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State in the Iberian Peninsula, 1232–1492
The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe.
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The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe.
Muslims had been present in the Iberian Peninsula, which they called Al-Andalus, since 711. By the late 12th century, following the expansion of Christian kingdoms in the north, the area of Muslim control had been reduced to the southern parts of the peninsula governed by the Almohad Caliphate. After Almohad control retreated in 1228, the ambitious Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar rose to power and established the Nasrid dynasty in control of a sizeable portion of this territory, roughly corresponding to the modern Spanish provinces of Granada, Almería, and Málaga. By 1250, the Nasrid emirate was the last independent Muslim polity in the peninsula.
The emirate generally existed as a tributary state of the rising Crown of Castile, though it frequently warred with the latter and with other neighboring states over control of its frontier regions. Despite its precarious position, Granada enjoyed considerable cultural and economic prosperity for over two centuries and the Nasrids became one of the longest-lived Muslim dynasties in the Iberian Peninsula. The famed Alhambra palace complex was built during this period. The population of the emirate, swollen by refugees from the north, was more homogenously Muslim and Arabic-speaking than in earlier Muslim states on the peninsula, with a Jewish minority also present.
The political and cultural apogee of Nasrid Granada was in the 14th century, particularly in the second reign of Muhammad V. After this period, internal dynastic conflicts escalated. After 1479, Granada faced a united Castile and Aragon under the Catholic Monarchs intent on conquering it. In 1491, after the decade-long Granada War, the emirate was forced to capitulate. Muhammad XI, the last Nasrid ruler, formally surrendered Granada in January 1492, marking the end of independent Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.
Since the Muslim conquest of 711, much of the Iberian Peninsula had been under Muslim control. At its greatest geographical extent, Muslim control extended to most of the peninsula and part of present-day southern France. By the 10th century, under the Caliphate of Córdoba, the region was one of the most prosperous and advanced in Europe. Conflict with the northern Christian kingdoms was recurrent, while mounting civil strife led to the fragmentation of al-Andalus into smaller Taifa states in the early 11th century. This marked a precipitous decline in the power of Iberian Muslim polities and facilitated the centuries-long Christian Reconquista and the recurrent conquest of al-Andalus by North African dynasties based in what is now Morocco, commencing with the Almoravids in the late 11th century and followed by the Almohads in the mid 12th century.
The Almohad regime grew more unstable following the defeat of the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 by a coalition of Christian kingdoms from the north. In 1228, the Almohad caliph Idris al-Ma'mun, wishing to focus on retaining control of the Maghreb (North Africa), decided to abandon al-Andalus. The resultant power vacuum allowed local leaders to carve out their own small states, creating a third period of Taifa kingdoms. Of these leaders, the most powerful was initially Ibn Hud of Murcia (r. 1228–1238), who had rebelled against the last Almohad governors and managed to unite much of what remained of al-Andalus. However, in 1231 Ibn Hud was defeated by the Leónese and lost control of Badajoz and the surrounding area, which compromised his authority and reputation as a reliable defender of al-Andalus.
One of Ibn Hud's foremost military commanders had been a man called Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr, commonly known as Ibn al-Ahmar, who was born in Arjona. His position in the army reportedly aroused the envy of others who accused him of planning a coup against Ibn Hud, forcing him to flee to Arjona. Ibn al-Ahmar's origins were likely modest, but he seems to have acquired a reputation for piety and as a successful military leader. With Ibn Hud's position weakened by his defeats, the inhabitants of the Arjona area declared Ibn al-Ahmar as their emir after Friday prayers on 16 July 1232 (26 Ramadan 629 AH).
Ibn al-Ahmar was related to the Nasrids on his father's side and to the Banu Ashqilula on his mother's side. These two families thus formed the initial core of his small army, along with other volunteers and Andalusi soldiers who had previously served the Almohads. Other prominent families, such as the Banu 'l-Mawl of Cordoba and the Banu Sinadid of Jaén, joined them over the next years and thereafter remained attached to the Nasrid court.
