Brilliant messages from the late physician and writer
Once the battle ended, Queen Tomyris ordered her troops to find Cyrus’ body and bring it to her. Once the body was located, Tomyris dipped the fallen general’s head into a container of his own blood in order to insult his corpse.
Queen Tomyris reigned over the Massagetae during the early 500s BCE. Her territory lay east of the Caspian Sea, in what is now Kazakhstan. She is known as the woman who brought Cyrus the Great’s winning streak to an end when she beheaded him in battle.
Alexander the Great is well known throughout the world, but he never would have become the historical icon we know without his mother, Olympias. Before Alexander became king of Macedonia, it’s thought by historians that Olympias set in motion the murders of the former king, his second wife, and all of their children, leaving only Alexander to take the throne.
During Persia’s invasion of Greece, Artemisia fought with the Persians. She commanded five ships during the Battle of Salamis, a naval battle in which the Greek forces overwhelmed the Persian navy. Artemisia was the only commander who advised Xerxes not to go through with the attack, and he deeply regretted not heeding her advice.
As soon as Fu Hao broke the mold and became a general in the Shang army, it became obvious she was one of the greatest military minds of the era. She commanded as many as 13,000 soldiers, and is now considered to be one of the greatest commanders in Chinese history.
Piracy was one of Queen Teuta’s favorite tools for expansion, and the relentless looting of Roman merchant ships very quickly angered the growing empire on the other side of the sea. When Rome ordered Teuta to stop plundering their ships, she promptly refused, and set in motion the First Illyrian War.
Artemisia I, queen of the Halicarnassus, was a Greek military commander and advisor to Xerxes I, the king of Persia. She was highly respected by the king and all of her counterparts for her cunning, bravery, and knack for strategy.
Queen Teuta ruled over the Ardiaean kingdom during the third century BCE. She was a ruthless leader with dreams of a vast empire, and spent her short time as queen realizing this dream.
Fu Hao was a legendary military commander in China’s Shang dynasty, sometime around 1200 BCE. Before she became involved in the military, she was one of the emperor’s 60 wives.
Triệu Thị Trinh, known more simply as Lady Triệu, was a fearless Vietnamese warrior who lived near the turn of the third century CE. She famously led a massive revolt against the invading Wu Chinese forces and managed to hold them off for a number of months.
Queen of the Palmyrene Empire, based in modern-day Syria, Zenobia was responsible for recapturing Egypt from the Romans in the middle of the third century CE. Commonly referred to as the “Warrior Queen,” she was an extremely accomplished fighter and strategist.
After years of fighting, the Romans eventually conquered Zenobia’s kingdom, and she was taken to Rome in chains. Historians have yet to come to a consensus regarding her fate. One popular theory posits that the deposed queen died in prison, while another suggests she was shown mercy and lived out her days in a Roman villa.
Nakano Takeko was a legendary onna-bugeisha (the female equivalent of a samurai) from the 1800s. During the Japanese civil war known as the Boshin War, Takeko led the Jōshitai, an unofficial branch of the Japanese army whose name translates to “women’s army.”
Takeko and her fellow onna-bugeisha fought valiantly, but were eventually overwhelmed by the imperial Japanese forces. Takeko was shot, and as her dying wish she asked one of her comrades to cut off her head and bury it so that the imperial forces couldn’t defile her face after death.
When Boudica’s father, king of the Iceni tribe of Britons, died, the Roman imperialists immediately swooped in and took control of the region. Boudica, the rightful Queen of the Iceni, rallied her troops and set off on a bloody conquest of revenge.
Moving southward towards Londinium (modern-day London), Boudica and her fellow Celtic Britons tore three Roman cities to the ground. When they were finally overwhelmed, Boudica chose to take her own life instead of being captured by the Romans, but not before almost completely destroying Rome’s notorious Ninth Legion.
