A khanate or khaganate is a type of historic polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Khanates were typically nomadic Turkic , Mongol and Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe , [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] politically equivalent in status to kinship-based chiefdoms and feudal monarchies .