Dowry and bridewealth practices in Mongol society

This study examines the practices of dowry and mahr within the marital structure of Medieval Mongol societies, focusing on their historical, social, and legal dimensions. The primary aim of the research is to analyze the origins, functions, and transformations of material obligations within marriage, and to explore how these practices were redefined under the influence of Islamic law during the Ilkhanid period. The study first investigates the traditional Mongol marriage system, the position of women within the family and society, and the structure of the kalın (bridewealth), an essential customary institution. It is observed that kalın was not merely an economic payment but also a mechanism that reinforced inter-tribal alliances, secured political loyalty, and reflected the groom's social prestige. Examples such as the marriage between Temüjin and Börte, and the prestigious sable fur presented during this union, indicate that material exchanges in early Mongol marriages possessed both symbolic and political value. The integration of the Islamic concept of mahr into Mongol marital practices constitutes the second focal point of the study. Mahr, a compulsory Islamic legal requirement ensuring the woman's personal property, coexisted with the customary kalın tradition in Islamized Mongol polities such as the Ilkhanate. The amounts and nature of mahr granted to royal women reveal much about the economic structure of the period and the political significance of women in the court. Notably, the exceptionally high mahr given to Ilkhanid queen Buluqan underscores the economic and diplomatic influence held by elite women within the Ilkhanid palace. Primary sources such as The Secret History of the Mongols, Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-Tawarikh, and Juvayni's Tarikh-i Jahan-gusha were examined alongside modern scholarship. The findings demonstrate that dowry and mahr in Mongol societies functioned not merely as material components of marriage but as multifaceted mechanisms shaping social hierarchy, diplomatic relations, cultural continuity, and the status of women. The coexistence of customary and Islamic legal practices during the Ilkhanid era reveals a distinctive synthesis characteristic of Mongol–Islamic marital institutions.