women in the mongol empire
TRANSCRIPT
James River High School
Women in the Mongol Empire:
The Influence of Women’s Labor Positions on Their Personal and Political Freedoms
Savannah Quick
Independent Studies
Mrs. Castelo and Mrs. Reinke
May 26, 2015
Introduction
Quick 1
Men have overwhelmingly dominated the field of history. Historical records often fail to
substantially explore the lives of women. The dominance of men in the field of historical study,
coupled with the general disregard for social analysis that does not focus on great men of
history, creates an idea that women did not participate in history. The only mention of women in
history books tends to include short blurbs about their everyday lives or a brief description of a
woman who achieved an abnormally remarkable position in her lifetime. These women, briefly
included in history, are anomalies. Only recently have historians attempted to discredit the idea
of a past exclusively filled with passive and insignificant homemakers in order to study the social
conditions of women in older societies.
Examining the lives of women in the post-classical era draws attention to the relative
freedoms and influence of the Mongol women, especially when compared to their sedentary
neighbors. Virtually all societies within the post-classical period upheld a patriarchal social
structure. Men in such societies dominated political, economic, and social institutions with
varying degrees of intensity. The role of women in patriarchal societies tended to differ
dramatically between nomadic and sedentary societies. Nomadic societies, while still typically
patriarchal, frequently practiced more egalitarian behavior. The Mongols, while still functioning
within a patriarchal social structure, practiced a system with looser restrictions on women.
This Mongol anomaly serves as an example of the variation in women’s history among
different societies. By examining the lives of Mongol women and the freedoms that they
experienced within the context of Mongol society, one can understand why these women held
more freedom than their neighbors. The underlying cause of this social difference currently
applies to the different social experiences of women in modern societies. Parallels are apparent
between modern global social conditions and Mongol society in that the contributions women
make towards the economic goals of society consequently impact their freedoms. Mongol
women fulfilled labor positions valued as necessary for the economic prosperity of society,
Quick 2which allowed them to fill more powerful social and political positions compared to women in
neighboring sedentary societies whose domestic roles were not as highly regarded due to their
lack of immediate economic importance.
Mongol Customs
The Mongols existed primarily along the Mongolian Steppes in Northeastern Central
Asia prior to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. They engaged in a nomadic lifestyle that
required the participation of everyone in intense physical labor (Berger). Warm summers and
extremely cold winters characterized the environment of the Steppes. With limited availability of
food that could be foraged or farmed, nomadism was necessary (Bold 25). Pastoral nomads
such as the Mongols moved seasonally in search of water and more areas for their livestock to
graze (“The Mongols in World History”). Constant movement along the Steppes in intense arid
conditions required the mobility and harsh physical labor associated with Mongol society.
Before the unification of the Mongols under Genghis Khan, the Mongols lacked a single
cohesive state and instead organized themselves into a loose tribal structure. These Mongol
tribes often claimed a common heritage but were only vaguely bound by blood. When Genghis
Khan rose to power and unified these tribes, he radically changed the structure of the tribal
bonds. He reorganized the tribes of the steppes and encouraged strong, loyal bonds to his
commanders and to himself (Lane, Daily Life 28). The Mongols typically chose leaders through
the practice of tanistry, electing those who proved themselves to be the worthiest of the ruling
family (Lane, Daily Life 27). In addition, they followed a set of flexible inheritance rules. Sons
inherited ulus; portions of land and the subjects that lived in the territory. The oldest son
inherited ulus farthest from the homeland and the other sons inherited ulus with approaching
proximity to the homelands. The youngest son inherited the camp and possessions in the
homeland (Lane, Daily Life 30). This organization helped the Mongols efficiently manage their
growing empire.
Quick 3
Figure 1. "Mongolian ger." Photos/Illustrations. Dreamstime.com. Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
One of the reasons that Mongol women held such ownership and authority over their
homes stemmed from Mongol marriage practices. Mongols actively participated in polygamy,
though the average man only married one woman. If a man married more than one woman, a
chief wife was chosen among them. She held a higher social status than the other wives and
her sons were generally chosen to continue the bloodline. The accumulation of wives to reflect
an individual’s social status was especially prevalent among the upper class as marriage
required men to present a bride’s family with a dowry or make arrangements to perform a type
of service (Lane, “Mongol Women”). In this sense, women were still treated as somewhat of a
commodity. Arranging marriage for the purpose of sealing a political alliance was also common.
