The daughter of a slave took the throne in Mamluk Egypt and ruled the country. No joke. Both a slave and a woman… Even today, it seems very distant for someone with these two characteristics to take over the administration of a great country, but it became reality 8 centuries ago in the interesting story of Shajar-ud-Durr. Although women in the medieval Islamic world had a say in matters related to government, probably only three of them reached the official level of management.

The first of these is Raziye (d. 1240), the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish, who ruled Delhi for three and a half years during the period of slave kings. The second is Şecer-üd-Dürr (d. 1257), and the other is Hasan b., who was the head of the Ilkhanid State for about three years. Üveys’ daughter is Tandu (d. 1419).

However, these experiences of power did not set a precedent for the change of Islamic concepts regarding the role of women in society in general and in politics in particular. We see that contemporary historians tend to see these active political positions of women as extraordinary times and isolated experiences. These women are almost never mentioned in the political Islamic literature.

Although all three experiences took place in Turkic republics that offered women a privileged status in society, the story of Shajar-ud-Durr’s rule is more interesting than its counterparts. Because while Raziye and Tandu were born as members of the sultanate, Şecer-ud-Dürr had no possibility of inheriting the throne because she was the daughter of a slave.

The two of them (Raziye and Tandu) came to power in Islamic societies that still preserved their old social and political traditions and therefore had a preconception that could accept a woman’s power. More in Deep History November Issue…