Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire

Abstract

Women in Steppe SocietyTo date, scholarly and popular histories of the Mongols have been dominated by the seemingly masculine topic of Mongol warfare, which makes it easy to suspect that steppe women enjoyed little political, social, or economic power. Furthermore, Mongol society before Chinggis Khan's rise was not only impoverished but also tremendously unsettled, so that nomadic women were vulnerable to aggression, violence, and rape. This may especially have been the case among rank-and-file nomadic subjects, among whom harsh circumstances might weigh more heavily on women and girls than on men and boys. 1 Nevertheless, despite the dangers inherent in their society, many nomadic women enjoyed control and exerted influence in a wide range of arenas. As for women at the pinnacle of steppe society, such as the Chinggisids, the picture is one of wealth, responsibility and tremendous opportunity for those with intelligence and talent.It is only possible to appreciate the authority that some women enjoyed and the contributions they made to Mongol history if we understand the general situation of women on the steppe. To do this, we must examine their lives in detail. We begin with marriage, since women's most 1 Ratchnevsky notes the infanticide of girls, selling children in hard times, or making restoration for crime by giving girls to the aggrieved. Paul Ratchnevsky, "La condition de la Femme mongole au 12e/13e siècle," in Tractata Altaica: Denis Sinor, sexagenario optime de rebus altaicis merito dedicata, ed. W. Heissig et al. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz), 522. Aubin agrees on recompensing murder with a girl, but she argues that infanticide was rare, and took place primarily in areas influenced by Chinese traditions. Françoise Aubin, "Le statut de l'enfant dans la société mongole," Recueils de la société Jean Bodin pour l'histoire comparative des institutions 35 (1975): 482-3, 492.

Inheritance and inequality among nomads of South Siberia

“…There are a number of reasons to expect mixed patterns of inheritance with respect to gender in this sample. Inheritance through the female line is consistent with an observed tradition of independent and socially prominent women among Turkic and Mongolian pastoralists [43][44][45][46]. It may result from matrilocal co-residence that occurs despite normative patrilocality.…”

Woman, diplomacy and war: Rus princes in negotiations with Batu on the eve of the Mongol invasion

“…Принц Джучи, старший сын Чингисхана и отец Бату, женился на одной из дочерей свергнутого монголами хорезмшаха Ала ад-Дина Мухаммеда II, две других его дочери стали наложницами Чагатая, а остальные -женами второстепенных Чингизидов [Juvaini: 468] (см. : [Broadbridge 2018: 100, note 120]).…”

“…Однако, в отличие от Чиледу, Чингисхан с помощью родственников и друзей сумел вернуть себе Бортэ [ТИМ: 103-104]. Через некоторое время после спасения Бортэ родила своего первого сына Джучи; личность его отца всегда оставалась под сомнением, даже несмотря на то, что Чингисхан принял его как своего родного сына [Broadbridge 2018: 59] (см. также: [Ratchnevsky 1993: 36;Togan 1998: 78-80]).…”

Moğol İmparatorluğu’nun Kadın Naibesi: Töregene Hatun

“…Töregene Hatun hakkında A. Broadbridge (2018;, R. Amitai (2010), Şirin Beyânî (2018), I. de Rachewiltz (1981;1999), Ch'i T'ang (1970), B. ve nisbeten René Grousset (2020) gibi şahsiyetler çalışmalar yapmıştır. Adı geçen kişiler haricinde Türkiye'de Neslihan Durak, Hindistan Türk Tarihi Araştırmaları dergisinde "Çingizli Hatunları II: Töregene Hatun" adıyla bir çalışma yayımlanmıştır.…”