History of the Middle East: Shajaret Al Durr Term Paper

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Introduction

Shajaret Al Durr (translated, the name means Tree of Pearls) is historically regarded as the devoted slave-wife of Ayyubid, the Egyptian sultan between 1240 and 1249. Originally, she is thought to be from either Armenia or Turkey, and the sultan is believed to have granted her freedom after she gave birth to their son. The sultan would later pass on in 1249, in a tent at Mansoora, at the heights of the French crusader’s campaign, in Africa (Duncan 2000). This was during the reign of King Louis IX. Faced by the opposing forces of the crusaders, Shajar Al Durr maintained the death of the king as a secret, even to the army, to whom she would issue orders armed with the forged signature of her dead husband (Choueiri 2005).

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Eventually, she managed to overcome the crusaders, thanks in part to starvation and dysentery episodes following a blockage of their supply route. The eldest son of the late king arrived in Cairo, in 1250 to claim the throne, but was murdered by the Mamluks, who had by now become devoted to Shajar Al Durr, their Sultan, and queen of Egypt (Duncan 2000). In her 80 days at the throne, Shajar Al Durr assumed sovereign power and had coins minted bearing her image the Mamluks would however be divided on allegiance to her, following her decision to assassinate her second husband Aybak, to whom she had married upon the death of the Sultan. A faction loyal to Aybak would, later on, beat her to death for her heinous acts.

Shajarat al-Durr: a bibliographic perspective

Shajara first appeared into the annals of history following her becoming a slave-wife to the future sultan of Egypt, with whom she, later on, had a son, Khalil. Shajara would find favor in the eyes of the sultan, in the process becoming influential too, largely as a result of the immense fortune that the sultan had. The death of sultan Aiyub, coupled with the invasions into Egypt by King Louis IX of France enable the future sultana “to establish her political mettle in her fellow Mamluks’ eyes (Duncan 2000). The sixth crusade, under the command of King Louis IX, took place at quite an inopportune time during the reign of sultan Ayyubid in Egypt.

The French forces led by their king already had Damietta in their hands and were now waiting and calculating, to take over Cairo too. On the 23rd of November 1249, the sultan died, and this could have been the much-awaited opportunity for the French forces to strike. However, Shajara, by her alliances Fakhr al-Din the Mamluk generalissimo and Jamal al-Din, the chief eunuch to the fallen sultan, succeeded in concealing the death of her husband, at least from outside the precincts of the palace (Goldschmidt & Lawrence 2006).

During her short-lived political career, Shajarat al-Duff, the Egyptian sultan, played numerous roles, in addition to holding significant influence in as far as the courts at Mamluk and Ayyibid are concerned. She was a mother, a military leader, and a sultan too, up to her fall from grace in 1257. According to Moghissi (2004), the political importance of Shajarat al-Duff stems from the crucial roles that she played, at a significant period in the history of Egypt, and the Middle East at large (Moghissi 2004).

During the 1250s, Egypt witnessed the relocation of her sultanate to the Mamluks, from Ayyubids. It was also during this period that the French king, Louis IX, helped the sixth crusade form his country to enter Egypt, take over Damietta and move on along the Nile coastline, before the sixth crusades were stopped by the Mamluks at Mansura (Duncan 2000). It is during this time of crisis that Shajara seized the moment, and helped in a re-establishment of Egypt’s political stability, a scenario that she would hold onto for the next seven years. The life of this brave woman is not only fascinating, but also serves as an illustration of achievement in a field hitherto dominated by men, and whom cultural dictates also seem to have found favor on.

To succeed in her feat, she had to deny access to the sultan’s chambers to official dignitaries. In addition, the future sultana let Fakhr ad-Din have control over the army of Egypt (Humphreys 2005). This is in addition to her forging of the dead sultan signature on all the official documents that needed to have it appended on them. By the time the outer world got wind of the sultan’s fate, Shajara had already managed to establish her coalition that had the affairs of Egypt in firm control.

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When King Louis heard of this coalition, he sought to attack Cairo, and in the process, Fakhr ad-Din got eliminated in an ambush. Nevertheless, Shajara was able to stabilize both the military and political situations up to the 19th of February 1250, when Turanshah, the heir to Aiyub arrived. Now a powerful woman, Shajara worked behind the scenes in the Mamluk army, leading to the defeat and eventual capture at Mansura of King Louis IX, in the February of 1250. It was also the presence of this phenomenal woman that led to the maintenance of order following the assassination of Turanshah by the Mamluks following a war disagreement. Faced with an imminent disaster, Shajara was again able to hold Egypt as one, leading to a victorious outcome against the French crusaders (Carol & Hurst 2006).

