Amina Khatun (fl. 1117) was

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

ruler of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

in 1117. El-Azhari, Taef. Queens, Eunuchs and Concubines in Islamic History, 661–1257. Edinburgh University Press, 2019 She was born to

Fakhr al-Mulk Ridwan Ridwan), though he is commonly referred to as ''Ridwan'' ( ar, رضوان), which is also romanised as ''Radwan'' or ''Rudwan''. ( – 10 December 1113) was a Seljuk emir of Aleppo from 1095 until his death. Ridwan was born to the Seljuk prin ...

, Amir of Aleppo (r. 1095–1113). Her father was succeeded by her brother

Alp Arslan al-Akhras al-Dawla, Tāj al-Dawla Alp Arslān ibn Riḍwān, nicknamed al-Akhras (the Mute), was the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk sultan of Aleppo from Anno Domini, AD 1113 (Anno Hegirae, AH 507) until his death in 1114 (508). According to Ibn al-Athīr, he was not ...

under regency of

Lu'lu' al-Yaya Luʾluʾ al-Yaya, also called al-Bābā or al-Khādim ("the Eunuch"), was the regent of the Seljuk sultanate of Aleppo from AD 1113 ( AH 507) until his assassination in 1117 (510). He was the ''atabeg'' (father-lord) of the underage sultans. Previ ...

. Her brother was deposed in 1114 by Lu'lu' al-Yaya, who replaced him with her six year old younger brother Sulṭān Shāh. In 1117, Lu'lu' al-Yaya died. Amina Khatun seized effective control of Aleppo in the interregnum. She did not proclaim herself as regent, but she called upon the commander Yaruqtash in Damascus to come and assume the regency in Aleppo on behalf of her brother. When Yaruqtash tried to assume direct control and depose her brother, she had him arrested and exiled. Together with her sister Farkhinda Khatun, she installed

Ilghazi Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq (died November 8, 1122) was the Turkmen Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122. He was born into the Oghuz tribe of Döğer. Biography His father Artuk Bey was the founder of the Artukid dynasty, and had be ...

as the new commander and regent and, eventually, as the successor of her brother. Her position as de facto keeper of the citadel and regency of Aleppo was near unique for a woman in a Muslim state of her time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amina Khatun 12th-century women rulers 12th-century Syrian people Rulers of Aleppo Syrian women