Azarmiduxt

Boran (r. 630, 631-632) and Azarmiduxt (r. 630-631) were the only queens of the Sassanian Empire who ruled with the power of absolute monarchs.

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Berenice II

200s BCE Hellenistic queen, who ruled together with her husband Ptolemy III (r. 246-221 BCE), when the Ptolemaic kingdom was at the height of its power, dominating most of the eastern Mediterranean.

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Himiko

Queen Himiko was a 3rd-century CE ruler of the territory in ancient Japan known as Hsieh-ma-t’ai or Yamatai, later to be known as Yamato. Considered by the Chinese as the ruler of all of Japan or Wa, given her state’s power, she exchanged diplomatic embassies with the ruling Wei dynasty.

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Velu Nachiyar

Born in 1730, Rani Velu Nachiyar was the first Indian queen to actively oppose the British, though she would be far from the last.

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Chand Bibi

1500s regent of India’s Bijapur Sultanate and Ahmednagar Sultanate, who defended Ahmednagar against the Mughal forces

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Theresa Kachindamoto

Malawian paramount chief and activist who used her authority to dissolve over 3,500 child marriages and advocate for education for both girls and boys

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