who annually elect a directress. An aged bonze or priest presides, and
sings anthems in praise of their god Fo. These meetings continue seven
days, during which they employ themselves in laying up treasure for the
world to come. This consists of small paper houses painted and gilded,
filled with minikin boxes, in which are little rolls of paper done over
with gold and silver leaf. The houses and their contents are intended
to procure a comfortable home, with all its conveniences, in the world
to come. These miniature dwellings are locked with paper padlocks and
keys; and when a lady dies, the survivors burn the whole with much
ceremony, believing that from the ashes will arise to her just the same
things, only made of real silver and gold.
The Tartars generally lead a wandering life, with no other wealth than
their flocks and herds; though some subsist by fishing, and a few by
agriculture. Their dwellings are usually tents made of felt, and their
food horse-flesh, mare’s milk, and millet. They drink tea, boiled
with milk, butter, and salt. Mare’s milk is said to be deliciously
sweet; but the Tartars will not drink it till it has been fermented
in leather bottles, which are never washed. Their habits are filthy,
and, in common with the Chinese, they have very little delicacy about
their food. Dr. Clarke says he saw a Calmuck girl grinning with delight
because she had succeeded in snatching a portion of a decaying horse
from thirteen hungry dogs. The Tartar women in general perform a
greater share of labor than the men; for it is a prevailing opinion
that they were sent into the world for no other purpose but to be
useful and convenient slaves to the stronger sex. Besides cooking and
other household avocations, they milk the mares, cows, and goats,
take care of the cattle, tan leather, and make garments, mattresses,
pillows, &c., of skins.
The baron de Tott gives the following account of their method of
tailoring: “I approached a group of Tartars assembled round a dead
horse, which they had just skinned. A young man about eighteen, without
clothing, had the hide of the animal thrown over his shoulders. A
woman, who performed the office of tailor with great dexterity, began
by cutting the back of this new dress, following with her scissors the
round of the neck, the fall of the shoulders, the semicircle which
formed the sleeve, and the side of the habit, which was intended to
reach below the knee. She proceeded in the same manner with the other
parts, till the cutting out was finished. The man, who had served as
a mould, then crouched on his hams, while the several pieces were
stitched together; so that in less than two hours he had a good bay
coat, which only needed to be tanned by continual wearing.”
The Mongul race of Tartars are very ugly. Their complexion, which is
naturally fair, becomes tawny by exposure. They have high cheek bones,
broad flat noses, exceedingly small eyes, widely separated and placed
very obliquely, scanty eyebrows, thick lips, and projecting ears. The
infants are said to be so unsightly, that they resemble bear’s cubs
rather than human beings.
The Tartar men and women dress very nearly alike. Both wear wide
trowsers; but the women’s robe reaches to the feet, while that of the
men does not extend further than the knees. The poorest wear garments
made of the skins of animals, with the hair turned inside in winter,
and outside in summer. Some wear woollen, others linen; and the khans,
or princes, with their families, sometimes wear embroidered silks and
brocades, trimmed with rich furs. Tartar women of all classes are very
fond of ornaments. Their ear-rings are plain hoops of metal, to which
strings of beads, or pieces of mother-of-pearl, are suspended. The neck
and bosom is often covered with a net-work of beads, and their caps
are frequently embroidered with beads, or covered with coins, laid one
over another, like shingles on the roof of a house. The shape of these
caps vary with the different tribes; some are conical, some round, and
others exactly resemble a bishop’s mitre.
Married women may generally be distinguished from unmarried, by the
arrangement of the head-dress. Girls braid their hair in a much greater
number of tresses than the matrons, and adorn the ends with ribbons or
coins. They sometimes interweave a quantity of horse-hair with their
own. Children wear no clothing whatever, until they are ten or twelve
years old.
These tribes, like most people who have no care about accumulating
wealth, are of an easy, indolent disposition, and spend much of their
time in amusement. During the long winter nights, the young people of
both sexes enjoy themselves with music and dancing. Their most common
instrument is a two-stringed lute. Their dancing consists more in the
motions of the hands than the feet.
