Shajar al-Durr didn’t have the loftiest of beginnings. Born sometime in the early 1200s, she was probably a nomadic Kipchak Turk and was sold into slavery very young. As-Salih Ayoub, the son of the Egyptian sultan, was the one to buy her – and he later married her. (cough, bad choice, cough).
In 1248 the seventh crusade began, and Louis IX of France attacked Egypt. His army got to Damietta in 1249, but Ayoub was really badly wounded – in fact, he died of his injuries later, aged just 44. Shajar al-Durr knew that once the king was defeated, the war was lost, so on his deathbed, she had him sign several empty documents (some say she had it forged!). She told his army that he was wounded and resting and she had food brought to his tent.
Shajar al-Durr filled the empty documents with orders for the army. You couldn’t say anything against them: the king had signed the documents (and he was, like, 100% definitely alive). Their morale was high and eventually, they captured the French king. The crusade was over.
Before she declared herself Sultana, her stepson, Al-Muazzam Turanshah, became the sultan. Shajar al-Durr believed in him at first, but Turanshah began making accusations against the Mamluks (Turkik people who were sold to the Egyptian army) and Shajar al-Durr as well. He threatened to exile and even kill them.
Our queen wasn’t having that: they co-conspired to assassinate him and they did it. As soon as Turanshah was off, Shajar Al-Durr became Sultana. As a former slave and a woman, she had to boost her popularity, so she ransomed off Louis IX (for a ridiculous sum) and built her late husband a mausoleum. After pressure wore her down, Shajar al-Durr married Izz al-Din Aybak. Unsurprisingly, Aybak stole her place as Sultan of Egypt. The final straw came when he married a princess from Mosul for political reasons. Shajar al-Durr felt betrayed by her new husband . So – naturally – she ordered his assassination and had servants kill him in his bath (kill #2. Eek).
Shajar al-Durr lied about the circumstances of her husband’s death: she claimed he’d died without warning in the night, but many didn’t believe her. She and the servants who’d helped out were arrested. On the 28th of April 1257, Shajar al-Durr herself was assassinated. The first wife of Aybak, and the bondmaids of Aybak’s son, were the ones to do it. I think she reminds us of an interesting fact: even people who are oppressed are oppressive sometimes.
She’s probably not fun at parties.
