Women in Mongol society
The characteristics and roles of females among the Mongols
In recent times, relations between the sexes have
been beset by much disorder, brought about by
various factors, among them the existence of
gender roles which have their origin in economic
structures that appeared during the Industrial
Revolution and its destruction of traditional
communities where the woman had a more
weighty position in society than she was to be
allotted in what we call modern civilization. Adding
to this muddle has been a confusion between
social roles and sexual characteristics and
appearances. As will be understood, there is an
acute need for wisdom and understanding between
the sexes both in the organization of private and
public life. A historical overview of some aspects of
the roles played by women among the Old
Mongols will hopefully serve to cast more light over
some of this complexity we as men and women
have to deal with.
Some female readers of these pages may feel
dissatisfied by the fact that the main political
figures in Mongol history tend to be male. It is a
feature of history that the men have been the prime
political doers throughout human political history.
This is the reason why for example the main
characters of the Mongol Empire are males.
Nevertheless it would be a major mistake to infer
that the Mongol society of the 1200's was
inappreciative of female wisdom and that women
did not wield authority. On the contrary, women
enjoyed a substantially stronger social position
among the Mongols than what was the case in the
civilized and more male-dominated states of Persia
and China. One example of the comparatively
strong position of women among the Old Mongols
was the belief that it was advantageous if a man's
wife was somewhat older than her man, so that
she could be wiser than him, and be able to guide
him in worldly matters. Consistent with this, it was
considered unmanly and a sign of immaturity if a
Mongol man did not listen to the advice of his
woman.
The Secret History of The Mongols is replete with
examples of what high value the Mongols placed
upon the female members of society. In this work it
is described how Chingis Khan himself seeked and
accepted the guidance of women at some of the
most crucial points in his career. A close reading of
the Secret history even yields the impression that
its later translators may have tried to downplay the
role of woman by making the males more superior
than they were. Such an impression flows from the
instances wherein the factual events where
women's advice actually changed the course of
Mongol history seem to contradict some of the
utterances laid in the mouth of Chingis Khan. One
example is when Chingis' Tatar wife Yesui points
out that it is time for him to designate a successor,
should he fall in the war, Chingis allegedly replied:
"Even though she is only a woman, what Yesui
says is quite right." In view of other events that are
referred in the Secret History, there is reason to
seriously doubt that the Khan expressed himself
this way. Among Mongols, women were very far
from "only women." In this context it merits mention
that the actual source of the Secret History is a
Chinese translation, Yuan Ch'ao Pi Shih, which
according to subsequent research faithfully renders
the original Mongol account of the events that led
to the formation of the Mongol Empire and even
illustrates much of their spiritual self-identity.
However, differences in culture and values
between the Chinese and Mongolian societies are
likely to have left subtle taintings here and there in
the work. Bearing in mind that females were rather
disrespected in Chinese society, chances are that
this attitude has been subtly reflected in the
process of translation, and so led to what seems to
be contradictions between factual events where
women are depicted as possessing considerable
authority and on the other hand some statements
and accounts of specific events that would seem to
indicate otherwise.
Here it is elucidating to have a look in the first parts
of the Secret History. Already early in the work,
after the death of Temuchin's father Yesugei by
poisoning, a convincing demonstration of female
leadership is given. When the authority of the wife
of Yesugei and mother of Temuchin, Hoelun, was
challenged by some of her deceased husband's
rivals, the Tayichi'ut clan, which had been part of
the congregation of tribes for whom Yesugei had
been the leader. This undoubtedly was an old
rivalry now surfacing again, and the result was that
the Tayichi'ut people abandoned Hoelun, and then
forced the other members of the camp to follow
them. The Secret History describes mother Hoelun
as holding the banner of her husband and shouting
to them to return to her. It is then related how "Just
the sight of her holding the banner and shouting
caused half of the people to stop and turn back
with her." Even if the banner is described as
belonging to her husband, it is clear from the
context that his wife was partaking in the authority
it conferred, and that Hoelun's leadership in fact
was acknowledged, so that the rival clan had to
forcibly break it and make the rest of the people
abandon Hoelun and her children. The crucial role
of Hoelun is additionally confirmed when the
Secret History relates how the Great Mongol
himself acknowledges how his career was
facilitated by the skills and labor of his mother.
