Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: بنفشة بنت عبد الله الرمية) (died 1201) was a slave consort of the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
caliph
Al-Mustadi
Abu Muhammad Hassan ibn Yusuf al-Mustanjid ( ar, أبو محمد حسن بن يوسف المستنجد; 1142 – 27 March 1180) usually known by his regnal title Al-Mustadi ( ar, المستضيء بأمر الله) was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghd ...
(r. 1170–1180).
Her origin is termed to have been "Roman" or ''
Rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...
iyya'', that is to say of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. She was reportedly the daughter of Abdullah, a Greek. She was a slave bought to the Harem of the Caliph. As was the custom she was compelled to convert to Islam and was given a new name.
She became Al-Mustadi's favourite concubine. The Caliph manumitted her and married her. He had a palace built for her personal use in Baghdad.
Banafsha are described as loving and merciful. She did not give birth to a son, but she successfully supported her stepson
Al-Nasir
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Hassan al-Mustadi' ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن الحسن المستضيء) better known by his laqab Al-Nasir li-Din Allah ( ar, الناصر لدين الله; 6 August 1158 – 5 October 1225) or simply as A ...
to the succession before his brother prince Hashem. Because of this, she was favored by Al-Nasir when he became Caliph in 1180.
It was impossible for her to leave the harem, but she became known for her donations and charitable projects, which was a common method for the secluded harem wives of the Caliphs to create a public name for themselves.Ibn al-Sāʽī, Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad, ed. by Shawkat M. Toorawa, trans. by the Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature (New York: New York University Press, 2015) She died on 27 December 1201 and was buried in the mausoleum of Zumurrud Khatun in Sheikh Maarouf Cemetery.
She is known as the founder of the
Hanbali
The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...
Banafsha School in Baghdad (1174). She also built a bridge between the
Karkh
Karkh or Al-Karkh (Arabic: الكرخ) is historically the name of the western half of Baghdad, Iraq, or alternatively, the western shore of the Tigris River as it ran through Baghdad. The eastern shore is known as Al-Rasafa.Al-Rusafa disctrics in Baghdad.