Boabdil
Encyclopedia
Abu `Abdallah Muhammad XII ( Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad al-thānī ‘ashar) (c. 1460 – c. 1533), known as Boabdil (a Spanish rendering of the name Abu Abdullah), was the twenty-second and last Nasrid
Nasrid dynasty
The Nasrid dynasty was the last Moorish and Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Nasrid dynasty rose to power after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa...

 ruler of Granada
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...

 in Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

. He was also called el chico, the little, or el zogoybi, the unfortunate. Son of Abu l-Hasan Ali, sultan of the Emirate of Granada
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...

, he was proclaimed sultan in 1482 in place of his father, who was driven from the land.

Muhammad XII soon after sought to gain prestige by invading Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

. He was taken prisoner at Lucena in 1484. Between 1484 and 1487, he was held prisoner. Power returned to his father and then in 1485 to his uncle Muhammed XIII
Muhammed XIII, Sultan of Granada
Abū `Abd Allāh Muhammad az-Zaghall was the twenty-third Nasrid ruler of Granada in Iberia. Christians called him Muhammed XIII el Zagal.-Life:...

, also known as Abdullah ez Zagal.

He only obtained his freedom and support to recover his throne in 1487 by consenting to hold Granada as a tributary kingdom under Ferdinand and Isabella
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...

, king and queen of Castile and 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 not to intervene to prevent the conquest of Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...

.

1487 saw the fall of Baeza
Baeza
Baeza is a town of approximately 16,200 inhabitants in Andalusia, Spain, in the province of Jaén, perched on a cliff in the Loma de Baeza, a mountain range between the river Guadalquivir on the south and its tributary the Guadalimar on the north. It is chiefly known today as having many of the...

, Málaga and Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...

. 1489 saw the fall of Almuñécar
Almuñécar
Almuñécar is a municipality in the Spanish Autonomous Region of Andalusia on the Costa Tropical between Nerja and Motril . It has a subtropical climate...

 and Salobreña
Salobreña
Salobreña is a town on the Costa Tropical in Granada, Spain. It claims a history stretching back 6000 years.The old town of is a cluster of whitewashed houses and steep narrow streets set around a 10th century Moorish castle. The town sits atop a rocky prominence surrounded by sugar cane fields...

. By the beginning of 1491, Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

 was the only muslim-governed city in Spain.

Surrender of Granada

In 1491, Muhammad XII was summoned by Ferdinand and Isabella to surrender the city of Granada, and on his refusal it was besieged by the Castilians. Eventually, on 2 January 1492, Granada was surrendered. In most sumptuous attire the royal procession moved from Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Granada
Santa Fe is a Spanish municipality in the province of Granada, situated in the Vega de Granada, irrigated by the river Genil.The town was originally built by the Catholic armies besieging Granada after a fire destroyed much of their encampment....

 to a place a little more than a mile from Granada, where Ferdinand took up his position by the banks of the Genil
Genil
The Genil River is the main tributary of the river Guadalquivir in Andalusia, Spain. The Roman Singilis, its modern name derives from the Moorish rendering of the Roman name: Sinyil, Sannil, and Sinnil. The source of the Genil is in the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of its highest peak Mulhacén....

. A private letter written by an eyewitness to the bishop of León only six days after the event recorded the scene.


With the royal banners and the cross of Christ plainly visible on the red walls of the Alhambra: …the Moorish sultan with about eighty or a hundred on horseback very well dressed went forth to kiss the hand of their Highnesses. According to the final capitulation agreement both Isabel and Ferdinand will decline the offer and the key to Granada will pass into Spanish hands without Muhammad XII having to kiss the hands of Los Royes, as the Spanish royal couple became known. Muhammad XII indomitable mother insisted on sparing his son this final humiliation. The Moorish sultan was received with much love and courtesy and there they handed over to him his son, who had been a hostage from the time of his capture, and as they stood there, there came about four hundred captives, of this who were in the enclosure, with the cross and a solemn procession singing the Te Deum Laudamus, and their highnesses dismounted to adore the Cross to the accompaniment of the tears and reverential devotion of the crowd, not least of the Cardinal and Master of Santiago and the Duke of Cadiz and all the other grandees and gentlemen and people who stood there, and there was no one who did not weep abundantly with pleasure giving thanks to Our Lord for what they saw, for they could not keep back the tears; and the Moorish sultan and the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 who were with him for their part could not disguise the sadness and pain they felt for the joy of the Christians, and certainly with much reason on account of their loss, for Granada is the most distinguished and chief thing in the world…


Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

 seems to have been present; he refers to the surrender on the first page of his Diario de las Derrotas y Caminos:


After your Highnesses ended the war of the Moors who reigned in Europe, and finished the war of the great city of Granada, where this present year [1492] on the 2nd January I saw the royal banners of Your Highnesses planted by force of arms on the towers of the Alhambra, which is the fortress of the said city, I saw the Moorish sultan issue from the gates of the said city, and kiss the royal hands of Your Highnesses…

Exile

Legend has it that as the royal party moved south toward exile, they reached a rocky prominence which gave a last view of the city. Muhammad XII reined in his horse and, surveying for the last time the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...

 and the green valley that spread below, burst into tears. When his mother approached him she said :
"Thou dost weep like a woman for what thou couldst not defend as a man."