Later on it is described how the advice of his wife
Borte was determining in his decision to break the
alliance with his anda (blood-brother) Jamuqa,
whom Borte suspected of plotting against
Temuchin. This was no small thing to do, since this
is a spiritual brotherhood that according to Old
Mongol tradition is more binding and obliging than
any family tie. Borte also drove home the decision
to execute the shaman Kokochu Teb Tengri, who
tried to assume political power by instigating rivalry
between Temuchin and his brothers.
The Secret History contains many more direct and
indirect examples of this Mongol high regard for
women. A strong one is the way maternal lines are
described. At one point in the elaboration upon the
genealogy of the Mongols we are told how Dobun,
in one of the first Mongol generations, first fathered
two sons with his wife Alan the Fair. Later he
"passed away," and his widow subsequently gave
birth to three sons. These three sons are described
as being the result of no earthly man, but of divine
impregnation. This myth places an certain maternal
primacy upon the bloodline of which Chingis Khan
was the supreme result, since it obviously
accentuates Alain the Fair's role as ancestor.
When it comes to legislation, it may be mentioned
that before Chingis Khan, extramarital affairs were
generally punished by death, but only the woman
was liable to be punished and executed. After
Chingis Khan's acquisition of supreme power, he
changed the laws and ruled that both the man and
the woman involved in such a deed be killed for
adultery. This decision was naturally a result of the
need to stop socially disruptive behavior, it may
also be indicative of a desire on Chingis' part to
establish a greater degree of equality between the
sexes, if so it is a manner of thinking that lends
weight to the supposition that the instances in
Secret History where the female position is
depicted as an excessively subordinate one may
be at least partially attributable to masculinistic
bias in the Chinese translators. Mongolian women
also had the right to inherit property from deceased
husbands, and it was customary that the mother
became head of the family if the father died. This
had political consequences that bespoke what
powerful status females had among the Mongols.
A foremost example from the immediate postChingis period is Sorkhaqtani, the wife of Tolui,
who is also known as the mother of Kubilai,
Hulagu, and Mongke, who would in due time all
become khans. During the reign of Ogodai, Ogodai
is known to have used Sorkhaqtani as his political
advisor. She also is reputed to be a great friend of
learning and to have been influential in the
decision that all her sons be prepared for khanship
by being well educated and learn as much and
possible about the societies over which they were
to rule. Also she followed the old precepts of
Chingis Khan and Yeh-lu Chu'tsai in demanding
that the peoples of the Empire must be supported
rather than mindlessly exploited. In all these
matters her influence is said to have been decisive
and to have strenghtened Mongol rule
considerably during her period.
The Mongols also differed from other nations,
notably the Chinese, in their marriage customs.
Although the society was polygynous, in that the
men who could afford it were allowed to have
several wives, this did not imply that these women
were subjugated in such relations. If a woman's
husband died she was given free choice as to
whether she wanted to remarry or not. Most
importantly, a Mongol woman had the right to
decide to divorce her husband should the marriage
prove unsuccessful. Accordingly, a woman who
had been married before carried no stigma at all,
and if she remarried the new husband accepted
her children as his own, which probably is a result
of the Mongols' view that if a person acquired a
family there was a pre-existing spiritual connection
between them, and the Mongols always
emphasized spiritual ties over biological ones, also
considering the former to be what caused the
blood ties where those existed.
When dignity and social positions were made
inheritable, this was simply because it was the only
way to transfer authority in a politically satisfactory
way. This fact is shown by Chingis Khan's own
suggestion that his first son Jochi succeed him,
even if Jochi was in all probability begotten by
Chilger from the Merkit which abducted Borte early
in the marriage. In the end Chingis decided upon
Ogodei because his other sons refused to accept
Jochi on the ground of his not being Chingis' carnal
son, climaxing in Chagatai's remark: "How could
we allow ourselves to be ruled by this bastard son
of a Merkid"? Significantly, one of Jochi's
defenders made this speech: "When your mother
was stolen by the Merkit she did not want it to
happen. It happened when one nation came to
fight with another. She did not run away from her
home. It happened when one nation attacked the
other. She was not in love with another man. She
was stolen by men who had come to kill other men.
