Banu Qasi
Encyclopedia
The Banu Qasi, Banu Kasi, Beni Casi or Banu Musa were a Basque
Muladi
dynasty that ruled the upper Ebro
valley in the 9th century, before being displaced in the first quarter of the 10th century.
or Visigoth
ic nobleman named Cassius
. According to the 10th century Muwallad
historian Ibn al-Qutiyya, Count Cassius converted to Islam in 714 as the mawali
(client) of the Umayyads, shortly after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
. After his conversion, he is said to have traveled to Damascus
to personally swear allegiance to the Umayyad Caliph
, Al-Walid I.
Under the Banu Qasi, the region of Upper Ebro (modern districts of Logroño
and Southern Navarra) formed a semi-autonomous principality. The tiny Basque emirate was faced by enemies in several directions. Although never realized, the threat of Frankish attempts to regain control over the Western Pyrenees was a real one. In actuality, even more menacing was the gradual eastwards expansion of the Asturian Kingdom
; while in the south lay the Caliphate of Córdoba
, ever anxious to impose its authority over the frontier regions. The Banu Qasi were a local, rather than a foreign-imposed, Muslim
regime, and while nominally clients of the caliphate, they continually shifted alliances among the Basques of Pamplona
, Aragon
and Ribagorza to the north, other muladi dynasties of the Ebro Valley, and the Umayyads to the south over the next two centuries. Though Muslim, they frequently intermarried with the Christian Basque nobility. Musa ibn Musa and Pamplona king Íñigo Arista were maternal half-brothers, while Musa also married Arista's daughter, and married a daughter and nieces to other Basque princes. The cultural ambivalence of the Banu Qasi is also demonstrated by their mixed use of names: for example, Arabic (Muhammad, Musa, Abd Allah), Latin
ate (Auria, Lubb), and Basque (Garsiya).
The Umayyads of Córdoba
sanctioned the rule of the Banu Qasi and repeatedly granted them autonomy by appointing them as governors, only to replace them as they expressed too much independence, or launch punitive military expeditions into the region. Such acts on the part of the Umayyads demonstrated their failure to ever fully resolve the problem of effective, central control of outlying regions.
. The Arab historian Ibn Hazm
listed the sons of Count Cassius as Fortun, Abu Tawr, Abu Salama, Yunus and Yahya. Of these, it has been suggested that the second may be the Abu Taur, Wali of Huesca
, who invited Charlemagne
to Zaragoza
in 778. Likewise, the Banu Salama
, removed from power in Huesca
and Barbitanya (Barbastro
) at the end of the 8th century, may have derived from Abu Salama. Subsequent leaders of the family descend from the eldest son, Fortun. His son, Musa ibn Fortun ibn Qasi, first garnered notice in 788, when on behalf of emir Hisham I of Córdoba he put down the rebellion of the Banu Husain in Zaragoza. The fate of Musa ibn Fortun is debated. An account of the 788 rebellion tells of Musa's murder shortly thereafter at the hands of a Banu Husain follower, yet a "Fortun ibn Musa" is said to have been killed in his own 802 Zaragoza uprising, and it has been suggested that this name may be an error for Musa ibn Fortun. However, Ibn Hayyan
also reports a Fortun of the Banu Qasi forming a coalition of the Christians of Pamplona, Álava, Castile, Amaya and Cerdaña to fight Amrus ibn Yusuf
at this time, suggesting that this is instead a son of Musa ibn Fortun overlooked by ibn Hazm
, whose genealogy provides most of what we know about the clan. In the next generation, Mutarrif ibn Musa, assassinated in Pamplona
in 798 by pro-Frankish
interests, was likely a son of Musa ibn Fortun. It was Musa's son Musa ibn Musa ibn Qasi whose rule brought the family to the peak of its power.
, with Musa's own son Lubb going over to the emir. Musa repeatedly submitted, only to rise again. By the end of this period of repeated rebellion he controlled a region along the Ebro from Borja
to Logroño
, including Tudela
, Tarazona
, Arnedo
and Calahorra
. The 851/2 deaths of Íñigo Arista and Abd er-Rahman II, as well as a victory over Christian forces at Albelda, gave Musa unprecedented status. The changed position was recognized by the new emir, Muhammad I of Córdoba
, who named Musa the Wali
of Zaragoza and governor of the Upper March. Over the next decade he would expand the family's lands to include Zaragoza, Najera
, Viguera
and Calatayud
, while also having governmental control over Tudela, Huesca
and Toledo
, leading him to be referred by a Christian chronicler as "The Third King of Spain". This status came to an end when in 859, Ordoño I of Asturias
and García Íñiguez of Pamplona joined forces to deal Musa a crushing defeat at Albelda, which passed into Christian legend as the Battle of Clavijo
. Emir Muhammad leaped on Musa's weakness, stripping him of his titles and restoring direct Cordoban control over the region. Musa died in 862 of wounds received in a petty squabble with a son-in-law, and the family disappeared from the political scene for a decade.
. In 870, a rebellion in Huesca initiated a chain of events that would bring the Banu Qasi back to dominance. In that year, Amrus ibn Umar of the Banu Amrus
assassinated the amil Musa ibn Galindo, son of the turncoat brother of Pamplona king García Íñiguez. The emir, Muhammad, sent an army north, but Amrus allied himself with García, and the Cordoban general, Abd al-Gafir ibn Abd al-Aziz, was killed before the gates of Zaragoza. The Banu Qasi sons of Musa, apparently under the leadership of eldest son Lubb ibn Musa, then allied themselves with García, and reestablished control over their father's possessions. First, the residents of Huesca called on Mutarrif ibn Musa ibn Qasi for leadership. In January 872, Isma‘il ibn Musa entered Zaragoza, and was there joined by Lubb, the two of them together taking Monzon
. Isma‘il also allied himself with the Banu Jalaf
of Barbitanya, marrying Sayyida, daughter of Abd Allah ibn Jalaf. Fortun ibn Musa occupied Tudela, whose governor the Banu Qasi imprisoned at Arnedo, then killed following an escape. Lubb also occupied and refortified Viguera.