ابك اليوم بكاء النساء على ملك لم تحفظه حفظ الرجال

Ibki l-yawma bukā'a n-nisā'i ʿalā mulkin lam taḥfuẓhu ḥifẓa r-rijāl


The spot from which Muhammad XII looked for the last time on Granada is known as "the Moor's last sigh" (el último suspiro del Moro
Puerto del Suspiro del Moro
Puerto del Suspiro del Moro or Pass of the Moor's Sigh is a mountain pass in the Spanish Sierra Nevada.Muhammad XII, the last Moorish sultan of Granada, and his court are said to have crossed this Alpujarras pass at 860 m in height, after being ejected from Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492...

).

Muhammad XII was given an estate in Láujar de Andarax
Láujar de Andarax
-External links: - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía - Diputación Provincial de Almería...

, Las Alpujarras, a mountainous area between the Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada (Spain)
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the region of provinces of Granada and Almería in Spain. It contains the highest point of continental Spain, Mulhacén at 3478 m above sea level....

 and the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

, but he soon crossed the Mediterranean to Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....

, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

.

Letter to the Marinid Sultan of Morocco

Shortly After his surrender, Muhammad Boabdil sent a long letter to the Marinid
Marinid
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. The Marinid dynasty overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244. They controlled most of the Maghreb from the mid-14th century to the 15th century and supported the Kingdom of Granada in Al-Andalus in the...

 rulers of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 asking for refuge. The letter is long, extremely well written and begins with a long poem praising the Marinid
Marinid
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. The Marinid dynasty overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244. They controlled most of the Maghreb from the mid-14th century to the 15th century and supported the Kingdom of Granada in Al-Andalus in the...

s, followed by a prose where he laments his defeat and asks forgiveness for past wrongdoings of his forefathers against the Marinids. The entire text was reported by al-Maqqari:
...The lord of 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...

 has proposed for us a respectable residence and has given us assurances of safety to which he pledged by his own handwriting, enough to convince the souls. But we, as descendents of Banu al-Ahmar
Nasrid dynasty
The Nasrid dynasty was the last Moorish and Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Nasrid dynasty rose to power after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa...

, didn't settle for this and our faith in God does not permit us to reside under the protection of disbelief.
We also received from the east many letters full of goodwill, inviting us to come to their lands and offering the best of advantages. But we cannot choose other than our home and the home of our forefathers, we can only accept the protection of our relatives, not because of opportunism but to confirm the brotherhood relationship between us and to fulfill the testament of our forefathers, that tells us not to seek any help other that of the Marinid
Marinid
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. The Marinid dynasty overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244. They controlled most of the Maghreb from the mid-14th century to the 15th century and supported the Kingdom of Granada in Al-Andalus in the...

s and not to let anything obstruct us from going to you. So we traversed the vast lands and sailed the tumultuous sea and we hope that we would not be returned and that our eyes will be satisfied and our hurt and grievous souls will be healed from this great pain...
Muhamad Abu Abdallah

Original text in Arabic:
ولقد عرض علينا صاحب قشتالة مواضع معتبرة خير فيها، وأعطى من أمانه المؤكد فيه خطه بأيمانه ما يقنع النفوس ويكفيها، فلم نر

ونحن من سلالة الأحمر، مجاورة الصفر، ولا سوغ لنا الإيمان الإقامة بين ظهراني الكفر، ما وجدنا عن ذلك مندوحة ولو شاسعة،
وأمنا من المطالب المشاغب حمة شرٍ لنا لاسعة، وادكرنا أي ادكار، قول الله تعالى المنكر لذلك غاية الإنكار "ألم تكن أرض الله
واسعة" وقول الرسول، عليه الصلاة والسلام، المبالغ في ذلك بأبلغ الكلام "أنا بريء من مؤمن مع كافر لا تتراءى ناراهما" وقول
الشاعر الحاث على حث المطية، المتثاقلة عن السير في طريق منجاا البطية:
وما أنا والتلدد نحو نجد وقد غصت تهامة بالرجال


ووصلت أيضاً من الشرق إلينا، كتب كريمة المقاصد لدينا، تستدعي الانحياز إلى تلك الجنبات، وتتضمن ما لا مزيد عليه من
الرغبات، فلم نختر إلا دارنا التي كانت دار آبائنا من قبلنا، ولم نرتض الإنضواء إلا لمن بحبله وصل حبلنا، وبريش نبله ريش نبلنا،
إدلالاً على محل إخاء متوارث لا عن كلالة، وامتثالاً لوصاة أجداد لأنظارهم وأقدارهم أصالة وجلالة، إذ قد روينا عمن سلف من
أسلافنا، في الإيصاء لمن يخلف بعدهم من أخلافنا، أن لا يبتغوا إذا دهمهم داهم بالحضرة المرينية بدلاً، ولا يجدوا عن طريقها في
التوجه إلى فريقها معدلاً، فاخترقنا إلى الرياض الأريضة الفجاج، وركبنا إلى البحر الفرات ظهر البحر الأجاج، فلا غرو أن نرد منه
على ما يقر العين، ويشفي النفس الشاكية من ألم البين
17th-century Historian Al-Maqqari wrote that Muhammad XII crossed the Mediterranean to Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...

 then went to Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....

 where he built a palace. He stayed there until his death in 1533/1534 (in 940 A.H.
Hijri year
The Hijri year is year numbering system used in the Islamic calendar. It commemorates the Hijra , or emigration of Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622 CE. In Arabic, AH is symbolized by the letter هـ...

