Sayyida Zumurrud Khatun

Zumurrud Khatun^[1] was one of Caliph al-Mustadi's concubines in the Abbasid harem. She was a Turkish, and was the mother of the future caliph al-Nasir.^[2]

By most accounts, Zumurrud Khatun is identified as a formerly-enslaved Turkish woman who became a prominent noblewoman during the later Abbasid Caliphate.^[3] She rose to this position through marriage to Caliph al-Mustadi.^[3] Zumurrud Khatun is also remembered as the mother of Caliph al-Nasir.^[3] She is described as being a pious woman and an active patroness of architecture and public works.^[4]

Her legacy as patroness was due to her restoration of public infrastructure and for building educational and funerary buildings.^[3] The Mosque and Mausoleum of Zumurrud Khatun were created at the commission of al-Nasir and his mother before her death in 1202.^[1] After her death, she was laid to rest in the mausoleum following a funeral procession.^[3]

Zamurrud Khatun was also actively involved in the construction of a madrasa. Furthermore, she was also remembered by many as an active member in politics and Islamic religious policies, a generous person devoted to Islamic teachings and law, and various other aspects.^[5] For instance, she is in history for spending 300,000 dirhams to repair water supplies and cisterns during the pilgrimage.^[6]

Various chronicles describe Sayyida Zumurrud Khatun as "a very devout woman" who pleaded with her son to free the famous scholar Ibn al-Jawzi. Zumurrud was herself a follower of Hanbali school.

She died in December 1202–January 1203,^[7] or January–February 1203,^[8] and was buried in her own mausoleum in Sheikh Maarouf Cemetery.^[9]