'With a royal bow she tore away the veil... the lioness showed so much force that brave men bent low before her'
Razia (also spelt Raziya) was the first and last female Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, she was born Raziyat ud-Din, a free woman in 1205 despite her farther being born a Turkish slave. Her Farther, Shams-us-din Iltutmish moved to Delhi, India, after he was bought by the Sultan at the time Qutb-ud-din. Iltutmish was smart and a skilled worker, this didn’t go unnoticed and his owner Qutb-ud-din freed him from slavery and began to give him more responsibility; he became an army commander, governed a number of cities and much more. Qutb-ud-din died in 1210 due to injuries sustained from falling of a horse and declared Iltutmish as his heir. Iltutmish was a skilled leader, after reading about him I would describe him as down to earth. Iltutmish supported and listened to people of any social class, he put importance on education as well as having a strong military. Some accounts say he had a bell at the castle door that people could ring when they needed help of the Sultan. Iltutmish insured that all his children were taught politics, martial arts, administration, traditional knowledge, swordsmanship, and the importance of Islam. Although it was common for girls in noble families to have an education in order for them to be good wives it was rare for girls like Razia to be educated in military skills. Iltutmish died on the 30th of April 1236 and appointed his daughter Razia as his heir knowing she would be a proficient and skilled leader, she shared his goals and would continue to rule with the same morals and priorities as him. This was not accepted by Muslim nobles, military leaders, governors, or other courtiers (a person who is often in attendance at the court of the king or other royal personage) it was deemed inappropriate for a woman to rule. The throne was instead past to her elder brother Rukn al-Din Firuz. He took advantage of the new power and social class, being a successful Sultan wasn’t important to him. Instead his mother Shah Turkan, took control although she also exploited this new power and often used it for personal vengeance. Rukn al-Din was always intimidated by Razia and threatened to kill her, but Razia was not the type of woman to back down. She decided to get her throne back by seeking help from the people of Delhi, she spoke publicly asking anyone and everyone to support her and encouraging confidence in her. She became more and more popular, her popularity combined with their the publics distaste of her brother led to the assassination of both her brother Rukn al-Din Friuz and her mother Shah Turkan.
In November, 1236, Razia was given the throne and became the first female Delhi Sultanate. She was keen to ensure her gender was not important, she cut her hair, wore male clothing, rode horses and elephants and carried weapons at all times. Razia made people call her a ‘Sultan’ which is stereotypically masculine and means ruler, rather than ‘Sultana’ which means a wife or mistress of a Sultan. She followed in her father’s footsteps and was a skilled leader, like her farther she worked with all social classes, she worked on strengthening the country and put importance on religion, education, public libraries and expanding their territory. She was a skilled military leader, she didn’t stand back watch in battles, she fought in battles alongside the men. Razia ruled from 1236-1240, she dealt with a number of rebellions whilst in power almost all of which were rooted in sexism, many people did not want a woman as Sultan. In 1240 rebels eventually managed to overthrow her, replacing her with another of her brothers Bahramm Shah. There were also rumours that she was having an affair with a man named Jamal ud-Din Yaquat, who was head of the royal stables. Some historians believe these rumours were faked by her rivals in order to ruin her image. Yaquat was Turkish, he was in a lower social class than Razia and supposedly the two where physically close, some reports even suggest that Yaquat put his hand under her armpit in order to help her onto a horse, which was considered very inappropriate. However, rumours weren't enough to take her of the throne and action had to be taken. The final rebellion was led by Ikhtiyar al-Din Altuniya, he was a nobleman, commander, and old friend of Razia. Altuniya was heavily against Razia being Sultan, some historians suggest he was in love with Razia and was angry that this love was not reciprocated which added to his hatred. Razia was defeated in this final battle but managed to escape with a small yet dedicated group of soldiers, however Altuniya was not done, he proceeded to follow Razia and kidnapped her. Whilst being held captive Razia and Altuniya fell in love, some historians believe she was faking this in order to escape. The pair married and planned another rebellion in an attempt to put Razia back on the throne, they joined their armies but were beaten by her brother Bahramm Shah. No one really knows what happened after that, some resources I used gave a couple options and some had a definite answer (all of which were different). The most common explanations are:
· She escaped to a farm where she asked a farmer for food, he obliged but when she fell asleep he noticed the jewels on her and that she was a woman, he proceeded to steal her belongings and then buried her in his farm. After the farmer tried to sell her belongings officials came to his home and tortured him until he explained what had happened.
· She was killed in battle and burial ground was worshiped.
· She fled from battle with her husband but was killed by Hindu Jats.
There tends to be varying stories and gaps in timelines when researching ancient figures such as Razia. In her time many people were illiterate and a lot of the information we have about ancient figures was written by historians years after the event, or not people who were biased.
My Two Cents:
Almost every time I research a female leader the conflict that surrounds them is not their lack of skill but their gender. These women are not just disliked, but overthrown as people hate the idea of being led by a woman. There are hundreds of examples of this but the closest I know of is Cleopatra. Cleopatra’s farther also appointed her as his heir as she was the most skilled child, and like Razia this judgment was ignored and her brother was given the power (although unlike Razia Cleopatra had to marry her brother before she was kicked her out).
Another thing to note is that their was a successful, talented and well known female ruler in India in 1236, but it would take another 721 years before women in India could vote (1947). Although it can't be properly compared as the Delhi Sultanate in 1200's is not the same as modern day India, I feel like it helps to understand how extreme the hatred towards her must have been, and also how ahead of his time her farther was. This voting date isn't exactly shocking many countries with an electoral/ voting system only allowed women to vote in the 1900's.
Hindu Jats meaning:
Jats are a community of people in India, often a farming community who are separate from larger society. Not all Jat communities are the same, they are separated by where they live, some Jats live in northern India and some in Pakistan. Jat communities are also separated by their religion, most commonly they are from Muslim, Sikh or Hindu faiths.
Delhi Sultanate:
This was the northern part of the Indian subcontinent.
Resources
Google Arts and Culture, ‘Razia Sultana’:
Medievalists.net, ‘Sultana Raziya of Delhi:
The better India, ‘Ruzia, Sultan: The Story of the first, and last, female ruler of the Delhi Sultanate’:
History pack, Razia Sultana:
UK essays, ‘History of The Life Of Razia’:
Jargon Josh, ‘Razia Sultan: The First Woman Ruler of India
https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/razia-sultanthe-first-women-ruler-of-india-1440495978-1
Quotes used are from; Live History India, 'The Story of Raziyat-ud-Din
Intersectional Feminism, 'Razia Sultan: The first and Last Woman ruler of Deli Sultanate'
Insider, 'When women got the right to vote in 25 countries in the world'
Image from:
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