Wives could even be inherited by their husband’s sons of a different wife (Van Ruysbroeck).
However, some women were able to decide to remain widows upon their husband’s death
(Lane, “Mongol Women”). They were able to reject the advances of a new suitor and easily live
without a husband. The nature of having multiple wives who each demanded a space of their
own in an environment where the population constantly needed to mobilize created the idea that
Quick 4a yurt was the woman’s home. A man with multiple wives needed to visit each of them and
rotate homes accordingly. The economic system of the Mongols demanded constant travel that
did not allow for the creation of large settlements where wives could live together. Instead,
homes needed to remain small and light enough to transport around the Mongolian Steppes.
Such conditions required a husband to visit whichever individual wife’s yurt he wished to stay in
for the night. This creates a system of a husband’s temporary residence in his wife’s home and
allows her to claim ownership of her yurt and maintain her position within the home.
Women in Relation to Their Male Counterparts
Women fully participated in all forms of public life in the Mongol Empire. Their daily tasks
were extensive and often outdoors; they exclusively drove the wagons, loaded and unloaded
those wagons, saddled horses, assigned loads to animals, and assembled the yurts. They
milked cows, made butter and curds, cured skin, prepared leather, made shoes, made clothing
(Lane, “Mongol Women”), as well as conducted all market activities (Berger). Concerning the
role of men, Marco Polo stated “[they] all lead the life of gentlemen, troubling themselves about
nothing but hunting and hawking, and looking after their goshawks and falcons, unless it be the
practice of warlike exercises” (“Marco Polo: Mongol Customs”). Even female clothing tended to
reflect a longer version of the clothing worn by men (Van Ruysbroeck). As men and women
performed similar tasks, they required similar forms of dress practical for their environment. The
similar form of dress indicated a common need for men and women to engage in the same
forms of labor. Ultimately, women made almost everything used in everyday activities and in
doing so, ensured the continuation and expansion of the empire (Monte Corvino, Ruysbroeck,
and Dawson).
The nomadic nature of Mongol life required women’s work be mobile and outdoors.
Mongol women did not have permanent homes in the same way that women in neighboring
sedentary societies did. Because of their harsh lifestyle, women needed to participate in intense
Quick 5physical labor that required them to interact in the public sphere, rather than the domestic,
private sphere. Mongol societal conditions required that women take responsibility for the care
and transportation of yurts; however, it was not expected that women would remain confined
within the yurts because the entire population needed to focus more energy on working to
sustain the population by engaging in varied and overlapping forms of labor in order to expand
Mongol society.
Mongols expanded the empire through conquest, often done on horseback. Horseback
riding was an essential skill for all Mongols, including women. They rode in the same fashion as
men and frequently carried arrows and a bow (Monte Corvino, Ruysbroeck, and Dawson).
Women could fight for the Mongols and emerge as decorated warriors. Some were even known
to act as commanders. Female warriors could also receive the honorific title of Baatar. In
English, the word Baatar approximately translates to hero; a title considered one of the highest
honors that one could receive. It described a person who demonstrated great acts of bravery
and dedication in the name of the empire (Berger).
Women also participated in celebrations with the same vigor as men. When performing
in sporting competitions, women matched men and even held undefeated titles in sports
competitions (Berger). All sorts of these celebrations included vigorous drinking. Mongols mostly
drank fermented mare’s milk known as kumiss (“Marco Polo: on Mongol Customs”). Drinking
competitions between men and women were common and women were known to become
publicly intoxicated alongside men (Monte Corvino, Ruysbroeck, and Dawson). No strict social
codes regarding the way women behaved in public existed to limit women’s presence in the
various aspects of Mongol society.
Within the Khanate, Mongol women held substantial political power and influence. They
often called and actively participated in the kurultai, a meeting commonly called in the
Mongolian steppes regarding the election of Khans and other important political matters
Quick 6(Berger). The ability to influence these meetings demonstrates the kind of political power
women wielded. The kurultai was culturally significant and determined the fate of Mongol
politics. A role in political processes is essential in evaluating the status of women in a society. If
women are able to participate in regulating the functional processes of the society, they can
further advocate for their own rights. According to Mongol customs, women were fully capable
of political participation.