The Calmucks are not, like some of the Tartar tribes, addicted to
drunkenness; but they occasionally have festivals, during which they
continue to drink for half a day without interruption. On these
occasions the young women place themselves by the men, and sing songs
of love, or war, or fabulous adventures.
The necessity of procuring fresh pasturage for their flocks, induces
frequent migrations among the Calmucks; and these occasions are
celebrated with a good deal of parade and festivity. The khan, whose
tents are carried before him, heads the procession, accompanied by the
princes on horseback. Women of any distinction have awnings over their
saddles, to protect them from the sun and rain.
The doctrines of Lamaism forbid polygamy; therefore the Calmucks, with
very few exceptions, have but one wife. The husband may, however,
put away his partner, and seek another, whenever it pleases him; and
the wife may do the same. Such separations are not uncommon. Princes
sometimes marry their half-sisters; but in general the Calmucks do not
wed within the fourth or fifth degree of relationship; and they very
rarely marry out of their own class.
When a young man has fixed his mind upon a girl, he sends to her
relations to make proposals. If these are accepted, the lover gives an
entertainment at the house of the bride’s parents, where the betrothal
is forthwith celebrated. In case of refusal, the young man sometimes
seizes the damsel and carries her off full speed. The parents cannot
reclaim their daughter, if he succeeds in getting her within his hut,
and preventing her escape until the next day; but this compulsory
proceeding does not release him from the obligation of paying the
accustomed price, in reindeer, camels, horses, or flocks.
When the terms are settled in a more amicable way, a magician is
consulted to ascertain what day will be most fortunate for the
nuptials; and sometimes the superstitious young couple are required to
wait several months. On the appointed day, the bridegroom erects a neat
new tent of white felt, very near the bride’s parents. Her relations
place her on horseback to be conducted to her husband; and custom
requires that she should offer some resistance to the proceeding. A
priest purifies the hut with incense and prayers, while the young
couple go out and squat beside each other on their heels, according
to the Tartar fashion. The priest comes forth, sits down cross-legged
before them, and repeats the usual prayer.
A dish of minced meat is offered the young couple, of which the man
eats three handfuls, but the woman refuses to partake. The caps of the
bridal pair are then thrown into the hut, and an entertainment begins,
which lasts till midnight. Before they separate, the married and
unmarried females have a contest together for the bride; the former,
who always gain the victory, arrange the girl’s head-dress after the
fashion of matrons.
In a few days, the bridal tent is taken down, and the husband removes
to his accustomed dwelling. During the two first years, the wife is not
allowed to visit her parents, unless upon some great emergency; and
then she must sit down outside of their hut, without presuming to enter
it. At the end of that period, she goes to see them, and is loaded with
presents.
Among one tribe of the Calmucks, called Soongas, marriages are
celebrated on horseback. The bride, mounted on a fleet horse, gallops
off at full speed; the lover pursues; and if he overtakes her, she is
carried to his hut, and becomes his wife without further ceremony,
except an entertainment to friends. If the damsel be disinclined to the
match, the lover seldom succeeds in overtaking her before they arrive
at the destined goal.
The Calmucks are, almost without exception, remarkably expert riders.
Even matrons of eighty years old will gallop twenty miles without
stopping, and children pursue the fleet-footed antelopes half a day,
upon their unshod horses.
If men think they have sufficient cause for jealousy, they sometimes
put their wives to death with their own hands; but if a woman should,
in a sudden fit of desperation, kill her husband, her nose and ears
would be cut off, and she would be sold for a slave. They have very
definite laws concerning marriages and marriage portions; and certain
punishments are appointed for those who attempt to break off a match.
The Buraits, on the frontiers of China, live in a manner very similar
to the other Tartars. They have in their huts images of wood, felt,
or tin, intended to represent good and evil spirits. The women are
not permitted to approach these images, or even to pass before them.
