Text/Comrade Guevara
In the impression of ordinary people, the status of women in the Islamic world is extremely low, and they are slow to participate in the affairs of the DPRK, and even when they go out on weekdays, they are strictly restricted, and they have no autonomy to speak of. But with the exception of everything, in medieval Egypt, the only empress of the Islamic world was born, and this person was Sheger Dur. So, how did Dürr become empress? How did she end up?
Sheger Dur means "pearl twig" in Arabic, and his birth year, place of birth, and family background are unknown. From the very brief historical records, we know that Dur was a slave in the royal palace in Baghdad very early, serving the last Caliph of the Abbasid caliph (islamic lord and emperor) Mustai Suimu, and a few years later was given to the Egyptian sultan (i.e., the king) Saleh as a maid.
The last Abbasid caliph, Mustai Suimu
Although Dur was of a low status, he was beautiful and intelligent, and he was extremely clever, so he was not long after entering the palace, he was favored by Saleh and gave birth to prince Haril. Durmu was expensive, not only got rid of the status of slave, but also promoted to concubine. In the Islamic world, the status of women is generally low, but Durr, with his super talent and the favor of the Sultan, frequently intervened in political affairs and gradually became a pivotal figure in Egypt.
During Saleh's reign, the Christian crusades against the Islamic world (1096-1291) drew to an end, and the situation increasingly moved in favor of Muslim countries. Under these circumstances, the Christian states, under the leadership of King Louis IX of France, gathered an army of 36,000 men and launched the Seventh Crusade in 1248, shifting the focus of the attack to Egypt.
King Louis IX of France
In 1249, the Crusaders captured the Egyptian port of Damietta and then approached south, targeting Cairo. After Hearing the news, Sultan Saleh personally led a large army to the military fortress of Mansoura, preparing to duel with the enemy. In November of the same year, just as the great war was about to break out, Saleh died in Mansoura's stronghold, which was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day for Egypt. The Egyptian defenders, who had lost their command, collapsed one after another, and Louis IX took advantage of the victory to attack Mansoura.
In such a critical situation, Touré stepped forward and, after consulting with his courtiers, decided not to mourn Saleh's death and handle state affairs in his place. Durr then personally commanded the Mamluk Guards to meet the Crusaders, resulting in the destruction of nearly 30,000 enemy troops at Damietta and the capture of Louis IX (released a few years later). When the news broke, the entire Islamic world was ecstatic. In this way, the menacing Seventh Crusade was ruthlessly defeated by a woman from a slave background.
Dur is the only empress of the Islamic world
After the Battle of Damietta, Durr's prestige reached its peak, and although Saleh's son Turansha soon succeeded to the sultan's throne (Khalil died prematurely), the real power was in the hands of Dur. However, after only 3 months of reign, Turansha was murdered because of his political differences with the leaders of the Dur and Mamluk Guards, and Dur installed the 6-year-old young prince Ashraf Moussa on the throne and proclaimed himself empress.
As the only empress of the Islamic world, Durr strengthened her position by not only requiring her head and name to be minted on the coins issued in the country, but also ordering that all Muslims in the country pray for her during the feast of the Lord's Day. Although these two actions were accepted by the Egyptian people, they were "great disrespect" in the eyes of Mustai Suimu. In order to humiliate Dur, the caliph went so far as to declare in his letter to Egypt that "Joel and others lack men, so I will send one to Er!" ”
Map of the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt
Although the Abbasid dynasty was now crumbling under the Mongol attack, the caliph's supremacy as the patriarch of Islam caused great panic in Egypt. In this case, Dur was forced to marry the head of the Guards, Eybek, and co-govern with him. In 1252, Dur deposed Musa and immediately announced his abdication, and the sultanship was succeeded by Aybek, thus establishing the Mamluk dynasty.
Although Aybek was king, he was dissatisfied that real power was still in the hands of Dur, so he vigorously managed his own power, formed a guard loyal to him, and swore allegiance to Mustai Suimu, intending to eliminate Dur's power. As a sign of sincerity, Aybek also took the daughter of the caliph's favorite vassal as a concubine and pampered her immensely. The disempowered Dour was furious and, after several years of inactivity, finally killed Eybek in April 1257 with the intention of taking power again.
The first Mamluk sultan, Aybek
However, by this time, the forces loyal to Dürr had been eliminated, and the court and the court were Aybek's henchmen, and her killing of her husband soon led to her death. Just 3 days after Eybek's death, Dur was killed by Eybek's generals (who were said to have been beaten to death with wooden shoes by the maid of Eybek's ex-wife), and the body was thrown into a stinky ditch until the new Sultan Baibars took the throne and buried her body. A generation of legendary empresses, but in the end end ended up in such a miserable end, it is really regrettable.
Source: History of Egypt - From The Primitive Times to the Present, General History of Egypt