Despite the lack of social and political limitations generally placed on Mongol women,
they were still primarily responsible for the care of children. The expectation of motherhood was
common in all patriarchal societies, including the Mongols. Raising children was a task
considered almost universally female. However, due to their unique societal conditions, the
raising of children typically involved teaching them ways to thrive in Mongol life. Women raised
the children and instilled important cultural values so that as adults, the children would
contribute to society while still upholding cultural traditions. Mongol women began teaching
children skills such as how to use bows and arrows as early as three years old (Berger). They
raised their children in their own image to fight and work for the good of the society. Mothers still
openly participated in public life and taught their children skills that would prepare them for the
difficulties of nomadic life. Even in raising children, Mongol women continued to actively
participate in the public sphere.
Genghis Khan
The political aspect of Mongol culture allowed women to directly fill powerful positions
within society. Genghis Khan established a precedent of powerful women actively engaging in
Mongol political life that carried on throughout the evolution and expansion of the Mongols when
he formally founded the unified Mongol Empire. He united the Mongols into a collective nation of
people, contrary to the loose tribal system that had previously existed. His policies created a
framework for how the empire would continue politically after his death. It is important to study
Quick 7the female influences in his life and how they affected the way he treated women politically
because of the legacy and example his political decisions left concerning the governance of the
Empire.
Genghis Khan, born to Yisugei and Ho’elun, was originally named Temujin. Growing up,
Temujin had three younger brothers and a younger sister from the same mother. He also had
other half-siblings from a different mother (Rachewiltz 13). When Temujin was approximately
thirteen (Abbott, 50), Yisugei took him to the Olqunu’ut people looking for a wife (Rachewiltz
13). On the way, they met Dei Secen of the Onygirat whose daughter, Borte, eventually married
Temujin (Rachewiltz 14,15). As was custom, Yisugei made an agreement with Dei Secen to
leave Temujin with him as his son-in-law (Rachewiltz 15). On the way back, Yisugei met enemy
Tatars who recognized him. He was either poisoned or fatally injured by the group and left soon
after to finish making the journey home. By the time he reached the yurt, he felt sick and called
for a companion to tell him what had happened. Yisugei told him to take care of his family and to
bring Temujin back shortly before passing away (Rachewiltz 16).
After Yisugei’s death, the wives of Ambaqai Khan, Orbei and Soqatai, performed a
religious ceremony, the Qajara Ineru sacrifice to the elders (Rachewiltz 17). Lady Ho’elun
arrived late to the sacrificial meal and upon expressing her distress at being excluded, Orbei
and Soqatai demanded the Tayici’ut people, ”Leave these, mothers and children, in the camp
and move on without taking them along!” (Rachewiltz 17,18). Ho’elun was then abandoned
along with her children to live on the outskirts of the pastoral civilization (Berger). Ho’elun took
on the role of protector and provider for all of her children. She taught them how to survive
(Rachewiltz 19).
Temujin grew up with little positive male influence. Instead, he learned from the female
influences in his life. Ho’elun filled the role of protector and provider as well as mother. He
learned much of what he knew about survival from her guidance. She was also a strong
Quick 8strategist who proved an important influence in his early attempts at warfare. Temujin was
eventually elected a Khan around 1189 and took the title Genghis Khan upon his election as the
Great Khan (Weatherford 13).
Genghis Khan often married off his daughters and female relatives into political
marriages with the intention that they would take control of the settled kingdoms incorporated
into the empire (Berger). Genghis Khan believed in using marriage alliances to further connect
other tribes and ensure their loyalty. However, he only married his daughters to allies he trusted
and never to a tribe he considered a rival (Weatherford 30). When Genghis Khan divided up
newly conquered land, he assigned sections to his wives who managed their own territories and
independent ordus (Weatherford 28). While typically only sons were awarded their own ordus,
Genghis Khan’s faith in his wives’ abilities often allowed them to take such management
positions. By assigning women he trusted to such powerful positions, he demonstrated a loyalty
to his female relatives and a respect for their own political abilities.