Polygamy is lawful among this tribe; and they take from one wife to
five, according to their means of support. A girl costs from five head
of cattle to one hundred; and the wealthy sometimes give five hundred.
The dowry given with the bride generally amounts to about one-fourth of
the price paid for her. A new tent is built for a wedding. Festivities
are kept up for five days, with singing, dancing, wrestling, and
horse-racing, and each day a horse is killed, to feast relations and
friends. Owing to the general contempt in which women are held, boys
treat their fathers with much more respect than their mothers. When a
woman dies, cooking utensils, a pipe, and a quantity of tobacco are
buried with her, for her use in another world, as bows and arrows are
always buried with the men.
The inhabitants of western Tartary differ very much in personal
appearance from the Mongul race; being generally well shaped,
with handsome features, and a Turkish cast of countenance. A large
proportion of them are Mohammedans. Many of them, having gathered into
large cities and villages, and acquired wealth, wear more elegant and
tasteful apparel, and are more civilized in their habits, than the
tribes previously described. The women are not handsome, but have a
fresh, healthy, modest look, which is very pleasing. They are extremely
frugal, industrious, and submissive. In some of the larger towns
there are schools for girls as well as boys; and though they probably
never learn any thing more than reading and writing, these are rare
advantages for the women of Asia. Among the Tartars, as among other
eastern nations, married women are generally better dressed than girls.
All the expense bestowed upon the latter would be a loss to the father
when his daughters were sold, exchanged, or bestowed in marriage; but
the finery of wives is a perpetual credit to the wealth and generosity
of their husbands. Almost all the Tartars are great admirers of scarlet
garments, and all share the oriental taste for ornaments. The rich have
their foreheads covered with a net-work of pearls, in lieu of which the
poor wear glass beads. The married women fasten to the back of their
jewelled-covered caps a piece of gay brocaded silk, adorned with pearls
or beads, which hangs down nearly to the end of their robes. Some
of the tribes stain their nails red, and their eyebrows black. They
seldom appear before strangers without a veil. Dr. Clarke’s servant,
perceiving that the Tartar women of the Casan always covered their
faces, and ran away at his approach, thought it polite to save them the
trouble, by putting his hands to his own face, and getting out of their
way as quick as possible. This excited female curiosity. The next time
they met him, they partially removed their veils; and he, as in duty
bound, ran the faster. At last they fairly hunted him in troops, with
their veils off, impatient to see the man who thus hid his face at the
approach of a woman.
Even the poorest habitations are divided into two parts; and the most
intimate friend would give deadly offence, if he were to enter the
dwellings appropriated to the female members of the family. Where
there are several wives, each one has a separate set of apartments.
The houses are generally very clean, being often whitewashed, and the
floors well covered with neat mats and carpets. The rich sometimes have
handsome Turkish sofas with damask canopies.
Wives are purchased at various sums, from twenty to five hundred
rubles, in money or flocks, according to beauty and other advantages.
Among some of the pastoral tribes a good healthy girl may be obtained
for two or three rubles. Their numbers are regulated by the same laws
that prevail in other Mohammedan countries; and, as usual, the poorer
classes seldom have more than one wife. But when the first grows old,
or ceases to please, they take a second. Merchants who are obliged to
travel a good deal, generally maintain houses at various places, with
a wife at each.
The wedding ceremonies bear a general resemblance to those already
described. When the stipulated price has been paid, the priest, in the
presence of assembled friends, asks the young people if they will wed
one another, repeats a prayer, and bestows the nuptial blessing. Among
the Tartars of the Casan, all the female friends of the bride meet at
her father’s house the day previous to the marriage, and deplore with
her the approaching change in her condition, while two men sing songs
that treat of the happiness of married life.
