Fatima (d. 1246)

Fatima (Chinese: 法提玛; pinyin: Fǎtímǎ, d. 1246) was an influential figure in the Mongol Empire as a favourite of Töregene Khatun, the regent of the empire between 1241 and 1246.

Biography

Fatima originated from the city of Tus, in modern-day Iran, close to the city of Meshed with its famous shrine to the Twelver imam Ali al-Rida. Herself a Shia Muslim, she was enslaved and deported during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire.[1]

In 1241, after the death of Ögedei Khan, power passed to the hands of one of his widows, Möge Khatun, previously one of Genghis Khan's wives. In the spring of 1242, however, Töregene Khatun assumed complete power as regent with the support of Chagatai and her sons with the title Great Khatun and replaced the ministers of Ögödei with her own. Her most important cabinet member was Fatima. Abd-ur-Rahman was put in charge of general administration in North China, while Fatima came to a very powerful position at the Mongol court. A minister post was very unusual for a woman in the 13th-century.

In 1246, Töregene's son Güyük Khan came to power, and Töregene resigned from regency. Despite her role in ensuring Güyük's election as Khagan, the relationship between Töregene and Güyük was bad. Güyük's brother Koden accused Fatima of using witchcraft to damage his health. When Koden died a few months later, Güyük insisted that his mother hand Fatima over for execution. Töregene refused and threatened her son Güyük that she would commit suicide to spite him. Despite this, Güyük's men seized Fatima, tortured her, and executed her by sewing up all of her orifices and dumping her into water; Töregene's supporters in the imperial household were simultaneously purged. Within 18 months of Fatima's death, Töregene herself died under still unexplained circumstances.

References
  1. Atwood 2004, p. 544; May 2018, p. 124.

Sources
  • Atwood, Christopher P. (2004). Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-4671-3. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  • Broadbridge, Anne F. (2018). Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-1086-3662-9.
  • Man, John (2006). Kublai Khan: From Xanadu to Superpower. London: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-5538-1718-8.
  • May, Timothy (2016). "Commercial Queens: Mongolian Khatuns and the Silk Road". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 26 (1–2): 89–106.
  • May, Timothy (2018). The Mongol Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4237-3. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctv1kz4g68.11.
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