Muhammad IV of Granada
Muhammad IV | |
---|---|
Sultan of Granada | |
Reign | 8 July 1325 – 25 August 1333 |
Predecessor | Ismail I |
Successor | Yusuf I |
Born | 14 April 1315 Granada |
Died | 25 August 1333 | (aged 18)
Dynasty | Nasrid |
Father | Ismail I |
Religion | Islam |
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail (
The initial years of his reign were marked by conflict among his ministers, who vied for control of the young sultan's government. This escalated into a civil war between the party of the
In 1328 and 1329, Alfonso XI formed an anti-Granada alliance with another Iberian monarch,
Background
Founded by
Early life
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail was born in the city of
Reign
The young sultan and his ministers
Due to his youth, he was subject to the influence of his court ministers and his grandmother. At first Ibn Mas'ud continued to serve as vizier, but he died from infections of his wounds a month after Muhammad's accession. He was replaced by the
Soon, Uthman's despotic behaviour alienated the other ministers, as he deprived them of authority and appropriated the state funds almost exclusively for the payment of the Volunteers. This led Ibn al-Mahruq to fear that the ambitious Uthman was planning a coup to seize power for himself. An open rivalry emerged between the two, which climaxed in December 1326, when Uthman's troops occupied the city and forced Ibn al-Mahruq and his followers to confine themselves to the Alhambra palace, while Ibn al-Mahruq appointed Yahya ibn Umar ibn Rahhu, Uthman's son-in-law and a member of the Banu Rahhu clan, as a rival commander of the Volunteers. This led the Volunteer troops to abandon Uthman, who was left with his own family and their followers, numbering only 1,000 men.[8][20]
Civil war
Uthman and his followers marched to
Uthman made contact with the Castilians to support him in the war.
Political developments up to 1329
Alfonso XI had been proclaimed to have reached
On 17 May 1329 (17 Rajab 729), Muhammad appointed his former tutor Abu Nuaym Ridwan as hajib (chamberlain). This was the first time the office of hajib appeared in the history of the Nasrids. The office was modeled after the hajib of the 10th century Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba:[28] the hajib acted as a sort of prime minister, outranked the vizier and the other ministers and had command of the army in the absence of the sultan. Ridwan, a Castilian-Catalan convert to Islam who rose through the ranks during the reign of Ismail I,[29] would continue to hold the post during the reign of Muhammad's successor Yusuf I and the first reign (1354–1359) of Muhammad V, except for a brief pause during Yusuf's rule.[30][31]
Countering Christian invasion
After Pope John XXII declared the war against Granada a crusade in February 1330, Alfonso IV sent 500 knights to invade Granada's border areas, while Alfonso XI personally led his troops from Córdoba in July 1330.[32] Castilian forces laid siege to the fortress of Teba on 7 August, and were confronted by the 6,000-strong Granadan army led by Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula. The Granadan forces were defeated, and the fortress surrendered on 30 August.[33] Uthman died in the same year at Málaga, and was replaced by his son Abu Thabit Amir as commander of the Volunteers.[34] Crusading forces operating independently from Alfonso XI ravaged the Granadan countryside, causing severe food shortages and leading Muhammad to sue for peace. A peace treaty was agreed on 19 February 1331 in Seville, which was to last for four years. Muhammad agreed to pay tribute to Castile and to send his representative to pay homage to Alfonso XI annually. As part of the peace treaty, Castile agreed to export wheat and livestock to alleviate the shortage in Granada.[35] Despite Muhammad's request, Alfonso IV refused to join the treaty.[8]
Alfonso XI soon broke the truce by stopping the food exports to Granada.
Marinid help and the capture of Gibraltar
Abu al-Hasan's aid to Granada consisted of 5,000 soldiers, led by his son,
Alfonso XI hastened his march, crossing the
Death
Muhammad was assassinated on 25 August 1333 (13 Dhu al-Hijja 733 AH) near the mouth of the Guadiaro. Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula's sons, Abu Thabit—the new commander of the volunteers after his father's death—and Ibrahim, were responsible for the plot, although the actual killing was carried out by a slave named Zayyan.[8][49][50] According to near-contemporary historian Ibn Khaldun, Muhammad was killed by the two brothers because of his Marinid alliance: their family had been exiled to Granada as political dissidents by the Marinids, and considered the latter as their enemies. Moreover, the Marinid military involvement on the Iberian Peninsula caused the Volunteers of the Faith to lose the influence they previously had as the dominant military force fighting for Granada.[8] Contrary to the Muslim sources, which cite the Marinid factor as the motive for the assassination, Castilian sources state that Muhammad was killed because of his excessive friendliness with Alfonso XI.[51]
According to the historian Brian Catlos, the hajib Ridwan, who was present at the time of the assassination, rode quickly to the capital, arriving on the same day, and, after consultation with Fatima, arranged for the declaration of Muhammad's younger brother Abu'l-Hajjaj Yusuf as the new sultan, Yusuf I.[52] This version of Yusuf's proclamation was also quoted by historians L. P. Harvey and Francisco Vidal Castro, who attribute it to Castilian sources.[53][54] Francisco Vidal Castro favours another version in which the declaration and the oath of allegiance took place in the Muslim camp near Gibraltar instead of in the capital, and that the sons of Uthman were the ones who proclaimed him. Vidal Castro also writes that the proclamation happened on the day after Muhammad's death (26 August/14 Dhu al-Hijja).[54] Muhammad's body was recovered and buried near the manor house (al-munya al-sayyid) in Málaga, also on 26 August. As per Islamic customs for a martyr, his body was buried immediately without washing. Later a domed mausoleum (qubba) was built on his tomb and poetic epitaphs were inscribed on his tombstone.[8]
Character
His biographers wrote that Muhammad loved hunting, a common pastime of the Nasrid monarchs.[55] He was also reported to be an accomplished rider, often competing with others in the arena.[56] He was skilled in the martial arts, and interested in literature and poetry: he commissioned the Málagan poet Ibn al-Murabi al-Azdi to write verses about the Sierra Nevada and used to listen to poems as a way to relax.[8][57] In early January 1332 he fell seriously ill and rumours circulated about his death, but he recovered on or before 23 January.[8] At his death, aged around 18, he did not have any descendants, and was likely unmarried.[58]
Notes
Citations
- ^ Latham & Fernández-Puertas 1993, p. 1020.