Notable Female Rulers
Women in the Mongol Empire wielded incredible leadership and influence. Men often left
for extended periods of time on political campaigns or hunting trips. During that time, women
took responsibility for the affairs of the empire. It was common for a wife to act as a more
immediate ruler than her husband during such periods of absence (McCaffery). Great female
leaders arose to conquer, fight, and rule over the Mongols. Leaders such as Ebus Kun, Oghul
Ghaimish, Sorghaghtani, Toregene, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun, Mandukhai the Wise, and many
others whose names have been forgotten in history ruled successfully as regent or in their own
right.
Sorghaghtani was born a noblewoman from the Keneyid Clan. After her husband,
Genghis Khan’s youngest son, Tolui died, her brother-in-law attempted to convince
Sorghaghtani to marry his son, but she refused (McCaffery). Instead, she chose to reject
Quick 9remarriage and decided to rule in her own right while simultaneously promoting her own heirs
(Lane, “Mongol Women”). Her rule extended over Northern China and Eastern Mongolia. When
Guyuk, the son of Ogadai, became Khan, he challenged her position and forced Sorghaghtani
to release her soldiers in a growing movement to remove women from power. In response, she
formed an alliance with Batu, the Khan of the Great Horde, and called for a kurultai where her
son, Mongke, became Khan. When the descendants of Ogadai rejected him because the
kurultai was held outside Mongolia, in opposition to Mongol custom, Sorghaghtani organized
another kurultai in Mongolia where Mongke officially became the Khan (McCaffery).
Sorghaghtani ruled successfully with direct authority for years, and when her authority and her
son’s future position was threatened, she took action to ensure her lineage would continue.
Mandukhai was the Khatun essentially responsible for reuniting the empire after it fell
apart. By the time she rose to power around 1470, the Mongol Empire was in shambles. The
lands of their transcontinental empire were all but gone, as they had been forced to retreat back
to their homelands on the steppes (Weatherford xv). After enduring a century of political unrest,
Mandukhai was responsible for bringing order back to her people (Weatherford xvi).
Examples of female leadership in this context demonstrate the influence that
noblewomen were able to yield. Noblewomen were expected to be able to handle the daily
affairs of an empire. Such women were expected to hold the empire together during times of
unrest. They often fostered peace and prosperity during their time; Qutlugh Terkan Khatun ruled
the Iranian provinces of Shiraz and Kirman from 1257 to 1283 and created a golden age in
Kirman history (Lane, “Mongol Women”). Women were not typically elected to fill political
positions; however, it was understood that they were responsible for ruling during the absences
and campaigns of their husbands.
Comparison Between Mongol Women and Women in Neighboring Societies
Quick 10Although Mongol women tended to experience more personal and political freedoms,
women in neighboring societies were often placed under more restrictions that limited their
ability to participate in society. Before the Mongols invaded China to create the Yuan dynasty,
the Song dynasty was one of their sedentary neighbors. Women in the Song dynasty were not
expected to lead extensive professional lives outside the home. They frequently did their work
inside or around the home, especially those who participated in the practice of foot binding
which physically prevented them from working outside of the home. Typically, they had to find
alternatives to working within bureaucratic systems in order to influence their lives and the lives
around them. Upper-class women were the daughters or spouses of men that aimed to fill high
positions in government. Education was more available to them than the women of the lower
class because these women were expected to help their sons learn. This, however, does not
mean that they went to school. They were often educated within the home along with their
brothers by a tutor, by their parents, or by a governess. Girls were not typically allowed to
interact with boys from outside their families in public settings. Instead, they were able to use
education in advising their husband, managing the family, and educating their children
(Bossler). Lower class women were able to gain practical skills associated with family trades
such as sewing and cooking due to their economic status and the needs of their family.
Confucian values deeply shaped the ideas of the proper behavior of women in Song
China. Confucianism stressed the importance of order and propriety. Each member of society
had a place and duties to fulfill. A woman was seen as essential to the family and most of her
duties centered around caring for her family. She was expected to maintain chastity and
obedience. In fact, the three obediences that women were expected to follow stated that, “As a
child a woman should obey her father; as a married person, her husband; as a widow, her son.”
A woman’s duty entailed acting obediently and caring for family life in order to maintain integrity
Quick 11and honor. Such values ensured that a woman’s life within Song China remained focused
around the home where she could properly fulfill her duties (“Confucianism: Woman’s Way”).
