Preface
Contents
List of Figures
List of Plates
I. Introduction
The kinship system and its environment
The ethnographic setting
The recent history of the Turkmen
Data and research methods
Traditional ecology and economy
Recent changes
The current ecology of Aji Qui
III. Political Structure
Descent groups
Residence groups
The relationship between descent groups and residence groups
Peace, war and feud
Sacred lineages
Relations with the Kajar government
The office of thaqlau
Nomadism and politics
Nomadism and feud
Nomadism and relations with the state
The recent political history of Aji Qui
IV. Domestic Groups
The normal developmental cycle
Exceptional patterns of household development
Household types in a particular oba
Inheritance
Parent-child
Siblings
Husband-wife
Affines
Uterine relatives
The contrast between agnatic and non-agnatic kinship
The extension of kinship
The place of deceased ancestors in the kinship system
Slavery and kinship
The prominence of the father-son relationship
Kinship norms and domestic groups
Choice of marriage partner
Endogamy and agnation
Marriage negotiations
The development of a marriage
Widows, widowers, remarriage and polygyny
Divorce
The demographic context
Population regulation through social conventions: an hypothesis
Differential productivity and the distribution of wealth
Livestock as a form of capital
Shepherding contracts
Agriculture
Other secondary sources of income
Wealth profile in a particular community
The relationship between family size and wealth
Bridewealth
Other leveling institutions
The overall effect of economic leveling institutions
Household size and economic viability
VIII. Overview
I. The Wealth Profile of Aji Qui
II. Income of a Pastoral Family of Median Wealth
III. Notes on the Transliteration of Turkmen Words
Bibliography