QUEENS, EUNUCHS AND CONCUBINES AND CONCUBINES EUNUCHS QUEENS, TAEF EL-AZHARI IN ISLAMIC HISTOR xxxxxx xxxxxx QUEENS, Key Features • xxxxxxxx • xxxxxxx TAEF EL-AZHARI is xxxxx EUNUC HS AND C ONCUBIN E S IN Ashrafīya ISLAMIC HISTORY , Y, 661-1257 Y, 661– 1257 EL-AZHARI TAEF TAEF ISBN 978-1-4744-2318-2 edinburghuniversitypress.com Cover image: Iran / Persia: Mongol couple, late Khwarezmid or early Ilkhanid, represented on a painted, glazed plate, Kashan, 13th century © akg-images / Pictures From History Cover design: www.paulsmithdesign.com EDINBURGH STUDIES IN CLASSICAL ISLAMIC HISTORY AND CULTURE Queens, Eunuchs and Concubines in Islamic History, 661–1257 Taef El-Azhari Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgements viii Chronology ix Map of the Muslim Middle East xiii Figures xiv Introduction 1 1 The Umayyad Empire and the Establishment of a Royal Court, 661–750 57 2 Princesses, Concubines and Qahramanat under the ʿAbbasids: Gender and Politics, 749–1055 75 3 The Kingdom of Eunuchs under the ʿAbbasids 142 4 Fatimid Royal Women and Royal Concubines in Politics: The Rise of the First Queens of Islam 196 5 The Fatimid Eunuchs and their Sphere 253 6 The Seljuqs from Syria to Iran: The Age of Khatuns and Atabegs 285 7 The Ayyubids: Their Two Queens and their Powerful Castrated Atabegs 349 vi | queens, eunuchs and concubines Appendix 1: The Abbasid Caliphs from 749 to the Coming of the Seljuqs in 1055 411 Appendix 2: The Fatimid Caliphs, North Africa and Egypt 412 Appendix 3: Dynasties 413 Glossary 418 Bibliography 422 Index 437 4 Fatimid Royal Women and Royal Concubines in Politics: The Rise of the First Queens of Islam In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate. From the lady, the queen, the eminent, the kind, the mother of Imam/Caliph al-Musta‘li b. Allah, commander of the faithful, son of Imam al-Mustansir b. Allah, to al-Hurra, the queen, the lady, the righteous, the faithful, the powerful, the preserver of religion, the chief of the believers, the cave of the followers, the supporter of the commander of the faithful; and the protector of his blessed followers. The Almighty may keep her rule, grace, and assist her. I would like to convey to you, how our Imam al-Musta‘li became victorious over the people of evil, like his delusional brother, Nizar. As al-Hurra occupies the highest of places and ranks of loyalty, we wanted to keep her informed of the affairs of the state, so she will continue her pride in the state. We are always keen to hear her news and achievements, as the Almighty distin- guished her above the rest of the people of her time.1 his is part of a long epistle from the Fatimid chancery sent by the queen Tmother of the Fatimid caliph al-Musta‘li (d. 1101) to Queen Arwa the Sulayhid of Yemen in 1095. It is one of three Fatimid epistles/documents, and probably the only case of queenship in medieval Islam where we have two queens corresponding independently with each other. The Fatimid Shi‘i dynasty takes its name from Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, and wife of his cousin, ‘Ali. It is the only Muslim political dynasty to carry the name of a woman. The Fatimids, who ruled for six decades from 909 to 969 in North Africa, in Egypt from 969, and expanding into Syria, the Hijaz and Yemen later, claimed their direct descent from Fatima and ‘Ali.2 196 rise of first queens of islam | 197 The Fatimids were the enemy of the Sunni ‘Abbasids and represented only the Isma‘ili Shi‘i faith, who believe in the seventh Shi‘i imam, Isma‘il b. Ja‘far al-Sadiq (d. 755). That is why they are called the Isma‘iliyya. Other Shi‘i fac- tions, such as the Zaydis and Twelvers do not follow the Isma‘ili doctrine. The main doctrinal difference between the Fatimids and the ‘Abbasids was that the Isma‘ili caliph came to power through the nass (declared religious–political will) of the previous caliph. In most cases the post of caliph transmitted from father to the eldest son, who inherited religious knowledge, just as the Prophet had passed his knowledge to the first imam, ‘Ali.3 The main aim of the Fatimids was to uproot their Sunni ‘Abbasid enemies and replace them as the sole religious–political authority. For that reason, they had a sophisticated large underground da‘wa (movement) active in several places across Muslim territories, in order to spread their teachings. Fatimid history is divided into two periods. The first period spanned 909 to 1063; that period witnessed the military and political expansion of the Fatimid state during the rule of eight caliphs. They took Sicily, Egypt, most of Syria, the Hijaz and Yemen from the ‘Abbasids, and the khutba was given to al-Mustansir (d. 1094) in some areas of Iraq, including