Little is known of her origins including her given name & the date of her birth, just that it was sometime in the early 13th century AD. The name she is known by, Shajarat al-Durr (tree of pearls), is said to have been inspired by her great love for the jewel of the sea. Some folktales say she was a member of Arab royalty but historians mostly agree she was born in modern-day Armenia into a family of nomadic Kipchak Turks. Within this group, women often held high status. Around the time of Shajarat's birth, Mongols were conquering territory across western Asia, absorbing nomadic tribes & settlements like hers, while destroying & displacing others. Some tribespeople were captured & sold as slaves including the ruling Ayyubids of Egypt.
Shajarat was sold with other women into the harem of Sultan Al-Malik al-Salih, who was also the first sultan to bring large numbers of Kipchaks into Cairo. The Kipchak men became military servants known as, Mamluks. In 1239, Shajarat gave birth to a son, Khalil. Shajarat & Sultan Al-Malik were married the following year in 1240, which liberated her from servitude but sadly Khalil died in infancy & Shajarat never had another child. However, the sultan already had a son living in southeastern Turkey named, Turan Shah, whom he'd had with his first wife. Subsequently, the sultan relied heavily on Shajarat, whose Kipchak roots helped him mobilize his Mamluk troops, firstly in maintaining his existing domain & later when he expanded into Syria. It was her, " ability to counsel her husband on matters of the state, including military campaigns, that has made her so significant to her contemporaries & modern scholars alike".
Her shrewdness became even more apparent in the spring of 1249, while on campaign in Syria, Sultan Al-Malik learned that a European army led by King Louis IX of France, were sailing for Egypt, to launch the 7th Crusade. They aimed to land 1800 ships & 50,000 men in the Nile Delta city of Damietta. Shajarat, who was acting as regent in Cairo, dispatched Al-Malik's top commander, Fakhr al-Din to Damietta, while she led the Mamluks in the defense of Cairo. It wasn't long before more ill news reached the queen, her husband had been gravely wounded in battle & was being ferried back to Egypt. Louis' forces landed in Damietta on June 6, 1249, the smaller Egyptian Muslim garrison were soon overtaken & abandoned the city. They reconvened at al-Mansoura on the eastern bank of the Nile, about 100km northeast of Cairo. It was here that the wounded sultan was brought to convalesce & was soon joined by his beloved wife. By August Al-Malik's health had deteriorated to such a degree, all around him knew he only had a short time left. Sultan Al-Malik died that November; in spite of her grief, Shajarat refused to crack under the pressure or show weakness to her enemies.
She summoned Turan Shah from Turkey, in the meantime she took measures to prevent news of the sultan's death from leaking to the public. Shajarat than informed Fakhr al-Din & Sultan Al Malik's head eunuch, Jamal al-Din, who also oversaw the Mamluks of the sultan's death, seeking their council during such a crucial period. To delay the announcement of the sultan's death the trio continued having Jamal al-Din forge Al-Malik's signature on official documents. A doctor was also secreted into the sultan's chambers to maintain the façade of caring for the ailing sultan. Some time after the sultan's death, Shajarat arranged for a boat to ferry her husband's body away under the cover of night, up the Nile to Roda Island, south of Cairo; where the Mamluks had been stationed. There she had her husband's body hidden away & false orders issued to begin the construction of her husband's mausoleum.
And this was how Shajarat managed the sultanate over the next few months. Though Al-Malik had died, his forces began to gain ground against the Crusaders & Shajarat's stepson, Turan Shah arrived in time to witness Louis' defeat & capture. Despite being his father's heir, Turan Shah almost immediately began to flounder in his role. He is said to have no stable relationships with any government officials apart from a small circle of "favorites" who'd accompanied him from Syria, which meant the Mamluks were cast aside. Turan Shah also demanded Shajarat to hand over the contents of his father's treasury, as well as her personal jewelry including her beloved pearls. In great distress, she sought the protection of the Mamluks, who were only too eager to come to her aid, as she had done well by them in their time of need; Turan Shah was also a deeply disliked ruler. Turan Shah was killed on May 2, 1250.
