Sultana Shajarat Al-Durr is one of the most important and prominent female figures in the history of Islamic politics, she was a slave of one of the kings of the Ayyubid state, so he married her and became the mother of the Commander of the Faithful Hebron, and the first woman to rule an Islamic state, ruling Egypt in the middle of the seventh century AH.
Shajarat al-Durr with its management and rule paved the way for the emergence of the Mamluk state in Egypt, some see it as the first sultan of the Mamluks, while others see it as the last sultan of the Ayyubid state in Egypt.
She had positions in resisting the Crusader invasion, and was able to stop their advance to seize Egypt, but her rule did not last long, and her life ended tragically killed.
Birth and upbringing
The tree of Al-Durr is not known for a certain date of birth in historical sources, but historians estimate that it was born shortly before 1230 AD, and historians differed in its lineage, some of them said that it is of Turkish origin, and it was said Circassian or Armenian.
Some historical sources say that she is from modern Armenia, originally from the Kipchak or "Kabjak" and also known as the Golden Horde, a group of Turkish origin residing in the Volga River basin, what is now southern Russia, and was said to have been enslaved there.
These sources suggest that her birth was when the Mongols invaded West Asia, and they included some members of the "Kipchak" tribes into their ranks, and sold some of them as slaves to ruling families, including the Ayyubid family in Egypt.
Historical sources stated that the tree of Al-Durr was a slave with great goodness, as she was writing and reading and has a good voice in singing, and she was residing in the Caliph's harem in Baghdad in 1239 AD, and her name was recorded among the names of maidservants in the slave record in the women's wing.
She was then transferred from Baghdad to Cairo or Damascus, at the age of 11, during the reign of King al-Kamil Nasir al-Din, and was dedicated to his eldest son and crown prince, Prince Najm al-Din Ayyub, who was later known as al-Malik al-Saleh, and whose father had appointed him governor of the "Kiva Fort".
With the good King
Shagaret al-Durr relationship with the righteous king developed, so she was his favorite concubine among his maidservants, who called it Shagaret al-Dur, and gave birth to a son named Hebron, but the boy died young.
In 1247, the cousin of the righteous king wanted to seize Egypt, and he was able to achieve this, and Al-Saleh was exiled to Karak Castle, and the tree of Al-Durr accompanied him in his prison in Karak Castle and was dedicated in its loyalty to him, and he was also accompanied by a Turkish slave named Baybars.
After supporting him in his ordeal and imprisonment, the righteous king married Shajarat al-Durr contrary to prevailing traditions, freed her and granted her the title of queen, but she never yet had her son Hebron, and the righteous king had an heir who was his son from his first wife.
With the advice and support of Shajarat al-Dur, the righteous king recruited the male Mamluks, regained control of Egypt, and ensured the loyalty of its inhabitants. After returning to the king, he began to expand the boundaries of his empire, and he was so confident in Shajarat al-Durr that in his travels he entrusted it to the king and administration and his succession in his absence.
Confronting the Crusaders
The news reached the Ayyubid king that the King of France Louis IX went to Egypt, and was rapidly approaching its shores, leading the Seventh Crusade, and Al-Saleh was not then in the palace.
And sent tree Durr in the request of the Supreme Commander of her husband Fakhr al-Din, to repel the invaders Crusaders until the return of the king, and was able with the minister to hinder the progress of the Crusaders until the return of the good king from his absence.
Other sources state that the righteous king was in his palace sick, which prevented him from completing his progress to expand his state, and encouraged the French king Louis IX to invade Egypt.
It is certain between these two narratives that the righteous king died in the midst of the conflict between the Ayyubids and the Crusaders, so the tree of Al-Durr had a position in this incident that reflects political skill and skill, as it suppressed the news for everyone except the Supreme Minister Fakhr al-Din and a few of those who singled them out with its confidence.
The body of the righteous king was secretly sent in a ship to the castle of al-Rawda in Cairo, and she recommended that servants be careful to bring the king's meals on time, and a doctor visited him daily.
He was prevented from visiting and was invoked because he was too tired and unable to meet anyone, and was determined to achieve victory over the Crusaders, who had already captured Egyptian coastal cities.
During these events, she sent to her stepson, Sultan al-Mu'azzam Turan Shah, who was a resident of Kiva, to take over from his father, and she had informed soldiers and dignitaries that the righteous king Najmuddin had recommended the king to his son.
Shajarat al-Durr used to visit her husband's signature on the decrees, until the arrival of Turan Shah to Mansoura, and she also directed the armies to fight the Crusaders who captured Damietta and were advancing towards Mansoura.
After the arrival of Turan Shah, the news of the death of the righteous king was announced, and the plan of Shajarat al-Durr resulted in the end of the war with the defeat of the Crusaders, and the Egyptians captured King Louis IX.
Al , Sultana Shagaret Al , Durr
After the end of the war, Sultan Turan Shah revolted against his stepmother, Shajarat al-Dur, and on the notables, and he was asking her about his father's money, and she replied that she spent it on their war against the Crusaders and managing the affairs of the state.
Al-Mu'azzam's denial of Shajarat al-Durr and other notables of his father worsened, so she feared that he would betray her and traveled to Jerusalem, and Turan Shah's hatred extended to her until he included the Mamluk princes who had great merit in repelling the Crusader invasion.
The new Sultan began thinking about getting rid of the Mamluks, but they preceded him and got rid of him, so they attacked him in his tent, and he was able to escape wounded to a hut near the Nile, so the Mamluks burned the hut and Turan Shah jumped into the river, so he died "wounded by a drowning fire."
