Lalla Balqis also known as Lalla Bilqis (c. 1670 – ''after'' 1721), was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

slave concubine of Sultan

Ismail Ibn Sharif Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif (, – 22 March 1727) was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672 to 1727, as the second ruler of the 'Alawi dynasty. He was the seventh son of Sharif ibn Ali, Moulay Sharif and was governor of the province of Fez and the north o ...

(r. 1672–1727).

Life

She was of

origin. In 1685, when she was fifteen years old, she and her mother were travelling to the English colony of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, when their ship was attacked by

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

.Bekkaoui, Khalid., White women captives in North Africa. Narratives of enslavement, 1735-1830, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2010 They were taken to the slave market in Morocco, where she was given as a gift to Sultan Ismail. She was converted to Islam under the name Balqis or Bilqis, and included in his harem. Her mother was however released and allowed to return to England with gifts and a letter of peace from the Sultan to king

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

Concubine

Lalla Balqis came to be a favorite of the sultan. It was reported that "The English Woman, who knows how to keep in her Favour, as well as the King's, has also more Liberty than the rest, and commonly bears her Company." At one occasion, a group of English captives noted that when they were taken ashore to Meknès, they were offered "Rice, brackish Sherbet, and dry'd musty Fish" because Moulay Ismail's 'favourite Sultana's; an English Woman ... was that very Day brought to Bed of a Son'. As favorite, she had some influence over the Sultan, who sometimes agreed to her requests. Balqis was described as 'Affable, Courteous, and willing to do a good Turn' to anyone. She came to be known among Europeans as the influential "Englishwoman" in the harem, and European priests and diplomats often successfully petitioned her for mediation with the Sultan when working to achieve the release of Europeans enslaved in Morocco. She expressed herself always willing to help in such matters and often managed to mediate with the Sultan, securing the release of Europeans in exchange for the release of Moroccan galley slaves held in Europe, a task she officially referred to have performed in order to induce the king of France to manumit Moroccan galley-slaves. It was not unknown for Europeans to keep beneficial diplomatic contacts with "Reinagodo queens", former compatriots who had been enslaved in foreign harems. In a report from 1676,

Mohammed Trik Mohammed Trik was the 7th ruler and Dey of Algiers. He ruled eleven years as the first Dey of the Regency of Algiers Rule He reduced Ottoman authority to a ceremonial role, and ousted the Janissary aghas with the help of the Raises. In a re ...

, the

Dey Dey (, from ) was the title given to the rulers of the regencies of Algiers, Tripolitania,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards. Twenty-nine ''deys'' held office from the establishment of the deylicate ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, is noted to have been married to another former slave concubine, described as a "cunning covetous English woman, who would sell her soule for a Bribe", with whom the English viewed it as "chargeable to bee kept in her favour... for Countrysake". During the negotiations between Morocco and Great Britain in 1721, resulting in the Peace treaty of 1722, Lalla Balqis was one of the influential harem women who was given diplomatic gifts by the British ambassador Charles Stewart. The sultan, reportedly, granted Stewart 'everything he came for' because he 'loved the English'.Bekkaoui, Khalid., White women captives in North Africa. Narratives of enslavement, 1735–1830, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2010, p. 170

References

1670s births 18th-century deaths Slave concubines Moroccan slaves Alawi dynasty 17th-century Moroccan women 17th-century Moroccan people 18th-century Moroccan women 18th-century Moroccan people 17th-century slaves 18th-century slaves Slaves of the Barbary Coast 17th-century English people 17th-century English women {{DEFAULTSORT:Balqis, Lalla

Life

Concubine

See also

References