Similarly, their contemporaries in Southwest Asia also practiced excluding women from
the public sphere. The Abbasid Caliphate developed in Southwest Asia in 749 C.E., when the
Abbasid family overthrew the Umayyads and Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah became the Caliph, until
1258 C.E. when the Mongols came to power (“Abbasid”). The position of women in the Abbasid
Caliphate is often difficult for historians to critically examine due to the distinct lack of material
that discusses the daily life of women in the Abbasid Caliphate. The majority of information
concerning women of the period comes from the hadith and legal documents as well as
literature (Keddie 30).
Unlike the previous era, Abbasid women typically did not appear in records concerning
the battlefield, mosques, or as key contributors to social functions (Ahmed 79). At the beginning
of the establishment of Islam, the prophet Muhammad was born and lived from 570 C.E. until
632 C.E. He grew up in a nomadic tribe and married Khadija, a widow who inherited her own
business (“Muhammad”). The very roots of Islamic society developed with the prophet
Muhammad. As demonstrated by the rights and property held by Khadija, the beginnings of
Islam developed in a nomadic society where women initially held property and ownership rights.
A shift in this type of public activity can be observed when the Caliphate was established and as
it became more sedentary and focused on expansion. By the time of the Abbasids, women held
far fewer rights.
After the fall of the Umayyads, the women of the Abbasid Caliphate slowly became more
secluded from public life. Increasingly negative views of women from the Umayyads are
reflected in the increasingly conservative interpretations of the Quran abundant in the religious
and legal texts from the period. In the most prominent piece of literature of the Abbasid time,
The Thousand and One Nights, women are presented as unfaithful and often deceitful. The
Quick 12story began with a Sultan named Shahriyar who, upon learning of his first wife’s affair, decided
to punish the unfaithfulness of women by taking a new bride each night and killing her each
following morning. A woman named Scheherazade, daughter of the grand vizier, decided to
marry the Shahriyar in an attempt to end the punishment. She told him the first stories of the
Arabian Nights but ended each story at its climax so that he would keep her alive another day to
hear the end (“Arabian Nights”). Within these stories, many women are portrayed as submissive
and dependent. Even Scheherazade, kept alive in the story by her resourcefulness, was valued
far more for her storytelling than her inherent worth as a woman. This idea of women being
valued more for their appealing traits rather than any inherent worth is reflected in the cultural
norms of the time. These norms partially resulted from the adoption of outside cultural practices,
such as the process of veiling, brought into the Caliphate from conquered areas such as the
former Byzantine and Sasanian Empires (“purdah”). The decrease of egalitarian behavior
continued to shield women from public spheres of life. Upper and Middle class women
especially were kept in forms of seclusion, such as guarded harems, during the Abbasid
Caliphate (Keddie 30). The widespread seclusion of women vastly differed from practices of the
Mongols and prevented Abbasid women from publicly engaging in certain social and political
aspects of society.
Mongol Expansion and Assimilation
Quick 13
Figure 2. Mongol empire. IMAGE. Encyclopædia Britannica. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
As the Mongol Empire expanded, the vast quantity of land under Mongol control
necessitated the division of the Empire into four Khanates each controlled by one of Genghis
Khan’s grandsons.The Yuan Dynasty formed when the Mongols overtook China (see fig. 2).
Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, became the first emperor of the new dynasty. The
Mongols were very resistant to assimilation into Chinese culture. Mongols despised the Chinese
and practiced formal discrimination against them. They created a class system which favored
ethnic Mongols followed by the semuren, often those from central and western Asia, and then
the Han ren and Nan ren, the ethnic Chinese from North and South China respectively, at the
bottom. Eventually, peasant rebellions in response to the discriminatory laws placed on the
Chinese helped dismantle the Yuan dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhand became the first emperor of
the new Ming dynasty in 1368 (Lee).
