A controversial figure, Didda (924–1003) demonstrated remarkable political skill, overcoming all opposition to rule Kashmir in her own right.
Rise to power
Didda was the daughter of Simharaja, king of Lohara (modern-day Lohrin in Poonch), and seemed to have held her father in high regard. From an early age, she displayed intelligence and a strong, domineering personality.
The chronicler Kalhana referred to her as "footless." While this might have been a criticism of her character, it is more likely that Didda had a physical disability. Though capable of walking, she relied on a woman named Valga to carry her on her back during games that involved running. In gratitude, Didda later commissioned a temple in her honor, called Valgamath.
In 950, Didda married Kshemagupta, king of Kashmir. A dissolute ruler addicted to hunting and gambling, Kshemagupta soon fell under Didda’s influence. He became so associated with her that he was mockingly called "Diddakshema," a contraction of their names. Unbothered by the mockery, Kshemagupta even had coins minted bearing both their names.
Regent against all opposition
Didda gave birth to a son, Abhimanyu. When Kshemagupta died suddenly in 958 from a violent fever, she feared for her son's life and secretly hid him away. Rejecting the tradition of sati, she refused to join her husband on his funeral pyre, arguing that her young son needed her.
With Abhimanyu crowned as king, Didda ruled as regent. She immediately faced opposition from her late husband’s nephews but managed to turn some of their allies to her side. Her minister, Naravahana, defeated the remaining rebels in battle. Didda had the rest of the rebels killed, sparing only those she deemed useful.
She sent her general Yashodhara to subdue the neighboring king of Shahi. When Yashodhara returned victorious, she attempted to arrest him, fearing he might turn against her. Yashodhara rebelled, and although the conflict was difficult, Didda, with the help of her allies, ultimately prevailed.
The chronicler Kalhana had a negative view of Didda, labeling her immoral and licentious—stereotypes he often applied to powerful women. However, he grudgingly acknowledged her strength:
“The lame queen, whom no one had thought capable of stepping over a cow’s footprint got over the ocean-like host of her enemies just like Hanuman got over the ocean”.
A string of tragic deaths
As Abhimanyu grew older, he began opposing his mother’s rule. However, in 972, he died of consumption. His young son, Nandigupta, succeeded him, with Didda continuing as regent. She commissioned numerous building projects in memory of her son, ultimately founding 64 structures during her lifetime.
Tragedy struck again when Nandigupta died within a year of taking the throne. His brother, Tribhuvanagupta, succeeded him but also died soon after. Didda was accused of witchcraft and of orchestrating their deaths, though this seems unlikely, as she had nothing to gain from it. In 975, she placed her third grandson, Bhimagupta, on the throne.
During this time, Didda gained a key ally in Tunga, a commoner whom she initially employed as a letter carrier. Recognizing his abilities, she promoted him repeatedly until he became both prime minister and commander of her armies. Rumors suggested that Tunga was also her lover.
However, as Bhimagupta began showing an interest in governance and reforms, he died under mysterious circumstances in 981. Whispers spread that Didda had him imprisoned and tortured.
Ruling in her own name
With no heirs left to rule, Didda formally took the throne, minting coins bearing her own name: "Sri Didda". Kashmir had seen female rulers before, such as the legendary Yashovati and Sugandha, who ruled 50 years earlier, first as a regent and then two years in her own name. Didda was the first to govern with absolute power for an extended period.
Copper coins minted during Didda's reign
For the next 22 years, she ruled unchallenged, using bribes, strategic alliances, and ruthless reprisals to suppress periodic rebellions. She notably crushed an uprising led by her nephew.
As she neared the end of her reign, Didda sought a successor. She assembled boys from her maternal family and placed fruits before them, challenging them to collect as many as possible. Her brother’s son, Samgramaraja, incited the other boys to fight among each other and gathered the most. Impressed by his cunning, Didda chose him as her heir.
She made Tunga and Samgramaraja swear to cooperate. Their collaboration ensured stability in the kingdom for the next two decades. Under Samgramaraja’s leadership, Kashmir successfully resisted the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni—partly due to the strong army and administration Didda had built.
