Yahya al-Mutali

Dirhem from the time of Yahya al-Mutali

Yahya al-Mutali ( Spanish Yahya al-Muhtal , Arabic المعتلي ، يحيى بن علي, DMG al-Muʿtalī, Yaḥyā b. ʿAlī ; † 1035 ) was Caliph of Cordoba during two phases of the civil war (1021-1023 and 1025-1026). Like his father, he was of Berber origin.

Yahya was the son of the first caliph of the Hammudid dynasty, Ali ibn Hammud al-Nasir , and was the governor of Ceuta . When his father's brother, al-Qasim al-Mamun, ascended the throne of the caliph, Yahya began conspiracy against his uncle by allying himself with his Berber troops . Although he succeeded in overthrowing al-Qasim in 1021, he could not maintain his position as caliph in Córdoba for long because the slave troops continued to be loyal to al-Qasim. He withdrew to Malaga in 1023, where he was able to assert himself as the leader of the Hammudids after the capture of his uncle al-Qasim (see: Caliphate of Cordoba ).

In the following years he consolidated the rule of the Hammudids in the area around Málaga . When in 1025 the caliph Muhammad III. was overthrown, Yahya was again offered the office of caliph. However, he refrained from ascending the throne of the caliphate and only had Córdoba occupied by his Berber troops. Yahya ruled Málaga until his death in 1035. After his troops were driven out of Córdoba, Hischam III was there . the last caliph.

literature

• Arnold Hottinger : The Moors. Arabic culture in Spain . Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7705-3075-6 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Al-Qasim al-Ma'mun	Caliph of Cordoba 1021-1023	Al-Qasim al-Ma'mun
Muhammad III.	Caliph of Cordoba 1025-1026	Hisham III.