Quick 14
Figure 3. "X-ray of bound feet." Photos/Illustrations. Library of Congress. Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol women who entered China refused to bind their
feet in the manner of Chinese women (Weatherford xiv). Foot binding is the process of binding
one’s feet in a manner that prevents normal growth and mutilates the feet so that they appear
smaller and more desirable in an effort to mimic the lotus flower (see fig. 3). Bound feet were
considered beautiful partially because of the way that they prevented a woman from working
and often walking. This indicated a higher status of wealth. The fact that many girls could not
walk also had more of a virginal appeal that was found attractive. Foot binding was a painful
process that even when healed tended to cause infection, muscular atrophy, and paralysis
(DeMello). Mongol women who came into China during the Yuan dynasty had no beauty
standards that required such a level of physical distortion. Their nomadic nature necessitated
that women constantly work outside to continue their lifestyle; they needed to be able to walk,
ride horses, work with herd animals, and occasionally fight in battle (Lane, “Mongol Women”).
The type of labor they engaged in affected their values and standards of beauty. Mongol women
rejected footbinding with such vigor because their customs valued women who could be
Quick 15involved in society and bring about prosperity by engaging in active forms of labor. The contrast
between the Mongol and Chinese societal expectations of women and their beauty standards
highlights the difference in regard women were shown in each society.
Furthermore, when Mongol women began to settle in Yuan China, they clung to the
public positions that they had always known. Mongol princesses and empresses typically
continued to live a very public lifestyle despite the private lifestyles that Song women in such
positions lived (Franke 37). Yuan legal texts also demonstrated some special regard for the
position of women. Under Yuan law, killing infant daughters, while not as heavily punished as
killing infant sons, was still heavily punished in an effort to deter the practice. Other standards
were initially set aside to protect certain marital rights and implement Mongol views on marriage
(Franke 38). Even when Mongol women became more integrated in the daily life of Yuan China,
they resisted cultural bindings that they viewed as inferior. Some of the perceived inferiority was
due to the discriminatory attitudes of the Mongols toward the Chinese, but much of it was also
because of their distinct difference in values. Their understandings of beauty, ideas of admirable
behavior, and expectations of women were fundamentally different because the Mongol
economic need for women to engage in the public sphere did not exist in China.
Similar to the subdivision of Yuan China, the Ilkhanate was created as a subdivision of
the Mongol Empire in 1258 C.E. until 1394 C.E. over contemporary Iran, Iraq, and Northeastern
Turkey (See fig. 2). It was established by Hulegu, the grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of
Kublai. The Great Khan Mongke ordered Hulegu to move his conquests across Southwest Asia
and to push as far as Egypt. He made it through most of Syria, but eventually was pushed out
again due to counter attacks by the Mamluks. Upon taking Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid
Caliphate, the Mongols were able to dismantle the remains of the former Abbasid Caliphate and
create the Ilkhanate (“Ilkhanate”).
Quick 16Mongol customs drastically differed from the customs of the former Abbasid Caliphate,
especially in terms of gender relations. Upon the formation of the Ilkhanate, Mongol women
brought their relative freedom with them. Initially, they even retained a fair bit of political power.
Indeed, during Mongol rule, women were more able to engage in public positions. They could
fully participate in administration and could also yield great political influence as the relative of a
ruler, and in certain cases, were able to rule for themselves (Keddie 48). In fact, some of the
activities of the wives of the Mongol Ilkhans were even recorded in Rashid al-Din’s Universal
History, which defied the norms of the time by mentioning the activities of women (Keddie 49).
Concerning the experience of Mongol women in the Ilkhanate, historian Maira Szuppe states,
Among the Mongols and Ilkhans...female members of ruling families enjoyed a
privileged position. They were entitled to a share of booty and had the right to
participate in the quriltay, the all-Mongol assembly. Not only did they become
regents of their minor sons, but also under certain circumstances they could
themselves lay claim to the throne. Even after Islamization progressed...women
retained much of their social position (qtd. Keddie 49).
Especially among the elite, women of Mongol tradition were able to retain their standing in
Ilkhanate society.
Mongol attitudes towards the people in the Ilkhanate vastly differed from that of the Yuan
Dynasty. The Mongols despised the Chinese and strove to prevent cultural assimilation, as
reflected by the discriminatory laws established against the Chinese (Lee). This attitude was in
stark contrast to the attitude of Mongols concerning the incorporation of many other newly
conquered territories. Typically, Mongol policies encouraged assimilation across cultural
boundaries of societies incorporated into the Empire. In the Ilkhanate, Mongol customs and
culture quickly came together with Islamic and Persian traditions (Gilli-Elewy, Hend). Over time,
Quick 17the assimilation of the Mongols into the sedentary society resulted in the decline of the status of
women.
