Archives: Muslim Women

Maham Anga was the wetnurse and foster mother of Emperor Akbar of the Mughal empire. Loved and respected by her charge, Anga became a political advisor and ultimately acted as regent for the teenage emperor for a brief time before her death.

Bairam Khan was the regent when Akbar first ascended to the throne at thirteen, but his rule was much critiqued. One of his most prominent detractors, Anga, with the help of her son and Akbar’s foster brother, Adham, convinced Akbar to send Khan to Mecca to perform the Hajj. Maham’s son, Adham, was sent to escort the general from the empire. Not satisfied, Maham urged Akbar to execute Khan, but the act was taken on by a vengeful Afghan.

With her main political rival, Khan, removed, Anga saw an opportunity to increase her power and assumed Khan’s role. Known as the “Petticoat Regency,” it is said that in this time “the foster mother cohort” tried to manipulate Akbar as a puppet king.

Her son Adham, was found hoarding booty, and although he apologized and returned the goods, he kept two of his favorite women back. When discovery by Akbar seemed imminent, she had the two women killed lest they reveal the deceit.

Anga died shortly after her son’s violent execution, mete out by the emperor, for murdering Akbar’s favorite general. Some accounts say the Akbar himself threw her from the roof when he discovered her conspiracy to usurp his power.

Maham Anga also patronized the construction of Khair-ul-Manzal, a mosque located opposite the Old Fort in Delhi, and which later served as a madrasa.

She also is a prominent character in the 2008 Bollywood film “Jodhaa Akbar” and was portrayed by Ila Arun.

Descended from Mongol nobility, Absh was the ninth and final ruler of Atabek dynasty, which is also known as the Sulghurid dynasty of Persia.

Absh married Manku Timur, the son of Khan Hulägo. After their union, they resided together in Urdu, capital of the Ilkhanate. However, after internal discord (the Khan dispatched an army to murder the Seljuk Shah in Shiraz), the Khan selected his daughter-in-law Absh Khatun to Shiraz to run the state, which was her homeland, in 1263.

It was a traditional means of consolidating power in the Ilkhanate to send daughters-in-law to sovereign states, indicating the great amount of power their women wielded.

Her return to Shiraz was greatly celebrated. Coinage was issued bearing her visage and Friday khutbahs were proclaimed in her name. She reigned until the end of the dynasty’s primacy.

Zainab al-Nafzawiyya of the Berber Empire, co-ruled the kingdom with her husband Yusuf ibn Tashufin who was the founder of the Tashufinid Dynasty. The influence of their empire spread from Spain and across North Africa.

According to the 14th century text, “Al-Bayan al-Maghreb,” Zainab, after having rejected a number of suitors, citing that she would only marry a man who could govern the entire Maghreb, initially married Yusuf’s cousin Abu Bakr. It was Abu Bakr who began building the city of Marrakech. Yet, when her first husband had to leave her for a substantial period of time to suppress a rebellion in his lands in the desert, they divorced and she subsequently wed Yusuf.

Because of the wealth, connections, and sound counsel Zainab brought to the marriage her husband was able to carve out a large Berber Empire. In 1086, he attacked Spain, re-establishing Islamic primacy in the region. She had the right to the title Malika or queen and was perhaps the most famous Berber queen to bear the honour.

Zainab was renowned in her time as a woman of great beauty, nobility, and intelligence. Some claimed that she was a sorceress and that she controlled jinn. According to legend, the one who was able to win her hand would gain the right to a treasure of gold and pearls, buried underground. Certainly, the wealth that Zainab brought to her marriage with Yusuf indicates that at least the last had some bearing in reality.

Sources of the time name her as the one who ruled her husband’s kingdom in truth. Although her influence was a well-known fact throughout the kingdom, her name was nonetheless excluded from the weekly khutbahs whose purpose was to affirm the ruler’s right to reign. Another 14th century text, “Rawd al-Qirtas” claims that under her direction, Yusuf conquered the Maghreb, and it was Zainab who conducted the negotiations. It was her skill at mediation that earned her the nickname “The Magician.”

Umm al-Muqtadir-Billah was the mother of the Caliph of Baghdad, Al-Muqtadir, who proved to be a weak and ineffectual ruler. Although her son was an incompetent leader whose unabashed hedonism was a cause of civil unrest, Umm al-Muqtadir-Billah nonetheless managed to reform the Abbasid government. However, her influence and her son’s utter ineptitude led to their downfall.