With the Reconquista in full swing, the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon – under kings Ferdinand III and James I, respectively – made major conquests across al-Andalus, which the Taifa kingdoms attempted in vain to resist. Ibn al-Ahmar's new status attracted support from many Muslim towns in the region hoping for protection. The Nasrid kingdom thus took shape initially by communities consenting to Ibn al-Ahmar's authority, rather than being submitted by conquest. Jaén, Guadix, and Baeza accepted his authority quickly in 1232, while Almería accepted him 1238 and Malaga did so in 1238 or 1239.
Ibn al-Ahmar had more difficulty being recognized in larger cities, where his rule was seen as too harsh. Cordoba accepted him in 1232 for a few months and Seville accepted him for only a month in 1234. He was temporarily forced to acknowledge the authority of Ibn Hud again in 1234, in return for the latter's recognition of his authority over Arjona and Jaén.
Towards 1236, the Castilian offensive intensified and the strategic situation became increasingly precarious for al-Andalus. On multiple occasions, Ibn al-Ahmar responded by aligning himself with Ferdinand III, even against other Muslim rulers. When Ferdinand conquered Cordoba in 1236, Ibn al-Ahmar was his ally.
In Granada, which was under the authority of Ibn Hud, the local Banu Khalid family led a propaganda campaign on behalf of the Nasrids. A revolt successfully stormed the city's citadel on 17 April 1238 (1 Ramadan 635 AH). Ibn al-Ahmar was then officially declared the new ruler with the help of Abu l-Hasan Ali al-Ru'ayni, a former secretary of Ibn Hud. On hearing of this, Ibn al-Ahmar quickly came to the city. After taking direct control of it, he decided to make it his new capital instead of Jaén, as Granada was a more important city in al-Andalus and its location was more strategic: it was geographically more defensible, farther from the Castilian frontier, and had better access to the sea. Additionally, he chose to move the ruler's residence from the Old Citadel (al-Qasaba al-Qadima) of the Zirids on the Albaicín hill to a new citadel he founded on the Sabika hill to the south. This became the Alhambra (al-Qal'a al-Hamra, the 'Red Citadel').
Despite Ibn al-Ahmar's earlier alliance with Castile, Ferdinand III still attacked and captured Arjona in 1244. In the summer of 1245 he began the siege of Jaén, a more important and well-fortified town. Ibn al-Ahmar initially supported the defenders, but in March 1246 he met with Ferdinand and negotiated a new treaty. In the Treaty of Jaén, referred to in Arabic sources as al-silm al-kabir ('the great peace'), Ibn al-Ahmar agreed to surrender Jaén and to become Ferdinand's vassal, while Castile recognized the existence of the Emirate of Granada as a state and agreed to a twenty-year truce. In 1248, Ibn al-Ahmar actively aided Ferdinand in his successful siege of Seville by sending his own military contingent to assist the Castilians.
The fall of Seville and the long-term truce with Castile effectively established the political map of the region until the 15th century. The peace allowed the Nasrid emirate to consolidate its territory and build up its governing institutions. While Granada's vassalage is emphasized by Christian sources, in practice Ibn al-Ahmar pledged allegiance to different suzerains at different times, depending on what was tactically advantageous. Aside from Ibn Hud in 1234, on subsequent occasions he also declared his allegiance to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad (before 1244), to the Almohad caliph Abd al-Wahid II al-Rashid (also before 1244), and to the Hafsids in Tunis (in 1242 and 1264). Arabic sources do not mention his vassalage to Castile. In the long-term, the Treaty of Jaén still formed a basis for Nasrid relations with Castile, but the peace was often interrupted by wars, after which vassalage was often renewed.
