Inheritance Rights of Women in Turfan Civil Documents
(66th Annual Meeting of the PIAC Göttingen, 2024)
The historical trajectory of inheritance law and its implications for the inheritance rights of women constitutes a rich and nuanced narrative shaped by the dynamic interplay of evolving societal norms, cultural paradigms, and legal paradigms spanning diverse civilizations and historical epochs. Across much of human history, inheritance legislation has exhibited a marked predisposition toward favoring male heirs. This tendency frequently reflects entrenched patriarchal structures wherein the transmission of familial wealth and property primarily adheres to male lineages. This pattern finds resonance within the context of ancient Turkic society. The Turfan manuscripts, comprising a substantial repository of civil and legal documents, represent a pivotal archival resource about ancient Turkic civilization. This archive is an unparalleled corpus of civil records delineating various facets of Turkic socio-legal systems, encompassing norms, regulations, and frameworks operative within the milieu. In this archival trove, various contractual agreements are evident, encompassing transactions such as sales, debts, leases, and testaments. This presentation seeks to center its inquiry upon the application of inheritance law within the aforementioned corpus, particularly emphasizing the examination of testamentary documents. Through such an analytical lens, it endeavors to elucidate the nuances and implications of inheritance practices and women’s inheritance rights within the context of ancient Turkic society.
Keywords: Turfan civil documents, inheritance law, women’s inheritance law