Queen Amanirenas – circa 40 B.C.
Queen Amanirenas ruled the Kingdom of Kush from 40 B.C. to 10 B.C., in the Nubian region, now modern-day Sudan.
When Roman emperor Augustus conquered neighboring Egypt in 30 B.C.—with plans to next invade Kush—Amanirenas launched a surprise attack on the Romans.
Leading an army of 30,000 from the frontlines, Amanirenas successfully captured three Roman-ruled cities.
But it wasn’t long before Rome retaliated, invading Kush, destroying the Kingdom’s capital and selling thousands into slavery. After years of bitter fighting and significant casualties on both sides, negotiations to end the war began in 24 B.C., culminating in a peace treaty five years after the fighting first began.
Although the hostilities ended in a stalemate, Queen Amanirenas—unlike many of her neighbors—was victorious in resisting conquest by Rome, never ceding large swaths of territory or paying taxes to the empire.
Amanirenas is remembered throughout the Nile Valley and beyond as the Nubian queen who conquered the Romans.
Queen Nzinga Mbande (c. 1583-1663)
Queen Nzinga Mbande was monarch to the Mbundu people who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in the 17th century.
Queen Nzinga Mbande was monarch to the Mbundu people who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in the 17th century.
An adept politician and skilled military strategist, Queen Nzinga Mbande was the ruler of the Mbundu people in what is now Angola.
With the growing demand for slave labor, Portugal had established a colony near Mbundu land to expand the slave trade.
Nzinga became queen in 1626 after her brother, the former king, committed suicide in the face of rising Portuguese encroachment.
But before she became queen, at her brother’s request, Nzinga met with the Portuguese to negotiate peace.
An adept negotiator, she formed a strategic alliance with Portugal in 1622.
Facing attacks from rival African aggressors looking to capture people for the slave trade, Nzinga’s pact with the Portuguese allowed her to fight enemy tribes to enslave for Portugal in exchange for weapons and an agreement that the Portuguese would cease slave raids on the Mbundu people.
But by the time she became queen in 1626, Portugal had broken its side of the deal. Nzinga refused to give in to the Portuguese without a fight. In 1627, she formed a temporary alliance with the Dutch—an enemy of the Portuguese—and led an army against them.
Through her leadership, Nzinga successfully held off the Portuguese forces for decades, personally leading her troops into battle—even while in her sixties.
Despite multiple attempts by the Portuguese to capture Nzinga, they never succeeded. She died peacefully in her 80s, after a long life of defending her people from colonial rule.
Queen Nanny (c. 1685-c. 1750)
Queen Nanny was the leader of the Jamaican Maroons, a community of formerly enslaved Africans who fought the British for their freedom.
As a child, Nanny was kidnapped from Ghana and enslaved in Jamaica. She escaped, joining other formerly enslaved people who sought refuge in the island’s Blue Mountain region.
By 1720, thanks to her exceptional leadership and military skills, she’d become head of the Maroon settlement.
That year she began to train her people in guerilla warfare.
Queen Nanny led the Maroons into dozens of successful battles, freeing over 800 enslaved people.
Her clever strategies allowed the Maroons to catch the heavily armed British by surprise and decimate their numbers.
By 1740, the British were forced to sign a peace treaty with the Maroons, guaranteeing their freedom.
In 1975, the government of Jamaica declared Queen Nanny a National Heroine and awarded her the title of “Right Excellent” for her strength and courage.
Her portrait appears on the $500 Jamaican dollar bill.