Didda passed away in 1003 at the age of 79.
Though she ruled with an iron fist, she was undeniably a remarkable strategist and politician. As Mark Aurel Stein observed:
“The statesmanlike instinct and political ability which we must ascribe to Didda in spite of all the defects of her character, are attested by the fact that she remains the last in peaceful possession of the Kashmir throne, and was able to bequeath it to her family in undisputed succession.”
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Further reading:
Achakzai Khawar Khan, “Queen Didda: between facts and fantasy”.
Gupta Garodia Archana, The women who ruled India, leaders, warriors, icons
Jan Changez, Forgotten Kings The Story of the Hindu Sahi Dynasty
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Something important that we often forget about is to celebrate all our victories, no matter how big or small they are. Celebrate the little things you achieve, not just the big things. Getting out of bed, going outside, even reading this right now--those are all wins, and you deserve to feel proud of them! When you get through a difficulty, congratulate yourself. When you do something, even if it seems really ordinary, that you were having trouble with, give yourself a figurative pat on the back. When you were little, did you ever get stickers at school? What I want you to do today is take out your inner sticker pad, peel yourself off a sparkly gold star, and stick it proudly where everyone (or at least you) can appreciate it. And then do it over again! Because you deserve to celebrate your successes, no matter how insignificant they might seem. They are valid, and so are you, so pick up those colorful smiley faces or the classic scratch ‘n sniff, and go all out.🤩
If Game Of Thrones dont finish with Daenerys and Cersei ruling Westeros together as the motherfucker power couple they deserve to be, I’m gonna be pissed.
The first woman to rule the Sasanian Empire in her own right, Boran (590-632) did her best to bring peace and stability during her brief reign.
A crumbling empire
The Sasanian Empire was the last pre-Islamic power on the Iranian plateau. Boran was the daughter of King Khosrow II. Her mother was possibly the Byzantine princess Maria.
Boran was married to her brother, Kavad II, who overthrew their father in 628. His reign was short-lived, and he was succeeded by his son from another wife, Ardashir III. As a child, Ardashir had no real authority and was soon assassinated by the usurper Shahrbaraz.
Boran then had Shahrbaraz killed and took the throne. The exact timeline of her reign is debated, with some sources placing its beginning in 629 and others in 630.
To further complicate matters, Boran’s sister, Azarmidokht, ruled briefly in 630. This suggests that Boran was dethroned and later reinstated. Azarmidokht was described in later sources as a just, intelligent, and attractive woman. She was later depicted as seated, wearing a red embroidered gown and sky-blue studded trousers, holding a battle-axe in her right hand and leaning on a sword in her left. She was likely murdered, though the details of her death remain uncertain.
Stabilizing the empire
The situation Boran faced was dire, with both external threats and internal factional conflicts. Once on the throne, she immediately worked to strengthen her legitimacy by associating herself with her father and imitating his coinage. She proclaimed herself the "Bringer of Glory" and the "Restorer of the Race of Gods."
Boran was deeply committed to justice and worked to provide stability for her subjects. She issued open letters expressing her desire to improve their lives. She reduced taxes, which had been excessively high during her father’s reign, and focused on rebuilding infrastructure, including roads and irrigation systems that had fallen into disrepair.
She ensured the empire’s prosperity by minting a significant number of coins. She also improved relations with the Byzantine Empire, previously an adversary, and sent an embassy to Emperor Heraclius, which was well received.
One of her most remarkable achievements was forging an unprecedented alliance among rival factions, allowing the Sasanian Empire to temporarily resist the Arab invasions.
Despite her efforts, Boran’s period of consolidation was short-lived, and the empire was already in decline. She died around 632, either from illness or assassination. The identity of her immediate successor is unclear—some sources claim it was her nephew, Yazdegerd III, while others suggest that it was her sister, Azarmidokht. In 651, the Sasanian Empire ultimately fell to the Islamic Caliphate.
Boran’s dedication earned her a place in Ferdowsi’s epic, the Shahnameh (Book of Kings).
