The Ideology Of The Ninth And Tenth Centuries 81
in the public sphere.284 The account, on the other hand, does not just speak
of women of high rank, but of a khatun, the wife of the khagan! Records on
the reign of Parsbit between 730 and 731, who agreeably was not the wife,
but the mother of the deceased khagan, clearly show her authority as a ruler.
Taking into consideration Boariks, the ruler of the Sabirs, and Akaga who ruled
the Utigurs (in the sixth century), the significant role that women played in
steppe societies cannot be denied.285 In 758 the abovementioned khatun (the
daughter of the Khazar khagan, who, accompanied by tarkhans, married the
Abbasid governor of Armenia), after acquainting herself with the Muslim reli-
gion, took off her sword and dagger.286 It is important to emphasize here that
the sword is the symbol of kingship.287 In the minds of the peoples of Middle
Asia, the wife or mother of the ruler had a certain ruling authority. Thus, the
mother of Oghuz Khagan was called Ay Khagan. The Oghuz upheld the notion
that the most important virtue of a wife was the ability to replace her husband
in his absence and to perform the duties of the head of the family.288
284 Dunlop 1967, 188.
285 Artamonov 1962, 211 and 217. In Shevchenko’s opinion, “the sacralization of power is char-
acteristic for the Indo-Iranian tribes, but the matriarchal traditions of the Sarmatians
were especially well suited for this kind of order. According to these traditions, the women
representing the tribal nobility gained spiritual powers at birth, in addition to their high
social status” (Shevchenko 2006, 151–152). He associates a specific group of objects found
in burials in the Northwest Caucasus (including scepters shaped like the world tree)
and dated between the first century BC to the third century AD with these “priestesses”
(Shevchenko 2006, 141–150). In his view, “the performance of priestly duties could have
become the ultimate manifestation of the special status of women” (Shevchenko 2006,
151). During the first half of the first century BC, such scepters began to appear also in male
burials, which according to Shevchenko 2006, 152 is a reflection of the society’s changing
way of life. The unification of spiritual and secular power was subject to a new principle:
man-warrior-chieftain-shaman. He also interprets the appearance of head adornments
with images of the tree of life (in the area around the Lower Don and the Kuban) as a sign
of the secular rulers’ spiritual power. Notwithstanding, the role of women in the spiritual
realm was not lost and existed at least until the late third century AD.
286 Artamonov 1962, 241–242.
287 On the symbolic meaning of the sword, see Stepanov 1999a, 132–138.
288 Korogly 1976, 42, 114–115, and 158. In the steppes, prior to their marriage the women had
the status of warriors, bearing arms and participating in battles. The Khazar khatun could
have laid down her sword and dagger not because she had gotten acquainted with the
rules of Islam, but because she got married. On the role of women among the steppe
peoples, see: Khazanov1970, 138–148; Skripkin 1996, 168; Tolstov 1948b, 100; Davletshin
1990, 94; Pletneva 1998; Stepanov 2005a, 88–109.