Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38 (1) 2010

Annotation:  Siliceous Rock of the Southern Urals: Distribution and Usage in the Stone Age Periods, Boundaries, and Contact Zones in the Far Eastern Insular World of the Neolithic (Based on Oyster Cultivation and Archaeology as Producing Activities Early Iron Age Dyupsya Burial, Central Yakutia The “Osmium Trace” in Mineral Inclusions in Ancient Gold Artifacts Social Structure of the Early Medieval Population in the Upper Kama Region (Based on Evidence from t Bronze Helmet Recently Discovered in Mongolia The Matchmaker’s Staffs from Fort Nadym of the 17th–18th Centuries Dendrochronological Survey of the Towers from the Kazym Ostrog Dendrochronological Dating of the Groundsill for the Bell Tower of the Spasskaya Church in Irkutsk Marriages among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars in the Late 18th – Early 20th Centuries The Altai Cossacks in the 18th – Early 20th Centuries ANTHROPOL A Fossil Human Humerus from Khvalynsk: Morphology and Taxonomy Skeletal Remains from Buston VI – a Sapalli Culture Cemetery in Uzbekistan New Craniometric Evidence on the Origin of the Karelians (the Kylalahti Kalmistomäki Burial Ground) The Maikop Crania Revisited   

Marriages among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars in the Late 18th – Early 20th Centuries

G.T. Bakieva.

This article reviews the normative structure that served as the basis for regulating marital and family relations among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars. In considering relations of this type, the authorities permitted the use of traditional legal rules along with general civil law. The Siberian Tatars were Sunni Muslims according to their religion, and relied on the Sharia laws for the regulation of marital and family relations. An important trend was the empowerment of women. This was manifested in the possibility for a woman to marry according to her own will and to initiate divorce while maintaining protection of property. The property rights of spouses were regulated by the bride-price payment (kalym, mahr) and the marriage contract.

Keywords: Siberian Tatars, Orenburg Spiritual Governance for Muslims, the Sharia, adat, legislation, marriage, marriage contract, bride-price, dowry, divorce.