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Further reading:
“Azarmigduxt”, Encyclopædia Iranica
“Boran”, Encyclopædia Iranica
Haeri Shahla, The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender
Hodge Mehdi Malek, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, History and Coinage of the Sasanian Queen Bōrān (AD 629-631)
Hussain Ashna, “Boran”, in: Goucher Candice (ed.), Women Who Changed the World, Their Lives, Challenges, and Accomplishments Through History
Though Qutlugh Turkan (c. 1208/1213–1283) began her life as a slave, she rose to become a ruler in her own right, ushering in a golden age for her lands.
A resourceful wife
Qutlugh Turkan was likely born in Transoxania between 1208 and 1213. She was enslaved as a child, purchased by a merchant from Isfahan, and given an excellent education. In 1235, she married Qutb al-Din Muhammad, the nephew of Buraq Hajib, the founder of the ruling dynasty of Kerman (in present-day Iran), a local power that emerged after the Mongol invasions.
After Buraq’s death, the Mongol Great Khan Ögedei granted Kerman to Buraq’s son, prompting Turkan and her husband to move to Transoxania. During this period, her intelligence and resourcefulness proved vital to her husband’s survival, earning him the of the local nobility.
In 1252, Qutb al-Din was installed as the ruler of Kerman. When he died five years later, it was time for Turkan to step into power.
Queen of a golden age
Turkan assumed control of Kerman in 1257, even though her husband’s male heirs were alive. The transition appears to have been smooth, with little opposition to a woman ascending the throne. She quickly established her authority, dispatching gifts to secure recognition of her rule.
Initially, Hulegu Khan granted her authority only over civil affairs, but Turkan’s persistence won her full control, including military oversight. She ruled independently for 26 years, a period celebrated as a golden age for the region of Kerman. The khutbah (Friday sermon) was proclaimed in her name in mosques, and her name appeared on coins.
Her reign brought stability and economic prosperity. Turkan was known for her equitable administration of justice and her benevolence. During times of famine, she opened the granaries to feed her people. She also initiated major building projects, including a madrasa, a hospital, a mosque, and fortified borders with new fortresses.
Coin minted during Turkan's reign
Challenges and Deposition
Turkan forged alliances with the Mongols, even marrying her daughter Padishah Khatun to Abaqa Khan, the ruler of Iran starting in 1265. She also sent troops led by her stepson (or possibly her biological son) Hijaj Sultan to support Abaqa.
However, Hijaj turned against her, publicly mocking her with this verse:
Young are your destiny and star, but old is your fortune; the one that is old should make way for the young.
Turkan sought Abaqa’s support and was reaffirmed as the ruler of Kerman. Hijaj’s attempt to depose her failed, forcing him to flee to Delhi, where he died a decade later.
Turkan’s fortunes changed with Abaqa’s death. His successor, Tegüder Ahmad, granted Kerman to her stepson, Suyurghatmish, ending her rule in 1282. Her efforts to reclaim the throne were unsuccessful and she died shortly afterward in a city in northern Iran.
Turkan’s daughter, Padishah Khatun later reclaimed the throne and ruled Kerman in her turn.
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Further reading
De Nicola Bruno, Women in Mongol Iran: The Khatuns 1206-1335
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Queens of Númenor by shyangell. Posted first at Deviantart on September 1, 2012
Princess Silmariën
Silmariën was the daughter of Tar-Elendil, the fourth King of Númenor. From the days of Elros Tar-Minyatur and up until that moment the first-born child had always been also the first-born son, and the one to inherit the Kingship. Nonetheless, even if Silmariën was the first-born child of the King, she was also a female and thus not entitled to inherit. At that time, and following the model of the great Elven Kingdoms, the rule of the land was inherited via agnatic primogeniture (to be inherited by the first-born son, excluding all lines descended from females, unless male lines were completely extinguished). Because of this reason, Silmariën was passed over in favour of her brother Tar-Meneldur. But it is said that she was Tar-Elendil's favourite child, or perhaps that is a legend, and it was truly because the Kings of Númenor of earlier days were far-sighted, but it is the case that Tar-Elendil did give the Ring of Barahir, a capital heirloom of the line of Elros, to Silmariën for her and her children to keep. She perhaps received too the sword Narsil then, but what is sure is that at the time of her marriage to Eradan they were made the first Lords of Adúnië, second only to the King in power. The line of the Lords of Adúnië would withstand the trials of time; they would become the leaders of the elendili (or elf-friends) and survive to see the Fall of Númenor. Then extinguished all royal lines, the descendants of Silmariën would become Kings in Middle-Earth in the Númenorean realms in exile through Elendil, and his sons Isildur and Anárion.
