Fatima

Fatima (, , ) was an influential figure in the Mongol Empire as a favourite of Töregene Khatun, regent of the empire from 1241 to 1246.

Biography Fatima originated from the city of Tus, in modern-day Iran, close to the city of Meshed, and was a Shia Muslim of Persian descent.

At an unknown date she was either given as a slave or otherwise came in contact with Töregene Khatun, who was the daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan through her marriage to Ögedei Khan. According to the Persian historian and Mongol official Ata-Malik Juvayni, who was a contemporary of hers, Fatima was "a procuress at the market" When Koden supposedly died a few months later, Güyük insisted that his mother hand Fatima over for execution. Töregene refused and threatened that she would commit suicide to spite Güyük. In reality, Koden died after Güyük's reign.

Despite this, Güyük's men seized Fatima, tortured her, and executed her by sewing up all of her orifices and dumping her into water; Töregene's supporters in the imperial household were simultaneously purged. Within 18 months of Fatima's death, Töregene herself died under still unexplained circumstances.

In popular culture

Fatima appears as a minor character in the Italian-French film Marco Polo (1962) and in the Chinese television series The Legend of Kublai Khan (2013). A fictionalized version of Fatima features as the protagonist in the 2021 manga series A Witch's Life in Mongol by Tomato Soup, which was adapted into an anime television series in 2026.