The History of Female Empowerment I: Regna

Appendix 1:

Obviously, this survey does not include every female monarch–lest we find ourselves cataloguing thousands upon thousands of women, most of whom only commanded status because of who their husbands / parents happened to be.  Only women with “suo jure” (a.k.a. “regnant”) status are counted.  Over the course of history, many consort / vassal / regent / dowager monarchs may be worthy of high esteem; but identifying such cases would require a parsing process that goes far beyond the scope of this survey.  (Spanning several millennia, such a survey would encompass countless of women around the world.)  While most female sovereigns came to their lofty station by nepotistic means, the ones enumerated here proved their mettle as rulers in their own right.

Hence queens consort (women who were queen simply by dint of being married to a king), client queens (i.e. suzerains rather than sovereigns; a.k.a. “vassal” monarchs), and queens regent (interim / provisional monarchs) are not counted.  This also excludes dowager queens: former consorts who–as monarchical widows–sometimes served as regents or important advisors (as a matter of course).  Such a woman is essentially a monarch emeritus.  Barring four special cases (regents Sammu-ramat, Naqi’a, Ghadana, and Olga), I only list women who had regnant status (i.e. who were rulers in their own right).  For instance, as a vassal of the Assyrian Empire, Semitic Queen Naqi’a was highly influential in the late 8th / early 7th century B.C.–and ruled as though she were absolute sovereign.

Though the three Queens of Caria listed were technically under the umbrella of the Persian Empire, they could be considered de facto regna.

Examples of suzerains (rulers of client-states) were the three (Eastern Orthodox) Anatolian Queens of Trebizond (a client-state of the Mongol Empire) in the late 13th / early 14th century.

There are several notable queens consort / regent who were icons of female empowerment–most notably “Gorgo”, Queen of Sparta (who, when asked why it was that women should be able to rule men, famously replied that it was–after all–women who gave birth to them).  A few other cases are worth mentioning:

• Perhaps the most influential woman in the archaic world was the Hittite Queen Puduhepa, consort of King Hattusili III (13th century B.C.)  Prior to becoming queen, Puduhepa was a prominent priestess of the Assyrian / Babylonian goddess, Ishtar.
• There were several prominent Nubian (Kushite) queens consort in Egypt: Tabiry, Tabekenamun, Abar, Qalhata, Pebatjma, Tadibastet III, Khensa, and Peksater (during the 8th century B.C.); Atakhebasken, Takahatenamun, Khedebneithirbinet, and Naparaye (during the 7th century B.C.)  Also of note was the high priestess, Amenirdis (a.k.a. “Hatneferumut”), daughter of Pebatjma, who was revered as the divine “adoratrice” of Amun in the late 8th century B.C.
• There were several other queens of Ptolemaic Egypt who did not have complete sovereignty: Arsinoe II and IV, Cleopatra I-VI, Cleopatra VIII (a.k.a. Numidian Queen Cleopatra Selene II of Mauretania); as well as Berenice III and IV.  Ptolemaic (Macedonian) Queen Arsinoe II was co-regnant with her brother-husband, Ptolemy II Philadelphus; and was allegedly a champion charioteer.  Cleopatra I of Syra was a Seleucid princess who wielded tremendous power–though she was technically a Ptolemic consort.
• There were two Thracian (Odrysian) queens in the 1st century: Antonia Tryphaena and Pythodoris II.  While both were vassals of the Roman Empire, they were accorded prodigious autonomy.
• Ostrogoth Queen regent, Amalasuntha (daughter of Theoderic the Great) was extremely influential in the early 6th century; and was highly revered by Byzantine Emperor, Justinian the Great.
• There were two other Mayan queens of note: “Lady of Tikal” in the early 6th century, followed by Lady K’ab’al Xook (a.k.a. “Lady Xoc”) in the late 7th century.  Though not technically regna, they both seem have been highly influential.

European queens of limited sovereignty are not counted in the main list.  For example, the three queens of Naples in the 14th thru 16th centuries (Joan I, II, & III), the five queens of Sardinia in the 13th / 14th century (Elena of Gallura, Benedetta of Cabliari, Adelasia of Torres, Joanna of Gallura, and Eleanor of Arborea), the four queens of Sicily in the 12th thru 16th centuries (Constance I & II, Maria, and Joan the Mad), and the various queens of Navarre from the 10th thru 16th centuries (notably, Marguerite of Angouleme) were vassals / consorts.

In general, why are consorts not counted in this survey?  Because anyone can be an important man’s wife.  Whenever there was a king, he usually had a spouse–a fact that does not attest to some lofty enterprise to effect women’s rights.  Being married to a king–in and of itself–is not an impressive accomplishment.  (Just as it is no great feat to come out of a queen’s birth canal.)  While many female regna ascend to their station through accident of birth (i.e. nepotism), what we are concerned with here are societies that permitted females to enjoy “suo jure” status.

To summarize: For my survey, regnant status was not in and of itself sufficient; I list only regna who were both successful and lauded.  The fact that their society allowed them to BE sovereigns–and that they were evidently rather good at it–qualified them for the list.

In this survey, I have disqualified two other kinds of female sovereigns (even if they were technically regna): Unsuccessful / insignificant ones and opprobrious ones.

The first kind includes Ptolemic Pharaoh Berenice IV Epiphaneia (1st century B.C.), Sri Lankan Queen Sivali of Anuradhapura (1st century A.D.), Kashmiri Queen Sugandha and Anglo-Saxon / Mercian Queen Ælfwynn (10th century); as well as Empress Matilda of England in the 12th century.