The Ilkhanate adopted Islam as the official religion around the early 13th century, quickly
after the Ilkhanate was established. Still, the status of women, specifically Turco-Mongol
women, remained exceptionally high. Even with the adoption of Islam and the growing
acceptance of the local cultural traditions, the majority of Mongol women did not participate in
the practice of veiling until the second half of the fourteenth century. The adoption of Islam also
helped spur the adoption of a more sedentary lifestyle for some Mongol women of the Ilkhanate.
Other Mongol women resisted sedentary life and clung to nomadism throughout the period
(Gilli-Elewy, Hend). As the Ilkhanate continued, a divide between the status of women who
embraced sedentary life and those who attempted to remain somewhat nomadic became
apparent.
While Turko-Mongol women as well as elite, ruling women did initially experience high
societal freedoms, many native women of the common class did not experience a significant
long-term rise in status. Overall, the presence of the Mongols did not alter the general cultural
norms concerning women in the Ilkhanate. This becomes increasingly apparent when
examining the fate of the women who began to embrace the sedentary lifestyle of the native
population. The embrace of this lifestyle is characterized by the increase of the overall seclusion
of women. Women became increasingly excluded from social and political activities. Elite
women resisted the trend towards isolation longer than most common women, reluctant to give
up the powerful political positions they had come to know (Gilli-Elewy, Hend). Despite this, with
time, increasing numbers of powerful women became more secluded and usually were only
able to exert influence from within the harem rather than in the public political sphere (Keddie
50). Only the women who actively resisted sedentary lifestyle and chose to continue nomadic
Quick 18life from within the Ilkhanate continued to be active in the public sphere during the entirety of the
Ilkhanate (Gilli-Elewy, Hend).
Economics and Gender Roles
As seen in the aforementioned societies, female labor tends to be held with differing
value depending on how directly it affects the economic prosperity of a society. Unpaid domestic
work such as raising children, cooking, and caring for the household does not visibly contribute
to economic production (Elborgh-Woytek et al. 8). These kinds of tasks are undervalued and
often considered the expected norm in terms of women’s ability to work in patriarchal sedentary
societies. If women work in any other capacity, it is expected that her household duties are still
her primary concern. When women are strictly confined to these roles, they are frequently
forced to spend the majority of their time fulfilling domestic tasks, which limits their ability to
partake in other facets of the labor market (Elborgh-Woytek et al. 8). This leads to the idea that
women are obligated to spend the majority of their time working within the home as opposed to
actively participating in other public activities.
Female household labor is often characterized as less strenuous than any other form of
labor. It is considered more dispensable, trivial, and far less physically demanding. With this
connotation of weaker work, women who participate in this type of labor are by extension also
considered weaker (Berk). This leads to a devaluation of their character and contributes to the
distrust of women. If women are only capable of participating in marginal labor, women then
become incapable of participating in certain public activities that seem to require those with
strong traits such as intelligence and moral character. When women are forced to engage
exclusively in this variation of labor, their work becomes undervalued and considered inferior,
which prevents them from fulfilling important social and political positions outside of the home.
The inability to engage in the public sphere of society inhibits women’s social and
political freedoms. When women are able to work outside of the home, they are exposed to
Quick 19more socialization and are able to view the results of their labor in a way that holds more
personal value (Miles 129). When women are able to see the immediate value of their work,
they can more easily assure themselves of their own ability. Women who are forced to strictly
work in household labor positions due to their societal conditions are often unable to leave the
home and socialize with others. This inability to socialize publicly removes women from the
forefront of most forms of social and political activity, and thus removes women from history.
Modern Application
Currently, female labor force participation is significantly lower than male participation
worldwide (Elborgh-Woytek et al. 4). Women also participate in unpaid labor much more
frequently than men; in fact, women spend twice the amount of time on household labor and
four times the amount of time on child-rearing compared to men (qtd. in Elborgh-Woytek et al.
8). Worldwide, “Average FLFP [Female Labor Force Participation] remains low at around 50
percent” (Elborgh-Woytek et al. 6). The participation of women in varied forms of the labor
market, especially in less economically developed countries, remains extremely low worldwide.