Shajara rose to the helm of a sultan upon the murder of Turanshah. According to Mernissi & Mary (1997), the reason why the Mamluk decided to elevate Shajara to the position of a sultana, was due to their much-needed link to the Ayyubidins, coupled with their legitimacy. As a result, Shajara the sultana now had another title; Umm Khalil (translated, this means “Mother of Khalil”). Based on her Mamlukah origins, along with her performance that is worthy of emulating during the crisis, acted as an inspiration to her counterparts to ‘break with Islamic tradition’ (Moghissi 2004). In light of this, Shajara was on course to be the first female leader who would have to bear her image struck, in addition to having the sermon usually carried out every Friday, pronounced now not in the name of the sultan, hers.

Moreover, Shajara held further negotiations with King Louis IX, concerning Turanshah, which led to the preservation of French prisoners’ lives had Damietta reclaimed from France, liquidated the holdings by the crusaders in Egypt, and ransomed the King of France for 1,000,000 bezants. Egypt was to enjoy peace for the period that Shajar was sultana (Choueiri 2005). Ultimately, the caliph would bring to an end her sole rulership by way of intimidating her with sending to Egypt a potential sultan, in the vent that the Mamluks failed to establish an appropriate male candidate.

Shajara had to abdicate the position she led to Aybek, her new husband, in a bid to avert a looming crisis (Duncan 2000). Even with a new sultan, Shajara was nevertheless able to “exercise de facto power over Egypt”, in addition to sustaining political stability in the absence of the sultan (Goldschmidt & Lawrence 2006). Ultimately, the sultan would get tired of her controlling nature, and she planned to get a second wife. Shajara got wind of the matter and hatched a plot that had him killed. Consequently, the Mamluks had her taken into custody in the Citadel, from where the servants of Ali, the new sultan, would proceed to beat her to death. Regretfully, Shajara in the end did not just lose her life, but her political gamble as well.

Shajara as viewed by historians

By her political maneuvering, it may be insinuated here that in as far as court affairs go, Shajara had come full circle. She rose from a humble background as a harem slave, rising slowly to preeminence, became a sole ruler, and later on shared her rulership with her second husband, before eventually being reduced to a harem slave again by the slaves of the new sultan, Ali. Based on the events of both her career and life, historians have various ways of depicting Shajara al-Durr (Duncan 2000).

For the past century, crusaders historians have not given much attention to Shajara. Fatima Mernissi opines that “the French remember her role at Mansura (Choueiri 2005). Humphreys (2005) depicts the political savvy and tenacity of the sultana in her bid to hold together the Ayyubid kingdom. This author however takes issues with the desire by the Mamluk to install her as their sultana. Various historians of Arab descent have sought to explore Shajara’s career in the context of how it shaped the history of Egypt. Other writers in their works have sought to offer homage to Shajara along with several other Arab conflict heroes, who were opposed to the crusaders (Mernissi & Mary 1997). Goldschmidt and Lawrence (2006) suggest that the power of Shajara hinged exclusively on the shifting political interests of the Mamluks.

According to Choueiri (2005), Shajara’s political position was only preserved by the army for as long as she remained useful. Similarly, Moghissi (2004) thinks that immediately “their [the Mamluks’] position was threatened they asserted themselves and disposed of the royal power in their own interests” (Moghissi 2004). This is the rationale behind this that according to (Moghissi 2004), led to the assassination of Turanshah. These events, along with others, landed Shajara into political difficulties and as a result, she “married Aybeg and abdicated in his favor” (Moghissi 2004). Consequently, Shajara sought to blend into the prevailing political background, and from this point on, she took no other significant role, politically (Duncan 2000).

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Conclusion

Shajarel al-Durr entered into the annals of history by becoming the first-ever sultan of Egypt. Through her intelligence and political savvy, she managed to conceal the death of her husband, the sultan of Egypt, at a time when Cairo faced an attack from the Crusaders, led by King Louise IX, of France. She found favor in the eyes of the Mamluk, although several historians opine that her position was to the convenience of the army. How to fall from grace came when she had her second husband Aybek assassinated for planning to leave her for a second wife due to her assertiveness and controlling nature. Once the plot was uncovered, the slaves of the new sultan, Ali, beat her up to death. Although she died rather unpopular, nevertheless Shajarel al-Durr, through her courage, will, and intelligence managed to hold Egypt together during her period of political and military crisis.

Works cited

Carol, Jones & Hurst Elise. Women were Warriors. London: Allen & Unwin, 2006.

Choueiri, Youssef. A Companion to the History of the Middle East. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2005.

Duncan, David. “Scholarly Views Of Shajarat Al-Durr: A Need For Consensus.” Arab Studies Quarterly Winter (2000).

Goldschmidt, Arthur & Lawrence Davidson. A Concise History of the Middle East. Boulder: Westview Press, 2006.

Humphreys, Stephen. Between Memory and Desire: A Middle East in a Troubled Age. Berkely: University of California Press, 2005.

Mernissi, Fatima & Mary Jo Lakeland. The Forgotten Queens of Islam. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.

Moghissi, Haideh. Women and Islam : Critical Concepts in Sociology. New York: Routledge, 2004.

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