The immediate response of emir Muhammad was to try to limit the expansion of the Banu Qasi by installing a rival dynasty, the Arab
Banu Tujibi
, in Calatayud, the one part of their father's possessions not reclaimed. In the next year, 873, Muhammad launched a campaign against the various northern rebels. He first bought off the rebels of Toledo with governorships, and this encouraged Amrus to offer his loyalty, for which he was rewarded with Huesca where he captured Mutarrif and his family, including wife Belasquita, the daughter of García Íñiguez of Pamplona. In spite of a desperate attack by the combined troops of his brothers, Mutarrif and three sons, Muhammad, Musa and Lubb, were taken to Córdoba and crucified. The next year, Fortun died in Tudela, while Lubb was killed in an accident in Viguera in 875. This left control of the family in the hands of two men, the remaining brother Isma‘il ibn Musa in Monzon, and Lubb's son, Muhammad ibn Lubb ibn Qasi, who is first known as a defender of Zaragoza against the emirate troops.
. Earlier hostage taking by all parties greatly complicated the situation. Hashim did not want to antagonize Alfonso who was holding his son. Hashim himself held Isma‘il, the son of Muhammad ibn Lubb, and he sent his captive and other gifts to Alfonso in return for his son. Muhammad would later ally himself with the kings of Pamplona and Asturias, and it was apparently he who raised the future Ordoño II of León
at his court. The struggle for power within the Banu Qasi family came to a head in 882, when Muhammad fought, near Calahorra, a 7000-man force of his uncle Isma‘il ibn Musa, and Isma‘il ibn Fortun, a son of his uncle Fortun. In the following internecine squabbles, Fortun's four sons were killed and Isma‘il ibn Musa was forced to retire to Monzon. From there he rebuilt Lleida
and routed an army sent by Wilfred of Barcelona
. Muhammad ibn Lubb, now the clear head of the family, was left in control of the majority of the Banu Qasi lands. In 884, the emir sent two military campaigns into the region and took Zaragoza, although chronicler ibn Hayyan
reports that Muhammad ibn Lubb had sold the city to count Raymond I of Pallars and Ribagorza
prior to its fall. This resulted in a consolidated Banu Qasi powerbase around Arnedo, Borja, Calahorra and Viguera, with Isma‘il holding an enclave to the east, around Monzon and Lleida.
In 885 and 886, Muhammad launched attacks against Castile
, in the first apparently killing count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos
, while the second was an attack on Álava
in which many Christians were killed. The latter year also saw the death of emir Muhammad I of Córdoba. Muhammad ibn Lubb tested his power against the new emirs, and they responded by again trying to balance Banu Qasi power in the region, giving Zaragoza to the rival Tujibids, and Huesca to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil
of the Muladi Banu Shabrit clan. The latter was shortly challenged by Isma‘il ibn Musa, whose sons fought a battle with al-Tawil's troops, Musa ibn Isma‘il being killed and his brother Mutarrif captured. Isma‘il died shortly thereafter, in 889, and al-Tawil and Muhammad ibn Lubb each took their case to emir Abd Allah for possession of Isma‘il's lands, the emir confirming the succession of Muhammad ibn Lubb. There followed a period of relative peace and collaboration between Muhammad ibn Lubb and al-Tawil. In 891, Muhammad defeated a Christian force at Castro Sibiriano, but he dedicated most of his efforts in his final years against Tujibid Zaragoza, initiating what would become a 17-year siege. In 897, the citizens of Toledo rose up and offered their city to Muhammad, but being occupied with Zaragoza, he sent his son Lubb. Muhammad was reconnoitering Zaragoza in 898, when on 8 October, he was caught by a guard who spitted him on a lance. His head was presented to the Tujibids, who sent it to Córdoba, where it was displayed in front of the palace for eight days before being buried with the honors due a brave foe.
, with the intent of forming a coalition with another rebel, Umar ibn Hafsun
, but before Umar reached Jaén, the news of his father's death at Zaragoza forced Lubb's return to Tudela, where he formally recognized the sovereignty of the emir, Abd Allah, in exchange for the formal governorship over Tudela and Tarazona. His return north found al-Tawil moving to take advantage of the temporary power vacuum and three weeks after his father's death, Lubb captured the Huesca ruler in a skirmish. To buy his freedom, al-Tawil ceded lands between Huesca and Monzon to Lubb, and agreed to pay 100,000 gold dinares for the possession of Huesca. Paying 50,000 immediately, he gave his son Abd al-Malik and daughter Sayyida as hostages to ensure payment of the second half. Lubb would relent, forgiving the remaining debt and returning the hostages except Sayyida, who he married.
Lubb ibn Muhammad continued his father's siege of Zaragoza, but found himself drawn in other directions. Perhaps in 900, Alfonso III, in conjunction with Fortún Garcés of Pamplona, launched a raid against Tarazona, in Lubb's realm, which he successfully blocked. Then in 903, Toledo again rebelled against Córdoba, asking Lubb to take control. He sent his brother Mutarrif, who was proclaimed their lord. Mutarrif's fate is unknown, but by 906, he had been replaced by Lubb's kinsman Muhammed ibn Isma‘il, son of Isma‘il ibn Musa, who was then assassinated. Alfonso again attacked Lubb's lands, laying siege to Grañón, but was forced to lift the siege when Lubb moved with an army toward Alava. This threat neutralized, Lubb turned toward Pallars, ravaging the lands, killing hundreds and taking a thousand captives, including Isarno
, Count Raymond's son, who was kept in Tudela for a decade before being freed.
In 905, a coalition of the King of Asturias, the counts of Aragon and Pallars, and, it is sometimes claimed, Lubb ibn Muhammad, engineered a coup in Navarre that brought Sancho Garcés
to the throne in place of Fortún Garcés. Two years later, Lubb launched an attack on Pamplona and fought at "Liédena" on 30 September 907, resulting in a total rout of the Banu Qasi forces, while Lubb was killed. The transcendent battle marked a permanent change in the regional balance, Sancho's Pamplona becoming a major regional power, while it initiated the final decline of the Banu Qasi.
