THE ALANGOA CULT AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE MONGOL IMPERIAL HERITAGE

Abstract

State formations have generally transformed societies into more hierarchical structures, caused differentiation in gender roles and formed more powerful patriarchal social structures. However, the traditional understanding of the Mongol society, which gives importance to the female line and female values, was institutionalized and preserved through centuries in the Mongol Empire of Chinggis Khan. The fact that Chinggis Khan's divine lineage was based on a woman named Alangoa, who got pregnant from divine light, has been very influential. In the Secret History, the ideal female model through the Alangoa cult was shaped by the mother of Chinggis Khan, Mother Hoe'lun and his wife Borte and institutionalized in the Mongolian official state ideology. This article will examine how the traditional gender roles were institutionalized around the Alangoa cult in the light of the Secret History of the Mongols. In addition, the questions of why and how this understanding continued among Turco-Mongolian states and empires that were not descendants from Chinggis Khan's lineage after the Mongol Empire will also be addressed.