The Katschinzes, when they wish for a bride, send an agent to the
girl’s father, to present him with brandy and a pipe of tobacco,
and retire instantly without speaking. If, when he returns sometime
afterward, the presents remain untouched, it is a refusal; but if one
has been drank and the other smoked, it is acceptance. At the end of
six months, the lover himself comes to repeat the same ceremony; the
price is stipulated, and the wedding appointed. Sometimes several
months elapse, before a day deemed sufficiently lucky arrives; but
however long the probation may be, the young people must not indulge
in any thing like courtship. A girl would be disgraced, if she were to
give her intended husband the slightest reason to suppose she preferred
him to any other man.
When a young man is too poor to purchase a bride, he often agrees to
serve her father four or five years. If a richer or more fortunate
rival present himself before the term of service expires, the first
suitor can merely demand wages for his work. If the girl dies in the
mean time, the bargain is transferred to her sister; and if she had no
sister, the lover loses his labor. If the intended bridegroom should
die, his future bride becomes one of his father’s wives.
But if none of these misfortunes occur, and the wedding takes place,
the bride must never see her father-in-law after the day of the
marriage; should she chance to meet him, she must fall on the ground
and conceal her face till he has passed. Her other relatives visit her
when they please. In case of any dissatisfaction, the husband sends his
wife back to her parents, and retains the children as his property.
A Baschkir girl, before marriage, takes formal leave of all the females
of the hamlet, and afterward of the milk vessel from which she has been
fed since infancy; this memorial of childhood is embraced with many
tears. When the priest unites the young couple, he gives the husband an
arrow, saying: “Be bold; support and protect thy wife.” The bridegroom
conducts her to his hut, and a woman goes before them proclaiming aloud
the portion of the bride. When the bride enters her husband’s dwelling,
she kneels down before his nearest relations. The festivities continue
three days.
Among the Yakutes, it is customary for the bridegroom to remain with
his father-in-law several days after the wedding, and entertain his
friends there. When his wife is conducted to her new habitation, she
is led by female relatives, her own face being closely covered with
ermine. The door is barred by a slender piece of wood, which she pushes
against and breaks. When she has entered, seven small sticks with bits
of butter are put into her hands, and she throws them in the fire,
while the priest pronounces a blessing. On this occasion, feasts are
again given for two days to relations and friends.
Married women of this tribe wear an odd kind of cap, made of the skin
of some animal, in such a manner that the ears stand upright and
resemble horns.
The Yakutes and Baschkirs, unlike most of the neighboring nations and
tribes, always consult the inclinations of their daughters, before they
agree to a marriage contract. Where there is more than one wife, the
first, provided she has borne children, always retains a certain degree
of pre-eminence over the others. When a husband dies, such of his wives
as have had no children return to their parents, with the clothes and
presents they have received; if they have no paternal home, they can
remain subordinate to the oldest wife, and are entitled to a tenth part
of the cattle.
The occupations of the wealthy classes are similar to those of other
Asiatic women of rank. The love of smoking is universal. Tartar women,
besides cooking, tending their children, making garments, and milking
the flocks, tan the skins of water-fowl, with the feathers on, for
caps and other articles; weave cloth from common nettles; spin cotton
of extraordinary fineness; make felt coverings for the tents; dye
cloth; tan leather by means of sour milk and chalk; and manufacture
water-bottles, as transparent as horn, from the hides of horses and
camels. While they are busy at these various avocations, the men take
care of the flocks, hunt, fish, or lie stretched at their ease beside
the kumiss bottle.
Few Tartars marry more than one wife. They seldom take a second while
they live in peace with the first. They expend a great deal in wedding
entertainments; even the peasantry sometimes lavish a thousand roubles
on such occasions. The higher classes will never bestow a younger
daughter in marriage before the elder is disposed of, though a much
higher price should be offered for the junior sister. When a murza,
or Tartar noble, enters the apartments of his women, they all rise up
respectfully, and repeat the same ceremony when he leaves the room,
though he may come and go very frequently. Very aged women are, by
permission, excused from this inconvenient homage, on account of their
infirmities.
