The Secret History of the Mongol Queens

[Spears II]

I am no expert on this stuff but I studied some Mongol history (I have about six histories on my shelf) and I have lived in the Middle East, where tribalism is still very much an influence. In tribalism, families are much more matriarchal then we think. We see how women are oppressed in strict Muslim cultures and forget how matriarchal they still are. Look at what happens in a marriage in many tribal cultures. The bride and groom do not split off and start a new family as in the west, but instead, the bride is accepted into the groom’s family and lives with them. The bride is an outsider and is often treated harshly by the groom’s mother and the groom sides with his mother and often beats his wife to please his mother. GK’s mother would be a very powerful woman because of this tribal dynamic. Add in the wife stealing that was so much a part of the Mongol culture and GK’s own life. I think GK hated wife stealing and might have put his daughters in power to stop such things. Of course I am painting in broad brush strokes but it is very interesting the influence of tribalism and GK.