10 African Queens From History

10 AFRICAN QUEENS FROM HISTORY The Mother Continent has a proud and fascinating history of diverse cultures stretching back thousands of years. This rich tapestry has been greatly obscured by the horrors of colonization. But before, during, and after, many remarkable leaders shined through. Several African kingdoms highly valued the contributions of women and had remarkable numbers of female leaders. The legendary Queen of Sheba, who is credited with founding the Ethiopian Empire. A Yorba Queen who made the ultimate sacrifice to save her people. A proud Queen of Angola who would not bow to foreign invaders. And a brave Asante Queen Mother who led her people into battle. Let's meet 10 inspiring African Queens from history. Queen Makeda of Sheba. The Hebrew Bible tells of a Queen who traveled to Jerusalem with a great retinue with camels bearing spices, gold, and precious stones. She came from the south to visit King Solomon of Israel who ruled from 970 to 931 BCE. The Queen came to prove the famously wise king with hard questions. After Solomon answered to her satisfaction, they exchanged gifts and she returned to her land. This is the only glimpse the Bible gives us of this mysterious woman. It is not clear where Sheba was located, though it is most often interpreted to be Ethiopia. The Queen of Sheba appears in many other writings and legends. The Aramaic text Targum Shinai tells of a bird whispering to Solomon that Sheba was the only kingdom on earth not subject to him and that its queen was a sun worshipper. The king attached a letter to the bird's wing and sent it to Sheba, commanding that she come to bow to him and submit to God. He threatened that if he must come to her, it would be at the head of an army she could never defeat. The Queen sent him all the ships of the sea, loaded with precious gifts, and 6,000 youths, all born at the same hour, clothed in purple robes. They carried a letter declaring that the queen herself would make the long trip to Jerusalem within three years. When she arrived, she thought the glass floor of Solomon's palace was a pool of water, so she lifted the hem of her dress. Solomon reprimanded her for having hairy legs. She then asked him a series of riddles in order to test his famous wisdom. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke mention her as a queen of the south who was black and beautiful. They tell of how she spent many days in Solomon's company. He converted her to the faith of Yahweh. Upon her departure, Solomon presented her with a ring. While traveling home, the queen gave birth to a son, whom she named Al-Hakim, son of the wise man, later called Menelik. When the boy was grown, he returned to Jerusalem and was welcomed by his father. Before he departed, Menelik stole the Ark of the Covenant. The power of the Ark protected his ship from storms on the Red Sea. King Solomon gave chase but was unable to catch his son. The Kibra Nagask, the Ethiopian national saga, claims the queen of Sheba as their own and gives her a name, Makeda. The modern Ethiopian royal family, aka the Solomonic dynasty, claims descent from Makeda and Menelik. Queen Amanirinas of Kush reigned over the Kush kingdom, modern-day Sudan and southern Egypt, from around 40 to 10 BCE. Her people's Meroitic language has been lost to time, but scholars believe that because she was given both titles, Kendahi, meaning queen, and Kur, meaning king, she was a ruler in her own right. Early in Amanirina's reign, her neighboring queen to the north, Cleopatra, got tangled in affairs with the Roman Empire, literally. Her lover, Julius Caesar, helped her secure the Egyptian throne from her sibling rivals. When he was assassinated, Cleopatra allied with Roman general, Marc Anthony, both in battle and in bed. This pissed off Caesar's heir, Augustus, and he invaded Egypt. In defeat, both Marc Anthony and Cleopatra took their own lives. Once the Romans had taken over Egypt, they marched south to claim Kush. But Queen Amanirinas led the Kushite army against them. She captured Roman cities, enslaved inhabitants, and destroyed statues of Emperor Augustus. The head of one bronze was buried beneath the steps of a temple. It was uncovered in 1910, and the glass and crystal eyes were uniquely preserved. It is now in the British Museum. A Roman historian described the Kushite Candace as a masculine sort of woman and blind in one eye. When she reached the city of Siene, she had twice as many soldiers as the Romans. But their axes, picks, and rawhide shields were no match for Roman artillery and cavalry. Amanirina's forces were defeated, and those who survived went on the run into the desert. The queen fled to the city of Napata. As the Romans approached, she sent envoys offering peace, but they ignored her and razed the city. Furious, the queen led another attack. She was again outmaneuvered. But the