. Al-Tawil retook the lands he had lost, and proceeded to overrun the family's eastern enclave, taking Barbastro and Lleida. Monzon was briefly controlled by Lubb's brother Yunis ibn Muhammad, but he could not hold it, and Monzon too fell to the al-Tawil. In the reduced western lands, Lubb was succeeded by brother Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Qasi. In 911, Abd Allah and al-Tawil jointly, along with al-Tawil's brother-in-law Galindo Aznárez II of Aragon
, attacked Pamplona. After destroying several castles, they developed cold feet and withdrew, but were caught by Sancho. Al-Tawil defected and escaped, while Galindo was crushed and forced to recognize Sancho as feudal sovereign, ending the autonomy of the Aragon. Arab sources describe Abd Allah's rear-guard action at Luesia as a victory, but if so it was only a tactical victory and he immediately retreated south. In 914, Sancho turned the tables, marching into the heart of the Banu Qasi homeland, taking Arnedo and attacking Calahorra. In the next year, 915, Sancho turned toward Tudela, and there captured Abd Allah, killing a thousand of his best men. Mutarrif ibn Muhammad ibn Qasi, Abd Allah's brother, rushed to relieve the city, and Abd Allah was ransomed, his daughter Urraca and probably son Fortun ibn Abd Allah being given as hostages. However, two months later Abd Allah was assassinated, it is said, through the machinations of Sancho.
The only bright spot for the family in this period happened in the east. In 913, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil died, and the next year, the residents of Monzon rejected his son Amrus ibn Muhammad, and invited the Banu Qasi to return in the person of Muhammad ibn Lubb, son of Lubb ibn Muhammad. After a brief siege, he was able to reclaim the city for his family, as well as Lleida.
In the west, Mutarrif ibn Muhammad and his nephew Muhammad ibn Abd Allah struggled for dominance. The latter proved victorious, killing Mutarrif in 916. Since the death of Lubb in 907, the Banu Qasi had been left fractured and weakened in the face of two resurgent powers: to the north and west, a collaboration between the new king of León
, Ordoño II
, and Sancho I of Navarre brought a strong army south, ravaging the Banu Qasi lands around Viguera, Najera and Tudela in 918, while the young and energetic Abd ar-Rahman III, who was to temporarily reverse the centrifugal forces at work in the Emirate, soon to be Caliphate of Córdoba
, sent armies north, routing the Christians. The next year the two Banu Qasi leaders, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah and Muhammads ibn Lubb, attacked the Banu al-Tawil at Barbastro, but Sancho took advantage of this, and allying himself with his cousin Bernard of Ribagorza and the Banu al-Tawil, he attacked and burned Monzon, which was hence lost to the Banu Qasi. In 920, the emir, Abd ar-Rahman III, personally led the Cordoban army north, and forced Sancho to abandon fortifications he had been building. After some maneuvering the emir met the armies of Ordoño and Sancho, and defeated them at Valdejunquera. In 923, the Christian allies brought another force south, and while Muhammad ibn Abd Allah formed a coalition of local nobles to resist it, their armies were dispersed and Viguera and Najera fell. Like his father, Muhammad was captured, then assassinated on Sancho's orders, and when Abd ar-Rahman launched another punitive campaign the next year, on his return to Tudela he removed the Banu Qasi and sent them to Córdoba, placing their old rivals the Tujibids of Zaragoza in their place.
After 923, only the eastern enclave encompassing Lleida and the castles of Balaguer, Barbastro and Ayera were in the hands of the family. However, one by one these expelled Muhammad ibn Lubb ibn Qasi and turned to the Tujibids for leadership, leaving him only Ayera in 928, when Jimeno Garcés, the new king of Navarre, intervened on his behalf in opposition to Hasim ibn Muhammad al-Tujibi. The next year, Muhammad fell victim to an ambush and was killed by his brother-in-law "Raymond of Pallars".
was founded by Abd Allah ibn Qasim. He was of a convert family that claimed a tribal affiliation with the Yamanī/Fíhrī. In 1144, another Christian convert and Sufi
mystic from Silves, Abu-l-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Qasi
, called ibn Qasi, rose and extablished a Taifa state at Mértola
, expanding it to much of southern Portugal
, and he encouraged the successful move of the Almohads (to whom he would submit) against Seville
. They fell out and ibn Qasi
was assassinated in 1151 by his own men. Fortún Ochoiz
, a Navarrese who ruled La Rioja
in the first half of the eleventh century, may be a descendant of the Banu Qasi.
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
Muladi
Muladi
The Muladi were Muslims of ethnic Iberian descent or of mixed Arab, Berber and European origin, who lived in Al-Andalus during the Middle Ages. They were also called "Musalima" .-Etymology:...
dynasty that ruled the upper Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
valley in the 9th century, before being displaced in the first quarter of the 10th century.
Dynastic beginnings
The family is said to descend from the Hispano-RomanHispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
or Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
ic nobleman named Cassius
Count Cassius
Count Cassius , also Count Casius, kumis Kasi or kumis Qasi, was a Hispano-Roman or Visigothic nobleman that originated the Banu Qasi dynasty....
. According to the 10th century Muwallad
Muladi
The Muladi were Muslims of ethnic Iberian descent or of mixed Arab, Berber and European origin, who lived in Al-Andalus during the Middle Ages. They were also called "Musalima" .-Etymology:...
historian Ibn al-Qutiyya, Count Cassius converted to Islam in 714 as the mawali
Mawali
Mawali or mawālá is a term in Classical Arabic used to address non-Arab Muslims.The term gained prominence in the centuries following the early Arab Muslim conquests in the 7th century, as many non-Arabs such as Persians, Egyptians, and Turks converted to Islam...
(client) of the Umayyads, shortly after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....
. After his conversion, he is said to have traveled to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
to personally swear allegiance to the Umayyad Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
, Al-Walid I.
Under the Banu Qasi, the region of Upper Ebro (modern districts of Logroño
Logroño
Logroño is a city in northern Spain, on the Ebro River. It is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja, formerly known as La Rioja Province.The population of Logroño in 2008 was 153,736 and a metropolitan population of nearly 197,000 inhabitants...
and Southern Navarra) formed a semi-autonomous principality. The tiny Basque emirate was faced by enemies in several directions. Although never realized, the threat of Frankish attempts to regain control over the Western Pyrenees was a real one. In actuality, even more menacing was the gradual eastwards expansion of the Asturian Kingdom
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
; while in the south lay the Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...