Without this participation from women, the economy of less economically developed countries
remains unfulfilled, and the majority of women are not recognized as being capable of
performing in non-domestic roles.
Cultural impediments also play a large role in preventing women from participating in
more varied forms of the labor market. Many countries face issues in the form of the devaluation
of women and girls which can limit the rights of said women. Some countries restrict the ability
of a woman to work independently, outside the home, without their husband or father’s
permission, or in a position considered naturally male-dominated. The same kind of attitude that
historically shielded women from participating in the public sphere of society can still be found in
the modern era. These restrictions hurt the economic development of the country. Overall, the
Quick 20restriction of female participation in market labor limits national economic potential (Elborgh-
Woytek et al. 10).
Conclusion
Within strict patriarchal societies, women are typically bound to the home in terms of
their opportunities for work and social interaction. However, Mongol women had no sedentary
home with which to be bound. The continuation of the Mongol way of life demanded the intense
physical, public labor of women. Women provided for the immediate survival of the society by
meeting the harsh demands of nomadic life in a way that reaped immediate economic benefits.
The necessity of this labor loosened confines upon women. Labor that is necessary for the
immediate continuation of a society is valued as far more important in a patriarchal setting than
exclusively domestic work. When the survival of a society depends on women engaging in the
workforce, women’s work is more respected, and the individual pursuit of higher societal and
political positions is more likely to be seen as natural.
Without strict confinements, Mongol women were able to participate in many varied
forms of labor. They were still expected to raise the children and take care of the yurts, but they
owned the yurts and controlled the happenings inside the yurts. Mongol women held the
ultimate authority over what went on in their homes (Berger). The ownership of their homes, of
their own property, and their ability to control what was allowed to go on within their yurts was
radically different from the homes dominated by women in sedentary societies. In sedentary
society, women took care of the home, but it certainly was not theirs to own.
The situation of Mongol women demonstrates an underlying trend in gender relations. When the survival of a nation’s economy relies upon the engagement of every able-bodied member of society, women participate in varied forms of the labor market outside of exclusively household-bound domestic labor. This participation outside the home and alongside men is still considered respectable because of the immediate benefit to the economy and the consequential survival of the society. Once women are able to engage on this level, they are free to pursue more ambitious individual political, social, and economic goals. In conclusion, the ability of women to participate in labor markets outside the home directly impacts their position in society.
Quick 21
Figures
1. "Mongolian ger." Photos/Illustrations. Dreamstime.com. Daily Life through History. 3
2. Mongol empire. IMAGE. Encyclopædia Britannica
13
3. "X-ray of bound feet." Photos/Illustrations. Library of Congress. Daily Life through
History.
14
Quick 22
Glossary
Abbasid Caliphate. Caliphate based on the Arab family descended from Abbas that lasted
from 749-1258 C.E. (“Abbasid”).
Ambaqai Khan. Mid-12th century Mongol ruler (Buell).
Genghis Khan. Unifier of the Mongols; first Great Khan; creator of the imperial Mongol Empire.
Great Khan. Varied uses, commonly denotes an imperial Khan (Buell).
Ho’elun. Mother of Genghis Khan (Rachewiltz).
Hulegu Khan. Founder of the Ilkhanate.
Ilkhanate. Subdivision of the Mongol Empire that centered on Persia from 1258-1394
(“Ilkhanate”).
Khan. Title that denotes a leader or ruler.
Khanate. Term that encompasses the area and people ruled by the Khan.
Khatun. Female version of a Khan.
Kublai Khan. Founder of the Yuan Dynasty.
Kurultai. Mongol political meeting (Weatherford).
Mongolian Steppes. Geographical region in Central Asia.
Ordu. Refers to a camp, sometimes the Khan’s collection of yurts.
Song Dynasty. Dynasty that lasted in Southern China until Mongol invasions overthrew the
dynasty in 1271 (Lee).
Tayici’ut. Nomadic tribespeople in Central Asia (Rachewiltz).
Temujin. Birth name of Genghis Khan (Rachewiltz).
Yisugei. Father of Genghis Khan (Rachewiltz).
Quick 23Yuan Dynasty. A Mongol-ruled dynasty that lasted from 1271-1368 (Lee).
Yurt. Tent-like Mongol homes.
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