Aksakal

(from Turkic ak, white, and sakal, beard—that is, a white-bearded old man), among Turkic peoples in the primitive-communal stage, the word for the head of a clan, or tribal elder. During the stage of feudal development, the aksakal was a representative of the feudal-patriarchal nobility. The term later came to mean an elected village elder, as well as any respected man.