On the Question of Family Form among Ancient Turks in Regard to Its Economic Functions

Abstract

Contemporary scholars of nomadism largely admit that the nuclear family was the main social and economic unit of a nomadic society. They have come to this conclusion by studying the generalities of nomads development and drawing mainly on rich ethnographic data available on the nomads of the later times, supplementing them in passing with data on earlier nomads, taken from written sources. Materials on Ancient Turks, likewise, were used selectively, perhaps because the sources were scant and not sufficiently researched. The article attempts a study of the family of Ancient Turks, drawn principally on proper historical materials, whereas comparative and ethnographic sources are used to compensate for the lacunae in the former.