Page 1: Women in Steppe Society

Overview

• Historical narratives of Mongol society often concentrate on male-dominated topics like warfare, overlooking women's roles.

• Steppe women faced vulnerabilities, including violence and aggression, highlighting their precarious social status.

• Despite hardships, many Mongolian women wielded significant influence and power, especially those from the elite classes like the Chinggisids.

Examining Women’s Lives

• Understanding women's contributions requires a detailed exploration of their lives, specifically starting with marriage.

• Factors impacting women included infanticide of girls and socio-economic struggles that affected their status.

Page 2: Women's Roles Post-Marriage

Status and Influence

• Women's status often grew after marriage, becoming influential as wives, mothers, or widows.

• Their work involved managing complex relationships and extensive responsibilities.

Areas of Activity

Economic Responsibilities

• Women controlled several economic resources, crucial for the family’s sustainability.

• Their work also included hospitality and religious duties.

Political Engagement

• Women often influenced family politics by advising or acting as mediators between allied families.

• The loyalty of women brought into the Chinggisid household raised complex political dynamics.

Hierarchical Structure

• Women's lives were hierarchical; higher status favored women had greater influence and resources, maintaining societal order even after Chinggis Khan's reforms.

Page 3: Marriage Practices

Bride Price and Dowry

Marriage and Economic Status

• Mongolian marriage involved bride price, often reflective of social class, impacting a family's economic dynamics.

• Women typically retained ownership of their dowry, enhancing their economic status through marriage.

Marriage Techniques

• Different marriage arrangements existed for families economically unable to afford the bride price; strategies included labor-based agreements or double marriages.

• While wealth stratified marriages, instances of kidnapping for marriage emerged during economic hardships.

Page 4: Exogamous Marriages

Rules of Marriage

• Mongols practiced exogamous marriage, limiting unions to outside lineages to strengthen alliances.

• Exchange marriages were prevalent, enhancing interlineage connections while avoiding unacceptable consanguinity.

Contributions of Mothers

• Mothers influenced the marital futures of their children and were key in negotiations, demonstrating the cultural importance of maternal roles in family connections.

Page 5: Marriage Dynamics

Women as Levirate Wives

• Women often married within their deceased husband's family to secure protection and continuity of family alliances.

Hierarchical Wife Status

• In polygamous marriages, senior wives held precedence, managing wealth and resources, while junior wives maintained secondary camps managing lesser shares of wealth.

Page 6: Living Arrangements

Camp Hierarchy

• Wives lived in structured hierarchies based on their marital status; senior wives occupied prime locations.

• The living arrangements of wives reflected both the family's socio-economic status and individual wife’s rank.

Wifely Duties and Responsibilities

• Daily management of the households fell on women during their husbands’ absence in hunts or wars.

Page 7: Internal Household Dynamics

Senior Wife's Precedence

• The senior wife maintained greater access to her husband, while junior wives had to navigate their roles in ceremonies and everyday activities.

Camp Security and Management

• A complex system of guards and servants provided safety to the entire family compound managed by the wives.

Page 8: Female Agency

Senior Wives and Wealth Management

• Senior wives commonly commanded substantial resources and positioned themselves at social functions. -- Their status often allowed them to maintain numerous offspring, often more than junior wives.

Page 9: Status in Ceremonies

Public Presence

• At social events, senior wives received distinct courtesies over junior wives, reflecting their status through seating arrangements.

• Ceremonial roles further emphasized the senior wife’s importance in managing public perception and familial alliances.

Page 10: Widowhood and Ritual Practices

Duties Following Death

• Upon a husband’s death, senior wives had to manage household affairs and any associated mourning rituals while avoiding practices that could see them buried with him.

Page 11: Daily Work of Women

Responsibility of Women

• Observational accounts from travelers highlighted the extensive duties women held, managing camps and livestock while performing domestic tasks.

Labor Division

• Work is sharply divided between genders, with women handling domestic, child-rearing, and dairy responsibilities while men engaged in hunting and warfare.

Page 12: Women’s Authority

Management of Camps

• Women’s roles became pronounced during military campaigns, where they handled logistics and support for male soldiers.

Page 13: Administration and Trade

Economic Management

• Women managed resources and wealth and appointed financial agents for the family’s trading engagements, showcasing their economic influence.

Page 14: Servants and Retinues

Administrative Circles

• Wives of powerful figures had significant authority over large households, employing vast servitude networks to manage logistics. -- They were responsible for considerable numbers of attendants and retainers.

Page 15: Economic Contributions

Women's Economic Significance

• Women’s resources included managing livestock and the distribution of wealth, crucial for economic sustainability.

Page 16: Political Roles of Women

Political and Economic Intersections

• Women operated within a space where politics and economics overlapped, managing family wealth while engaging in diplomatic circles.

Page 17: Hospitality and Religion

Religious and Cultural Practices

• Women also engaged in religious ceremonies and community planning, enhancing familial prestige.

Page 18: Broader Influences

Impact of Women on Politics

• Women’s multiple roles within families painted a picture of their contributions to various aspects of Mongol society.

Page 19: Education and Influences on Children

Child Rearing Practices

• Women's roles in education shaped children’s understanding of social hierarchies and responsibilities.

Page 20: Cultural Transmission

Daughters and Women's Skills

• Training daughters in skills necessary for managing households contributed to women's broader societal roles.

Page 21: Loyalty and Family Dynamics

Testing Loyalties

• Women’s experience formed a complex web of loyalty to birth and marital families, particularly in conflict.

Page 22: Case Studies of Loyalty

Influential Women

• Chinggis Khan's wives often navigated these loyalties, revealing the depth of political acumen among women.

Page 23: Women's Influence on Succession

Inheritance and Political Power

• Women's negotiations facilitated political stability through marriage ties and inherent survival skills, showing their importance in dynastic politics.

Page 24: Strategies within Politics

The Role of Marriages in Alliance-Building

• Women's marriages to political allies formed crucial bonds that maintained peace and stability across the stony relationships.

Page 25: Political Involvements

Women’s Visibility in Politics

• Attendance and participation in political ceremonies placed women vis-à-vis prominent societal functions.

Page 26: Political Authority

Administrations through Women

• Through marriages and adjudication roles, women wielded political power across jurisdictions.

Page 27: The Power of Marriage Alliances

Political Networks through Marriage

• Strategic marriages expanded political networks, enabling women to work across different societal levels.

Page 28: Shift in Power Dynamics

Evolution of Power Structures

• Political transitions in power dynamics shifted through the marriages of women and their roles in administrator positions.

Page 29: Loyalty Dynamics

Women's Conflict of Loyalties

• Loyalty remained nuanced after marital ties, yet conditions during tumultuous times often affected these loyalties.

Page 30: Loyalty Covenant

A Special Focus on Loyalties

• Women maintained multiple loyalties through nuanced familial connections, notwithstanding the expectations imposed by marriage.

Page 31: Final Thoughts on Complex Loyalties

Assessing the Complexity

• The investigation reveals that women displayed a complex loyalty network, worth studying to understand Mongolian social structure better.

Page 32: Summary Conclusion

Women’s Indispensable Role

• Women were vital economic agents in Mongolian society, crucial for the viability of the nomadic lifestyle, which allowed men to dedicate themselves to warfare and expansion.