- ^ Harvey 1992, pp. 160, 165.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2013, p. 456.
- ^ Harvey 1992, pp. 26–28.
- ^ Carrasco Manchado 2009, p. 401.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Hills 1974, p. 55.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Vidal Castro: Muhammad IV.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 98.
- ^ Vidal Castro: Ismail I.
- ^ Vidal Castro 2004, pp. 371–372, 375–376.
- ^ a b c d Catlos 2018, p. 344.
- ^ Vidal Castro 2004, pp. 374–375.
- ^ Harvey 1992, pp. 184–185.
- ^ Harvey 1992, p. 187.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 188.
- ^ a b Rubiera Mata 1996, p. 188.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 214.
- ^ Catlos 2018, p. 437.
- ^ a b c Manzano Rodríguez 1992, p. 350.
- ^ a b c d e Arié 1973, p. 99.
- ^ a b Manzano Rodríguez 1992, pp. 350–351.
- ^ Fernández-Puertas 1997, p. 3.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, p. 149.
- ^ a b c O'Callaghan 2011, p. 154.
- ^ Arié 1973, pp. 99–100, note 1.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 247.
- ^ Arié 1973, pp. 199–200.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 264.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 200.
- ^ Fernández-Puertas 1997, p. 9.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, pp. 156–157.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, pp. 157–159.
- ^ Manzano Rodríguez 1992, p. 351.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, pp. 159–160.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, p. 160.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, pp. 160–161.
- ^ a b c O'Callaghan 2011, p. 162.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, pp. 162–163.
- ^ a b O'Callaghan 2011, p. 163.
- ^ Hills 1974, p. 59.
- ^ Hills 1974, p. 60.
- ^ Hills 1974, pp. 60–61.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, p. 164.
- ^ Hills 1974, p. 64.
- ^ a b O'Callaghan 2011, pp. 164–165.
- ^ Hills 1974, pp. 64–65.
- ^ O'Callaghan 2011, p. 165.
- ^ Fernández-Puertas 1997, p. 7.
- ^ Latham & Fernández-Puertas 1993, p. 1023.
- ^ Harvey 1992, p. 188.
- ^ Catlos 2018, pp. 345–346.
- ^ Harvey 1992, pp. 188–189.
- ^ a b Vidal Castro: Yusuf I.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 403.
- ^ Arié 1973, pp. 406–407.
- ^ Arié 1973, p. 196.
- ^ Boloix Gallardo 2013, p. 73.
References
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- Boloix Gallardo, Bárbara (2013). Las sultanas de la Alhambra: las grandes desconocidas del reino nazarí de Granada (siglos XIII-XV) (in Spanish). Granada: Patronato de la Alhambra y del Generalife. ISBN 978-84-9045-045-1.
- Carrasco Manchado, Ana I. (2009). "Al-Andalus Nazarí". Al-Andalus. Historia de España VI (in Spanish). Madrid: Ediciones Istmo. pp. 391–485. ISBN 978-84-7090-431-8.
- Catlos, Brian A. (July 2018). Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain. London: ISBN 978-1787380035.
- Fernández-Puertas, Antonio (1997). "The Three Great Sultans of al-Dawla al-Ismā'īliyya al-Naṣriyya Who Built the Fourteenth-Century Alhambra: Ismā'īl I, Yūsuf I, Muḥammad V (713–793/1314–1391)". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Third Series. 7 (1). London: 1–25. S2CID 154717811.
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- Hills, George (1974). Rock of Contention: A History of Gibraltar. London: Robert Hale & Company. ISBN 978-0-7091-4352-9.
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- Manzano Rodríguez, Miguel Angel (1992). La intervención de los Benimerines en la Península Ibérica (in Spanish). Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. ISBN 978-84-00-07220-9.
- O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (2011). The Gibraltar Crusade: Castile and the Battle for the Strait. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0463-6.
- O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (2013) [1975]. A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-6872-8.
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- Vidal Castro, Francisco. "Ismail I". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia.
- Vidal Castro, Francisco. "Muhammad IV". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia.
- Vidal Castro, Francisco. "Yusuf I". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia.
- Vidal Castro, Francisco (2004). "El asesinato político en al-Andalus: la muerte violenta del emir en la dinastía nazarí". In María Isabel Fierro (ed.). De muerte violenta: política, religión y violencia en Al-Andalus (in Spanish). Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. pp. 349–398. ISBN 978-84-00-08268-0.