Umar ibn Hafsun
Encyclopedia
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...
.
Ancestry
The background of Umar ibn Hafsun has been the subject of conflicting claims. His contemporary, the poet Ibn Abd RabbihIbn Abd Rabbih
Ibn `Abd Rabbih or Ibn `Abd Rabbihi was a Moorish writer and poet. He was born in Cordova, now in Spain, and descended from a freed slave of Hisham I, the second Spanish Umayyad emir. He enjoyed a great reputation for learning and eloquence. Not much is known about his life...
(860-940) referred to him as a Sawada, a descendant of black Africans. Writing a century later, 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...
recorded a pedigree for Umar ibn Hafsan, tracing his descent to a great-grandfather, Ja'far ibn Salim, who had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and settled in the Ronda
Ronda
Ronda is a city in Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about West from the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is approximately 35,000 inhabitants.-History:...
area. The pedigree then traces back several additional generations to a Count Marcellus (or perhaps Frugelo), son of Alfonso, apparently a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
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...
. This pedigree was copied by later historians, including Ibn Idhari
Ibn Idhari
Abū al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Idhāri al-Marrākushi who lived in the late 13th and the early 14th century, was the author of an important medieval text on the history of the Maghreb and Iberia written in 1312.Little is known about the life of this author, who was born in Al-Andalus and...
, Ibn Khatib and Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
, as well as the A'lam Malaga (History of Malaga) begun by ibn 'Askar and completed by Ibn Khamis, and more recent authors such as Dozy
Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy was a Dutch scholar of French origin, who was born in Leiden...
, in his Histoire des Mussulmans d'Espagne (History of the Muslims of Spain). However, Wasserstein recently concluded that the pre-conversion portion of this pedigree was probably invented by Umar himself. Conde in 1820 indicated that Umar ibn Hafsun was "a man of pagan origin, of obscure and unknown ancestry." Regardless, his family owned lands in Iznate
Iznate
Iznate is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 12 kilometres from Vélez-Málaga and c. 45 from the provincial capital Málaga....
, Málaga
Málaga (province)
The Province of Málaga is located on the southern coast of Spain, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the South, and by the provinces of Cádiz, Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada.Its area is 7,308 km²...
where ibn Hafsun grew up.
Life
Ibn Hafsun was born around 850 in the mountains near ParautaParauta
Parauta is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 105 kilometres from the provincial capital. It has a population of approximately 250 residents. The natives are called Parauteños....
, in what is now Málaga province. A wild youth, he had a very violent temper and was involved in a number of disputes, even a homicide around the year 879. He joined a group of brigands, was captured by 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...
(governor) of Málaga
Málaga (province)
The Province of Málaga is located on the southern coast of Spain, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the South, and by the provinces of Cádiz, Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada.Its area is 7,308 km²...
, who merely imposed a fine (having not been informed of the homicide). The governor subsequently lost his post. Ibn Hafsun fled the jurisdiction to Africa where he worked briefly as an apprentice tailor or stonemason.
He soon returned to Andalucia
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
, albeit as an outlaw, and joined the bandits who were in rebellion against the caliphate, wherein he soon rose to a leadership position. Originally he settled in the ruins of the old Bobastro (Arabic : بُبَشْتَر) castle. He rebuilt the castle, and fortified the nearby town of Ardales, Malaga
Ardales
Ardales is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 62.5 kilometres from Málaga.-Main sights:...
. He rallied disaffected muwallads and mozárabs
Mozarab
The Mozarabs were Iberian Christians who lived under Arab Islamic rule in Al-Andalus. Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam, but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture...
to the cause, playing off resentment at the unfair, heavy taxation and humiliating treatment they were receiving at the hands of Abd ar-Rahman and his successors. He acquired castles and lands in a wide area, not only in Malaga, but including portions of the provinces of Cádiz
Cádiz (province)
Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of continental Western Europe....
, Granada
Granada (province)
Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea . Its capital city is also called Granada.The province covers an area of 12,635 km²...
known then as Elvira, Jaén, and Seville
Seville (province)
Seville is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva, Badajoz, and Córdoba.Its area is 14,042 km²...
. By 883 he had become the leader of the rebels in the provinces to the south and west of the Emirate of Cordoba
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...
. The year before, in 882, he is said to have fought the Emir in a battle in which ally García Íñiguez of Pamplona was killed. About 885, in order to be more centrally located and quicker to respond to external threats, ibn Hafsun moved his headquarters to the town of Poley, which is now known as Aguilar de la Frontera
Aguilar de la Frontera
Aguilar, or Aguilar de la Frontera, is a municipality and town in the province of Córdoba, Andalusia, southern Spain, near the small river Cabra, 50 kilometers from the provincial capital, Córdoba, on the Córdoba-Málaga railway....
.
After ibn Hafsun’s defeat by the forces of Abdallah ibn Muhammad at the battle of Poley in 891, he moved his headquarters back to Bobastro. In 898, Lubb ibn Muhammad, of the Banu Qasi
Banu Qasi
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.-Dynastic beginnings:...
, was marching an army to support Umar when the death of his father at Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
forced Lubb to abandon the campaign. In 899, Ibn Hafsun renounced Islam and became a Christian, being christened as Samuel. His motivations seems to have been opportunistic, hoping to obtain military support from Alfonso III of Leon
Alfonso 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"...
, who had met with indifference overtures by ibn Hafsun on behalf of Ibn Marwan
Ibn Marwan
Ibn Marwân , was a Muladi Sufi whose family had come from northern Portugal and settled near Mérida....
. His conversion proved a major political mistake which although helping to attract significant Mozarab
Mozarab
The Mozarabs were Iberian Christians who lived under Arab Islamic rule in Al-Andalus. Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam, but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture...
support, cost him the support of most of his Mullawad followers. He also built at Bobastro the Iglesia Mozarabe (Mozarab Church).
Ibn Hafsun remained a serious threat to Córdoba, even though in 910 he offered allegiance to the Fatimid rulers of north Africa, and when Abd-ar-Rahman III
Abd-ar-Rahman III
Abd-ar-Rahman III was the Emir and Caliph of Córdoba of the Ummayad dynasty in al-Andalus. Called al-Nasir li-Din Allah , he ascended the throne in his early 20s, and reigned for half a century as the most powerful prince of Iberia...
became Emir of Cordoba
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...
in 912 he instigated a policy of annual Spring offensives against ibn Hafsun, using mercenary troops. In 913 they captured the city of 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...
, and by the end of 914 had captured 70 of ibn Hafsun’s castles. In 916, he joined forces with the Umayyads in a campaign against northern Christian kingdoms, the reasons for this are obscure, as is whether it was done in contrition or merely as an expedient compromise. For awhile, even taxes were paid to the Ummayads.
Ibn Hafsun died in 917 and was buried in the Iglesia Mozarabe. His coalition then crumbled, and while his sons Ja'far, 'Abd-ar-Rahman and Hafs tried to continue the resistance, they eventually fell to 'Abd-ar-Rahman III's plots and armies. The last, Hafs, surrendered Bobastro in 928 and afterward fought with the Ummayad army in Galicia. With Bobastro's fall, the mortal remains of ibn Hafsun and his slain sons were exhumed by the emir and posthumously crucified outside the Great Mosque of Córdoba.
External links
- Omar Ben Hafsun in Spanish.