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Abstract:

The question of women in the Golden Horde has not been raised frequently, although the question of women—and most recently men—in the Mongol World Empire and in the Il khanate in Iran has been the subject of detailed studies in recent years. In the 13th-14th centuries, it is clear that we have the most information available regarding the Chinggisid élite, including the wives and daughters of the Chinggisid khan and the female relatives of the tribal leadership (representing in most case the four leading tribes in the state). Several different categories of sources inform our discussion. For the 13th century these include Western travelers (especially William of Rubruck) and the official Chinggisid dynastic histories (especially Rashīd ad-dīn). In the 14th century the Muslim travelers Ibn Baṭṭūṭa) is an indispensable source for discussing the role of women. This paper argues that women not only had a special role in the early Chinggisid camps in the absence of the khan, they had a special ritual role at court as the wife of the khan (who was at the same time the daughter of another significant individual such as the leader of one of the “ruling tribes” in the state). This was in part because they were important elements in the marital alliances between the tribes and the ruling dynasty which formed the basis of the legitimacy of the Chinggisid khan. As in earlier centuries in the 16th century we can also observe instances of mother figures who are significant figures in local dynastic politics in the Khanate of Kazan, the Crimean Khanate, and the Nogay Horde.