'This is a book I will recommend to my students and shall continue to use in my own work. I imagine it will quickly become a standard text for this subject as well as an indispensable companion for any student of the Ilkhanate and the Mongol Empire in general. It will occupy a space on our library shelves which has been empty for far too long.' George Lane, SOAS, University of London Explores the political, economic and religious role of women in the Mongol empire The Mongol invasions of Eurasia in the thirteenth century re-shaped the political map of Asia, opened up economic exchange and triggered unprecedented religious transformations in the territories they conquered. However, when the Mongols left their homeland and settled in the Middle East, they brought with them not only their wives, daughters and concubines but also their particular idea of women's role in society into the Islamic world. This book offers the first in-depth study in the English language of the history of these women in the Mongol empire, looking at the role they played in the political, economic and religious landscape of medieval Iran. Exploring patterns of continuity and transformation in the status of these women in different periods of the Mongol Empire as it expanded westwards into the Islamic world, the book offers a view on the transformation of a majority nomadic-shamanist society from its original homeland in Mongolia to its settlement in the mostly sedentary-Muslim Iran in the mid-thirteenth century. Key Features - The first in-depth study of Mongol women in Iran based on original sources - Goes beyond the classical study on women's role in politics to engage in aspects of economic and religious transformation - Discusses processes of acculturation and Islamisation - Centres on the evolution of women's role in Mongolia, Central Asia and Iran - Draws comparisons with other geographical areas such as Russia, Europe, India, the Middle East and China Bruno De Nicola is Research Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of St Andrews. He is co-editor of The Mongols and the Transformation of the Middle East (2016), Islam and Christianity in Medieval Anatolia (2015) and Knowledge and Language in Middle Eastern Societies (2010). Cover image: A Mongol Khan and his Khatun, Persia, 14th Century (c) akg-images/Pictures From History Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-1547-7 Barcode