Tar-Ancalimë
Tar-Ancalimë, the daughter of Tar-Aldarion, was the seventh ruler and first Ruling Queen of Númenor. Tar-Aldarion, the sixth ruler of Númenor, had only one child: a daughter, Ancalimë. He changed the law of inheritance in Númenor to allow equal cognatic primogeniture, under which rule would pass to the oldest child of the ruler, whether male or female. This revised law had brutal conditions. It was only valid if the daughter married and produced an heir by a certain age, and if she married another member of the royal family. All this was partially to prevent another marriage as disastrous as that between Tar-Aldarion and Erendis, the failure of which Aldarion attributed to her lack of royal blood and the life-span disparity; but also to prevent control of the crown passing into the hands of another family. Raised by her mother, Ancalimë had an inherent mistrust of all men, and her mother’s tragic married life made her choice very difficult. She was disinclined to marry, but then the crown would go to her cousin Soronto. Finally she married the nobleman Hallacar, son of Hallatan of Hyarastorni. Both Tar-Ancalimë and Hallacar were fifth-generation descendants of King Vardamir Nólimon, and the marriage was not one of love. The Queen aimed to produce an heir in order to secure her throne from her first cousin Soronto. Following the birth of their son, future King Tar-Anárion, Hallacar and Tar-Ancalimë lived apart. But this made her life troubled and her heart hard to anybody. Her own family became afraid of her in her latter days. It is through her though, that the terrible condition that imposed a woman should marry to become Queen was dropped.
Tar-Telperiën
Tar-Telperiën was the tenth ruler and second Ruling Queen of Númenor. She succeeded her father, King Tar-Súrion. Tar-Súrion succeeded Tar-Anárion, but was King because his two elder sisters had been forced to surrender their claims in youth by Tar-Ancalimë, their grandmother a feared and terrifying presence. Tar-Telperiën wasn’t coerced into stepping down from her birthright, she was Queen for 175 years. She refused to marry and bore no children. She was proud and clung to her power. During her reign, the Rings of Power were forged, and Sauron conquered Eriador. She did little to react to these events that apparently didn’t concern her. Tar-Telperiën was long-lived even for one of Elros' line, and appeared to be reluctant to give up her power: unlike all the rulers of Númenor before her, she did not surrender the Sceptre to her successor a few years before her death, but instead waited until just prior to it. She was succeeded by Tar-Minastir, the son of her younger brother, Isilmö, at the time already dead.
Tar-Vanimeldë
Tar-Vanimeldë was the sixteenth ruler and third ruling Queen of Númenor. She was the daughter and heiress of Tar-Telemmaitë. She had little interest in ruling however, preferring music and dancing, and left the day-to-day chores of monarchy to her husband, the nobleman Herucalmö (of royal blood, descendant of the same degree from Tar-Atanamir). When she died in 2637 of the Second Age at the age of 360 years, the Kingship should have gone to her son, Tar-Alcarin, but Herucalmö usurped the throne and ruled for twenty years as King Tar-Anducal. His rule was not considered legitimate, and in the official records Vanimeldë was directly followed by Alcarin. Needless to say, Tar-Vanimeldë was a terrible ruler.
