Talk – 3 June – Professor Azfar Moin

Alan Qo’a, Fatima, and Mary: The Chinggisid Origin Myth and its Transformation under the Timurids and Mughals

Professor Azfar Moin 

Under Chinggisid rule, the origin myth of Alan Qo’a—a princess impregnated by a sacred and illumined being—articulated a sacred genealogy that was reshaped by later Muslim empires in Timurid Central Asia and Mughal South Asia. As this myth circulated, it revitalized Islamic and Christian narratives of sacred motherhood—of Fatima and Mary— and miraculous birth, enabling Muslim dynasties to style themselves as “sons of heaven.” In Mughal India, this synthesis reached its fullest expression: imperial mothers were cast as “Mary” and Western Christian iconography was publicly embraced alongside a commemoration of Alan Qo’a and her progeny. This cosmological and genealogical vision underpinned the Mughal imperial policy of sulh-i kull (total peace), which elevated the dynastic state above religious distinctions. By contrast, in Mamluk Syria and Egypt, these developments provoked a sharp reaction, producing some of the most forceful polemics against Mongol and Christian valorizations of sacred wombs.

Image: Alanquva and Her Three Sons, Folio from a Chingiznama (History of Genghis Khan)1596