Romans suffered heavy losses. They had grown weary of fighting this relentless queen, and reluctantly offered her a peace treaty. Some Kush land in the north was given up to a militarized border zone. But the Kush kingdom remained independent for another 300 years, and was not subject to Roman taxes. Amanirina's bravery prevented the Roman Empire from expanding further south into Africa. Queen Moremi, Ajasora of Elife, was born in the 12th century. She married Orinion, King of Elife, and son of King Odudua, founder of Yorbaland in modern day Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Elife was being terrorized by Ogbo, or forest people, monstrous hairy creatures who came out of the trees on market days, seized women and children, and dragged them off into the darkness. Those left behind were at a loss for how to defend themselves against these evil spirits. Queen Moremi was determined to help. She pledged a great sacrifice to the spirit of the Esimirin River, in exchange for discovering her enemy's secrets. The next time the forest specters stole into the city, the queen allowed herself to be captured. She quickly learned that the invaders were not spirits, but men wearing suits of raffia palm fronds, and the people they captured were being sold into slavery. Because of her great beauty, Moremi was taken to the king of the Ogbo, who claimed her as his bride. She stayed long enough to familiarize herself with her captor's army, then she escaped and spilled the beans to her own tribe. They used the queen's hard-won knowledge to attack and defeat the Ogbo and secure the people of Ilaif. Moremi returned to the Esimirin River to fulfill her pledge. The river demanded that she sacrifice her only son. Weeping, she pled for any other payment, but in the end, she gave her child to the river. The whole kingdom grieved for the queen, and consoled her by offering to be her eternal children as a replacement for the lost prince, a promise they keep to this day at the annual Edai festival. In 2017, the tallest statue in Nigeria was erected to honor Queen Moremi's bravery, cunning and sacrifice. Queen Mother Adia of Benin was born in the late 1400s. Around 1504, Oba Osoluwa, king of Benin, saw her dancing and made her his concubine. She gave birth to a son, Esiji. He was only third in line for the throne, but while the three princes were playing together, the eldest brother was severely injured and left disabled and ineligible for the throne. Rumors spread that the accident had been caused by Adia. Her family was known to be skilled with the use of herbs. The second brother contemplated assassinating the third, but he feared Adia's witchcraft. In the end, Adia's determination saw her own son on the throne, but this put her at serious risk. According to tradition, the mother of the new Oba had to be sacrificed after the coronation, but Esiji hid his mother until he was able to change the law. He created for her a new title, Ayoba, or Queen Mother. She was the real power behind the throne. Her strategy, magic, and medicinal knowledge were essential to Esiji's success in court and on the battlefield. Towards the end of her life, she trained her son's wife in her mysterious ways so that her death would not disrupt the kingdom. Artists created many likenesses of the renowned Queen Mother. Three of them were looted from Benin by the British in 1897. A bronze head and an ivory mask are still in the British Museum, and another ivory mask is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Repeated pleas to return the important artifacts to Benin have thus far been ignored. Queen Amina of Zazou was born in the mid-1500s to King Nikatua and Queen Bakwa, rulers of the city of Zazou, known today as Zaria, Nigeria. She was favored by her grandfather, who carried her around and carefully instructed her in politics and military matters. Numerous suitors made generous offers for Amina's hand, including quantities of white and blue cloth and hundreds of enslaved people. In 1566, her father died, and her brother became king. Amina distinguished herself as a skilled warrior and equestrian. In 1576, her brother died, and she claimed the throne. She immediately instructed her people to sharpen their weapons and prepare for war. She led her fierce and well-trained soldiers on numerous campaigns to expand her kingdom. She became known as Amina the Conqueror. To protect her conquests, she had cities surrounded by earthen walls, many of which survive today. She created trade routes across North Africa, which connected Zazou to Muslim merchants in the north, and on to Europe. Amina solidified the region's prosperity for generations. Neighboring rulers paid her tribute. From Nupe, she received 40 eunuchs and 10,000 kola nuts. According to legend, in each new place she conquered, the queen would select the most handsome warrior left alive and take him to her bed. In the morning, her groom was beheaded. In 1610, after 32 years of marching and bloodshed, Queen Amina died in battle. Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Motomba was born in 1583. Her name means twisted because her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Her father, Colombo, was king of Ndongo, in modern-day Angola. He favored his bright and engaging child, and though she was not a rival to her brothers for the throne, the king lavished attention on her and trained her as a warrior and diplomat. She was also educated by Portuguese missionaries. By this time, European powers had taken over the coast of West Africa, enslaving people and exporting them to the Americas. They had exhausted the coastal population and turned their attention inland. In 1571, King Sebastian of Portugal ordered the systematic subjugation of the Ndongo people. King Colombo tried diplomacy and warfare to defend his people, but many were stolen away. When Nzinga was 34, her father died and her brother Mbandi inherited the throne. He was jealous of her exalted position, so he murdered her son, and had she and her sisters forcibly sterilized. Nzinga fled to the neighboring kingdom of Motomba. From there, she watched as her homeland fell into chaos, famine, and terror under her brother's inept rule. In desperation, he begged his sister to help him deal with the Portuguese. She agreed on the condition that he would give her a royal title. While most African leaders wore European clothes when meeting with the colonizers, Nzinga entered Luanda as a queen, wearing the finest African clothes and jewels, and escorted by a grand entourage. The foreign men were seated in chairs, however Nzinga was expected to kneel on the floor in subordination, so she ordered one of her servants to get on all fours and act as her throne. She was a talented negotiator and got the governor to agree to a peace treaty. The Portuguese recognized Ndongo's sovereignty and stopped enslaving its people, and Nzinga was baptized. When she returned home in triumph, she publicly berated her brother. In disgrace, Nbandi drank poison. Nzinga took the throne. She was technically regent for her nephew, Kaza, who had been raised as a hostage of the Mbangalas, a fierce, cannibalistic tribe that had allied with the Portuguese against their African neighbors. Nzinga flattered their chief and agreed to marry him. When the Mbangala arrived for the wedding ceremony, Nzinga seized her nephew, stabbed him to death, and shouted that she had finally avenged her own son's murder. Many objected to being ruled by a woman, so Nzinga wore men's clothing and took a harem of chibados, her culture's third sex. Many in the surrounding kingdoms who had escaped slavery or were vulnerable flocked to the powerful queen. When the Portuguese demanded that Nzinga return their property, she replied that there were no slaves in her kingdom, so they used her gender to undermine her authority and chase her out of her own kingdom. They installed a puppet king, forced the people to convert to Christianity, and enslaved them at their whim. Nzinga decided to join with the enemy of her enemy, the Dutch. They aided her in attacking the Portuguese. With axe in hand, she led her people into battle and took the city of Luanda. African leaders throughout the region, including the puppet king of Nodongo, submitted to her rule. But the Portuguese brought in reinforcements from Brazil. Nzinga fought them for decades, using guerrilla tactics, but eventually she resigned herself that this was a battle she could never win. So she went to Catholic missionaries, claiming she wanted to convert to Christianity. They were so enthralled by the queen that they acted as her emissaries to the Pope. With the church on her side, the Portuguese had no choice but to recognize Nzinga as queen of Nodongo and Matomba. Now in her 70s, she focused on rebuilding her kingdom. She promoted trade, resettled refugees of the slave trade, and encouraged women to bear children. She decapitated the leader of the Umungala tribe and brought his head to the Portuguese governor. She maintained her hard-won peace by building churches and entering into a monogamous Christian marriage with a handsome young warrior. Through it all, Queen Nzinga dressed fabulously in the clothes and jewels of her people and a golden crown. She died peacefully in her sleep in 1663, aged 82. Queen Nandi of the Zulu was born in 1760. Her father was the chief of the Elanjini people of modern-day South Africa. She was impregnated out of wedlock. By Prince Sinzanahonga of the Zulu, Nandi was humiliated, and her father demanded 55 head of cattle as payment for damages. The prince did love her, and after the birth of their son, Shaka, they lived together for a time. But the relationship broke down, and she left with her child. As the eldest but illegitimate son of a