Centuries before Al-Mansouri, women ruled and contributed to making Moroccan history

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Before Fatima Zahraa Mansouri came to the presidency of the Moroccan government, women had left their mark on government from Volubilis and Aghmat to Tetouan and Meknes. They were heirs to the throne, contributed to establishing states, managed cities, and negotiated with foreign powers. Therefore, Al Mansouri’s appointment in September 2026, as the first woman to hold this position, opens the door to restoring a women’s history whose roots extend beyond the borders of the modern state.

The positions of these women and their means of influence differed. Sayyida al-Hurra ruled Tetouan directly, while others exercised influence from within the palace or through religious status and tribal alliances. Their careers reveal that official titles do not alone tell the story of power, and that describing a woman as a sultan’s wife or mother may obscure a broader political role.

From protecting the heir to building the state

The story begins with Kenza al-Urbiyya, who played a prominent political role in the late eighth century and the beginning of the ninth century. She was the daughter of the Amazigh tribe of Urba, the wife of Idris I, and the mother of Idris II. After Idris settled in Volubilis, his marriage to her strengthened his connection with the tribe that supported his project. But his assassination put the emerging state to the test of survival, while Kenza was carrying his son.

She contributed to protecting the child and ensuring the continuation of the Idrisid family, alongside Rashid, Idris I’s servant, who took care of him. An academic study highlights its role in strengthening the state and bringing in groups from Kairouan and Andalusia, and links it to the Fez construction project. Her importance here lies in protecting the transition of rule and maintaining the link between the family and its tribal environment, although the available testimonies are not sufficient to describe her as the sole ruler of the country.

Centuries later, Zainab Al-Nafzawiyya rose to prominence in Agmat, the commercial and cultural city near Marrakesh. She married Abu Bakr ibn Omar, then Yusuf ibn Tashfin, and played an influential role in building the Almoravid state during the eleventh century.

Provided by the Oxford Encyclopedia of African History, she was a partner in building power. She possessed knowledge of urban society and its relationships, complementing the experience of military leaders. Sources say that she advised Yusuf on how to deal with the return of Abu Bakr, which helped him consolidate his leadership. Although some of its news is mixed with legend, its role in political advice remains clear in specialized studies.

In the fourteenth century, the Siksiou Lalla Aziza gained influence from her religious and social position in Siksawa in the High Atlas. She mediated between local groups and worked to calm their relations with the central authority, providing an example of a woman who influenced public affairs outside the court.

Sayyida al-Hurra... ruler of Tetouan and ally of Barbarossa

In northern Morocco, female power took a more direct form with the Free Lady, Aisha bint Ali bin Rashid. Her family was linked to the founding of Chefchaouen and to the Andalusian heritage, and her experience was shaped during the time of Andalusian migration and the intensification of Spanish and Portuguese pressure on the coasts.

She learned about governance during her marriage to Al-Mandhari, then assumed leadership of Tetouan after his death. Sources differ in determining the beginning of her rule, but they agree that her power ended in 1542. To strengthen her position, she used local alliances and family connections, and established a naval alliance with Khair ad-Din Barbarossa.

Her name was associated with campaigns against Iberian ships and negotiations for prisoners, and she was known in European novels as the Pirate Queen. But reducing it to this description ignores its responsibilities in managing the city and defending its interests.

When she married Sultan Ahmed Al-Wattassi in 1541, the marriage took place in Tetouan. This bore an indication of its political weight and the Sultan's need for the support of the north in the face of the rise of the Saadians. However, the alliance did not protect her from the power struggles that ended her rule the following year.

Palace women: diplomacy, urbanization, and throne struggles

During the Saadi era, Sahaba al-Rahmaniyah, wife of Sultan Muhammad al-Sheikh and mother of Abdul Malik, emerged. She used her contacts with the Ottomans to obtain support that helped her son reach power in 1576. Her experience reveals the role of female diplomacy in a dispute over the throne whose parties extended outside Morocco.

As for Masouda Al-Wazkitiya, known as “Lalla Aouda,” the mother of Sultan Ahmed Al-Mansur Al-Dhahabi, she gathered advice within the court under the auspices of Al-Omran. Its name has been associated with financing religious facilities and public facilities, most notably the Bab Doukkala Mosque in Marrakesh. Thus, its influence extended from the Sultan’s surroundings to the life of the city, without assuming direct rule.

With the Alawite state, Khenata bint Bakkar, wife of Moulay Ismail and mother of Moulay Abdallah, appears. Her academic training and ability to manage contributed to making her an influential advisor to her husband. After his death in 1727, she supported her son through tribal alliances and intervened in reconciliations. She also corresponded with European authorities regarding prisoners. She was imprisoned and her property confiscated during the throne struggles, and she paid the price for her participation in politics.

From protecting the Idrissi heir to leading Tetouan and addressing foreign powers, these biographies reveal women's presence at crucial moments in Morocco's history. Al-Mansouri’s appointment gives this history a new institutional chapter, with the roles of women restored whose influence goes beyond the family descriptions preserved for them in history books.