, ever anxious to impose its authority over the frontier regions. The Banu Qasi were a local, rather than a foreign-imposed, Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
regime, and while nominally clients of the caliphate, they continually shifted alliances among the Basques of Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
and Ribagorza to the north, other muladi dynasties of the Ebro Valley, and the Umayyads to the south over the next two centuries. Though Muslim, they frequently intermarried with the Christian Basque nobility. Musa ibn Musa and Pamplona king Íñigo Arista were maternal half-brothers, while Musa also married Arista's daughter, and married a daughter and nieces to other Basque princes. The cultural ambivalence of the Banu Qasi is also demonstrated by their mixed use of names: for example, Arabic (Muhammad, Musa, Abd Allah), Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
ate (Auria, Lubb), and Basque (Garsiya).
The Umayyads of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
sanctioned the rule of the Banu Qasi and repeatedly granted them autonomy by appointing them as governors, only to replace them as they expressed too much independence, or launch punitive military expeditions into the region. Such acts on the part of the Umayyads demonstrated their failure to ever fully resolve the problem of effective, central control of outlying regions.
First rise to prominence
The speculated homeland of Count Cassius was a narrow strip across the Ebro from TudelaTudela, Navarre
Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second city of the autonomous community of Navarre. Its population is around 35,000. Tudela is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electrified railways serve the city and two freeways join close to it...
. The Arab historian Ibn Hazm
Ibn Hazm
Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm ) was an Andalusian philosopher, litterateur, psychologist, historian, jurist and theologian born in Córdoba, present-day Spain...
listed the sons of Count Cassius as Fortun, Abu Tawr, Abu Salama, Yunus and Yahya. Of these, it has been suggested that the second may be the Abu Taur, Wali of Huesca
Abu Taur of Huesca
Abu Taur was the Wali of Huesca in 777, who joined Sulayman al-Arabi in offer his submission to Charlemagne and collaborated with Frankish forces in the unsuccessful assault on Zaragoza in 778. It has been suggested that he may be identical to Abu Tawr ibn Qasi, son of the eponymous ancestor of...
, who invited Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
to Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
in 778. Likewise, the Banu Salama
Banu Salama
Banu Salama Tudjibid family that governed the regions of Huesca and Barbitanya in the Upper Mark of Al-Andalus c. 780-800. In 800 Bahlul Ibn Marzuq, revolted in Zaragoza, taking the region and the Banu Salama were deposed....
, removed from power in Huesca
Huesca
Huesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....
and Barbitanya (Barbastro
Barbastro
Barbastro is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain...
) at the end of the 8th century, may have derived from Abu Salama. Subsequent leaders of the family descend from the eldest son, Fortun. His son, Musa ibn Fortun ibn Qasi, first garnered notice in 788, when on behalf of emir Hisham I of Córdoba he put down the rebellion of the Banu Husain in Zaragoza. The fate of Musa ibn Fortun is debated. An account of the 788 rebellion tells of Musa's murder shortly thereafter at the hands of a Banu Husain follower, yet a "Fortun ibn Musa" is said to have been killed in his own 802 Zaragoza uprising, and it has been suggested that this name may be an error for Musa ibn Fortun. However, Ibn Hayyan
Ibn Hayyan
Abu Marwán Hayyán Ibn Khalaf Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi , usually known as Ibn Hayyan, was a Muslim historian from Al-Andalus.Born at Córdoba, he was an important official at the court of the Andalusian ruler al-Mansur and published several works on history which have only survived in part...
also reports a Fortun of the Banu Qasi forming a coalition of the Christians of Pamplona, Álava, Castile, Amaya and Cerdaña to fight Amrus ibn Yusuf
Amrus ibn Yusuf
Amrus ibn Yusuf al-Muwalad was a Muwallad general of the Emirate of Córdoba and governor of Zaragoza.Amrus, a native of Huesca, and his kinsman Sabrit were servants of Aysun ibn Sulayman al-Arabi. The kinsmen joined Aysun's brother when Matruh al-Arabi rebelled and entered Zaragoza...
at this time, suggesting that this is instead a son of Musa ibn Fortun overlooked by ibn Hazm
Ibn Hazm
Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm ) was an Andalusian philosopher, litterateur, psychologist, historian, jurist and theologian born in Córdoba, present-day Spain...
, whose genealogy provides most of what we know about the clan. In the next generation, Mutarrif ibn Musa, assassinated in Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
in 798 by pro-Frankish
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
interests, was likely a son of Musa ibn Fortun. It was Musa's son Musa ibn Musa ibn Qasi whose rule brought the family to the peak of its power.
Musa ibn Musa
While Musa had been orphaned at an early age, there are hints of his probable activity in the 820s, probably including participation in the third Battle of Roncevaux. Still, his first explicit mention is in the 840s, when he launched a series of revolts, in collaboration with his maternal half-brother, the Pamplona chieftain Íñigo Arista. These were put down by Abd ar-Rahman IIAbd ar-Rahman II
Abd ar-Rahman II was Umayyad Emir of Córdoba in the Al-Andalus from 822 until his death.He was born in Toledo, the son of Emir Al-Hakam I...
, with Musa's own son Lubb going over to the emir. Musa repeatedly submitted, only to rise again. By the end of this period of repeated rebellion he controlled a region along the Ebro from Borja
Borja, Zaragoza
Borja is a town in the province of Zaragoza, community of Aragon, north-eastern Spain.-History:The town's origins date back to the 5th century BC, when a Celtiberian settlement, known as Bursau or Bursao, existed near the current ruins of the castle...
to Logroño
Logroño
Logroño is a city in northern Spain, on the Ebro River. It is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja, formerly known as La Rioja Province.The population of Logroño in 2008 was 153,736 and a metropolitan population of nearly 197,000 inhabitants...