According to sources, she created a tribunal, instating a female courtier as a judge, to hear disputes, petitions, and lawsuits in the public square. Although people were initially scandalized by this development, the female judge brought the famed judge Abul Hussein with her, indicating scholarly approval to the public. Through Umm al-Muqtadir-Billah’s innovation, access to justice was increased for all.

However, with the state still falling into disrepair and resentment against female influence increasing, a number of military officers organized a coup. Although this failed, in a second military coup in 932 CE, her son was killed. Falling ill from the shock, Umm al-Muqtadir-Billah was imprisoned by the new Caliph, Al-Qahir, who stripped her of her wealth and tortured her. The Caliph attempted to coerce her to dissolve charitable trusts or awqaf she had created and permit his agents to sell them. Although she staunchly refused, Al-Qahir confiscated and sold them regardless.

Under torture, her situation worsened, and despite the care of a prominent townsperson who had supported her son, she died and was buried in a cemetery she herself had founded.

Roshanara Begum was the daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan, architect of the Taj Mahal. Although she is often forgotten in the face of her older sister Jahanara, Roshanara wielded a great deal of political power and was known as a ruthless and cunning adversary.

Considered the mastermind behind Aurangzeb’s ascension, Roshanara played an integral role in ensuring that her brother became emperor, supplanting their father’s chosen heir, their brother Dara Shikoh. Through her intelligence sources, she was able to save Aurangzeb from assassination after he revolted against Dara and his father. Once Aurangzeb emerged successful, it was Roshanara, living up to her characterization as being ruthless, who insisted on the execution of their brother Dara and sent the head to their father in a box as a gift.

Once Aurangzeb became emperor, Roshanara became the leading woman of the court, and she ruled his harem with the same strong will she had displayed in the war of succession. She also advised him on matters of state and patronized the building of the Jama Masjid.

Although obliged to remain single in the tradition of Mughal princesses, she acquired a series of lovers. While Aurangzeb was campaigning in the Deccan, she managed affairs in Delhi on his behalf, but she furthered her own temporal ends. With this ammunition, her enemies brought the case against her to Aurangzeb. Subsequently, Aurangzeb banished his sister to lead a life of pious seclusion. However, once Roshanara was discovered with another lover, Aurangzeb had her declared a kafir (unbeliever, in Aurangzeb’s use) and ordered her lover and her to be poisoned.

Aurangzeb had her interred in the garden that she had designed. The famous Roshanara Bagh (Garden) in Delhi was known for its beauty. Later, in the time of the British Raj, the English converted it into a country club for their use. Although she died in ignominy, the Bagh and her tomb are both victims of criminal disrepair, and her name has faded into obscurity, Roshanara was nonetheless a vivacious (and vicious) character during her lifetime whose actions affected the entire course of history for the South Asian subcontinent.

Mihrimah Sultan was the daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent and Roxelana. She became an influential figure in the reigns of her father and brother, Selim II and was a well-known patroness of the arts.

Mihrimah was quite close to her father and traveled with him on surveys of his empire. In fact, she went into battle with him at the Battle of Gizabar outside of Egypt. This closeness translated into political clout for Mihrimah also appeared to have had great influence on her father’s policies. Promising to supply 400 ships, Mihrimah encouraged her father in his campaign against Malta. The siege ended in a loss for the Ottoman and was among the most bloody and well-known contests of the century.

Like her mother, Mihrimah maintained a correspondence with the King of Poland, Sigismund II, indicating the prestige her name held abroad. Moreover, after her father’s death and her brother’s ascension to the throne, she lent him some 50,000 gold sovereigns to sate his immediate needs.

Under her brother’s reign, Mihrimah became an even more esteemed figure and acted as Valide or Queen Mother. As Valide, Mihrimah had access to considerable economic resources and sponsored a number of major architectural projects. Best known of these are two mosques in Istanbul named after her and designed by the man behind her father’s Suleymaniye Mosque, Sinan. Mihrimah Mosque is architecturally imaginative and found at Edirne Gate and Iskele Mosque is one of the Uskudur neighborhood’s most recognizable landmarks.