Ibn al-Qutiyya explained

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Ibrahim ibn Isa ibn Muzahim
Birth Date:10th century
Birth Place:Seville, Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba (now Spain)
Death Date:6 November 977
Death Place:Córdoba, Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba (now Spain)
Occupation:Historian, Philologist
Notable Works:Ta'rikh iftitāḥ al-Andalus (History of the Conquest of al-Andalus)
Era:Islamic Golden Age
Main Interests:History, Philology
Notable Ideas:Detailed accounts of the Islamic conquest of Spain

Ibn al-Qūṭiyya (Arabic: ابن القوطية, died 6 November 977), born Muḥammad Ibn ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʾIbrāhīm ibn ʿIsā ibn Muzāḥim (Arabic: محمد ابن عمر ابن عبد العزيز ابن إبراهيم ابن عيسى ابن مزاحم), also known as Abu Bakr or al-Qurtubi ("the Córdoban"), was an Andalusian historian and considered the greatest philologist at the Umayyad court of caliph Al-Hakam II. His magnum opus, the History of the Conquest of al-Andalus, is one of the earliest Arabic Muslim accounts of the Islamic conquest of Spain.

Life

Ibn al-Qūṭiyya, whose name means "son of the Gothic woman", claimed descent from Wittiza, the last king of the united Visigoths in Spain, through a granddaughter, Sara al-Qutiyya, who travelled to Damascus and married ʿĪsā ibn Muzāḥim, an Arab client of the 10th Umayyad caliph Hisham. Sara and ʿĪsā then returned to Al-Andalus.

Ibn al-Qūṭiyya was born and raised in Seville. His family was under the patronage of the Qurayshi tribe, and his father was a qāḍī (judge) in Seville and Écija. The Banu Hajjaj, also of Seville, were close relatives of his family, also claiming descent from Visigothic royalty. Ibn al-Qūṭiyya's student al-Faraḍī composed a short sketch of his master for his biographical dictionary, preserved in a late medieval manuscript discovered in Tunis in 1887. Al-Faraḍī tells us Ibn al-Qūṭiyya studied first in Seville, then in Córdoba. Al-Faraḍī cautions that Qūṭiyya's histories were tales(akhbār), and not serious history(ta'rīkh). Under Saʿīd ibn Qāhir he studied, memorized and transmitted the great work of history known as Al-Kāmil (The Complete) by the famous Baṣriyyan philologist, al-Mubarrad. He died in old age at Córdoba.

Al-Qūṭiyya's highly anecdotal history is unusual among the Arab chronicles. The influence of his royal ancestry probably lies behind his defense of treaties between the Arab Muslim conquerors and the Gothic aristocracyboth secular and ecclesiastical that preserved them on their estates. Al-Qūṭiyya contests criticisms by historians such as Rhazes, arguing that these treaties bolstered Islamic hegemony at minimal military cost. He refutes a claim that the Umayyad emirs of Córdoba retained the fifth (quinto or khums, a tax) for the Caliph of Damascus. His history retells the legend of the part played by "the sons of Wittiza" at the Battle of Guadalete.

Works

Bibliography

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: texte, MUḤAMMAD ibn ʿUmar Ibn al-Qūṭīyya Auteur du. Deux textes historiques sur al-Andalus.. 1501–1600. EN.
  2. Book: Qūṭiyya (Ibn al-), Muḥammad Ibn ʿUmar. History of the conquest of Al-andalus by Ibn al-Qutiyya. AR. 18.
  3. Book: Quṭīyya (Ibn al-), Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar. Taʼrīj iftitāḥ al-Andalus. Gayangos (de). P.. Saavedra. E.. Codera. F.. 1868. Arabic.
  4. Book: Quṭīyya (Ibn al-), Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar. Ibn al-Qūṭiyya. J.. Ribera. Historia de la conquista de España de Aben al-Cotia el cordobés, seguida de fragmentos históricos de Abencotaiba (y la noble carta dirigida a las comarcas españolas del wazīr al-Gassānī. Madrid. Revista de Archivos. 1926. Spanish.
  5. Book: Quṭīyya (Ibn al-), Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar. Ibn al-Qūṭiyya. David. James. Early Islamic Spain: the History of Ibn al-Qūṭīya. Routledge. 2009. English.

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