). He was buried near the Musala (place of the special prayer during the Islamic festivals) located outside of "Bab Sheria" in Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....

. Muhammad XII was survived by two sons; Yusef and Ahmed. Al-Maqqari met with his descendents in 1618 in Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....

, they lived in a state of poverty and relied on the Zakat
Zakat
Zakāt , one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a fixed portion of one's wealth to charity, generally to the poor and needy.-History:Zakat, a practice initiated by Muhammed himself, has played an important role throughout Islamic history...

.

Spanish chronicler Luis del Mármol Carvajal  wrote "Muhammad XII died near the Oued el Assouad (Black River) at ford told Waqûba during the war between the Marinids and the Saadians. This source is also taken by Louis de Chénier, a diplomat of the King of France Louis XVI, in his Historical research on the Moors and History of the Empire of Morocco published in Paris in 1787,.

Muhammad XII in popular culture

  • He was the subject of the three-act opera "Boabdil, der letzte Maurenkönig", Op. 49, written in 1892 by the German-Polish composer Moritz Moszkowski
    Moritz Moszkowski
    Moritz Moszkowski was a German Jewish composer, pianist, and teacher of Polish descent. Ignacy Paderewski said, "After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano"...

    .
  • Spanish composer Gaspar Cassadó
    Gaspar Cassadó
    Gaspar Cassadó i Moreu was a Spanish cellist and composer of the early 20th century. He was born in Barcelona to a church musician father and began taking cello lessons at age seven. When he was nine, he played in a recital where Pablo Casals was in the audience; Casals immediately offered to...

     wrote the Lamento de Boabdil for cello and piano, in memory of the moor.
  • Spanish composer Antón García Abril
    Antón García Abril
    Antón García Abril is a Spanish composer and musician. In 1997 Plácido Domingo created the role of Lucero in his Divinas Palabras at the Teatro Real in Madrid.-Biography:...

     wrote the 'Elegía a la pérdida de la Alhambra' from his song cycle Canciones del Jardin Secreto for voice and piano; it is set to text (in Andalusian Arabic) that is attributed to Boabdil, in which he laments the loss of the Alhambra.
  • Andalusian singer-songwriter
    Singer-songwriter
    Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

     and poet
    Poet
    A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

     Carlos Cano dedicated a song to Muhammad XII in his album Crónicas Granadinas, entitled Caída del Rey Chico.
  • Salman Rushdie's book, The Moor's Last Sigh
    The Moor's Last Sigh
    The Moor's Last Sigh is the fifth novel by Salman Rushdie, and was published in 1995. Set in the Indian cities of Bombay and Cochin , it is the first major work that Rushdie produced after the The Satanic Verses affair, and thus is referential to that circumstance in many ways, especially the...

    , also features consistent references to Muhammad XII.
  • Louis Aragon
    Louis Aragon
    Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...

    's book Le Fou d'Elsa
    Le Fou d'Elsa
    Le Fou d'Elsa is a 1963 novel written by Louis Aragon.-Synopsis:In this book Aragon's intellectual work is reflected through the description of Arabic and Muslim culture in both poetry and prose...

    renders a dramatized and poetic version of the story of Granada's capture, which includes Muhammad XII as one of the two main characters present in the novel, (Majnun being the other. Elsa
    Elsa Triolet
    Elsa Yur'evna Triolet was a French writer.-Biography:Born Ella Kagan into a Jewish family of a lawyer and a music teacher in Moscow, she and her sister, Lilya Brik received excellent educations; they were able to speak fluent German and French and play the piano...

    , whom it could be argued is the second major character, is absent from the book.).
  • Pakistan Television Corporation
    Pakistan Television Corporation
    The Pakistan Television Corporation is Pakistan's national television broadcaster. The first live transmission of PTV began on November 26, 1964, in Lahore...

     (PTV) produced a drama in 1980, based on the novel "Shaheen
    Shaheen (novel)
    Shaheen is a historical novel written in Urdu by an Islamic historian and novelist Naseem Hijazi.It details the situation of the Muslims in Granada in 1492 when they were about to be expelled from Spain. The novel also very beautifully depicts the reasons of the destruction of Muslim's Empire in...

    " by Nasim Hijazi. In this drama Abu Abdullah Mohammad was played by Shakeel Ahmed.

External links


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