Other female monarchs of nil consequence include: Hungarian / Croatian Queen Maria, Bosnian Queen Jelena Gruba, and Isabella of France (Queen consort of England)–all in the 14th century.  Also note Bulgarian / Shishman Queens Komnena and Ruzhina in the late 14th / early 15th century; and Queen Isabella of Castile (15th century).  Neither Transylvanian ruler Catherine of Brandenburg (17th century) nor Tahitian Queen [O]purea and Swedish Queen Ulrika Eleonora (18th century) are counted either.  There were some minor queens in ancient Africa as well–such as Nigerian Queen Pupupu of Ondo (16th century) and Angolan / Mbundu Queen Anna Nzinga (late 17th / early 18th century).  There were also the “Rain Queens” of Balobedu in South Africa–as well as queens of Sine, Waalo, Maldives, and Boina (Madagascar)–at various points during the Middle Ages.  Finally, there were a few Samoan queens (“Tui Manu’a”) and Tahitian queens during the 18th and 19th centuries.  Their significance was middling.

Worth noting, though, was Queen regnant Ranavalo-Manjaka (a.k.a. “Ranavalona”) of Madagascar in the 19th century–who I did list, as she was significant, yet who is only worthy of opprobrium (as she was a psychopath).

Examples of the second kind of deliberate omission include the notorious Kashmiri Queen Didda in the late 10th century; the highly-influential Spanish Queen [consort] Isabella of Castile (Catholic tyrant, and mother of Queen [consort] Catalina of Aragon) in the 15th century; the Catholic tyrant, Queen “Bloody Mary” of England in the 16th century; and the Nahua traitor, Doña Marina (a.k.a. “La Malinche”; consort of Cortez and collaborator with the Conquistadors) in the 16th century.  Such figures are not exemplars of female empowerment.

I make an exemption for Chinese Empress Wu Zetian: notorious for nefariousness, as she was very significant in world history…and profoundly intelligent.  The same might be said of the ambitious Grand Empress Dowager Feng of Northern Wei (5th century A.D.)  Though Spanish Queen Isabella of Castile was extremely influential in world history, she was a (tyrannical) religious zealot–and, in any case, merely a consort.  Her successor, Joanna of Castile, never had any real power.

Appendix 2: 

The most vaunted Hadith (that of Bukhari), states that women are not allowed to participate in leadership (9/88/219).  And it is attested that MoM scoffingly pronounced that “a nation will never succeed that makes a woman its ruler” during the battle of Al-Jamal, upon hearing that the Persians had made the daughter of Khosrow queen regnant.  It should come as no surprise, then, that there was NEVER a female regnant in Dar al-Islam prior to the late 20th century…whereas virtually EVERY CULTURE IN THE WORLD boasted female leaders at some point, as will be shown forthwith.

What of the females that came to be leaders of Muslim-majority countries toward the end of the 20th century?  In every case, they came to a position of political power IN SPITE OF Islam, not because of it.  Let’s look at the five cases (the ONLY cases that exist since the advent of Islam):

• Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto (1988)
• Bangladesh: Khaleda Zia (1991); Hasina Wazed (1996)
• Turkey: Tansu Çiller (1993)
• Indonesia: Mega-wati Sukarno-putri (2001)

The empowerment of each was entirely secular in nature; religion had nothing to do with it.  Both Turkey’s Çiller and Indonesia’s Sukarno-putri were largely Progressive.  Neither was known for her religiosity.  (Recall that, until Erdogan’s revanchist regime, post-Ottoman Turkey was a predominantly secular State, pursuant to Kemal-ism in the post-World War I era.)

Meanwhile, Roza Otunbayeva–who became head of state in Kyrgyzstan in 2010–was an avowed atheist. (!)

And as I write this, Halimah bint Yakob is the president of Singapore, which is a categorically secular city-State.  Yakob became a figurehead for AWARE (the Association of Women for Action and Research), fighting for women’s rights on patently secular grounds–a laudable cause with zero connection to the Sunnah.  Starting with being designated as Woman Of The Year by Her World magazine, her estimable career is clearly not attributable to piety.

What of female heads of State elsewhere?

• Nicola Sturgeon is the Prime Minister of Scotland
• Angela Merkel is the Prime Minister of Germany
• Tsai Ing-wen is the president of Taiwan
• Jacinda Adern is the president of New Zealand
• Erna Solberg is the Prime Minister of Norway
• Michelle Bachelet is the president of Chile

Shall we thank (respectively) Presbyterianism, Lutheranism, Taoism, Mormonism, the Church Of Norway, or Roman Catholicism for the political careers of these women?  Clearly not.

The other female heads of State are: Katrin Jakobsdottir of Iceland, Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, and Sanna Mirella Marin of Finland.  All three are democratic socialists.  (The recently-ousted Prime Minister of Thailand, Ying-luk Shinawatra, was a Buddhist.  The recently-ousted Prime Minister of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, was an atheist.)

Pakistan and Bangladesh currently have some of the worst women’s rights records in the world–due entirely to adherence to a traditionalist conception of “sharia”.  (Bhutto was–predictably–assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists.)  Clearly, the ascension of the women in these two nations was not attributable to the Sunnah.

These women are not evidence of female empowerment in Dar al-Islam; they are demonstrations of what happens when Islam is trumped by secular principles.