The political history of the emirate was turbulent and intertwined with that of its neighbors. The Nasrids sometimes provided refuge or military aid to Castilian kings and noblemen, even against other Muslim states, while in turn the Castilians provided refuge and aid to some Nasrid emirs against other Nasrid rivals. On other occasions the Nasrids attempted to leverage the aid of the North African Marinids to ward off Castile, although Marinid interventions in the peninsula ended after Battle of Rio Salado (1340).
The population of the emirate was swelled by Muslim refugees from the territories newly conquered by Castile and Aragon, resulting in a small yet densely populated territory which was more uniformly Muslim and Arabic-speaking than before. The Alhambra palace complex, which Ibn al-Ahmar founded, was progressively expanded under his successors.
Ibn al-Ahmar reigned with relative peace and stability until 1264, when the Mudéjar revolt took place in Castile, lasting until 1266. Mudéjar is a term used to refer to the Muslims who lived under the rule of the Christian kingdoms at this time, among whom different communities lived under different circumstances. The rebellion of 1264 was wide-ranging but it did not involve the Muslims in the old territories of Castile to the north, who lived in stable communities and were relatively well-integrated into Castilian society. Instead, it involved the Muslim inhabitants of the Guadalquivir valley and of Castilian Andalucia, for whom the Castilian conquests of the 13th century had represented a major and still recent disruption of their communities. Some of these communities, like those of Murcia and Niebla, had been allowed to govern themselves under Castilian overlordship, while others were subjected to forced displacement and lived under harsher conditions. It's unclear whether Ibn al-Ahmar played a role in inciting the rebellion, but he did support it.
The rebellion represents the last serious attempt to reverse the Castilian conquests of the 13th century and break the Christian hold on the southern Iberian Peninsula. The conditions for this must have appeared favourable at the time. Ibn al-Ahmar was enjoying good relations with the Hafsids (based in present-day Tunisia) and the Marinids (based in present-day Morocco), while the king of Castile, Alfonso X, was preoccupied with other matters. Initially, the Marinids even sent a contingent to assist the rebellion, landing at Tarifa. A number of cities fell into Muslim hands, including Jerez, Utrera, Lebrija, Arcos, and Medina Sidonia. Alfonso X also had to contend with revolts by some of the Castilian nobles. However, his forces progressively took back control. In some cases, as in Jerez, this involved a full siege and a fresh campaign of conquest. In the end, the Muslim kingdoms of Granada and North Africa did not provide extensive assistance. By 1265, the Castilians were invading the Vega (valley) of Granada and Ibn al-Ahmar was forced to renegotiate peace. By the time the rebellion was over, the surviving Mudéjar inhabitants of Andalucia were mostly expelled and their towns resettled by Christians from other parts of Castile.
Ibn al-Ahmar's position was further threatened by the rebellion of the Banu Ashqilula in 1266. The latter were probably alienated by his decision to establish a line of succession through his sons Muhammad and Yusuf, which would distance them from the throne. They occupied Malaga and turned to Alfonso X for aid. Granada and Castile became embroiled in conflict and in each other's affairs, with Ibn al-Ahmar also supporting new Castilian rebels in 1272. The situation was not resolved by the time Ibn al-Ahmar died in 1273 and was succeeded by his son, Muhammad II (r. 1273–1302).
During Muhammad II's reign, a long-term pattern of diplomacy and geopolitical competition became evident, with the Nasrids, Castilians, and Marinids each playing with or against each other at various times. Each of these dynasties was also faced by other internal and external enemies. The Nasrids thus sought to forge a path forward by making or breaking alliances according to circumstances. Muhammad II also made major changes to the army of his emirate. In addition to local recruits, he recruited Zenata Berbers from North Africa, who thenceforth composed the most important element of the army and were known as the Ghazis, or Warriors of the Faith. Many were political exiles from the Marinid kingdom, including some from the Marinid family itself, and some were failed rebels against the Marinid sultan Abu Yusuf (r. 1258–1286).
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