The way you speak will harden the butter and sour
the milk of your own mother's love for you. Were
not you born from the same warm womb as Jochi?
Did not you and Jochi spring from a single hot
womb? If you insult your mother who gave you
your life from her heart, if you cause her love for
you to freeze up, even if you apologize to her later
the damage is done. If you speak against the
mother who brought you to live from her own belly,
even if you take back what you have said the
damage is done. Your father the Khan has built the
whole nation. He tied his head to his saddle,
poured his own blood into great leathern buckets,
never closed his eyes nor put his head to a pillow."
This remarkable passage demonstrates how the
maternal ancestry was thoroughly acknowledged,
and this was additionally evinced when Chingis
himself said: "How can you say this about Jochi?
Jochi is my eldest son, is he not? Do not ever say
this again." However, the damage was done: It was
clear that Jochi's succession would create strife
and was therefore not realistically defensible.
Ogodei therefore became Chingis' heir. In this
context it should be emphasized that abduction,
albeit not uncommon, was not the normal manner
of pairing people. The usual manner of planning
marriage was to let the shamans decide when a
man and a woman were compatible marriage
partners, this was often done already when the two
in the future couple were children. In this, all the
physical and psychological characteristics of both
were held to be equally important and taken into
account. In other words, the traditional Mongolian
way to arrange a marriage did not imply female
subordination under the male.
Practically speaking, among nomads the
contribution of each member of society was very
important for the whole, hence Mongol women had
many other duties than those directly connected to
reproduction. Therefore there was at the outset a
material basis for comparative equality between
man and woman among the Mongols. In addition,
Mongolian woman were often proficient and
merciless warriors. Even if this fact has been
downplayed in subsequent historical works written
by (male) Western scholars, Mongolian women
were routinely given extensive military training, and
the strongest and most skilled of these fought in
wars together with the men. This did not in the
least diminish their genuine femininity and
womanhood.
George Vernadsky writes (on page 105) in his "The
Mongols and Russia" on how even ordinary
women were expected to accompany the male
warriors and to play a key role during military
campaigns: "He [Chingis Khan] ordered women
accompanying the troops to do the work and
perform the duties of the men, while the latter were
absent fighting." This again points to a high degree
of complementary partnership between the sexes
among the Mongols. An interesting observation about this was made by
Giovanni DiPlano Carpini in his "The story of the
Mongols whom we call Tartars." (See the
bibliography page) Carpini, who visited the
Mongols at Pope Innocent IV's command between
1245-1247, was thus able to write from the unique
position of being the first European to produce a
firsthand report about the Mongols after their Great
European campaign 1234-1242. On page 54, he
observes: "Girls and women ride and gallop as
skillfully as men. We even saw them carrying
quivers and bows, and the women can ride horses
for as long as the men; they have shorter stirrups,
handle horses very well, and mind all the property.
The Tartar (Erroneous term for Mongols, but often
encountered) women make everything: skin
clothes, shoes, leggings, and everything made of
leather. They drive carts and repair them, they load
camels, and are quick and vigorous in all their
tasks. They all wear trousers, and some of them
shoot just like men."
Lastly, a striking and illustrative story should be
related: Marco Polo tells of Kubilai Khan's nephew
and rival Kaidu (who was the grandson of Ogodai)
that he had a daughter who was named Aigiarn,
which means "Shining Moon." This name for a
Mongol princess is another sign of a profound
reverence for the female principle, since the Moon
is in all traditional cultures considered feminine on
account of its connection to water and its receptive
nature and not least because of its curvaceous
form that according to old Shamanistic mythos has
instilled in human males a universal preference for
the curved hourglass-shape in females, which is
what distinguishes the feminine appearance from
the linear masculine.