, including Tudela
Tudela, Navarre
Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second city of the autonomous community of Navarre. Its population is around 35,000. Tudela is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electrified railways serve the city and two freeways join close to it...
, Tarazona
Tarazona
Tarazona is a municipality in the Spanish province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarazona and the capital of the Tarazona y el Moncayo Aragonese comarca.- History :...
, Arnedo
Arnedo
Arnedo is the third largest town in La Rioja, Spain. It is located near Calahorra, and has a population of about 14,500 people.Its economy is based on the shoe industry.-History:The area of Arnedo has been inhabited as early as the Neolithic Age...
and Calahorra
Calahorra
Calahorra, , La Rioja, Spain is a municipality in the comarca of Rioja Baja, near the border with Navarre on the right bank of the Ebro. During ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as Calagurris.-Location:...
. The 851/2 deaths of Íñigo Arista and Abd er-Rahman II, as well as a victory over Christian forces at Albelda, gave Musa unprecedented status. The changed position was recognized by the new emir, Muhammad I of Córdoba
Muhammad I of Córdoba
Muhammad I was the Umayyad emir of Córdoba from 852 to 886 in the Al-Andalus .-Biography:Muhammad was born in Córdoba...
, who named Musa the Wali
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
of Zaragoza and governor of the Upper March. Over the next decade he would expand the family's lands to include Zaragoza, Najera
Nájera
Nájera is a small town located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, Spain on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the Way of St James.-History:...
, Viguera
Viguera
Viguera is a municipality in La Rioja, Spain. It includes the villages Castañares de las Cuevas, El Puente, and Panzares.-History:The earliest documentary evidence is in the Berber historian Ajbar Machmua, who told that Abd ar-Rahman I recovered La Rioja in 759, after it having been conquered by...
and Calatayud
Calatayud
Calatayud is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza in Aragón, Spain lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital, Zaragoza, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial...
, while also having governmental control over Tudela, Huesca
Huesca
Huesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....
and Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, leading him to be referred by a Christian chronicler as "The Third King of Spain". This status came to an end when in 859, Ordoño I of Asturias
Ordoño I of Asturias
Ordoño I was King of Asturias from 850 until his death.-Biography:He was born in Oviedo, where he spent his early life in the court of Alfonso II. He was probably associated with the crown from an early age. He was probably raised in Lugo, capital of the province of Galicia, of which his father,...
and García Íñiguez of Pamplona joined forces to deal Musa a crushing defeat at Albelda, which passed into Christian legend as the Battle of Clavijo
Battle of Clavijo
The Battle of Clavijo was a legendary battle, supposedly fought in 844 near Clavijo between the Christians led by Ramiro I of Asturias and the Muslims led by the Emir of Córdoba. Saint James the Great, known to Spaniards as Santiago Matamoros , is reputed to have aided the vastly outnumbered...
. Emir Muhammad leaped on Musa's weakness, stripping him of his titles and restoring direct Cordoban control over the region. Musa died in 862 of wounds received in a petty squabble with a son-in-law, and the family disappeared from the political scene for a decade.
Sons of Musa
Following the 862 death of Musa, nothing is known of the family until 871. It is presumed that the members of the family associated with the Cordoban court and military campaigns, but no record of their presence there survives. Alternatively, it has been suggested that during this period, son Lubb ibn Musa ibn Qasi developed his friendly relations with Asturian king Ordoño. By the time the Banu Qasi reappear, they had lost control of most of their lands, being left with just a small area surrounding ArnedoArnedo
Arnedo is the third largest town in La Rioja, Spain. It is located near Calahorra, and has a population of about 14,500 people.Its economy is based on the shoe industry.-History:The area of Arnedo has been inhabited as early as the Neolithic Age...
. In 870, a rebellion in Huesca initiated a chain of events that would bring the Banu Qasi back to dominance. In that year, Amrus ibn Umar of the Banu Amrus
Amrus ibn Yusuf
Amrus ibn Yusuf al-Muwalad was a Muwallad general of the Emirate of Córdoba and governor of Zaragoza.Amrus, a native of Huesca, and his kinsman Sabrit were servants of Aysun ibn Sulayman al-Arabi. The kinsmen joined Aysun's brother when Matruh al-Arabi rebelled and entered Zaragoza...
assassinated the amil Musa ibn Galindo, son of the turncoat brother of Pamplona king García Íñiguez. The emir, Muhammad, sent an army north, but Amrus allied himself with García, and the Cordoban general, Abd al-Gafir ibn Abd al-Aziz, was killed before the gates of Zaragoza. The Banu Qasi sons of Musa, apparently under the leadership of eldest son Lubb ibn Musa, then allied themselves with García, and reestablished control over their father's possessions. First, the residents of Huesca called on Mutarrif ibn Musa ibn Qasi for leadership. In January 872, Isma‘il ibn Musa entered Zaragoza, and was there joined by Lubb, the two of them together taking Monzon
Monzón
Monzón is a small town in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It has a population of 17,050. It is located in the northeast and adjoins the rivers Cinca and Sosa.-Historical overview:...
. Isma‘il also allied himself with the Banu Jalaf
Banu Jalaf
The Banu Jalaf was a family that ruled Huesca and the region called Barbitanya on the Iberian Peninsula from about 802 to 862, and Barbitanya alone from 862 to about 882....
of Barbitanya, marrying Sayyida, daughter of Abd Allah ibn Jalaf. Fortun ibn Musa occupied Tudela, whose governor the Banu Qasi imprisoned at Arnedo, then killed following an escape. Lubb also occupied and refortified Viguera.
The immediate response of emir Muhammad was to try to limit the expansion of the Banu Qasi by installing a rival dynasty, the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
Banu Tujibi
Banu Tujibi
The Banu Tujibi were a dynasty that were appointed to govern Catalayud in 872, and in 886 were given Zaragoza. This they held as governors under the Umayyads...
