Dugu Qieluo, empress of the Chinese Sui dynasty (b. 544)
Dugu Qieluo or Dugu Jialuo (Chinese: 獨孤伽羅; 544 – September 10, 602), formally Empress Wenxian (文獻皇后), was an empress of the Chinese Sui dynasty. She was the wife of Emperor Wen, who, on account of his love and respect for her, as well as an oath they made while they were young, did not have any concubines for at least most of their marriage, an extreme rarity among Chinese emperors. She also bore him all his 10 children. However, she was utterly domineering and ruthless and was exceedingly powerful and influential during her husband's reign and assisted the emperor in running the empire. She was heavily involved in his decision to divert the order of succession from their oldest son Yang Yong to the second son Yang Guang (later Emperor Yang), and her influence in changing the succession eventually led to the fall of the Sui dynasty.