Shajar al-Durr
As a manumitted slave who was not of the Ayyubid line, Shajar al-Durr has the distinction as bring the first Mamluk ruler of Egypt and Syria. Before their deaths, Aybak and Shajar al-Durr firmly established the Mamluk dynasty that would ultimately repulse the Mongols, expel the European Crusaders from the Holy Land, and remain the most powerful political force in the Middle East until the coming of the Ottomans.