Rasad

Rasad (fl. 1078), also known as Sayyida Rasad, was a politically active Egyptian Caliph mother. She was the de facto regent of Fatimid Egypt as the influential mother of her son, the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir Billah, between 1044 and 1071.[1]

This article is about the Egyptian queen. For the Iranian Satellite, see Rasad 1.

Life

Rasad was of Sub-Saharan African origin. Variously described as being Sudanese, Ethiopian and Nubian, she first entered the harem of Fatimid Caliph Ali az-Zahir of Egypt as a slave concubine when the ruler purchased her from Abu Sa'd al-Tastari, a Jewish merchant.

Rasad soon became her husband's favourite, and was later given the title malika, often translated as queen, signifying that she was formally a part of the royal family rather than a slave concubine. When she later gave birth to a son that they named al-Mustansir Billah, a delighted az-Zahir declared that the young prince would succeed to the Fatimid throne upon his own demise.

De facto ruler

In 1036, her son al-Mustansir ascended the throne of Egypt in his seventh year. Formally, Egypt was ruled by the vizier Ali b. Ahmad al-Jarjarai during the minority of al-Mustansir; Rasad was never formally regent, but as the mother of the Caliph (equivalent to a queen mother), she had a great deal of informal influence.[2]

When al-Jarjarai died in 1044, she used the power vacuum to influence the appointment of her previous owner al-Tustari as the head of her diwan, and put him up against al-Fallahi, who eventually succeeded as vizier, and played them against each other.[3] With the blessing of her passive son, she effectively ruled the state by influencing the appointment of favourites to posts and offices, and it was said that she was the ruler of her son and that her diwan was the 'gate to power' of the state.[4] When her favourite al-Tustari was killed by vizier al-Fallahi in 1047, she had al-Fallahi arrested and executed the following year.[5] She then collaborated with her supporter Muhammad al-Yazuri, who served in parallel as the head of her diwan as well as the vizier of her son until 1058.[6]

Rasad was waited upon by 5,000 slaves,[7] endowed valuable philanthropies, and underwrote a building campaign. She championed the cause of her black soldiers - most of whom were her countrymen - in their ongoing struggle for supremacy against their Turkish rivals in the royal army. The battle of wills between the two halves of the army eventually degenerated into open warfare in 1062, and a prolonged drought that then hit Egypt only exacerbated the situation. The Turks soon claimed victory, and in recompense for the Caliph and the Caliph mother both having supported the blacks, the latter was arrested and stripped of her property. For his part, al-Mustansir was strongarmed into bribing his own soldiers to stand down by emptying his treasury.

In 1071, Caliph al-Mustansir was able to restore order with the help of Badr al-Jamali and his army of Syrian mercenaries. Al-Jamali, who had also once been a slave, was made the vizier thereafter in 1074. This was the effective end of Rasad's long de facto rule, though she continued to serve as a royal diplomat for the remainder of her life.[8] She is mentioned in 1078, when performing a diplomatic correspondence with queen Arwa al-Sulayhi.[9]

Descendants

Through the various kings of both the Fatimid dynasty and its cadet families that have ruled following al-Mustansir's death in 1094, Rasad's bloodline has come down to the present day. For example, the Aga Khans - a dynasty of mixed Persian/European ancestry that is currently led by the Aga Khan IV, Imam of the Nizari Ismailis - claim direct descent from Rasad through al-Mustansir.[10][11]

References
  1. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  2. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  3. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  4. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  5. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  6. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  7. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  8. Leigh K. Jenco, Murad Idris and Megan C. Thomas (2019), The Oxford Handbook Of Comparative Political Theory, p. 288.
  9. Delia Cortese: And the Fatimids in the World of Islam
  10. Delia Cortese and Simonetta Calderini (2006), Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam, pp. xi, 11, 39, 62, 111, 112, 113 and 114.
  11. Haeri, Shahla (2020), The Unforgettable Queens Of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender, pp. 87 and 88.
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