Tar-Míriel or Ar-Zimphrael
Many, many generations passed after Tar-Vanimeldë without a Ruling Queen, perhaps because the pressure of the Royal family for them to pass on their chance to rule was very strong (it is improbable that nine generations passed without a first-born daughter). In that time, the line of Númenor lost their faith in the Valar, refused contact with the elves and stopped using the elven-tongues. The beautiful Tree, a symbol of the ancient friendship between Númenor and the West, fell into a decline. Tar-Palantir was the twenty-fourth King of Númenor. His birth name was Inziladûn, the son of Ar-Gimilzôr. Ar-Gimilzôr was also the first of the Kings to never ascend the Meneltarma and display reverence to Eru. His father was a bitter opponent of the Valar and the Elves, and had banished the speaking of the Elven tongues from his realm. However, Inziladûn's mother, Inzilbêth, was secretly a member of the Faithful, those among the Númenóreans who turned aside from the policies of the later Kings of Númenor and remained loyal to the will of the Valar and contrary to the policies of the King’s Men, and taught her son to be an Elf-friend. When Inziladûn took up the Sceptre it was a time of great darkness in Númenor. Ever since the time of Tar-Atanamir, every King had spoken against the Valar and questioned the Ban they had put upon the Númenóreans against sailing into the West. Inziladûn sought to repent of these actions of his predecessors and took a Quenya name in the tradition of his ancestors: Tar-Palantir. Once again the White Tree was properly tended, for Tar-Palantir's gift of foresight allowed him to ascertain that if the White Tree perished, then the line of Kings would also come to an end. The King also faithfully observed the ancient religious ceremonies of the Númenóreans at due times. However, the Valar did not respond to Tar-Palantir's repentance because of the insolence of the Kings before him, and because most of the Númenóreans were still hostile to the Lords of the West, and were led by Gimilkhâd, Tar-Palantir's own brother. Nor did Elven ships ever come from Tol Eressëa to Númenor again. Tar-Palantir became filled with sorrow over the continuing rebellion of his people. He married late and had only one child, a daughter named Míriel. Finally, there seemed there would be another Ruling Queen. Míriel was named Tar-Palantir’s official successor and would have followed his policies to the most bitter consequences. Her rightful name should have been Tar-Míriel but her rightful place as Queen of Númenor was usurped by her cousin Ar-Pharazôn, son of Gimilkhâd, who forced her to marry him so that he himself would gain the title of King, and in effect he usurped the throne. Pharazôn took the King's daughter Míriel as his wife, much against her will, and against the laws of Númenor which prohibited first cousins from marrying. Pharazôn then changed her name to Ar-Zimraphel. Thus he usurped the throne and, taking the Sceptre into his own hand, and not content with having practical rule, he proclaimed himself King Ar-Pharazôn. The rule of Ar-Pharazôn was a calamity, practically speaking. Although he defeated and captured Sauron on Middle-Earth, he was later further corrupted by him. There followed days of tyranny and arrogance for Númenor. He finally led the Great Armament fleet to break the Ban of the Valar, causing the Downfall of Númenor. When Eru Ilúvatar sank Númenor, Míriel attempted to ascend Meneltarma, trying to reach the Hallow on the summit (presumably she hoped to address Eru and/or the Valar in prayer). However, the great wave that rolled over the sinking land overtook her, and she drowned before reaching the summit. Of the disaster of that day, only the followers of Elendil, Amandil’s son would survive, thus the descendants of Silmariën came to rule upon Middle Earth.
Thank you! I added a correction to the original post and linked to yours. I've thought a lot about how sexism influenced portrayals of the ruling Queens, but I'd actually never thought about it preventing them from rising to power in the first place (except in the obvious case, I mean).
You’re welcome! And thank you <3
I actually didn’t think about it until I was writing it out—hence the rambling, lol. I keep the full family tree of the house of Elros up for the Quenya name of the day, so I just clicked on it to check something and noticed that Tar-Ancalimë is only great-grandmother to Tar-Telperiën and there are plenty of eldest daughters in the first half, but in the last you just get sons unless they’re only children or have some impact upon said sons.
It is pretty creepy though. Where are the missing sisters? It’s one thing in Gondor and Arnor’s records; they are at least showing the line of inheritance as their laws judge it. But in Númenor during the rise of the King’s Men, the heiresses that should be there are just—not. Now I suspect that Tar-Vanimeldë might not have enjoyed nearly so long a life had she been more interested in statecraft.