Kaidu's daughter (Who in other sources is called
Khutulun) was famous for her unparallelled
feminine beauty as well as her immense strength
of body. In fact, Aigiarn was so strong that she
surpassed every male Mongol warrior in physical
strength and skill. Consequently, she accompanied
her father on his campaigns and took great
pleasure in the thrills of fighting. This powerful
beauty declared that she refused to marry any man
save for him who possessed such skill and power
that he could beat her in wrestling. According to
the story, she ruled that any suitor must come
bringing 100 horses as forfeit. Over time, this
remarkable princess had licked 100 strong men
and collected 10 000 horses. At last a handsome
young prince of extraordinary prowess arrived. He
had never met his match among any people in the
world, and his self-confidence was so strong that
he at once promised to bring a thousand horses
with him. Kaidu and his wife were concerned that
their brilliant daughter found herself a man and so
impressed by the intrepid hero that they begged
their daughter to yield and let him win even should
she also this time prove the strongest. Shining
Moon was however adamant, and stated: I will be
his wife only if he can master me. The parties
agreed upon a day, and soon the princess and her
suitor locked in a wrestling match of colossal
proportions. For a long time the two wrestled, and
it seemed that no one could vanquish the other.
Then, in the end Shining Moon's feminine
endurance won the day, and the Mongolian
princess of boundless beauty and peerless
strength threw her suitor. In great bewilderment,
the vanquished wooer rose and hurried away with
all his attendants, leaving the one thousand horses
behind. Shining Moon never found the man who
could bring out in the world the eminent qualities
she required in a man, which was unfortunate from
one point of view, but she certainly contributed to a
general increase in the respect and potential for
quality, thus creating the possibility of attainment of
higher levels later on. This proud lady may be
viewed as one of those who truly upheld the spirit
of Chingis Khan, who forever dictates that
excellence is the supreme value. The story about
Aigiarn can be found in "The Travels of Marco
Polo," Dorset Press 1987, pages 417-419. This story may not be true in all details, however
the main thing is what it illustrates: It forcefully
depicts the intrinsic purpose of sexuality, which is
selection. When individuals as is naturally done in
sexual selection choose each other after lofty
criteria of maximal fitness for role, a general
development towards high goals is set in motion,
and thus we should see how selective procedures
invariably propel high achievements and greater
excellence. Further; it suggests the Mongolian
woman's own legitimate power to choose the man
who is worthy of her. By implication, this is the
birthright of all females. Finally, and most
importantly, it demonstrates the Old Mongolian
freedom from restricting societal norms for what
roles a woman is allowed to play. Shining Moon is
portrayed as being both beautiful and strong; she
is at the same time very feminine and a most
redoubtable warrior. The contrast to the wellknown Chinese foot-binding of women is
enormous.
Another thing we can pick up from this outline of
prominent Mongolian females is that the modern
conception of femininity as connected to social role
is gravely mistaken. What has been seen in
modern times is a detrimental confusion between
femininity, which concerns the sexual
characteristics of a female, and gender roles which
are entirely cultural artifacts that have no actual
foundation in natural processes or principles. What
all this means is that apart from what is related to
the reproductive functions and the caring for
infants, any monopolization of or exclusion from a
societal category or position on the basis of sex
lacks a rational basis and therefore cannot be
justified. The last piece of information about Mongolian
women this time is a role hitherto not mentioned: In
Old Mongol society, Shamanism was the prevalent
communal religious/psychosocial experience. In
Old Siberian and Mongolian societies shamans of
both sexes (Female ones were called idugan, and
male ones were called boege) served important
functions as psychopomps and therapists for their
people. Receptivity is an archetypal feminine
characteristic, and as could be expected female
shamans are said to be more adept at receiving
messages from the other world(s), whereas men
are considered equal or better at transmitting the
active forces. Recently, this Siberian/Mongolian
tradition in which female idugan play an
indispensable role has again drawn attention, both
from anthropologists and people who have wanted
to acquaint themselves personally with
Shamanistic techniques of old. This resurgence of
an old religious tradition is most notable in the
areas of Tuva and Buryatia, which incidentally lie
at the southeast of the Bajkal Sea, exactly in the
area where the Mongol nation found its cradle.
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Last updated January 23, 2001 by Per Inge Oestmoen