Baghdad itself, the heartland of the ‘Abbasids, in about 1055.4 The second period, until their downfall at the hands of the Zengids, wit- nessed a severe famine and civil wars from 1063 that lasted for nearly seven years, referred to as the Mustansiriyya Crisis. That had dire consequences for their rule; thereafter the caliphs were dominated by their viziers and military commanders. There were also two significant regional political and military developments during that period that negatively affected the Fatimids. The first was the coming of the powerful Sunni Seljuq Turkmen to the Middle East, who stripped the Fatimids of cities including Aleppo, Jerusalem and Damascus during and immediately after the famine;5 the second was the coming of the Crusaders to the Levant in 1097, and within a decade they had seized most of the Fatimid coastal cities, with the exception of Tyre and Ascalon, which were captured several decades later. Losing such key coastal centres was a severe blow to the Fatimids as regards commerce and revenues in the Eastern Mediterranean.6 It was in the second Fatimid period that we see the title ‘queen’ being applied to royal mothers and sisters of some caliphs. We also see the influence 198 | queens, eunuchs and concubines of some royal aunts in political and religious affairs. It was the age that witnessed the rise of the first undisputed queen in medieval Islam, Arwa the Sulayhid of Yemen (1099–1138), as a political ruler and supreme religious authority (hujja: undisputed proof), coming second only to the religious authority of the caliph. This chapter will address the following questions: how did the royal sisters and mothers interfere in the political affairs of the Fatimid state, and in the Fatimid doctrine? What challenges did they meet? Why did the Fatimids not have a fully publicly declared queen in their centre in Egypt, yet have the first declared queen in Yemen? Why was this model not repeated by the Fatimids? What are the reasons for the Fatimids being more tolerant than the ‘Abbasids in elevating women to a high religious status? What role in state affairs did concubines play under the Fatimids? The First Fatimid Age, 909–1063 The harem in the Fatimid courts in North Africa and Egypt differed sig- nificantly from the harem of their counterparts, the ‘Abbasids. While the ‘Abbasids had an entourage of concubines and jawari for pleasures and enter- tainment, the Fatimids possessed smaller numbers. This was likely due to the Fatimid state being smaller than that of the ‘Abbasids. Does the absence of a voluminous book such as Kitab al-Aghani, among others from the Fatimid age, contribute to our limited knowledge of the details of the age? Or has the destruction of the Fatimid libraries, during the Mustansiriyya Crisis, and then the deliberate and systematic dispersal of the libraries by Saladin (d. 1193), deprived us of tens of thousands of valuable documents and chroni- cles?7 In addition, the personal conservative behaviours of caliphs such as al-Mu‘izz and the unusual al-Hakim contributed to minimising the harem and its associated activities. While there were large numbers of female poets in the ‘Abbasid court, and in Andalusia, the limited nature of the Fatimids, in comparison to other dynasties, is reflected in the observation of Cortese and Calderini: ‘As far as the Fatimid courts are concerned, the names of their poetesses have remained unknown, except for one woman.’8 Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), the great North African historian, mentioned that the native Berbers of North Africa did not create large sophisticated urban centres for themselves,9 so maybe the Fatimids were influenced by the rise of first queens of islam | 199 rigid nature of the majority of their subjects. In addition, the small numbers of Arab Fatimids who claimed descent from Fatima had no precedent with court culture, and very little is known about their nature and customs. However, the Fatimids followed the ‘Abbasid pattern or practice of choosing future rulers from among children born of concubines, rather than wives and free women. The great majority of Fatimid caliphs were born to concubines who had no political roles or a jariya who became um walad after giving birth, including the founding imam, al-Mahdi.10 We have difficulty in identifying the mother of the first Fatimid caliph, as the beginnings of the dynasty are shrouded in legend. Regarding the numbers of concubines, al-Mahdi had about six, and his son and successor, al-Qa’im, had seven.11 The first Fatimid caliph in Egypt, al-Mu‘izz, had only one wife, Taghrid. He would advise his commanders and the chiefs of his Berber tribe, Kutama, to follow his example.