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- Convenors:
-
Timothy May
(University of North Georgia)
Stefan Kamola (Eastern Connecticut State University)
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- Theme:
- HIS
- Location:
- Posvar 3610
- Start time:
- 26 October, 2018 at
Time zone: America/New_York
- Session slots:
- 1
Long Abstract:
This panel will explore gender in the Mongol Empire and by extension the post-Mongol Central Eurasian World. In addition to discussing traditional gender roles, both real and perceived. While Mongol women have been noted for their roles in politics, other roles have received less attention. Thus, the panel will also discuss what might be conceived as revisionist history--placing greater emphasis not only on how the matrilineal line mattered in succession matters but also the role of Mongol queens in marriage alliances and extending the Mongol authority throughout the empire both through administrative means as well as direct military control.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper long abstract:
In the light of recent research on royal women across the Mongol empire, especially in Ilkhanid territories, and on the Mongolian institution of the ordo, this research engages the question: what happened to the ordo (and royal ordos) in Yuan China after Qubilai Qan moved his empire's capital to North China in the 1270s? How can research on changes in the Mongolian ordo institution in Yuan China shed light on empire-wide developments, and what do Chinese sources have to offer in this regard?
Paper long abstract:
This paper will outline the latest research on gender in the Mongol Empire, particularly the division of labor between women and men that undergirded daily life, society and the Mongol conquests. It will then note several arenas in which we must revise our understanding of Mongol history based on this new research. One such arena is politics, which were significantly shaped by women and their strategic political marriages, women acting as political advisors, and women working as regents. Another important arena in need of revision is the question of succession, where the identity of a man's mother, not just his father, determined how, or whether, he could succeed to a throne. The third arena is Chinggis Khan's atomized army, which coexisted alongside a cadre of special in-law forces, the Chinggisid confederation, that were controlled by the imperial sons-in-law or husbands of Chinggis Khan's five senior daughters from his wife Börte
Paper long abstract:
In the middle of his Divan, Shibani Khan (d. 1510), the founder of the Chingisd-Shibanid Uzbek state, pauses to mention the arrival of a loving letter to his wife, Hanzade Begum, from her now exiled brother, Zahir al-Din Babur (d. 1526). Shibani Khan's relationships with his relatives, especially with his brother Mahmud Khan, occupy a significant place not only in his Divan, but also in several other works dedicated to Shibani Khan and other early Timurids and Chinggisid-Uzbeks. Indeed, as if to challenge some of these authors, especially Haydar Dughlat, who implies an enmity between him and his brother by pointing out the former's lack of emotional response on hearing of the latter's death, Shibani Khan movingly express his deep affection for Mahmud Khan in in his Divan. Similarly, Babur's autobiographical text, Baburnama, offers a unique window into the complex web of kinship and familial relationships among various lines and lineages belonging to the Houses of Sahib Qiran (Timur) and Chinggis Khan in the late 15th and early 16th century. Babur's description of, on the one hand, his love and affections for his relatives, especially his sisters and brother, and the other, his frustrations with them provide us with important insights about the complex political and emotional relationships between Central Asian royalty and their siblings and other relatives. As these few examples demonstrate, the relationships between royal sisters and brothers within the larger network of uncles, aunts, nephews, and other relatives figure significantly in the historical writings of the early 16th century.
While Turco-Mongol dynastic family politics and practices, especially their implications for succession, inheritance and political authority, have been a staple of historical inquiry, the emotional relationships between siblings have received far less attention. This paper attempts to explore the affective universe of Turco-Mongol dynastic families, especially the complex world of sibling relations, and the emotional dynamics of intra and inter familial relationships among the various branches of the houses of Timur and Chinggis Khan in the early 16th century. What does a close analysis of sibling relations reveal about the changes in Turco-Mongol dynastic family culture, practices and politics in the early 16th century? How did princely brothers and sisters relate to each other? What political and emotional bonds, obligations and expressions were expected of them? How were sibling relations understood and performed? How did hierarchies of age, gender and status mediate the complex web of kinship relations?