Women in world history - Grade: A PDF

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Women in world history - Grade: A...

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Women in the Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire Throughout the Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire, women have accustomed to their culture. During these empires, Hurrem and Nur Jahan shifted the culture. Hurrem was the slave concubine in the Ottoman Empire and Nur Jahan did most of the ruling in the Mughal Empire. In the Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire, women had similar and different rights experiences, and marriages. In the Ottoman Empire, all concubines were not treated equally. They were treated based on seniority. During this empire, they practiced endogamous marriage. Endogamous marriage is the marriage within the same clan or class. It wasn’t uncommon to marry their cousin. Women had had rights in the empire. They could own and inherit property. In the event of divorce, women could initiate the divorce, but under certain circumstances. In order to initiate a divorce, the woman would have to make a sacrifice. The conditions insisted: the husband beats her with anger, which leaves a scar on her face, and he sells something of hers without her permission. In marriage, women could remarry when the husband died. This was known as serial marriage. In other words, it means that men and women could marry more than once. Common women had power through marriage. All the wives had to be treated the same. This was another condition to initiate a divorce; if the husband showed favor to one wife and not all, they could file for divorce. The husband could beat his wife, but under certain conditions. He could beat her if it wasn’t out of anger and not in the head nor face. He can calmly beat her. In the Ottoman Empire, they practiced serial concubinage, until Hurrem stopped the tradition. Serial concubinage is “a concubine would not have more access to the sultan once she got pregnant and birthed a son” (Hughes). In the Ottoman Empire, women did have higher direct and indirect power. The Queen Mother was the sultan’s mother. She would give the sultan advice and select the concubines. The

sultanate of women consisted of the Queen Mother and his older sister(s). They had little (certain) power. Unfortunately, all women, who entered harem, were turned into slaves. Since the concubines were slaves of the sultan, they couldn’t go outside. So, the eunuchs, the male servers and supervisor of the women, would go for them if they wanted to buy anything. In the Mughal Empire, women were usually treated with respect. “Some royal concubines enjoyed more privileged lifestyles” (Hughes). The cultural tradition that the royal women had a large responsibility for the power transition. Most emperors relied on women for political advice. “Barbur was known for his respect for women’s ideas towards politics” (Hughes). They left most of their tasks to women. Women had some equality in: military, property, business ventures, education, marriage, and divorce. Lower caste women played a significant role at home but had the ability to own land. The Mughal Empire practiced serial marriage as well. Marriage was usually arranged. Women could remarry when the husband died. Women could also initiate a divorce, but under certain circumstances. Although they could remarry, some women would commit suicide when their husband died due to cultural pressure. In similarity to the Ottoman Empire, they practiced endogamous marriage. They could marry within the same caste system and it was legal their cousin. In education, women could be educated with the arts and poetry. “Some aristocratic women were allowed awards for their works” (Hughes). In the Mughal Empire, the Bhakti Movement reflected the protest of Hindu women against gender and caste oppression. Some of the Hindus practiced isolating women. The lower cast women were oppressed by the upper caste women. When appearance was a culture, middle to upper caste women had to wear a purdah if they wanted to go outside. Purdah was related to the headdress they had to wear because they had to be more presentable than the lower class and had “more

social customs and restrictions” (Hughes). Upper class women were more secluded within the society. In the Ottoman Empire, there was a slave concubine named Hurrem. She discontinued the tradition of serial concubinage. She bore many sons and became the sultan’s wife later. This caused her to become the Queen Mother. This means that she had direct and indirect power. Her career was viewed as the beginning of a sultanate of women. She was able to convince her husband to murder his eldest son in favor of her own child. She had tremendous influence over Suleyman the Magnificent, her husband and sultan. In the Mughal Empire, there was a powerful woman named Nur Jahan. She was a widow before she married Jahangir. She was known as the “power behind the veil”. This was her name in the name of the emperor and she often wore a veil. She became obsessed with political power and the Mughal Court. “She packed the court with able male relatives and dominated the empire for most of the later years of Jahangir’s reign” (Hughes). Nur Jahan perfectly understood the use of power. Nur Jahan did most of the ruling. She increased commerce, trade, and wealth in the empire. She was committed to the power of procreation. This means that she oversaw the transfer of power smoothly. Overall, the Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire had some similarities in the life of women. In the Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire, women had similar and different rights experiences, and marriages. In both empires, women: practiced endogamous marriage, could own and inherit property, and could initiate the divorce. In addition, each empire had its own powerful woman. Hurrem, in the Ottoman Empire, discontinued the tradition of serial concubinage because she he bore many sons and became the sultan’s wife. Nur Jahan, in the Mughal Empire, perfectly understood the use of power. Nur Jahan did most of the ruling.

Work Cited Hughes, Sarah S., and Brady Hughes. Women in World History. M. E. Sharpe, 1997....