Sultana (title)

For other uses, see Sultana (disambiguation).

The term Sultana (Arabic: سلطانه‎‎) is an Islamic title reserved for a few Muslim women rulers in history. It is sometimes mistaken for the title of the chief wife of a Sultan.

Overview

A famous Sultana was Razia Sultana of India.

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Inhuldiging van Sultan Hamengku Buwana X in de kraton met naast hem de Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hemas TMnr 20018311.jpg

Coronation of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta and his wife Hemas, effectively Sultana, in 1989

In the former kingdom of Touggourt (now part of Algeria) there was one sultana: Aïsha.

In Aceh, Indonesia, there were five Sultanas who ruled:

• Sultana Seri Ratu Nihrasyiah Rawangsa Khadiyu of Pase (1400-1427)
• Sultana Seri Ratu Ta'jul Alam Syafiatuddin Syah of Aceh (1641-1675) - daughter of Sultan Iskandar Muda the Great, and wife of Sultan Iskandar Tani. She spoke 6 languages, Acehnese, Malay, Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, and Persian.
• Sultana Seri Ratu Nurul Alam Naqiatuddin Syah of Aceh (1675-1678) - goddaughter of Sultana Safiatudin.
• Sultana Seri Ratu Zakiatuddin Inayat Syah (1678-1688) - goddaughter of Sultana Safiatuddin.
• Sultana Seri Ratu Kamalat Syah (1688-1699) - goddaughter of Sultana Safiatuddin. Replaced by her husband, under pressure from the Mufti of Mecca.

Egypt

In medieval Egypt, Shajar al-Durr, a former slave of Turkic origin, ascended the throne in 1250, thereby becoming the only Muslim woman to rule a country in North Africa and Western Asia. Although several sources assert that she took the title of sultana, The Cambridge History of Islam disputes the claim, stating that "a feminine form, sultana, does not exist in Arabic: the title sulṭān appears on Shajar al-Durr's only extant coin."

Between 1914 and 1922, monarchs of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty used the title of Sultan of Egypt, and their wives were legally styled as sultanas. Two women held the title of sultana during the short-lived Sultanate of Egypt: Melek Tourhan, the wife of Sultan Hussein Kamel, and Nazli Sabri, the wife of Sultan Fuad I. Nazli Sabri became Queen following the establishment of the Kingdom of Egypt in 1922, and it is with the latter title that she is almost always associated. Melek Tourhan, on the other hand, legally retained the title of sultana even after Egypt became a kingdom, and is often referred to simply as Sultana Melek.

Ottomans

With the Ottomans, favorite concubines had the title sultan after her given name, (i.e. Mahidevran Sultan), as did his daughters (i.e. Mihrimah Sultan) and sisters (i.e. Hatice Sultan). They are all non-ruling royalty; in the western sense, princesses, not queens. Non-favorite concubines had the title hatun, equivalent to Lady.

His mother, who had more power, had the title Valide Sultan. She was referred to by this title alone, without her given name.

See also

• Valide sultan
• Sultan