Mongolian Nomadic Society: A Reconstruction of the 'Medieval' History of Mongolia

by Bold,Bat-Ochir

• ISBN13: 9780700711581
• ISBN10: 0700711589
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-12-08
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon

Summary

Until the collapse of the socialist system in Mongolia in 1990, Mongolian social sciences was fundamentally schematised in accordance with the prevailing political ideology of socialism, considering the country's history in the theoretical framework of historical materialism, the theory of socio-economic formation, and the feudalism model. Here, however, the author adopts a fresh approach and criticises the theoretical adaptation of the feudalism concept to nomadic culture while treating the history of Mongolia in view of the structural and developmental particularities of nomadic society. The book shows the economic conditions and everyday life of mobile livestock keeping, tribal and political-administrative organisation and the social strata of nomadic society during the 13th-19th centuries, demonstrating that development of nomadic societies in Central Asia cannot and should not be evaluated in accordance with European norms.

Author Biography

Bat-Ochir Bold is a researcher at the University of Iceland.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Note on Transliteration	x
Introduction	xv
Starting-point for viewing the history of the Mongols	1	(24)
Economic conditions and their development	25	(54)
Socio-political organisation in the development of Mongolia	79	(30)
Social strata of Mongolian nomadic society	109	(21)
The effect of Lamaism on traditional Mongolian nomadic society	130	(16)
The dynamics of the development of Mongolian nomadic society	146	(19)
Concluding remarks	161	(4)
Notes	165	(9)
List of People, Places and Terms	174	(5)
References	179	(20)
Index	199