, in Calatayud, the one part of their father's possessions not reclaimed. In the next year, 873, Muhammad launched a campaign against the various northern rebels. He first bought off the rebels of Toledo with governorships, and this encouraged Amrus to offer his loyalty, for which he was rewarded with Huesca where he captured Mutarrif and his family, including wife Belasquita, the daughter of García Íñiguez of Pamplona. In spite of a desperate attack by the combined troops of his brothers, Mutarrif and three sons, Muhammad, Musa and Lubb, were taken to Córdoba and crucified. The next year, Fortun died in Tudela, while Lubb was killed in an accident in Viguera in 875. This left control of the family in the hands of two men, the remaining brother Isma‘il ibn Musa in Monzon, and Lubb's son, Muhammad ibn Lubb ibn Qasi, who is first known as a defender of Zaragoza against the emirate troops.
Muhammad ibn Lubb
Over the next decade, following the deaths of his father and two uncles, Muhammad ibn Lubb ibn Qasi maneuvered to become the leader of the family. He resisted 879 and 882 campaigns from Córdoba. The latter was under general, Hashim ibn Abd al-Aziz, and Muhammad tried to persuade Hashim to unite with him against the Asturians, now ruled by Alfonso IIIAlfonso III of León
Alfonso III , called the Great, was the king of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spain"...
. Earlier hostage taking by all parties greatly complicated the situation. Hashim did not want to antagonize Alfonso who was holding his son. Hashim himself held Isma‘il, the son of Muhammad ibn Lubb, and he sent his captive and other gifts to Alfonso in return for his son. Muhammad would later ally himself with the kings of Pamplona and Asturias, and it was apparently he who raised the future Ordoño II of León
Ordoño II of León
Ordoño II was king of Galicia from 910, and king of Galicia and León from 914 until his death. He was the second son of King Alfonso III the Great and his wife, Jimena of Pamplona....
at his court. The struggle for power within the Banu Qasi family came to a head in 882, when Muhammad fought, near Calahorra, a 7000-man force of his uncle Isma‘il ibn Musa, and Isma‘il ibn Fortun, a son of his uncle Fortun. In the following internecine squabbles, Fortun's four sons were killed and Isma‘il ibn Musa was forced to retire to Monzon. From there he rebuilt Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
and routed an army sent by Wilfred of Barcelona
Wilfred the Hairy
Wilfred or Wifred, called the Hairy, was Count of Urgell , Cerdanya , Barcelona , Girona , Besalú , and Ausona ....
. Muhammad ibn Lubb, now the clear head of the family, was left in control of the majority of the Banu Qasi lands. In 884, the emir sent two military campaigns into the region and took Zaragoza, although chronicler ibn Hayyan
Ibn Hayyan
Abu Marwán Hayyán Ibn Khalaf Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi , usually known as Ibn Hayyan, was a Muslim historian from Al-Andalus.Born at Córdoba, he was an important official at the court of the Andalusian ruler al-Mansur and published several works on history which have only survived in part...
reports that Muhammad ibn Lubb had sold the city to count Raymond I of Pallars and Ribagorza
Raymond I of Pallars and Ribagorza
Raymond I was the first independent Count of Pallars and Ribagorza from 872 until his death. Early speculation made him a scion of the Counts of Toulouse, but he is certainly the "Regimundo comite, filio Luponi comiti . . . in pago Paliarensi" of a 920 document....
prior to its fall. This resulted in a consolidated Banu Qasi powerbase around Arnedo, Borja, Calahorra and Viguera, with Isma‘il holding an enclave to the east, around Monzon and Lleida.
In 885 and 886, Muhammad launched attacks against Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
, in the first apparently killing count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos
Diego Rodríguez Porcelos
Diego Rodríguez Porcelos , son and successor of Rodrigo, count of Castile, was the repopulator of Burgos and Ubierna. He did not succeed his father in Álava, however; that went to Vela Jiménez....
, while the second was an attack on Álava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
in which many Christians were killed. The latter year also saw the death of emir Muhammad I of Córdoba. Muhammad ibn Lubb tested his power against the new emirs, and they responded by again trying to balance Banu Qasi power in the region, giving Zaragoza to the rival Tujibids, and Huesca to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil
Muhammad al-Tawil of Huesca
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil was a muwallad Wāli of Huesca in the late-ninth and early-tenth centuries. Acting autonomously from his nominal masters the Emirs of Córdoba, he carried out his own foreign policy and warfare with both Christian and Muslim regional rivals, including the Counts of...
of the Muladi Banu Shabrit clan. The latter was shortly challenged by Isma‘il ibn Musa, whose sons fought a battle with al-Tawil's troops, Musa ibn Isma‘il being killed and his brother Mutarrif captured. Isma‘il died shortly thereafter, in 889, and al-Tawil and Muhammad ibn Lubb each took their case to emir Abd Allah for possession of Isma‘il's lands, the emir confirming the succession of Muhammad ibn Lubb. There followed a period of relative peace and collaboration between Muhammad ibn Lubb and al-Tawil. In 891, Muhammad defeated a Christian force at Castro Sibiriano, but he dedicated most of his efforts in his final years against Tujibid Zaragoza, initiating what would become a 17-year siege. In 897, the citizens of Toledo rose up and offered their city to Muhammad, but being occupied with Zaragoza, he sent his son Lubb. Muhammad was reconnoitering Zaragoza in 898, when on 8 October, he was caught by a guard who spitted him on a lance. His head was presented to the Tujibids, who sent it to Córdoba, where it was displayed in front of the palace for eight days before being buried with the honors due a brave foe.
Lubb ibn Muhammad
Muhammad's son, Lubb ibn Muhammad ibn Qasi, was born in 870, and was already active at the time of his father's death. In 896, he was refortifying Monzon when al-Tawil of Huesca tried his luck. Though being attacked by a larger, better equipped army, Lubb was able to rout al-Tawil's men, taking his brother prisoner. In January 897 he went to Toledo to take up the leadership offer the citizens had made his father. Back in the east, he launched an attack on Aura that led to the death of Wilfred of Barcelona. Returning through Toledo in 898, he next marched to JaénJaén, Spain
Jaén is a city in south-central Spain, the name is derived from the Arabic word Jayyan, . It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, with the intent of forming a coalition with another rebel, Umar ibn Hafsun
Umar ibn Hafsun
`Umar ibn Hafsun ibn Ja'far ibn Salim , known in Spanish history as Omar ben Hafsun, was a 9th century Christian leader of anti-Ummayad dynasty forces in southern Iberia.-Ancestry:...
