It is the feminine equivalent of the title Khan for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turkic peoples living in Asia and Europe and also Mongol tribes living north and northwest of modern-day China.
[3] The Rourans were the first people who used the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors, replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom René Grousset and others assume to be Turkic.
[4] In Modern Turkish, it is spelled Hanım and is used similarly to the titles of "lady" or "mrs." or "miss" in the English language.
"Khanum" can be understood as equivalent of "madam", or more colloquially, "ma'am" in some Ottoman and Turkic influenced countries.
In South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Baluchistan and North India, Khanum has been adapted for use as an honorific for Muslim women of high social status.