List of women who led a revolt or rebellion

This is a list of women who led a revolt or rebellion. A revolt is an organized attempt to overthrow an existing body of state authority through a rebellion, or uprising.

Before 1000 AD

 * 185 BC Cleopatra.


 * In the 9th century BC, according the legendary history of Britain, Queen Gwendolen gathered an army and fought her ex-husband, Locrinus, in a civil war for the throne of Britain. She defeated him and became the monarch.


 * In 131 BC, Cleopatra II of Egypt led a rebellion against Ptolemy VIII Physcon and drove him and Cleopatra III out of Egypt.


 * In 42 BC, Fulvia, wife of Mark Antony, organized an uprising against Augustus.


 * In 14, Mother Lü led a peasant rebellion against Wang Mang of the Western Han Dynasty.


 * In 40, the Trưng Sisters successfully rebelled against the Chinese Han-Dynasty rule, and are regarded as national heroines of Vietnam.


 * In 60–61, Boudica, a Celtic chieftain in Britain, led a massive uprising against the occupying Roman forces. The Romans attempted to raise the morale of their troops by informing them that her army contained more women than men.


 * In 69–70, Veleda of the Germanic Bructeri tribe wielded a great deal of influence in the Batavian rebellion. She was acknowledged as a strategic leader, a priestess, a prophet, and as a living deity.


 * In 270, Zenobia, Syrian queen of the Palmyrene Empire led a revolt against the Roman Empire, Her forces took control of Roman Egypt, Arabia, and parts of Asia Minor.


 * In 378, Queen Mavia led a rebellion against the Roman army and defeated them repeatedly. The Romans finally negotiated a truce with her on her conditions.


 * In the late-10th century: Judith rebels against the Axumite Dynasty in Ethiopia.

1000 – 1899



 * 15th century Maire o Ciaragain leads Irish clans in rebellion.


 * In 1539, Gaitana of the Paez led the indigenous people of northern Cauca, Colombia in armed resistance against colonization by the Spanish. Her monument sculpted by Rodrigo Arenas stands in Neiva, the capital of Huila in Colombia.


 * In 1630, Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba from the Kingdom of Matamba led a series of revolts against the Portuguese. She aligned with the Dutch Republic, forming the first African-European alliance against another European aggressor.


 * In 1720–1739, Granny Nanny, a spiritual leader of the Maroons of Jamaica, leads rebel slaves in First Maroon War against the British.


 * In 1748, Marretje Arents leads the Pachtersoproer.


 * In 1763, Gabriela Silang led a revolution against the Spanish to establish an independent Ilocos, which was started by his husband, Diego Silang in after her husband was assassinated in 1763.


 * In 1778, Baltazara Chuiza leads a rebellion against the Spanish in Ecuador.


 * In 1780, Huillac Ñusca of the Kolla tribe rebels against the Spanish in Chile.


 * In 1781, Manuela Beltrán, a Neogranadine (now Colombia) peasant leads revolt against the Spanish Government and sparks the Revolt of the Comuneros.


 * In 1782, Bartolina Sisa, an Aymara woman who led an indigenous uprising against the Spanish in Bolivia, is captured and executed.


 * On October 25, 1785, Toypurina, a Tongva medicine woman rebels against the Spanish, leading an attack against Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.


 * In 1796-1798, Wang Cong'er is the leader and commander of the White Lotus rebellion in China.


 * In 1803, Lorenza Avemanay leads a revolt against Spanish occupation in Ecuador.


 * In 1819 Antonia Santos, a Neogranadine (now Colombia) peasant, galvanized, organized, and led the rebel guerrillas in the Province of Socorro against the invading Spanish troops during the Reconquista of the New Granada; she was ultimately captured, tried, and found guilty of lese-majesty and high treason, sentenced and ultimately put to death by firing squad.


 * In 1821, Laskarina Bouboulina, was a Greek   naval commander who led her own troops during the Greek War of Independence until the fall of the fort on November 13, 1822. Posthumously, she became an Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy.


 * In 1824, Kittur Chennamma led an armed rebellion against the British in response to the Doctrine of lapse. The resistance ended in her martyrdom. She was the first woman to fight against British governance and the kappa tax.


 * In 1831, Countess Emilia Plater creates her own group to fight in the Polish November Uprising. She becomes commanding officer of a company of infantry in the rank of captain.


 * In 1857–1858, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi was one of the leaders of the Indian rebellion of 1857. Begum Hazrat Mahal also led a band of her supporters against the British in the revolt.


 * In 1871, Gregoria Apaza, an Aymara woman, leads an uprising against the Spanish in Bolivia.


 * In 1896, Shona spiritual leader Nehanda Nyakasikana rebels against colonization of Zimbabwe.

1900 onward

 * In 1900, Yaa Asantewaa leads the Ashanti in rebellion against the British.


 * In 1950, Blanca Canales leads the Jayuya Uprising in Puerto Rico against the Federal government of the United States. After leading rebel forces, she was arrested for the murder of a police officer and the wounding of three others.


 * In 1958, Ani Pachen was a Tibetan Buddhist nun who led a guerrilla rebellion of 600 fighters on horseback against Communist Chinese tanks.


 * In 1986-1987, Alice Auma leads a rebellion against Ugandan government forces.


 * On January 1, 1994, Comandante Ramona commanded the occupation of the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas in an uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.

Non-violent revolutions and rebellions

 * Oct. 5, 1789, a young woman struck a marching drum and led The Women's March on Versailles, in a revolt against King Louis XVI of France, storming the palace and signaling the French Revolution.


 * In 1986, Corazon Aquino led the People Power Revolution that toppled Ferdinand Marcos.


 * In 2003, African peace activists Leymah Gbowee and Comfort Freeman organized Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace and led a revolt against violence by seizing a building and blockading the men inside. Their actions brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War, which led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, the first African nation with a female president.


 * In 2004, Yulia Tymoshenko formed the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc as the leader of Ukrainian opposition. Her leadership galvanized the crowds during the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.


 * In 2011, twenty-six-year-old Asmaa Mahfouz was instrumental in initiating the protests that began the uprising in Cairo and started the 2011 Egyptian revolution. She urged the Egyptian people to join her in a protest on January 25 in Tahrir Square to bring down Mubarak’s regime. She used video blogging and social media that went viral and urged people not to be afraid.


 * In 2011, Aya Virginie Toure organized over 40,000 women in numerous peaceful protests that turned violent in a revolution against Laurent Gbagbo in Côte d'Ivoire.