king, Shaka was a target. Nandi protected him from kidnap and assassination. During a famine, she walked for miles to get food for her child. The unwed mother found she was unwelcome in many places. She eventually found a home among the Mithithwa people. It was there that Shaka began to train. Under his mother's watchful eye, he became a formidable warrior. He had the bright idea to cut a traditional spear down into a short and deadly stabbing implement. Once he was fully grown, Shaka returned to the Zulu kingdom and confronted his half-brother, King Siguzhana. Shaka stabbed his sibling to death with his short spear, then claimed the throne. Under his leadership, the Zulu became even more militaristic, and conquered many neighboring tribes. His reign from 1816 to 1828 was a time of violence known as the Crushing, during which the region was depopulated. Many were unhappy with his despotic rule, and Shaka faced numerous assassination attempts. After being wounded, the king was treated by an English explorer. He was fascinated by European technology, and permitted the English to settle in his land. Shaka was fiercely loyal to his mother, and depended on her advice. When Queen Nandi died of dysentery in 1829, he was devastated. He ordered that no crops be planted or animals milked. Cows were slaughtered so calves would know the sadness of losing a mother. The king even ordered that pregnant women be executed. Faced with starvation and death, the Zulu rose up against their king. Shaka was assassinated by his brother, Prince Dengue. Shaka Zulu's alleged violence remains controversial. He is viewed as a national hero in South Africa, and many argue that stories of his cruelty were fabricated by the English to justify their conquest. Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar was born in 1778, the daughter of a minor prince. When she was a child, her father uncovered an assassination plot and alerted the king. In thanks, Ranavalona was wed to the heir to the throne, Prince Radama. He became king in 1810. Although Ranavalona was the most senior of his twelve wives, she was not favored, and bore him no children. After eighteen years of unhappy marriage, King Radama died childless. On his deathbed, he named his nephew, Rakotobe, as his heir. But the advisors present were nervous to announce the king's death. This gave Queen Ranavalona time to gather her own supporters. She claimed the throne, declaring it her late husband's will. Per royal tradition, she executed Prince Rakotobe and anyone else who challenged her. She thus became the first sovereign of the kingdom of Imerina. Ten months after her husband's death, she gave birth to a son, Radama. She announced that he was the child of her late husband. But anyone who could count assumed he'd been sired by her lover, the new prime minister. The queen was determined to get the British out of her kingdom, by any means necessary. She broke treaties and outlawed Christianity, returning society to traditional structure and religion. Within a year, nearly all Europeans had fled. The queen pursued a policy of self-reliance through the use of forced labor in lieu of taxes. She continued wars of expansion in an attempt to control the whole of Madagascar. She imposed strict punishments on anyone who opposed her will, including Tangina, a form of trial by ordeal, in which a suspect was forced to eat a highly toxic sea mango. If they died, they were guilty. If they vomited and survived, innocent. War, forced labor, and poisoning halved the population from 5 to 2.5 million. Those who survived were torn between Rana Valona's draconian rule or allowing European colonization. The French even tricked her son into signing an agreement that they would overthrow his mother if he would bend the knee to France. But the English managed to foil that plot. Queen Rana Valona died in her sleep in 1861, after 33 bloody years on the throne. Her body was placed in a silver coffin. Her son, King Radama II, reversed many of her policies and flung the doors wide for Europeans. Queen Mother Ya Asantewa of the Asante was born in 1840. In West African tradition, she was named according to the day of the week she was born, Thursday. Her parents were farmers in the Asante empire in modern-day Ghana. The area had long been at war with the British, who craved gold from the Asante mines and people for the slave trade. Ya's brother, Akwasi, became king of the province of Idueso. He appointed his sister, Queen Mother, to rule by his side. Asantehimas rank just below the king or Asantehini, and are spiritual leaders and regents. When her brother was killed in battle, Ya selected her grandson, Kofi, to be the new king of Idueso. He was a powerful ruler and supported the high Asantehini, Primpey I, as he continued to resist the British. In 1896, the British attacked Kumasi and arrested Primpey. His wealth was shipped to