"In Reality a Man": Sultan Iltutmish, His Daughter Raḍiyya, and Female Sovereignty in Medieval Muslim India

Sultan Raḍiyya, who ruled the Delhi Sultanate in northern India from 1237 to 1240, is a striking example of a woman who rose to power in a pre-modern Islamic society. As is commonly acknowledged, it was Raḍiyya’s father’s recognition and cultivation of her wisdom and ruling capacities – as well as his apparent naming of her as his successor – that paved the way for her accession to the throne. Relying upon medieval historical and literary sources, as well as feminist theory, this paper will offer an explanation for how Sultan Iltutmish (d. 1236) came to groom Raḍiyya as his heir and how she was able to rule in an environment in which the birth of daughters normally gave rise to disappointment and women had few, if any, avenues for authority. It will argue that despite medieval Muslim India’s assigning to women a status separate from and normally inferior to that of men, a metaphorical space existed in which women could identify or be identified as men. As in many non-Muslim societies, such an identification could become a means for facilitating a woman’s rise to actual power. For example, the sultan reportedly said of Raḍiyya, in justifying naming her as his successor, that “although she is in appearance a woman, yet in her mental qualities she is a man …” (Ahmad, Tabaqat-i Akbari, 1:75). Likewise, Raḍiyya cultivated a masculine public image in order to rule effectively. During the final year of her reign, she emerged from the seclusion required of women, donned the tunic and headdress of a man, and openly rode an elephant through the streets. Her rule, though brief, lasted longer than those of many of her brothers during a tumultuous time of transition.