Lady Triệu died defending her homeland at the young age of 22. One of the only surviving quotes from this warrior goes, “I'd like to ride storms, kill orcas in the open sea, drive out the aggressors, reconquer the country, undo the ties of serfdom, and never bend my back to be the concubine of whatever man."
In the single year of her active duty, Pavlichenko collected 309 confirmed kills, and was well known by everyone on both sides of the war. The Germans even tried to recruit her on numerous occasions, promising to immediately make her an officer if she defected.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko, also known as Lady Death, was a Ukrainian sniper in the Red Army during World War II. Only 24 years old when the Nazis invaded Ukraine, Pavlichenko enlisted as a sniper in the 25th Rifle Division. She went on to become the most successful female sniper in history thus far.
The king and military leaders refused to take Joan seriously, but she persisted, and was finally accepted into the army after she rallied weary soldiers during the Siege of Orleans and turned the tides of the war.
Grace O’Malley, Ireland’s pirate queen, was as fearless as she was ruthless. Ruling over the Umhaill kingdom during the late 1500s, O’Malley turned her kingdom’s navy into a pirate outfit as soon as she gained power. She spent more time aboard her boats than on the land of her kingdom, and even gave birth on one of her vessels. The day after giving birth, she was already back to piracy and violence.
Legend has it that O’Malley sailed to England to speak with Queen Elizabeth I personally, in an attempt to convince the Queen that she should be allowed to continue her piracy as long as she stayed away from English ships. While this might sound like an outrageous request, not only did the Queen acquiesce, she even released O’Malley’s captive brother and son and absolved them of their crimes!
Mai Bhago disguised herself as a man and approached the deserters. With her inspiring words and energy, she rallied the 40 men together and convinced them to rejoin the war effort. Mai Bhago led the men back into battle on horseback, flying her own banner, and assisted the Sikh forces in the Battle of Mukstar. All 40 of her followers died in the battle, but Mai Bhago survived and earned the trust and admiration of Guru Gobind, leader of the Sikh army.
Sources: (History Hit) (TheCollector) (Live Science)
A Japanese history book known as ‘The Tale of Heiki’ describes Gozen as “a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot.”
After Alexander’s death, during the Wars of the Successors, Olympias commanded a fearsome army and protected the throne. On numerous occasions, the armies that came up against her would surrender and defect the moment they saw her face, without even attempting to fight.
An instrumental figure in the Hundred Years’ War and now a canonical saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Joan of Arc is one of the most famous warrior women in history. When Joan was only 14 years old, she began having visions of the archangel Michael, who urged her to assist the king of France in the war effort.
Another iconic onna-bugeisha, Tomoe Gozen fought and won countless battles during the 12th century CE. During the Genpei War, which raged for five years between 1180 and 1185, Gozen led armies of male warriors into battle. Despite this being virtually unheard of, there was never any fuss from among the ranks, as Gozen had proven many times to be a better warrior than the rest.
In the early 18th century, the Sikhs of the Punjab region in northern India were desperately fighting back Mughal invaders. Mai Bhago, a young girl eager to defend her homeland but unable to join the army due to her gender, found her opportunity when a group of 40 Sikh deserters slunk into her village.
History books are filled with the stories of the great male warriors and commanders who fought the battles and wars that shaped the world we live in today. Names like Alexander the Great, Hannibal, and Genghis Khan are instantly recognizable, and their exploits are well known. However, those stories only constitute a part of history. The stories of the fearless and valiant women who fought to reshape history on the battlefield are much less often told, but no less important.
Intrigued? Read on to learn more about history's most incredible warrior women.
History's greatest warrior women
These ladies meant business!
LIFESTYLE Battle
History books are filled with the stories of the great male warriors and commanders who fought the battles and wars that shaped the world we live in today. Names like Alexander the Great, Hannibal, and Genghis Khan are instantly recognizable, and their exploits are well known. However, those stories only constitute a part of history. The stories of the fearless and valiant women who fought to reshape history on the battlefield are much less often told, but no less important.
Intrigued? Read on to learn more about history's most incredible warrior women.