Gender Discrimination in the Tarim Basin

Project Information

GENDISC

Grant agreement ID: 101030156

DOI

10.3030/101030156

Project closed

EC signature date 25 February 2021

Start date 1 November 2021

End date 31 October 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 166 320,00

EU contribution

€ 166 320,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GENDISC (Gender Discrimination in the Tarim Basin)

Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2023-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The GENDISC project examined a collection of over 900 documents and document fragments written in the South Asian Kharoshthi script and discovered at sites in the Tarim Basin, now located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. These documents, referred to as the Niya Documents because the majority were discovered in proximity to this settlement, were mainly administrative in nature and most date to between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE. The documents, along with other archaeological discoveries, attest to the cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity of the region. A significant number of the documents detail complaints made to the ruling king, which then became legal cases for local officials to investigate. The project proposal identified a gap in research on these documents, finding that, whilst politics, trade and religion are well-studied, there has been little examination of ancient society in the Tarim Basin because the sources are viewed as limited. GENDISC aimed to challenge this assumption by addressing social issues raised as legal disputes in the Niya Documents, including witchcraft allegations, cases involving assault, violence and murder, attempted infanticide and the adoption of children, and marriage transactions. The overall aim was to identify incidents of gender bias and discrimination in the Niya Documents and contextualise these using other documents and texts from within and beyond the Tarim Basin. The overall objective was to contribute to a better understanding of social issues in Silk Road communities, a neglected aspect in research.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

At the beginning of the project, all known documents were read and summarised in a database for some preliminary statistical analyses and to identify case studies for further examination. The socio-historical and archaeological contexts of the documents were considered through a literature review, before focussing on selected documents to consider instances of potential gender discrimination. It was found that most of the legal-type documents detailed complaints made by men, with few having women as complainants. There were different types of dharma or ‘laws’ that cases could be investigated according to, with some practices identified as unlawful. To explore the theme of gender discrimination, the project examined documents detailing instances of violence, with a focus on witchcraft, and gender and violence. It was found that in cases involving witchcraft allegations, only women were identified as witches and could be punished legally, but they could also have been killed without being legally identified as witches. In this case, their male owners or guardians could receive compensation if the woman was wrongly killed. Men could be accused of performing witchcraft but were not referred to as witches. It appears that men with status could influence the outcome of legal cases, regardless of whether they were guilty. In cases involving assault and violence, men were also the main accused and complainants, but men and women could both be victims and be treated in extremely violent ways. Where men were the victims, or brought a complaint when a woman had been mistreated, there was an element of humiliation for the male complainant and an attack on their masculinity. Both men and women could experience gendered or sexual violence, but this also differed in type. There was an added psychological and emotional component to the cases. Furthermore, although slaves could be mistreated, only female slaves could legally be beaten and bound. It also appeared that local officials did not investigate cases properly, and were perhaps complicit in some crimes, because of personal animosity towards complainants. Some of the observations and findings were shared at conferences. The main findings will be disseminated through forthcoming articles, with summaries on a blog.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

GENDISC was an interdisciplinary project, incorporating studies of language, religion, gender, society, and law within the broader field of archaeology and Asian studies. It was transregional in scope and aimed to identify connections between now politically and culturally sensitive territories. The project did identify different instances of gender bias and discrimination, which were explored through selected case studies, and that men and women could be subject to similar types of mistreatment but with variations. The project was balanced in its consideration of the roles of men and women in criminal-type cases. It did, however, find that women were mistreated in more extreme ways than men. This was because girls and women were viewed as property or came under the guardianship of men, with exceptions. Nevertheless, there were instances where the law protected girls in adoption cases and women in having autonomy to choose a husband. The issues considered for the project are still relevant and prevalent in the modern world. Insights were offered into the motivations of people accused of crimes, the feelings of the complainants or victims, and the reasons why a complaint may have been made in the first place. There is much to learn from the types of complaints people made in the past and how they were dealt with legally, especially in cases where the law supported vulnerable people.

Map of Location