History is full of women who achieved great things but were erased from the narrative. One of these many women is Shajara al-Durr, Sultana of the Egyptian Ayyubid and Mamluk Dynasty, the first and only woman to sit on the Islamic Egyptian throne.
The Beginning
Shajara al-Durr's (also referred to as Shajar ad-Durr, Shajar al-Durr or Shajarat al-Durr in different sources) ethnicity is still unknown, but most historians say she was either Armenian or of Turkic origin. While her date of birth is also unknown, different sources estimate it to be sometime between 1215-and 1225 CE. According to one author, Emily Fu, Shajara al-Durr was of Kipchak descent and lived in the steppes of where is today southern Russia before she was enslaved during the Mongol invasion and was brought to Egypt. First, she was sold into the harem of the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad. Then, at the age of 11, she was transported to either Damascus or Cairo and was presented as a gift to al-Salih Ayyub, the son of the ruler of the Ayyubid Dynasty of Egypt at the time.
In time, Shajara al-Durr and al-Salih Ayyub developed a close relationship. In fact, al-Salih Ayyub was the one to give her the title "Shajara al-Durr", which means "tree of pearls". In 1239, following the death of al-Salih Ayyub's father in 1238, a conflict broke out between the members of the ruling family in order to seize power. During this conflict, al-Salih Ayyub was taken prisoner by his cousin in the fortress of Kerak, which is in Jordan, along with Shajara al-Durr and a Turkic slave named Baibars. During this time, al-Salih Ayyub went against tradition and married Shajara al-Durr, granting her freedom. Shajara al-Durr only bore one child from al-Salih Ayyub, a son named Khalil who unfortunately died at the age of 6. However, it is uncertain when the child's birth happened since some sources say it was during their time in Kerak and others say it was before that. Later on, using the help of Shajara al-Durr's Kipchak roots, al-Salih Ayyub formed an alliance with Mamluk troops (Kipchak slave soldiers), returned to Egypt and took back the throne.
The Seventh Crusade
Once he was back in Egypt, al-Salih Ayyub went out to Syria with his army in order to conquer the country. During the time he was away, he left Shajara al-Durr as regent, which meant that she would be dealing with matters of state in his absence. But soon enough, news of King Louis IX of France arrived. He was leading the Seventh Crusade (1248-1254) and approaching Egypt. After receiving the news, Shajara al-Durr immediately sent Fakhr-al Din, her husband's top commander, to hold off the Crusaders until al-Salih Ayyub's return. She also sent out messengers to her husband to inform him of the news. Thanks to Shajara al-Durr's skillful handling of the crisis, they were able to hold off the invaders until the king returned.
Upon receiving the news of the Crusaders, al-Salih Ayyub immediately returned to Egypt. But unfortunately, he was seriously ill. In 1249, al-Salih Ayyub died in the military quarters. Still, the war was going on. Shajara al-Durr knew the news of al-Salih Ayyub's death would demoralize their army, so she kept it a secret until the war was over, which lasted another three months after her husband's death. She kept sending food and a doctor every day to the tent al-Salih Ayyub formerly resided in and forged his signature on decrees when needed. Finally, after three months, the Ayyubid army repelled the Crusaders and captured King Louis IX. Yet again, Shajara al-Durr's cleverness had saved them all.
Rising to Sultana
Once the Ayyubid army had fended off the threat of Crusaders and victory was certain, the news of al-Salih Ayyub's death began to spread. As his successor, Turan Shah, the son of al-Salih Ayyub, sat on the throne. Unfortunately, Turan Shah started making many wrong decisions in terms of matters of state. He also followed a wrong political strategy and chose to distance himself from Shajara al-Durr and the Mamluks. But the biggest mistake he made was threatening Shajara al-Durr that he would take away all her property. After that, Shajara al-Durr asked Mamluks for protection. The Mamluks, having seen how capable she was as a ruler, were happy to oblige her request and wanted to replace Turan Shah with Shajara al-Durr. Thus, on May 2, 1250, Turan Shah was assassinated.
Following Turan Shah's death, Shajara al-Durr was officially declared the new ruler. A royal stamp was issued in her name and the khutba was pronounced in her name as "Sultana of Cairo and all Egypt".
As the new sultana, the first thing Shajara al-Durr did was negotiate the ransom of King Louis IX , who had been previously captivated, with Queen Margaret of Provence. Shajara al-Durr emerged victorious from these negotiations as she managed to get a huge ransom in exchange for the French king, which was a great contribution to the state treasury. After this economic triumph, she went on to issue coins in her name and begin architectural projects such as his husband's tomb.
A Change of Plans
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, not everyone was as supportive of the idea of a woman ruler as the people of Egypt. The Caliph of Baghdad at the time and some other rulers from Syria refused to recognize Shajara al-Durr's authority. The Caliph even went as far as writing a letter which contained quite insulting statements such as "If there aren't any men fit to be ruler there, we are ready to send you one." Back then, according to Egyptian tradition, it was essential for the ruler to be recognized by the Caliph. So, Shajara al-Durr and the other Mamluk emirs had to find another solution. In the end, Shajara al-Durr abdicated the throne after only 80 days of reign. She married Izz al-Din Aybak who was initially a Mamluk (a slave-soldier) but thus he became the new ruler and this event marked the beginning of the Mamluk Sultanate. It is important to note that although Aybak is most commonly considered the founding ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate, there are some historians who consider Shajara al-Durr as the first ruler. Shajara al-Durr married Aybak on one condition and that was that he would divorce his first wife, which he did. But little did Shajara al-Durr know that Aybak's first wife would bring about her tragic demise.
A Conflict of Power
While Aybak was the official ruler of the Mamluk Dynasty, Shajara al-Durr was the one calling the shots backstage. It is said that she even went as far as making important decisions and plans without informing her husband. But Aybak wasn't satisfied with the role he was given. Soon enough, he was fed up with the way things were. He started fighting with his wife and plotting behind her back. He secretly planned to marry a princess from Mosul to increase his political power. Unfortunately for him, Shajara al-Durr found out about his plans. His plan was considered an act of treason and so, he was moved to another pavilion. Soon after, in 1257, Aybak was found murdered in that pavilion. According to a Mamluk historian, El Makrizi, Aybak had also been conspiring to kill Shajara al-Durr and she had found out about that. That's why, even though it is still uncertain to this day, many believe it was Shajara al-Durr who had ordered the assassination of Aybak.
Death
Unfortunately, the belief that Shajara al-Durr had ordered the assassination caused her to lose the respect of her supporters and gained her many enemies. After Aybak's death, his son from his previously mentioned first wife, Al-Mansur Ali succeeded to the throne. He left Shajara al-Durr to his mother's mercy. His mother would decide her punishment and she showed no mercy. She condemned Shajara al-Durr to death by an extremely brutal process. Later, the people took some pity and buried her in a mausoleum she had constructed herself during her time. This mausoleum is located in Cairo today.
Shajara al-Durr was one of the countless women in history who fought against and managed to rise despite many hardships in her life. Today, just like the other women like her, her story isn't told enough. We should remember her for the strong woman and capable sultana she was and strive to do justice to the names of all the women in history like her.