From Slave to Sultana: The Story of Shajar al-Durr
By Kenzy Fahmy
Egypt has had many queens, some better known than others. Cleopatra is perhaps the most famous of them all, and Hatshepsut has left her own impressive mark on Egyptian history, but one queen whose name we rarely see is Shajar al-Durr, Egypt’s first and only female sultan, and the last woman to rule the country. The “Queen of Pearls” was the only woman to rule an Islamic Egypt; the last female ruler before her was Cleopatra, almost 1,300 years earlier. The story of her life reads like a work of fiction or fantasy and the legacy she left behind is vastly underappreciated.
Not much is known about her early years. There are no records of when or where she was born, nor are there records of her given name. The name Shajar al-Durr, meaning “Tree of Pearls”, was given to her later in life. What we do know is that she was a beautiful and fiercely intelligent woman, born sometime during the 13th century, and was likely of Turkish or Armenian origin. We also know that she was sold into slavery as a young girl and was bought by the sultan’s exiled son, al-Salih Ayyub, also known as al-Malik al-Saleh. As was common at the time, the young slave girl entered the royal harem and became a companion to al-Salih. In fact, she quickly became his favorite companion and the sultan-to-be loved her so dearly that he went nowhere without her.
Shajar al-Durr bore al-Salih a son in 1293, just one year before he was to return to Cairo and become sultan. The couple married in 1240, finally freeing Shajar al-Durr from slavery. Their son did not survive infancy however and she bore no other children. The sultan, on the other hand, already had a son from his previous marriage, Turan Shah; he would, unsurprisingly, prove to be a troublesome obstacle to Shajar al-Durr’s rule.
In 1249, King Louis IX and his crusader army landed on the shores of Damietta with the intention of launching an attack on Egypt. Al-Salih was in Syria at the time and extremely ill, but returned to Egypt upon hearing of the crusader army that had been assembling in Cyprus. The Sultan was taken to Mansurah where he would be safe, but his illness was too grave and he died just a few months after the French had landed on Egypt’s shores.
Aware of the consequences the Sultan’s death would hold while the country was under attack, Shajar al-Durr informed only the commander of the Egyptian army and the chief court eunuch, concealing his death from everyone else. The body of the Sultan was reportedly transported in secret to Rodah Island – now Manial - where she forged orders for the construction of his mausoleum (and where the Nilometer stands today). To keep up the ruse, Shajar al-Durr had food prepared and brought to the tent of the Sultan and the army commander, Emir Fakhr al-Din, served as the voice of the ‘very ill but still alive ruler’. However news of the Sultan’s death eventually got out and reached the crusaders, who had by then received reinforcements and were now planning on marching to Cairo. The French forces attacked the Egyptian camp near Mansurah and managed to kill Fakhr al-Din, but the Egyptian army, led by al-Malik Baibars, eventually succeeded in defeating them; they trapped the crusader army inside the town of Mansurah and laid siege to them, killing off several commanders and most of the Knights Templar.
Shajar al-Durr managed to successfully negotiate peace with the crusaders and rule the country incognito for months while concealing the death of her husband, until the return of his son, Turan Shah. But the son was quick to make enemies and didn’t have the Mamluk support that Shajar al-Durr had. Knowing this, he began replacing old officials and ordered that she hand over the assets of the late Sultan, along with her own. Shajar al-Durr, quickly realizing the threat he posed to her, enlisted the help of the Mamluks and had Turan Shah assassinated. Shajar al-Durr was now head of state and Sultana of Egypt, backed by her army of Mamluks. She would hold her title for 80 days before marrying an army officer, Ezz al-Din Aybek, demanding that he divorce his first wife. Although she did have a lot of support, a woman leading the country alone was still a risk.
In 1257, Aybek decided to take a second wife, wanting to marry the daughter of prince in an effort to solidify his power. Shajar al-Durr, seeing this as a treasonous act and a blatant threat to her, ordered him killed. But she no longer had the protection of the Mamluks to rely on and she was reportedly imprisoned in the Citadel. Aybek’s son from his first wife was next to succeed to the throne, a fatal development for the Sultana. Aybek left the fate of the Shajar al-Durr to his jilted mother, who had the Sultana thrown from the top of the Citadel walls.
The Queen of Pearls did not rule for long, yet she managed to leave a lasting mark. She was the first Mamluk ruler of Egypt, establishing a dynasty that would go on to become the most powerful political force in the region until the Ottomans. She was an avid patron of the arts and pioneered a new form of Architecture that combined the Islamic madrassa and Mamluk tomb design, a combination that remained in use long after her rule; the practice of attaching some form of charity to a tomb, although modified, is still carried out until today.
Her own mausoleum, located on al-Khalifa Street in Old Cairo, is until today, an architectural wonder and a lasting tribute to her legacy. Inside, an intricate mosaic design forms a tree, inlaid with mother of pearl and gilded with gold, a Tree of Pearls. Through her legacy, Shajar al-Durr lives on, forever known as the Queen of Pearls, and as one of Egypt’s greatest female rulers.