But though the women are kept in a state of such complete subjection,
personal abuse is considered very dishonorable, and the Tartars are
seldom guilty of it. In case of ill usage, a wife may complain to
magistrates, who, attended by some of the principal people of the
village, go to the house, pronounce a formal divorce, and give the
woman permission to return to her own relations.
Tartar mothers nurse their infants till they are two or three years
old, and think Christian women very cruel to wean them so early.
There is little variety in amusements. The men and women generally
have separate dances. Those of the men are lively and martial; but
the female dances consist principally in slow motions and changing
attitudes, while the face is covered by the hands. The women in general
have no share in the amusements of men; because this could not be
without violating Mohammedan ideas of decorum. The day when any tribe
removes to fresh pastures is always a day of festivity. The women, sure
of being seen by all the men, decorate themselves in their best style,
and put on all their store of ornaments.
The Mohammedan Tartars often make war on their neighbors, for the
purpose of obtaining slaves to sell. They frequently steal children for
this purpose; and if their own daughters are beautiful, or their wives
give them the least offence, they do not hesitate to sell them to the
Jewish slave merchants, who are always traversing the country.
In former times nearly the whole of Asia was tributary to the powerful
Mogul empire. Traces of ancient wealth and refinement are occasionally
dug up from the ruins of edifices built by Zinghis Khan and Tamerlane.
In 1720, there were found, in Calmuck Tartary, urns, lamps, ear-rings,
an equestrian statue, the image of a prince wearing a diadem, and two
women seated on thrones. It is said the Mogul women sometimes inherited
the crown, but always issued their decrees from behind a screen. They
were sometimes admitted to the apartments of men after supper, where
they conversed and partook of the refreshments offered them. On such
occasions they always remained veiled, and the slightest rudeness
toward them would have been revenged even unto death. When present
at any public entertainments, the Mogul women were screened from
observation by galleries of close lattice-work.
* * * * *
The Amazons, so famed in history, are supposed to have lived on the
borders of the Black sea. They are said to have formed a state from
which men were entirely excluded, to have founded cities, and conquered
nations. They are represented armed with bows, arrows, javelins, and
a peculiar kind of axe, called “the axe of the Amazons.” Some ancient
writers dispute the existence of this female empire; but the monuments
and coins on which Amazons are represented are too numerous to admit
a doubt that there was some foundation for the story. That it was
a nation without men is highly improbable. The women were probably
warlike, and perhaps fought battles in squadrons, separate from their
husbands and brothers. Among some of the Tartar tribes of the present
day, females manage a horse, hurl a javelin, hunt wild animals, and
fight an enemy, as well as the men.
The women of Siberia are in a state of the most abject slavery. Brides
are bought with money, cattle, or clothing, and their numbers depend on
the wealth of the purchaser. The tribe called Tchuwasches offer honey
and bread to the sun, and to other deities, at the time the marriage
contract is settled. On the wedding day, the bride hides herself
behind a screen until the guests are assembled; she then walks slowly
three times round the room, preceded by young girls who carry beer,
honey, and bread. The bridegroom enters, snatches off her veil, kisses
her, and exchanges rings with her. She then hands refreshments to the
assembled guests, who hail her as _the betrothed girl_. After this, she
again retires behind the screen, where the married women assist her in
putting on the matron’s cap, which is much more ornamented than the
head-dress worn by maidens. After all have partaken of a feast, the
new wife pulls off her husband’s boots, in token of subservience to
him. The festivities continue for two days; and at parting the guests
generally deposit some coin in a loaf of bread, hollowed out for the
purpose.
It is considered a wife’s duty to obey the most capricious and
unreasonable commands of her husband, without one word of expostulation
or inquiry. If her master be dissatisfied with the most trifling
particular in her conduct, he tears the cap or veil from her head, and
this constitutes a divorce. The complexion of these people is generally
extremely pale, owing probably to their wretched fare.