This is a list of women who engaged in war, found throughout mythology and folklore, studied in fields such as literature, sociology, psychology, anthropology, film studies, cultural studies, and women's studies. A mythological figure does not always mean a fictional one, but rather, someone of whom stories have been told that have entered the cultural heritage of a people. Some women warriors are documented in the written or scientific record and as such form part of history (e.g. the Ancient Briton queen Boudica, who led the Iceni into battle against the Romans). However, to be considered a warrior, the woman in question must have belonged to some sort of military, be it recognized, like an organized army, or unrecognized, like revolutionaries.

Pirates and seafarers Anne Bonny and Mary Read sailed alongside John Rackham. On 22 October 1720, their ship was attacked by former privateer Jonathan Barnet. Bonny and Read alongside the crew are captured after a short battle.^ Druett, Joan (2000). She Captains : Heroines and Hellions of the Sea. New York: Simon & Schuster. Ching Shih, legendary "Pirate Queen" of China, famous for commanding over 300 ships and an army of 20,000 to 40,000 pirates. She lived during the 18th and 19th centuries. Gráinne O'Malley, legendary "Pirate Queen" of Ireland. She lived during the 16th century. Muirisc, daughter of Úgaine Mór (Hugony the Great), the sixty-sixth high king of Ireland, c. 600 BC to AD 500. Jeanne de Clisson, French Breton pirate who sided with the English during the Hundred Years war as an act of revenge for the execution of her husband by the French King. Rachel Wall, an American pirate with her husband George Wall she and her crew had captured 12 boats killed 23 sailors between 1781 and 1782 before retiring but was caught trying to steal and was executed on 8 October 1789 by hanging

Africa

Angola Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba fought and held off Portuguese control of present-day Angola for over thirty years during the early 17th century.

Benin history

The Dahomey Amazons (or N'Nonmiton, meaning our mothers in the Fon language), were a Fon all-female military regiment in Dahomey, an African kingdom (c. 1600–1894) located in the area of the present-day Republic of Benin. They were so named by Western observers and historians due to their similarity to the semi-mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia and the Black Sea.

Berber history Kahina or al-Kāhina (Classical Arabic for "female seer"; modern Maghreb Arabic l-Kahna, commonly romanised as Kah(i)na, also known as Dihya or Kahya) was a 7th-century female Berber religious and military leader, who led indigenous resistance to Arab expansion in Northwest Africa, the region then known as Numidia, known as the Maghreb today. She was born in the early 7th century and died around the end of the 7th century probably in modern-day Algeria.

Burkina Faso Yennenga was a legendary warrior woman skilled in spear and bow, considered by the Mossi people as the mother of their empire.

Egypt

Ankt may have originated in Asia Minor. Within Egypt she was later syncretized as Neith (who by that time had developed aspects of a war goddess). Cleopatra VII was a Hellenistic co-ruler of Egypt with her father (Ptolemy XII Auletes) and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. Her patron goddess was Isis, and thus during her reign, it was believed that she was the re-incarnation and embodiment of the goddess of wisdom. Sekhmet is a warrior goddess depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. Though her reign was primarily peaceful, the pharaoh Hatshepsut fought in several battles during her younger years. Nefertiti, wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten, has been at times depicted as smiting enemies in a manner similar to how a male ruler typically would. Ahhotep, wife of Seqenenre Tao II, was believed to have been in command of the army while her son Ahmose I was still young. Armenousa was said to have used her marriage entourage to defend Egypt during the Arab conquest. She is probably legendary.

Kongo Aqualtune was a princess of Kongo who led an army of ten thousand in the Battle of Mbwila, where she was captured. She was enslaved and carried to Brazil, where according to legend she escaped and founded the runaway slave settlement of Quilombo dos Palmares, or Angola Janga.

Somalia Arawelo was a legendary ancient Somali queen. The queen defied gender roles of the time. During her reign, Arawelo's husband objected to her self-ascribed role as the breadwinner to all of society, as he thought women should restrict themselves to merely domestic duties about the house and leave everything else to men. In response, Arawelo demanded that all women across the land abandon their womanly role in society, and started hanging men by their testicles.Shafi Said, The Legendary Cruelty.

Ethiopia Gudit (Ge'ez: Yodit, Judith) is a semi-legendary, non-Christian, Beta Israel, queen (flourished c.960) who laid waste to Aksum and its countryside, destroyed churches and monuments, and attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling Axumite dynasty. Her deeds are recorded in the oral tradition and mentioned incidentally in various historical accounts.

Ghana (then Gold Coast) Yaa Asantewaa was the Queen Mother of Ejisu (Asante Confederacy)—now part of modern-day Ghana. In 1900 she led the Ashanti rebellion known as the War of the Golden Stool against British colonialism.

Hausa history Amina Sukhera (also called Aminatu) was a Muslim princess of the royal family of the Kingdom of Zazzau, in what is now northeast Nigeria, who lived c. 1533 – 1610. Her military achievements brought her great wealth and power; she was responsible for conquering many of the cities in the area surrounding her seat. Sarraounia Mangou, chief/priestess of the animist Azna subgroup of the Hausa, who fought French colonial troops of the Voulet–Chanoine Mission at the Battle of Lougou (in present-day Niger) in 1899. She is the subject of the 1986 film Sarraounia based on the novel of the same name by Nigerien writer Abdoulaye Mamani.Alou, Antoinette Tidjani. (2009). "Niger and Sarraounia: One Hundred Years of Forgetting Female Leadership." Research in African Literatures 40(1): 42–56 (Spring 2009).

