Rasad

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 concubine when the ruler purchased her from Abu Sa'd al-Tastari, a Jewish merchant.

Rasad soon became her husband's favourite, and 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.

That event occurred sooner than was expected, and al-Mustansir ascended the throne of Egypt in his seventh year. From that moment until his majority some ten years later, Egypt was ruled by his mother - who had herself been elevated to monarchical rank in the twilight of her late husband's reign a few years prior.

Rasad supported a coterie of favourites and hangers-on during her reign, and also 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. She also endowed valuable philanthropies, underwrote a building campaign the likes of which the kingdom had never seen, and played the ranking members of the royal court - led by the powerful vizier al-Jarjarai - against each other. When her son came of age, she continued to influence policy in her new position as queen mother.

The battle of wills between the two halves of the army eventually degenerated into open warfare, and a prolonged drought that then hit Egypt only exacerbated the situation. The Turks soon claimed victory, and in recompense for the king and the queen 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. By the time that the dust had settled, Egypt was in ruins.

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 (al-Jarjarai having died in 1045). This was the effective end of Rasad's long rule, though she continued to serve as a royal diplomat for the remainder of her life. [1]

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.[2][3]