The coin issued by Shajarat Al-Durr is inscribed with the inscription "Al-Sukkah Al-Mustasimiyyah Al-Salihiya, the queen of Muslims, the mother of King Al-Mansur Khalil" (Encyclopedia of World History)
The Mamluks suggested that Shajarat al-Durr rule Egypt, and returned to assume the king and the decrees were issued in her name, and issued a royal seal in the name of um Khalil, and speeches to her on the pulpits, and was invited to her in Friday sermons.
The coinage issued by "Al-Sikka Al-Mustasimiyya Al-Salihiya, the queen of the Muslims, the mother of King Al-Mansur Khalil", and she held on to the title "Mother of King Al-Mansur Khalil", to confirm her connection with the Ayyubids through her son and her late husband, Al-Malik Al-Saleh, which would legitimize her rule and her connection to the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.
The first thing she began after her inauguration as queen was the liquidation of the Crusader presence in Egypt, and she managed negotiations that ended with an agreement with Queen Margaret to stop the Seventh Crusade.
They agreed to hand over Damietta, and give a ransom for the release of Louis IX captured in Mansoura and his Crusaders, and imposed on them to pay half of the ransom before their departure, and the other half when they returned to their country, and took from them a pledge not to return to invade the coasts of the countries of Islam.
Shajar al-Durr began to establish urban projects, and filled the state treasury with the ransom of Louis IX, and approached the parish, and reduced taxes, and installed the Mamluks in the highest ranks, but the idea of a woman taking over the Muslims was not acceptable to everyone, and this has provoked some parishioners against her.
Among the most prominent opponents of its king is the jurist Izz bin Abdul Salam, as opposed by the Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq and refused to recognize the tree of Durr Sultana on Egypt and was angry at the killing of Turan Shah Ayyubi, and wrote Caliph Al-Musta'sim in Baghdad to the princes of Egypt, "If men have been executed with you, let us know so that we can walk to you man."
Shajarat al-Durr did not oppose that refusal when he reached it, although she did not stay in the king for only 80 days, so she deposed herself and planned to marry whoever would be the face of the ruler, thus remaining the queen and the wife of the Sultan.
Marriage to Ezzedine Aybak
After the revolution threatened the rule of Sultan Shajarat al-Dur, she married an army commander named Izz al-Din Aybak, who was known for his valor in combat, so they married on the condition that he divorce his first wife, with whom he has a son named Ali.
Izz al-Din Aybak represented the virtual authority of Egypt, and was nicknamed the dear king, but the real and actual authority was for Shagar al-Dur, and it was the one who made decisions and took over administrative matters.
After a while, Aybak bored his secondary role in governance, and their relationship began to strain due to the escalation of problems and their quarrel over the money left by the righteous king, and historians believe that Shajarat al-Durr hid its wealth from Izz al-Din for fear that he would conspire against it.
In 1257, Aybak decided to marry another marriage that achieves his political interests, so he submitted to the engagement of the daughter of the merciful King Badr al-Din Lulu in Mosul, so the tree of Al-Durr considered that betrayal and feared for its rule, and feared that the dear would get out of its control and quarantine it.
Shajarat al-Durr was transferred after her death to a mausoleum that she had built herself near the scene of Sayyida Nafisa and was buried there (Encyclopedia of World History)
The end
Shajarat al-Durr was sent to King Nasser in Damascus secretly, offering him to conspire with her to kill Aybak and to marry her and share power with him in exchange for handing over Egypt, but Nasser was not enthusiastic about it and thought it was a hoax.
Badr al-Din Lulu learned the news of this contact between Shajarat al-Durr and al-Nasser, so he informed Izz al-Din Aybak, so he tried to guard himself from the treachery of Shajarat al-Dur, and intended to kill it.
The tree preceded Al-Durr King Aziz Aybak, and sent in his request to appease him and invite him to the castle after he had abandoned it to the areas of the Louk, and agreed with her servants to kill him in the bathroom, and tried to pretend that he died a natural death after he was found killed in the wing.
But the public did not believe it, and they became angry and revolted against her, and planned to kill her, and his 15-year-old son Nur al-Din Ali took power, and was nicknamed Al-Mansour and supported by the Mamluks, and crucified the killers of Aybak, and locked up the tree of Al-Durr in the Red Tower.
Al-Mansur handed Shajara al-Durr to his mother, Aybak's ex-wife, who intended to take revenge on her, to keep Izz al-Din away from her and her son, so she ordered her maidservants to bring her to her home in a procession in which the tree of al-Durr heard the most obscene words, insults and supplications for woe, and stripped of her royal clothes except a piece on the bottom of her body.
A huge slave from um Ali's maidservants drove her to her lady, and the maidservants surrounded her with clogs (wooden shoes) waiting for the lady's order.
Death
Um Ali gave permission to the maidservants to hit Shajarat al-Dur, and they beat her until she died, then dragged her feet to the top of the citadel, and she was thrown from there and not buried.
Some accounts say that um Ali ordered her maidservants on this occasion to mix milk and flour with sugar and nuts, in the dish "um Ali", and serve it to people, so this famous dish entered the Egyptian kitchen, and from it to the Arab cuisine.
After her body was found, she was taken to a mausoleum she had built herself near Mashhad Sayyida Nafisa and buried there. A monument was erected for her on Khalifa Street in Cairo, with a glass mosaic niche decorated with elegant decorations, and an image of a tree lined with pearl drops on a gold background.