...

; the position may have been analogous to the Khagan Bek
Khagan Bek
-History:Khazar kingship was divided between the khagan and the Bek or Khagan Bek. Contemporary Arab historians related that the Khagan was purely a spiritual ruler or figurehead with limited powers, while the Bek was responsible for administration and military affairs.In the Khazar Correspondence,...

 of the Khazars. The Kudarkin's authority was not universally recognized among the Oghuz. When ibn Fadlan was waylaid by an Oghuz tribesman, the Arab emissary attempted to convince tribesman to let him pass by claiming to be a friend of the Kudarkin but was told by the man "I shit on the Kudarkin's beard."
Krachkovsky conjectured that the title should actually be read "Kudar-Khan".
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