, but before Umar reached Jaén, the news of his father's death at Zaragoza forced Lubb's return to Tudela, where he formally recognized the sovereignty of the emir, Abd Allah, in exchange for the formal governorship over Tudela and Tarazona. His return north found al-Tawil moving to take advantage of the temporary power vacuum and three weeks after his father's death, Lubb captured the Huesca ruler in a skirmish. To buy his freedom, al-Tawil ceded lands between Huesca and Monzon to Lubb, and agreed to pay 100,000 gold dinares for the possession of Huesca. Paying 50,000 immediately, he gave his son Abd al-Malik and daughter Sayyida as hostages to ensure payment of the second half. Lubb would relent, forgiving the remaining debt and returning the hostages except Sayyida, who he married.
Lubb ibn Muhammad continued his father's siege of Zaragoza, but found himself drawn in other directions. Perhaps in 900, Alfonso III, in conjunction with Fortún Garcés of Pamplona, launched a raid against Tarazona, in Lubb's realm, which he successfully blocked. Then in 903, Toledo again rebelled against Córdoba, asking Lubb to take control. He sent his brother Mutarrif, who was proclaimed their lord. Mutarrif's fate is unknown, but by 906, he had been replaced by Lubb's kinsman Muhammed ibn Isma‘il, son of Isma‘il ibn Musa, who was then assassinated. Alfonso again attacked Lubb's lands, laying siege to Grañón, but was forced to lift the siege when Lubb moved with an army toward Alava. This threat neutralized, Lubb turned toward Pallars, ravaging the lands, killing hundreds and taking a thousand captives, including Isarno
Isarn of Pallars
Isarn was the Count of Pallars from 920 until his death, and effectively a sovereign prince. He was the eldest of four sons of Raymond I, Count of Pallars and Ribagorza. With his younger brother Llop he co-ruled Pallars after his father's death in 920. Their brothers Bernard and Miró co-governed...
, Count Raymond's son, who was kept in Tudela for a decade before being freed.
In 905, a coalition of the King of Asturias, the counts of Aragon and Pallars, and, it is sometimes claimed, Lubb ibn Muhammad, engineered a coup in Navarre that brought Sancho Garcés
Sancho I of Pamplona
Sancho I Garcés was king of Pamplona from 905 to 925. He was a son of García Jiménez, who was king of "another part of the kingdom" of Pamplona and Dadildis de Pallars, his second wife...
to the throne in place of Fortún Garcés. Two years later, Lubb launched an attack on Pamplona and fought at "Liédena" on 30 September 907, resulting in a total rout of the Banu Qasi forces, while Lubb was killed. The transcendent battle marked a permanent change in the regional balance, Sancho's Pamplona becoming a major regional power, while it initiated the final decline of the Banu Qasi.
Decline and extermination
With the fall of Lubb, his local rivals immediately fell upon the Banu Qasi lands. Sancho descended toward Calahorra. The Tujibids finally broke the siege of Zaragoza and captured EjeaEjea de los Caballeros
Ejea de los Caballeros is a town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, part of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is one of the five main towns in the Comarca de las Cinco Villas...
. Al-Tawil retook the lands he had lost, and proceeded to overrun the family's eastern enclave, taking Barbastro and Lleida. Monzon was briefly controlled by Lubb's brother Yunis ibn Muhammad, but he could not hold it, and Monzon too fell to the al-Tawil. In the reduced western lands, Lubb was succeeded by brother Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Qasi. In 911, Abd Allah and al-Tawil jointly, along with al-Tawil's brother-in-law Galindo Aznárez II of Aragon
County of Aragon
The County of Aragon or Jaca was a small Frankish marcher county in the central Pyrenean valley of the Aragon river, comprising Ansó, Echo, and Canfranc and centred on the small town of Jaca...
, attacked Pamplona. After destroying several castles, they developed cold feet and withdrew, but were caught by Sancho. Al-Tawil defected and escaped, while Galindo was crushed and forced to recognize Sancho as feudal sovereign, ending the autonomy of the Aragon. Arab sources describe Abd Allah's rear-guard action at Luesia as a victory, but if so it was only a tactical victory and he immediately retreated south. In 914, Sancho turned the tables, marching into the heart of the Banu Qasi homeland, taking Arnedo and attacking Calahorra. In the next year, 915, Sancho turned toward Tudela, and there captured Abd Allah, killing a thousand of his best men. Mutarrif ibn Muhammad ibn Qasi, Abd Allah's brother, rushed to relieve the city, and Abd Allah was ransomed, his daughter Urraca and probably son Fortun ibn Abd Allah being given as hostages. However, two months later Abd Allah was assassinated, it is said, through the machinations of Sancho.
The only bright spot for the family in this period happened in the east. In 913, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil died, and the next year, the residents of Monzon rejected his son Amrus ibn Muhammad, and invited the Banu Qasi to return in the person of Muhammad ibn Lubb, son of Lubb ibn Muhammad. After a brief siege, he was able to reclaim the city for his family, as well as Lleida.
In the west, Mutarrif ibn Muhammad and his nephew Muhammad ibn Abd Allah struggled for dominance. The latter proved victorious, killing Mutarrif in 916. Since the death of Lubb in 907, the Banu Qasi had been left fractured and weakened in the face of two resurgent powers: to the north and west, a collaboration between the new king of León
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...
, Ordoño II
Ordoño II of León
Ordoño II was king of Galicia from 910, and king of Galicia and León from 914 until his death. He was the second son of King Alfonso III the Great and his wife, Jimena of Pamplona....
, and Sancho I of Navarre brought a strong army south, ravaging the Banu Qasi lands around Viguera, Najera and Tudela in 918, while the young and energetic Abd ar-Rahman III, who was to temporarily reverse the centrifugal forces at work in the Emirate, soon to be Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...
