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14 - Women and Gender under Mongol Rule

from Volume I Part 2 - Thematic Histories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

By
Bettine Birge  and
Anne F. Broadbridge
Edited by
Michal Biran  and
Hodong Kim
Michal Biran
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hodong Kim
Affiliation:
Seoul National University
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Summary

Gender relations on the Mongolian steppe were crucial to Mongol military successes and the rise of the world empire. Women’s labor within nomadic camps freed up men for wartime mobilization. Elite women were directly involved in policy decisions at the highest levels, and, like elite men, might control large armies and estates. Some were Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist, and served as patrons of these religions for their nomadic followers and for conquered people. Royal women also influenced public affairs through their marriage ties, and could thereby empower their male and female relatives for generations. The first section of this chapter discusses women and gender relations during the expansion of the United Empire, including marriage practices, women’s work, women’s participation in politics, and examples of powerful women in Mongol history. The second section covers women in the western khanates, and the third looks at women and gender in China during the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

Keywords

Mongol womenYuan dynastyIlkhanatemarriage alliancesfemale powerUnited Mongol Empirewomen’s labornomadism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire , pp. 628 - 654
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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