Kut, in ancient Turkic belief and political thought, is the sacred authority to rule, fortune, and vital force granted to the ruler from the sky (from Tengri). Turkic khagans based their sovereignty on having been "granted kut by Tengri"; in the Orkhon Inscriptions the power of Bilge Khagan is legitimized through this concept.
Kut also symbolizes a person's vitality and abundance; its loss meant that the ruler had lost his power. The concept is elaborated together with ideas of state, justice, and happiness in works such as the Kutadgu Bilig (Yusuf Khass Hajib, 1069). It forms the basis for viewing sovereignty as being of divine origin in the Turkic tradition of statehood.