Dénia (Taifa)

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Dénia around 1037

Dénia (Arabic: Dāniya ) was one of the Moorish Taifa empires that emerged after the collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba in the 11th century. Its territory included the city of the same name, Dénia , on the Gulf of Valencia , as well as the archipelago of the Balearic Islands . In al-Andalus , as the part of the Iberian Peninsula ruled by Muslims was called, the Taifa of Dénia was famous for its prosperity and the splendid court rulers. Militarily, however, it could not hold its ground against its neighboring states in the long run and eventually merged into the Hudid Empire of Saragossa .

history

The disintegration of the Caliphate of Cordoba took advantage of the Mujahid ( DMG : Muǧāhid), a released Saqlab (Arabic term for predominantly fair-skinned slaves; translated: "Slavs") Almansors († 1002), the first minister and general of the Caliph Hischam II († 1013 ) to take possession of the area around Dénia and the Balearic Islands between 1010 and 1014. Mujahid, a gifted ruler, expanded his sphere of influence, which included Valencia for a short time , into a wealthy and productive territory. His fleet gained a dominant position in the western Mediterranean and increased the wealth of the Taifa of Dénia through piracy .

In 1015, the Mujahid made a large-scale attempt to incorporate Sardinia into his sphere of influence. As the Arab historian Ibn al-Khatib (1313–74) reports, he landed with 120 ships, which also had 1,000 horsemen on board, on the " eight days' journey, ruled by four kings ... . ”He defeated one of the four island kings,“ conquered a considerable area ”and made so many prisoners in the process that“ the head prices fell considerably on the slave market . “The fact that Mujahid's naval operation against Sardinia was more than a mere robbery is also evident from the fact that he soon began building a new residential city, to which he also had his family follow.

Pope Benedict VIII (ruled 1012–24) finally brought about an alliance between the sea cities of Genoa and Pisa to drive the Muslims off the island again. Mujahid wanted to withdraw to the Balearic Islands before the impending danger, but the fleet of the allied sea cities cut him off and inflicted a catastrophic defeat in 1016. Ibn al-Khatib writes that “ only five ships and four boats were spared ” from the Mujahid's fleet . His entire family, including Ali, his then only son, had been captured. After paying an appropriate ransom, most of the family members were released relatively quickly, but Ali remained in captivity until 1032/33, as the ransom demanded exceeded the father's means.

After Mujahid's death in 1045, his son Iqbal al-Daula Ali (Iqbāl ad-Daula ʿAlī) was his successor. Right at the beginning of his reign there was a dispute with his brother Hasan, whom the Mujahid had planned as his successor while Ali's absence. Hasan colluded with the Abbadids of Seville , who promised to help him with the murder he was planning on his brother. However, the plot failed and Hasan had to flee Dénia.

Under Ali's rule, Dénia was able to develop peacefully and achieve high economic prosperity. Ibn al-Khatib particularly praises Ali's “ successful tax and financial policy that promotes the welfare of the people. “But this prosperity aroused the envy of the Hudids in Saragossa. Ali's brother-in-law al-Muktadir (r. 1046-1081), the ruler of Zaragoza, occupied Dénia in 1076 and included Ali in his residence. He finally had to surrender with his son and was taken to Saragossa, where he also died. After the mainland part of the Taifa of Dénia had been annexed by the Hudids, the Governor of the Balearic Islands, Abdallah al-Murtada, went into business for himself and founded his own Taifa. In 1114, after the conquest of Ibiza and Mallorca by an allied Pisan-Catalan armed force, the latter became dependent on the North African Almoravids and eventually became part of their empire.

Culture

Dénia was known throughout al-Andalus in the 11th century for its wealth and cultural level. Mujahid, an avid collector of books, gathered scholars, most of them readers of the Koran, and is said to have been a gifted philologist . He had dealt extensively with philology in order to be able to study the Koranic sciences. At his court, for example, the astronomer as-Saffar († 1035), who left important astronomical tables for posterity, and the lexicographer Ibn Sida (1007-1066). According to Ibn al-Khatib, the teachings of the numerous scholars at the Mujahid's court "became so common that they were spread even among his slaves." "

Ruler of Dénias (Banu Mujahid)

  1. Mujahid ibn Abdallah al-Amiri al-Muwaffaq (ruled approx. 1012-1045)
  2. Iqbal ad-Daula Ali ibn Mujahid (ruled 1045-1076)

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ With the " four kings " the four Sardinian judicates are meant, de facto autonomous political entities, each ruled by a "judge".
  2. ↑ a b Quoted from Kremp (1996), p. 239.
  3. ↑ Quoted from Kremp (1996), p. 240.
  4. ↑ According to Ibn al-Khatib, he was released in H 405 . Since it only specifies the year, without specifying the month or day, two years must be given when converting to the Gregorian calendar .
  5. ↑ Quoted from Kremp (1996), p. 242.
  6. ↑ Quoted from Hottinger (1995), p. 185.

literature

  • Georg Bossong : Moorish Spain. History and culture . Verlag CH Beck oHG, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-554889 .
  • André Clot : Moorish Spain. 800 years of high Islamic culture in Al Andalus. Translated from the French by Harald Ehrhardt. Albatros Verlag, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-491-96116-5 .
  • Arnold Hottinger : The Moors. Arabic culture in Spain. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7705-3075-6 .
  • Martin Kremp: The petty kings of Islamic Spain. Texts on the history of the Taifas of Andalus in the 11th century. Mediterranea, Frankfurt / Main 1996, ISBN 3-00-000464-5 .