Saragossa Taifa

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Situation map showing the extent of the Saragossa Taifa around 1080

The Taifa Kingdom of Zaragoza ( Arabic طائفة سرقسطة ṭāʾifa Saraqusṭa ), also known as the emirate of Saragossa , was an independent Muslim state in northeastern Spain between 1018 and 1110.

Ruling dynasties

The Zaragoza Taifa originated in 1018 on the ruins of the Umayyad- ruled Caliphate of Cordoba . Zaragoza was ruled by the Tujibids for the first two decades . These were then replaced by the Hudid dynasty in 1038 . The Taifa kingdom was taken over by the Almoravids in 1110 and ultimately disappeared completely with the conquest of Alfonso I in 1118.

historical development

Nocturnal interior view of the Aljafería fortress palace in Saragossa

Al-Mundir ibn Yahya at-Tujibi had already been promised the independence of the emirate by the Caliphate of Cordoba around 1013 . The emirate was initially ruled by the Tujibid dynasty, but in 1039 it went to the Hudids (Banu Hūd) of the Taifa of Lérida . Under Ahmad I al-Muqtadir (1046-1082) and Yusuf al-Mutaman (1082-1085) the emirate reached its political and cultural climax.

In the spring of 1086, Alfonso VI began. with the siege of Zaragoza. Under these circumstances, the Taifa kingdom had no choice but to call on the Almoravids to help. Their emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin , landed in Algeciras on July 30, 1086 to free the weak kingdom from its predicament. Alfonso VI therefore broke off the siege and marched with his army south to intercept the Almoravids. In the following battle of Sagrajas on October 23, 1086, Alfonso VI suffered. but a shameful defeat.

The emirate of Saragossa was not annexed by the Almoravids after their victory and so on June 24th 1089 Montsó fell into the hands of Peter I. After the battle of Alcoraz , in which he met the Emir Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Musta'in had fled, Peter I conquered Osca in 1095 and took Barbastro and Sariñena in 1101 . Then in 1104 he besieged Saragossa and Tamarit de Llitera . These military successes cemented Christian supremacy over the Moorish troop contingents.

The new Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf decided in 1110 to remove the last Muslim Taifa king from the Hudid dynasty and therefore occupied Zaragoza on May 31. Abd-al-Malik then abdicated and withdrew to the fortress Ruta ( Rueda de Jalón ). The Almoravids then appointed Muhammad ibn al-Hajj and a little later Abu Bakr Ibn Ibrahim al-Sahrawi (Ibn Tifilwit) as governors, but they practically functioned as emirs. Ibn Tifilwit had the philosopher Avempace as his vizier . In 1118 the entire Taifa of Saragossa was finally conquered by Alfonso I on December 18, 1118 after the successful siege of Saragossa and the capture of the city .

society

Urban planning

City map of Zaragoza

The Islam was a predominantly urban culture that docked their cities mostly along river edges. The economic basis, however, was agriculture with a focus on irrigation. For this reason, the settlements avoided high altitudes such as in the Pyrenees , where passenger and freight traffic took place through the valleys and was controlled by fortresses located at the valley exits. This is also the reason why the Christians (nobility together with the clergy) to the very north settled where they founded monasteries and churches that make up then gradually of the middle Carolingian Empire dependent Spanish Mark the County of Aragon emerged and then separate into a Kingdom evolved.

The Muslims occupied the cities that had existed since the Roman and Visigoth times, but now decayed, and gave them new splendor, as was the case with cities like Huesca , Tarazona , Calahorra and probably also for Zaragoza. But there were also new foundations such as Tudela , Calatayud , Daroca or Barbastro .

Since it was founded by the Romans, Zaragoza has been the most important city in the central Ebro Valley. The city has been able to maintain this position to this day. Zaragoza was probably one of the most important and most populous cities in Al-Andalus - more important than Valencia and Mallorca - and was only overtaken by Córdoba , Seville and Toledo . The famous geographer Al-Idrisi named in his book Kitab nuzhat al-mustaq fi ihtiraq al-afaq Saragossa Medina al-Baida (the White City) because of the alabaster used in its walls, palaces and structures .

Population development

When the Moors arrived in the 7th century , the city of Zaragoza was in ruins and had a population of perhaps 10,000. During the next two centuries the city grew gradually, so that at the end of the 10th century Zaragoza had a population of around 15,000. Only after gaining independence in combination with its function as the capital in the Taifa of Saragossa was the city able to reach 25,000 inhabitants at its demographic peak.

