The first comprehensive study of sexual politics in Medieval Islam

Based on original and previously unexamined sources, this book provides a critical and systematic analysis of the role of queens, eunuchs and concubines in medieval Islamic history. Spanning over 600 years, it explores gender and sexual politics and power from the time of the Prophet Muhammad through the Umayyad and Abbasid periods to the Mamluks in the 15th century. Geographically its coverage extends from Iran and Central Asia to North Africa and Spain.

Drawing on specific historical case studies and events, it looks at the role of women, mothers, wives, eunuchs, concubines, qahramans and atabegs in the dynamics and manipulation of medieval Islamic politics.


Key Features

Studies the military-political power of eunuchs and their relations with women under the Fatimid dynasty, and the appearance of first queen in Islamic history

Investigates the power of the Turkmen women in the politics and how and why they introduced the unique post of atabeg

Examines the role of the first Sunni queen in Islam, Dayfa Khatun the Ayyubid in Aleppo, and how she paved the way for another queen, Shajar al-Durr in Egypt

Considers the impact of the Mongol invasion on the Muslim world, and the coming of queen Abish to power in Shiraz, aided by Mongol power.

Taef El-Azhari is a Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern History at the University of Helwan, Egypt. He received his doctorate in Middle Eastern history from the University of Manchester. He is the author of Zengi and the Muslim Response to the Crusades (2016) The Saljuqs of Syria during the Crusades (1997).

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

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ISBN 978-1-4744-2318-2
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