London, where Queen Victoria and museum-goers marveled at its value and craftsmanship. Primpey and his followers, including Ya's grandson, were shipped to a penal colony in the Seychelles. British Governor-General Sir Frederick Hodgson demanded that the golden stool be presented to him so that he could sit upon it. He had no understanding of the cultural significance of this throne, the most precious and sacred object of the Asante people, believed to harbor the souls of all Asante, dead, living, and yet to be born. Hodgson saw it merely as a spoil of war. Hodgson ordered his men to search all of Kumasi and dig up the ground, but they could not find the golden stool. What was left of the kings and chiefs met in secret to decide what to do. Many were resigned to handing over the golden stool, but Queen Mother Ya Asantewa, now in her 60s, stood up and addressed her fellow leaders. How can you, a proud and brave people, sit back and look while white men took away their king and chiefs and humiliated them? The golden stool only means money to the white men. If you, the chiefs of Asante, are going to behave like cowards and not fight, you should exchange your loincloths for my undergarments. To highlight her point, she fired a shotgun into the roof. Shamed for their cowardice, the leaders named Ya were chief. Many women refused to sleep with their husbands unless they fought with the Queen Mother. She led a force of 5,000 against the British in the fifth and final Anglo-Asante War, also called the War of the Golden Stool. Ya chased the British into their fort and laid siege for months, but eventually British reinforcements broke through, rescued Hodgson, and captured Ya and her generals. The Queen Mother was exported to the Seychelles, and the Asante Empire was officially made a protectorate Ya Asantewa died in 1921, in her 80s. Three years later, Asantehini Primpei I and his court were allowed to return home. They brought Ya's remains with them, and gave her a royal funeral in Kumasi. Though the Asante were defeated, the British never found the Golden Stool. If they had, it surely would be in the British Museum today. Instead, it remained with the Asante people, as a symbol of their strength and independence. Empress Zaditu of Ethiopia was born in 1876. Her name means She is the Crown. She was the eldest of two daughters born to King Menelik of Shewa, a region of the Ethiopian Empire. When she was ten, she was married to sixteen-year-old Prince Araya, son and heir of Emperor Yohannes IV. The princess endeared herself to her father-in-law, but her husband died of smallpox two years into their marriage. The emperor sent her home with a valuable gift of cattle. She was married off twice more, before finding love with her fourth husband, Army Commander Gugsa Wel. They had children, but none survived to adulthood. In 1889, Emperor Yohannes died. Zaditu's father, Menelik, high off a victory against Sudan, was able to take power. He died in 1913, and his grandson, Lijiasa, the son of Zaditu's half-sister, became emperor. The 18-year-old was widely disliked for his mental instability. He banished his aunt and many other popular royals from court. But after just three years, he was removed from power. Zaditu, now 40, was invited to take the throne instead. She became Ethiopia's first modern ruling empress. She was also a descendant of Makida, Queen of Sheba. She was given the title Queen of Kings instead of King of Kings. Zaditu was not especially happy on the throne. Though her nephew had treated her abominably, she regretted disobeying her father's wishes. She felt even worse when Lijiasa escaped and led an uprising. He was captured, forced to parade through the streets of Addis Ababa in chains, carrying a rock of repentance on his shoulders, before entering the throne room and kissing the empress' shoes to beg for mercy. Because of Zaditu's gender, her cousin, Ross or Prince Tafari, was named regent and heir. They differed greatly in their views. Zaditu was a conservative and adhered to the church and tradition, while Ross Tafari was a modernizer and believed that Ethiopia needed to open itself to the world. He sent Zaditu's husband away to govern a distant province, and the queen was lonely and depressed without him. She receded into fasting, prayer, and building churches, as Tafari claimed more power. Under his direction, Ethiopia entered the League of Nations and abolished slavery. In 1930, Ross Guksa led a rebellion against Tafari, but he was killed in battle. When the empress learned that her husband was dead, she fell ill with grief. To make her well again, she was ordered to take a bath in ice-cold holy water. The shock killed her. Empress Zaditu was succeeded by Tafari, who took the name Emperor Haile Selassie. Want even more tea on history? Check out the History Tea Time Podcast. 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