Population composition

The population of Zaragoza was very uneven. The numerically insignificant ruling class ( Yassa ) went back to population lines that were native to the south of the Arabian Peninsula (today's Yemen ) as well as in northern Arabia and Syria . The vast majority of the population, however, was Christian and consisted of farmers, merchants, artisans, and nobles with Roman and Visigoth roots. Attempts were made to convert them to Islam through tax exemptions. The state language in the Taifa of Saragossa was Arabic , but Mozarabic and Hebrew were also spoken . The state religion was Islam with a Sunni orientation.

The Jews , oppressed under the Visigoths, experienced a continuous improvement in their situation. Their Semitic language and their specialization in trade, finance, politics and culture enabled them to develop relationships with the new rulers very quickly.

economy

Gold dinar from the reign of Yahya al-Muzaffar

After the dissolution of the Caliphate of Cordoba, the Zaragoza Taifa was the first independent state to mint its own gold coins .

Rulers (emirs)

Dynasty of the Tujibids

Hudid dynasty

Almoravid dynasty

literature

  • Jacinto Bosch Vilá: El reino de taifas de Zaragoza: Algunos aspectos de la cultura arabe en el valle del Ebro . In: Cuadernos de Historia Jerónimo Zurita . tape 10-11 . Institución "Fernando el Católico" (CSIC), Saragossa 1960.
  • Alberto Cañnada Juste: Los Banu Qasi ( 714-924 ) . In: Príncipe de Viana . n ° 158-159, 1980, ISSN  0032-8472 .
  • José Luis Corral Lafuente: El sistema urbano en la Marca Superior de al-Andalus . In: Turiaso . nº 7, El Islam en Aragón, 1987, ISSN  0211-7207 , p. 23-64 .
  • María Jesús López, Charif Dandachli and Felipe Samper: Aragón musulmán: novecientos años de una presencia enriquecedora . In: Al-Ándalus . n ° 180. Université de Cadix, 2002, ISSN  1133-8571 .
  • Luis Molina Martínez and María-Luisa Ávila Navarro: La división territorial en la marca Superior de al-Andalus . In: Historia de Aragón . tape 3 . Guara, Saragossa 1980, ISBN 84-7611-024-3 , pp. 11-30 .
  • Philippe Sénac: La marche supérieure d'al-Andalus et l'Occident chrétien . Casa de Velázquez-Université de Saragosse, Madrid 1991, ISBN 978-84-86839-22-2 .
  • Juan Antonio Souto Lasala: El poblamiento del término de Zaragoza: (siglos VIII-X): los datos de las fuentes geográficas e históricas . In: Anaquel de estudios árabes . nº 3. Université Complutense, 1992, ISSN  1130-3964 , p. 113-152 .
  • Juan Antonio Souto Lasala: El noroeste de la frontera superior de Al-Andalus en época omeya: poblamiento y organización territorial. García Sánchez III "el de Nájera" un rey y un reino en la Europa del siglo XI . In: XV Semana de Estudios Medievales . Nájera, Tricio y San Millán de la Cogolla 2005, ISBN 84-95747-34-0 , p. 253-268 .
  • Afif Turk: La Marca Superior como vanguardia de al-Andalus: Su papel político y su espíritu de independencia . In: Al-Andalus Magreb: Estudios árabes e islámicos . nº 6, 1998, ISSN  1133-8571 , p. 237-250 .
  • Agustín Ubieto Arteta: La Taifa de Al-Muqtadir (1046-1082) . In: Cómo se formó Aragón . Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Zaragoza, Saragossa 1982, ISBN 978-84-600-2779-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Turk, Afif: El reino de Zaragoza en el siglo XI de Cristo (V de la Hégira) (Castellan) . Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islámicos, 1978, p. 61 .
  2. ^ Lévi-Provençal, Évariste and García Gómez, Emilio: El Siglo XI en primera persona. Las memorias de Abd-Allah, último rey Zirí de Granada (Castellan) . Alianza Editorial, 1980, ISBN 84-206-3057-8 , pp. 200 .
  3. ↑ Cingolani, Stefano Maria: Gestes dels Comtes de Barcelona i Reis d'Aragó . Universitat de València, 2011, ISBN 84-370-8716-3 , p. 113 .
  4. ↑ Álvarez Palenzuela, Vicente Ángel: Edad Media: Historia de España (Castellan) . 2005, ISBN 84-344-6793-3 , pp. 329 .
  5. ↑ Bolòs, Jordi: Diccionari de la Catalunya medieval (see VI-XV) . In: Collecció El Cangur / Diccionaris . núm. 284. Edicions 62, Barcelona 2000, ISBN 84-297-4706-0 .