• Queen Victoria

    Queen Victoria

    Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was the longest-ruling female monarch in history. We often think of her as the elderly widow of her later years, but the movie "The Young Victoria" reminded us that she ...

  • Razia Sultan

    Razia Sultan

    Razia Sultan (1205–1240) was the first female Muslim ruler in South Asia. Remembered as a brilliant general and politician, she reigned as the fifth Sultan of Dehli from 1236 to 1240. The ...

  • Tin Hinan

    Tin Hinan

    Tin Hinan (4th century) was the legendary queen of the Tuareg people, the matrilineal desert-dwelling Berbers who are famous for their blue clothing---and for the fact that it's their men, rather ...

  • Tomyris

    Tomyris

    Tomyris (6th century BCE), the warrior queen of the Massagetae, was the woman who defeated and killed Cyrus the Great. In revenge for Cyrus's trickery and the death of her son, Tomyris led her ...

  • Wu Zetian

    Wu Zetian

    Wu Zetian (624-705) was the only woman to ever rule as Empress of China. We show three depictions of her above: on the left is an antique portrait, on the right is a photo of an actress in a ...

  • Zenobia

    Zenobia

    Zenobia (240–274?) was the great Syrian queen of Palmyra who built a desert empire, conquered Egypt, and briefly gave the Romans a run for their money. She lost in the end, alas, and was paraded ...