chieftain
‘chief of a tribe or clan’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
E. cheftayne, chieftayne, chieftaine, chefteyn < A.F. chiefteyn < O.F. chevetain ‘captain, chief, leader’ < La.Lat. capitaneus ‘commander’ < Lat. capitis < caput ‘head’ < cheeftn < kaput- < Tamil kappu