A patron of men: Sitt al-Mulk and the military at the Fatimid court

In this paper I will contextually analyse the multiple levels of engagement that are reported to have occurred between the princess Sitt al-Mulk and the military with a view to raise questions regarding the nature of authority that might have enabled Sitt al-Mulk to establish herself as a credible female leader in a men’s world, ‘a patron of men’. In attempting to answer these questions I will examine Sitt al-Mulk’s influence over members of the military apparatus in light of the reciprocal adherence to formal and informal rules of loyalty and obligation that prevailed in pre-modern Islamic courts, determined by the need to shape dynastic politics to mutual advantage