VSS | 'The Bound Steppe: Notes on Enslavement in Qing Mongolia' by Sam Bass

Event: ACMS Speaker Series

Speaker: Sam Bass, PhD candidate in History and Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University

Title of Presentation: The Bound Steppe: Notes on Enslavement in Qing Mongolia

Date: April 17, 2018

In this presentation, he briefly examines several archival examples of enslavement to illustrate important topics and challenges in the history of slavery in Mongolia: the phenomenon of slavery skepticism in Inner Asian history, the terminology of enslavement in early modern Mongolia, and the seeming disappearance of slavery as a formal practice in the nineteenth century. Mongolia’s historical record is replete with references to captivity, enslavement, and release from bondage. Despite the ubiquity of these references, there are few studies of slavery as a historical issue in Mongolian history. Scholars have instead argued that slavery was either insignificant or absent in pastoral nomadic Inner Asian societies including Mongolia, based on a dubious methodology of applying modern ethnographic concepts to historical and archaeological data, and relying on the apparent ambiguity of terms for enslavement in Mongolia. Based on hundreds of wills and testaments from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries held in the Mongolian National Central Archives, I will analyze some of these terms in their contemporary context and compare them with the terminology of enslavement in other societies. Finally, I will examine the nineteenth century decline in instances of enslavement on the basis of the testamentary evidence and suggest factors that led to the decline, such as changes in family and labor practices. This project engages Mongolian social history by examining local level processes of social change in the context of enslavement and manumission (the release from bondage), phenomena generally relevant to early modern world history.

About ACMS Speaker Series: The American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) is a private, non-profit educational organization that supports academic projects and exchanges in Mongolia and the Inner Asian region, which includes Mongolia and the neighboring areas of China, Russia and Central Asia. The ACMS Speaker Series are organized in partnership with the U.S. Embassy and the Natsagdorj Library and provides an important platform for researchers engaged in Mongolia to share their experiences and findings with the public. The event promotes information exchange on a variety of subjects related to Mongolia and is free and open to the public.

For more information about ACMS, please visit our website or Facebook page:
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the American Center for Mongolian Studies, which is a non-political, non-profit organization of 501(c)(3) category.

[ACMSMongolia]

2:25 Introduction
5:20 Part I: Slavery Skepticism--Meaning and How It Happened
18:04 Part II: Terminology--Three Tricky Terms
38:50 Part III: Slavery in Qing Mongolia--Decline and Afterlife
53:08 Concluding Remarks

[gregpringle]

Very regretful that I missed the talk on the day but happy that I can finally hear it here!

[enkhzayazundui]

I confused Qing or King? Qing is Manchu Qing dynasty.
Also there were never color discrimination in Mongol history. Harz does not mean color of black at all. Harz ard means simply common people, probably 90% of Mongols throughout Mongolian history. Also old Mongol script noun, verb or adjectives have different ending. So you clearly see “ nar “ means color or verb “ see”. Pronunciation is the same but meaning is completely different.

[enkhzayazundui]

Also Geriin hun is not slave 100%. It is a person who will serve house hold. But you can not kill your geriin xun, or sale that person. Geriin Hun and hamjlaga is the same thing.

[prms]

I have a private question about the project for the speaker. How can I contact him? Does the email address listed in the presentation still work?