Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization Series

How did women contribute to the rise of the Mongol Empire while Mongol men were conquering Eurasia? This book positions women in their rightful place in the otherwise well-known story of Chinggis Khan (commonly known as Genghis Khan) and his conquests and empire. Examining the best known women of Mongol society, such as Chinggis Khan's mother, Hö'elün, and senior wife, Börte, as well as those who were less famous but equally influential, including his daughters and his conquered wives, we see the systematic and essential participation of women in empire, politics and war. Anne F. Broadbridge also proposes a new vision of Chinggis Khan's well-known atomized army by situating his daughters and their husbands at the heart of his army reforms, looks at women's key roles in Mongol politics and succession, and charts the ways the descendants of Chinggis Khan's daughters dominated the Khanates that emerged after the breakup of the Empire in the 1260s.

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Notes on transliteration; Introduction; 1. Women in steppe society; 2. Hö'elün and Börte; 3. Conquered women; 4. Women and the guard, the army and succession; 5. Sons-in-law, daughters and conquests; 6. Töregene; 7. Oghul-Qaimish and Sorqoqtani; 8. Consort houses in the successor Khanates; 9. Consort houses in the Ilkhanate; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Anne F. Broadbridge is Associate Professor of the Department of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is a member of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS). At the University of Massachusetts, she won the Outstanding Teacher Award, has been nominated three times for Distinguished Teaching Award, and has taught approximately 2,500 so far. Her previous book is entitled Kingship and Ideology in the Islamic and Mongol Worlds (Cambridge, 2008).