Gender and Power in a Turco-Persianate Epic Romance: An Exploration of the Agency and Representation of Warrior Princess Characters in the Muḥammad Ḥanafiyya Cycle

Vortrag von Sacha Alsancakli

This presentation explores a cycle of folk epics centered on Muḥammad Ḥanafiyya (d. 701), a key figure in early Islam and the son of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib. Muḥammad Ḥanafiyya appears as the hero of popular epics circulated in a wide range of Iranian, Turkish, and other languages across regions including Anatolia, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia—though most of these works remain largely unstudied. More specifically, I will focus on the role of women as a particularly compelling dimension of the Muḥammad Ḥanafiyya stories. The central part of this investigation will examine three characters—Mīne, Ẕī Funūn, and an unnamed princess—who appear as counterparts to the hero in three different stories. These women share a common archetype: all are princesses and daughters of infidel kings who eventually fall in love with Muḥammad Ḥanafiyya and convert to Islam. However, they are much more than mere love interests; they are also warriors in their own right and, in some versions, serve as his active partners in battle. That said, the degree of agency they possess varies across the narratives.

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