Tiye
Queen Tiye was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III, the mother of Akhenaten and grandmother of Tutankhamun. She was an important power during both her husband’s and son’s reigns.
Category Archives: Ruler
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Teriitaria II
Teriitaria II became Queen of Tahiti when she and her sister Teremoemoe married their second cousin King Pōmare II and later, she ruled as Queen of Huahine and Maiao in the Society Islands.
In 1815, Teriitaria became the Queen of Huahine and Maiao. The previous ruler, Mahine, had fought alongside her at the Battle of Te Feipī, and formally presented the government of the islands to her while he remained the resident chief until his death in 1838. She ruled as a largely absentee monarch while residing on Tahiti for the first few decades of her reign. Teriitaria had no children with Pōmare II, but Pōmare fathered the next two Tahitian monarchs, King Pōmare III (r. 1821–1827) and Queen Pōmare IV (r. 1827–1877), by Teremoemoe. Pōmare II died in 1821, and Teriitaria and Teremoemoe served as regents for Pōmare III and (after his death in 1827) for Pōmare IV.
Teriitaria was removed from the regency in 1828, but continued to have a significant role in Tahiti, including leading Tahitian forces in the Taiarapu rebellion of 1832. She joined her niece, Pōmare IV, in exile on Raiatea during the Franco-Tahitian War (1844–1847). During that time, she repelled a French invasion force at the 1846 Battle of Maeva, which secured the independence of the Leeward Islands.
Zenobia
Zenobia was a 3rd-century Syrian queen who led a revolt against the Roman Empire.
Yaa Asantewaa
As Queen Mother of Ejisu, Yaa Asantewaa led the Asante in a war against British colonization between 1900 and 1901, known as the War of the Golden Stool or the Yaa Asantewaa War.
Taytu Betul
Empress Taytu Betul ruled the Ethiopian Empire from 1889 to 1913, and she founded Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. Even before she was named empress, she wielded significant political power, leading the conservative faction at court, which resisted the modernists and progressives who wanted to develop Ethiopia along western lines and bring modernity to the country. Her opinon was highly valued by her husband, the often hesitant Emperor Menelik II, and she was a key player in encouraging her countrymen to stand up tp the Italians, of whom she was rightfully suspicious and who wanted to make the kingdom and Italian protectorate. When the Italians invaded, the empress marched north with the Emperor and the Imperial Army, personally commanding a force of cannoneers at the historic Battle of Adwa. The battle resulted in a humiliating defeat for Italy in March 1896, which was the most significant of any African army battling European colonialism.
When her husband’s health began to decline around 1906, Taytu began making decisions on his behalf, angering her rivals by appointing favorites and relatives to most of the positions of power and influence. Due to political maneuvering, she was forced from power in 1910, and a regency under Ras Tessema Nadew took over. After her husband’s death in 1913, Taytu was banished to the old Palace at Entoto, next to the St. Mary’s church she had founded years before, and where her husband had been crowned Emperor.
Many believe Taytu may have played a part in the plot that eventually removed Emperor Iyasu V (Menelik’s grandson from a previous marriage) from the throne in 1916, replacing him with Empress Zauditu. Zauditu, Menelik II’s daughter by yet another previous marriage, had always been close to her stepmother and invited Taytu to live with her. Although Taytu declined, she resumed her role as a political advisor.
Æthelflæd
Æthelflæd was an Anglo-Saxon warrior queen in 9th and 10th century England, who fought to protect her land from Viking invasion.
Begum Samru
Joanna Nobilis Sombre began her career as a Nautch (dancing) girl in 1700s India, and eventually became the ruler of Sardhana, a small principality near Meerut.
Agrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina was a powerful Roman empress and one of the most prominent and effective women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Shima
Known as a just and wise ruler, Shima was the queen regnant of the 7th-century kingdom of Kalingga on the northern coast of Central Java circa 674 CE.
Lý Chiêu Hoàng
Lý Chiêu Hoàng was the ninth and last sovereign of the Lý dynasty from 1224 to 1225 and the only empress regnant in the history of Vietnam.