Yoruba mythology and history Oya is the Orisha of the Niger River. She is the warrior-spirit of the wind, lightning, fertility, fire, and magic. It is believed that she creates hurricanes and tornadoes, and serves as guardian of the underworld. Prior to her post-mortem deification, the historical Oya was a queen of the Oyo clan as the consort of Shango, its reigning king. She is often depicted with leopard-like spots, these being either war paint or ritual scarification. This is done for propaganda purposes, as the Leopard is famous in Yoruba folklore for its cunning. Efunroye Tinubu was a powerful titled aristocrat in Colonial Nigeria. As the first Iyalode of Egbaland, she and her private battalion fought against the Dahomeyans when they invaded Abeokuta in the 1850s and the 1860s.

Nubia/Kush (Sudanese) history The legendary Candace of Meroe (a title, her real name never given) was a warrior queen in the Alexander Romance who caused Alexander the Great himself to retreat upon witnessing the army she'd gathered. This however may be classified a non-historical account because Alexander never reached Sudan. Amanirenas, however, was a historical holder of the title of Candace who fought against the Romans after their conquest of Egypt.

Americas

Native Americans Nonhelema was a Shawnee chieftess and sister of Cornstalk. She was known by white settlers as the Grenadier or Grenadier Squaw because of her height. She promoted an alliance with the Americans on the frontier in Ohio. Woman Chief (c. 1806 – 1858) was a Crow chief and war leader in the mid-19th century. Born to the Gros Ventre people, she was adopted into the Crow. She gained renown in battles and raids, and assumed leadership of her lodge when her father died, becoming a leading chief. She married four wives and later participated in peace negotiations after the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. Running Eagle: she became a Blackfoot (Piegan) warrior after her husband was killed by the Crow. Colestah: In the 1858 battle of Spokane Plains in Washington, Yakama leader Kamiakin's wife Colestah was known as a medicine woman, psychic, and warrior. Armed with a stone war club, Colestah fought at her husband's side. When Kamiakin was wounded, she rescued him, and then used her healing skills to cure him. Buffalo Calf Road Woman: In the 1876 battle of the Rosebud in Montana, Buffalo Calf Road (aka Calf Trail Woman), the sister of Comes in Sight, rode into the middle of the warriors and saved the life of her brother. Buffalo Calf Road had ridden into battle that day next to her husband Black Coyote. This was considered to be one of the greatest acts of valor in the battle. Moving Robe Woman: One of the best-known battles in the annals of Indian-American warfare is the 1876 Battle of the Greasy Grass in Montana where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was defeated. One of those who led the counterattack against the cavalry was the woman Tashenamani (Moving Robe). Lozen (c. 1840 – 17 June 1889) was a female warrior and prophet of the Chihenne Chiricahua Apache. She spent most of her adult life fighting the Apache Wars alongside her brother Victorio and the legendary Geronimo.

Aztec mythology Itzpapalotl is a fearsome skeletal warrior goddess who ruled over the paradise world of Tamoanchan.

Tupi mythology Iara was a very skilled warrior who aroused the envy of her brothers. She accidentally kills them when they decide to attack her, so she is punished by her father by being drowned, but she is saved by the moon goddess, Jaci, and is transformed into a mermaid.

American Civil War Frances Clayton disguised herself as a man to serve in the Union Army in the American Civil War. Sarah Pritchard, who fought with the 26th Infantry of the Confederate Army alongside her husband, until wounded. She was sent home, whereupon she switched sides and fought guerrilla style for the Union. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and then led other escaped slaves into the northern union states and Canada. Tubman became the first woman to lead an armed assault during the American Civil War.

American Old West Calamity Jane was a frontierswoman and professional scout best known for her claim of being a close friend of Wild Bill Hickok. She gained fame fighting Native Americans.

American Revolution Deborah Sampson, first known female to fight in the American military (after disguising herself as a man) Molly Pitcher, nickname of an American woman or women who fired artillery during the American Revolutionary War. Sally St. Clair, Creole woman killed during the Siege of Savannah Tyonajanegen, recognized by the United States military as the first Native American woman to serve American Colonial forces during the Battle of Oriskany 6 August 1777

Mexican Revolution La Adelita is a folk song about a female soldier in the revolution who fell in love with Francisco I. Madero. Today, Adelita has become an archetype of women warriors in Mexico, and a symbol of action and inspiration.

Argentina – Bolivia Juana Azurduy de Padilla was a military leader during the Argentine War of Independence and Bolivian War of Independence. She was appointed commander of the patriotic Northern Army of the Revolutionary Government of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata after the death of her husband. María Remedios del Valle also known as the "Madre de la Patria" (Mother of the Homeland) was an Afro-Argentine soldier who participated in the Argentine War of Independence and eventually got recognized with the rank of captain in the army.

Brazil