Taifa of Zaragoza explained

Conventional Long Name:Taifa of Zaragoza
Common Name:Taifa of Zaragoza
Era:Middle Ages
Government Type:Monarchy
Year Start:1013
Year End:1110
Event Start:Downfall of Caliphate of Cordoba
Event End:Conquered by the Almoravids
P1:Caliphate of Córdoba
S1:Almoravid dynasty
Today:Spain
Image Map Caption:Taifa Kingdom of Zaragoza, c. 1080
Capital:Zaragoza
Common Languages:Arabic, Mozarabic, Hebrew, Berber
Religion:Islam, Christianity (Roman Catholic), Judaism
Currency:Dirham and Dinar

The taifa of Zaragoza was an independent Arab[1] [2] [3] Muslim state in the east of Al-Andalus (present-day Spain) with its capital in Saraqusta (Zaragoza) city. It was established in the early 11th century as one of the many Taifa kingdoms that followed the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba around this time. It survived until 1110, when it was annexed by the Almoravids.

History

During the first part of this period (1013–1038), the city was ruled by the Arab Banu Tujib tribe. They were replaced by the Arab Banu Hud rulers, who had to deal with a complicated alliance with El Cid of Valencia and his Castilian masters against the Almoravids, who managed to bring the Taifas Emirates under their control. After the death of El Cid, his kingdom was conquered by the Almoravids, and by 1100 they had crossed the Ebro into Barbastro, which brought them into direct confrontation with Aragon.

The Banu Hud stubbornly resisted the Almoravid dynasty and ruled until they were eventually defeated by the Almoravids in May 1110. The last sultan of the Banu Hud, Abd-al-Malik, and Imad ad-Dawla of Saraqusta, were forced to abandon the capital. Abd-al-Malik allied himself with the Christian Aragonese under Alfonso I of Aragon and from then on the Muslim soldiers of Saraqusta served in the Aragonese forces. Soon afterwards (1118) a good deal of the old taifa, including the city of Zaragoza, was conquered by the Christian kingdom of Aragon, and remained in Christian hands thereafter.

Between c. 1040 and c. 1105, the Taifa of Lérida was separate from that of Zaragoza.

List of rulers

This list is taken from a list compiled by A. García-Sanjuán in The Routledge Handbook of Muslim Iberia:[4]

Tujibid dynasty

Huddid dynasty

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: John Middleton. World Monarchies and Dynasties. 1 June 2015. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-317-45157-0. 925.
  2. Book: William D. Phillips, Jr. Carla Rahn Phillips. A Concise History of Spain. 1 July 2010. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-60721-6. 64.
  3. Book: Simon Barton. David Luscombe, Jonathan Riley-Smith. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, C.1024-c.1198. https://books.google.com/books?id=cUl53tLtFukC&pg=PA157. IV. 14 October 2004. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-41411-1. 157. 6: Spain in the Eleventh Century.
  4. Book: Fierro, Manuel . The Routledge Handbook of Muslim Iberia . Routeldge . 2020 . 9781317233541 . 70 . en.