Töregene Khatun and Fatima

Töregene was the Great Khatun of the Mongol Empire for 4 short years between her husband's death and her son's ~election as the next Khan, 1242–1246. She was given to some noble as a wife early in her life and then when he was defeated she was given to another, who already had a wife. But, she gave birth to 5 sons and eventually her influence in the court increased. Her husband died in 1241 and when she became the Great Khatun a year later, she came into a sort of power. Like a lot of women in her position throughout history, her main goal wasn't really to rule herself - though she did for a while, and powerfully - but to make sure the next ruler was someone she chose and could trust. 

The first thing she did was to replace all his ministers with her own, and one of those new ministers was her slave, a Shiite Muslim woman Fatima. 

Fatima was a Tajik or Persian woman who was enslaved some time between 1216 and 1221 and was later acquired by Töregene. Eventually they became friends - or more. 

I first read this story in a book called The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford, which I highly recommend. He writes: “[Fatima] enjoyed constant access to Toregene’s tent.” 

It's hard to say whether their bond was romantic or just platonic, but as I was reading about them I couldn't help but think it was more than just friendship, and that line didn't help change my mind. 

After making her a minister, Töregene made sure Fatima got even more power at court, none of which was normal for women at the time and it made a lot of powerful people very unhappy. 

I wish I knew more about them, sadly, as it is, all I know is the ending of their story, which is brutal and one of those that shows the extent of human cruelty. Töregene's son, the new Khan, who was really only in power because Töregene made sure he would be, still felt like Fatima was in his way and demanded his mother turn her over to him to be killed. She refused and threatened to kill herself if he hurt Fatima but... he got her anyway. Töregene herself died a year and a half later. 

The reason this story is so sparse is because most stories about Mongol women were ripped out of "The Secret History of Mongols" and those that survive are often attached to the male stories. So the only reason we know this story is because Töregene's son hated Fatima so much that she became relevant to his own story. 

I wish I could link to online sources about them but aside from wikipedia the best source is probably the book I mentioned - also a great and well written source for a whole lot of Mongol queens history - and a book I haven't read but seems to be Google's favorite - The Tiger Queens by Stephanie Thornton, which seems to be somewhat fictionalized. 

Abram Petrovich Ganibal

Great grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, Ganibal, was brought from (probably) Ethiopia at the age of 7 because children of noblemen were taken as hostages in case their fathers misbehaved. (Wikipedia quote, warning for rape: "Ganibal's sister Lahan was taken into captivity at the same time but was so cruelly raped that she died during the voyage.")

I can't find out why, but he was requested by Russians, ransomed to them and was eventually adopted by Peter the Great and was his valet on journeys and military campaigns.  

He was taught languages, geometry and mathematics before he was sent to Metz, France, to study engineering and mathematics. In France he befriended Enlightenment thinkers and in a war against Spain rose to the rank of captain before he returned to Russia.

"After the death of Peter in 1725, Ganibal was exiled to Siberia in 1727, some 4,000 miles to the east of Saint Petersburg. He was pardoned in 1730 for his skills in military engineering. After Peter's daughter Elizabeth became the new monarch in 1741, he became a prominent person at her court, rose to the rank of major-general and became superintendent of Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia) a position he held from 1742 to 1752." (During his exile he was also sent to Chinese border, to "measure the Great Wall.")

His first wife was forced to marry him and when he found out she was cheating on him he had her imprisoned in horrible conditions for 11 years (after which she was forced to join a convent). While still legally married to her, he married another woman with whom he had ten children, one of which was Alexander Pushkin's grandfather. 

He is now best known as the great grandfather of Pushkin who wrote an unfinished novel on him, Peter the Great’s Negro.

Wiki and another source.