User:Alexis Ivanov/Shajar al-Durr

Shajar al-Durr ,al-Salih’s Turkish slave-girl and later his wife, was one of his regime’s stalwarts without holding any formal position in government. The Bahriyya mamluks chose to put Shajar al-Durr on the throne. Her rule, however, was problematic since political and ruling tradition in most Islamic regions, especially in the Arabophonic ones, denied females any formal position in government. Her accession had already aroused technical problems as well as vociferous ideological protests. Since Shajar al-Durr could not fulfill the role of atabak al-asakir, commander in chief of the army, the oath of allegiance was jointly administered to her and atabak al-asakir, indicating the army’s share in government.Normally, one of the prominent Bahriyya amirs would have filled this post, but fear of power struggles among them led them to choose Aybak al-Turkmani, a middle-ranking and non-Bahri amir, for the post. As one commentary has it, Shajar al-Durr married Aybak in order to make him worthy of his exalted role. This arrangement was kept in place for about three months.

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