After the death of Turan Shah, the Mamluks elected Shajarat al-Durr as Egypt's new sultan. Upon her ascension to the leadership, a royal stamp was issued in her name with the inscription, "Mother of Khalil" & the khutba (Friday sermon) was dedicated to her. One of her first undertakings after being declared sultana was the closure of a treaty with the Crusaders, who'd returned to negotiate the ransom of King Louis IX. The terms were deftly negotiated between Shajarat & Queen Margaret of Provence, Louis IX's wife: so with the diplomacy of 2 queens, one Muslim & the other Christian, the seventh crusade came to an end.
Nonetheless not everyone wanted to back Shajarat as sultana, perhaps the most serious enmity came from Caliph al-Musta'sim of Baghdad, who is said to have stated, "We've heard that you are governed by a woman now. If you've run out of men in Egypt, let us know so we can send you a man to rule over you." Fully aware of the Abbasid's wide-reaching power & influence, Shajarat & her counsel knew they'd inevitably have to capitulate in order to survive. So after less than 3 months on the throne, Shajarat surrendered her title to the minor Mamluk officer, Izz al-Din Aybek. In spite of her no longer having her title, Shajarat still continued ruling behind the scenes; signing royal decrees, meting out justice & issuing commands.
By 1254, Aybek begins to rankle under his role of playing second fiddle to Shajarat. After crushing a couple rebellions & bitterly arguing with Shajarat over her late husband's treasure, which she still kept under lock & key. In 1257, with intentions to further consolidate power, Aybek sought to marry for a second time, to a daughter of a powerful prince. This act was deemed treason against the sultana & the sultanate, so Aybek was forced to leave the palace & go into house arrest. On April 12, Shajarat summoned Aybek to the palace, with the supposed intention of offering an olive branch. Instead upon his arrival, he was met by armed eunuchs & assassinated. Shajarat spread the news that Aybek had died in his sleep, however this time the Mamluks wouldn't back her claims. According to some scholars, Shajarat al-Durr is said to have died some days later after being arrested & imprisoned at the Citadel of Saladin, in Cairo. But not before ensuring her personal jewels were ground to dust, to stop them falling in the hands of her enemies. Aybek's 15 year old son, Al Mansur Ali, son of his abandoned first wife, Umm' Ali, succeeded her as sultan. Al Mansur had brought Shajarat before his mother to face justice, who had Shajarat "dragged by her feet & thrown from the top of the Citadel". Shajarat was interred in the mausoleum she had commissioned for herself, one of the most beautiful in the city. The mihrab or "prayer niche" is ornamented with Byzantine glass mosaics, the oldest example in the city & in the centre is a "tree of life" studded with pearls.
In the centuries since her death, Shajarat has remained one of medieval Egypt's most renowned figures. She is also recognized by many including western scholars of the Crusades, as an important power behind the sultanate; to Muslim chroniclers, she was a revered ruler, who artfully negotiated the conclusion of the seventh Crusade & orchestrated the transition from the Ayyubid dynasty into the Mamluk dynasty. She was also the first woman since Cleopatra, 1300 years earlier, to rule Egypt in her own right. Shajarat is also said to have left her mark on Egyptian culture; she is said to have commissioned new nightly entertainments, which included acrobatics by torchlight, performed in time to music. According to popular belief, she is also credited with beginning the custom of mahmal, a decorative palanquin on the back of the lead camel in imperial Egypt's annual pilgrimage caravan to Mecca; a tradition that lasted into the 20th century.
https://muslimheritage.com/malika-iii-shajarat-al-durr/
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Women who Ruled
Non-FictionThese women were rare examples of women holding power in a male-dominated world. Many went on to became beacons of hope, strength and perserverance to their respective peoples. They are remembered for their beauty, intelligence, bravery and unwaveri...