, sent armies north, routing the Christians. The next year the two Banu Qasi leaders, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah and Muhammads ibn Lubb, attacked the Banu al-Tawil at Barbastro, but Sancho took advantage of this, and allying himself with his cousin Bernard of Ribagorza and the Banu al-Tawil, he attacked and burned Monzon, which was hence lost to the Banu Qasi. In 920, the emir, Abd ar-Rahman III, personally led the Cordoban army north, and forced Sancho to abandon fortifications he had been building. After some maneuvering the emir met the armies of Ordoño and Sancho, and defeated them at Valdejunquera. In 923, the Christian allies brought another force south, and while Muhammad ibn Abd Allah formed a coalition of local nobles to resist it, their armies were dispersed and Viguera and Najera fell. Like his father, Muhammad was captured, then assassinated on Sancho's orders, and when Abd ar-Rahman launched another punitive campaign the next year, on his return to Tudela he removed the Banu Qasi and sent them to Córdoba, placing their old rivals the Tujibids of Zaragoza in their place.
After 923, only the eastern enclave encompassing Lleida and the castles of Balaguer, Barbastro and Ayera were in the hands of the family. However, one by one these expelled Muhammad ibn Lubb ibn Qasi and turned to the Tujibids for leadership, leaving him only Ayera in 928, when Jimeno Garcés, the new king of Navarre, intervened on his behalf in opposition to Hasim ibn Muhammad al-Tujibi. The next year, Muhammad fell victim to an ambush and was killed by his brother-in-law "Raymond of Pallars".
Legacy
The death of Muhammad ibn Lubb marked the end of the Banu Qasi in the Ebro valley. Their rivals the Tujibids would follow their model, making an independent peace with Leon in 937, a move that resulted in a punitive expedition from the Caliph similar to those of prior years against the Banu Qasi. The Tujibids would eventually establish a full-fledged Taifa kingdom centered at Zaragoza. Two other Taifa crowns were ruled by men with names reminiscent of the Banu Qasi and are claimed as dynastic members, although the precise connection, if any, is unknown. A small Taifa state at AlpuenteAlpuente
Alpuente is a town and municipality in the province of Valencia, part of Valencia , Spain.-History:It was the capital of an Iberia Muslim taifa or kingdom in the 11th century, ruled by the dynasty of Beni Kasim....
was founded by Abd Allah ibn Qasim. He was of a convert family that claimed a tribal affiliation with the Yamanī/Fíhrī. In 1144, another Christian convert and Sufi
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
mystic from Silves, Abu-l-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Qasi
Abu-l-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Qasi
Abu-l-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Qasi was a Sufi, a political leader of the opposition against the Almoravid dynasty in Al-Garb Al-Andalus and governor of the Taifa of Mértola. He was born and died in Silves in 1151. He was a friend of Ibn al-Arif...
, called ibn Qasi, rose and extablished a Taifa state at Mértola
Mértola
Mértola is a municipality in southeastern Portugal next to the Spanish border. It has a total area of 1,292.87 km² and a total population of 8,712 inhabitants . In terms of land area, it is the sixth-largest municipality in Portugal. The resultant population density of 6.74 persons/km² is the...
, expanding it to much of southern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and he encouraged the successful move of the Almohads (to whom he would submit) against Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
. They fell out and ibn Qasi
Abu-l-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Qasi
Abu-l-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Qasi was a Sufi, a political leader of the opposition against the Almoravid dynasty in Al-Garb Al-Andalus and governor of the Taifa of Mértola. He was born and died in Silves in 1151. He was a friend of Ibn al-Arif...
was assassinated in 1151 by his own men. Fortún Ochoiz
Fortún Ochoiz
Fortún Ochoiz was a Navarrese nobleman, diplomat, and statesman. Throughout his known career he held the tenencia of La Rioja, an important marcher lordship, the rump of the Kingdom of Viguera, and the foundation for the Lordship of Los Cameros...
, a Navarrese who ruled La Rioja
La Rioja (Spain)
La Rioja is an autonomous community and a province of northern Spain. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and Nájera.-History:...
in the first half of the eleventh century, may be a descendant of the Banu Qasi.
Leadership of the Banu Qasi
The following men are the documented leaders of the Banu Qasi (entried in italics are of uncertain affiliation to the family):- CassiusCount CassiusCount Cassius , also Count Casius, kumis Kasi or kumis Qasi, was a Hispano-Roman or Visigothic nobleman that originated the Banu Qasi dynasty....
, fl. 714- Abu Taur, Wali of HuescaAbu Taur of HuescaAbu Taur was the Wali of Huesca in 777, who joined Sulayman al-Arabi in offer his submission to Charlemagne and collaborated with Frankish forces in the unsuccessful assault on Zaragoza in 778. It has been suggested that he may be identical to Abu Tawr ibn Qasi, son of the eponymous ancestor of...
, fl. 778, perhaps son of Cassius
- Abu Taur, Wali of Huesca
- Musa ibn Fortun, (perh. assassinated 788), grandson of Cassius
- Mutarrif ibn Musa, assassinated 799, perhaps son of Musa ibn Fortun
- Fortun ibn Musa, killed in rebellion 801, perhaps son of Musa ibn Fortun, else identical to him
- Musa ibn MusaMusa ibn Musa ibn QasiMusa ibn Musa al-Qasawi was leader of the muwallad Banu Qasi clan and ruler of a semi-autonomous principality in the upper Ebro valley in northern Iberia in the 9th century.-Rise:...
, d. 862, son of Musa ibn Fortun - Lubb ibn Musa, d. 875, son of Musa ibn Musa
- Isma‘il ibn Musa, co-leader to 882, d. 889, son of Musa ibn Musa
- Muhammad ibn Lubb, co-leader to 882, then sole leader, d. 899, son of Lubb ibn Musa
- Lubb ibn Muhammad, d. 907, son of Muhammad ibn Lubb
- Abd Allah ibn Muhammad, d. 915, son of Muhammad ibn Lubb
- Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, d. 923, son of Abd Allah ibn Muhammad
- Muhammad ibn Lubb, d. 929, son of Lubb ibn Muhammad
External links
- Banu Kasi, Casius, Kasi and Qasi in the Spanish-language Auñamendi Encyclopedia.
- Historia Medieval del Reyno de Navarra; Banu Qasi