Nasrid dynasty

The Nasrid dynasty (Arabic: بنو نصر banū Naṣr or بنو الأحمر banū al-Aḥmar; Spanish: Nazarí) was an Arab dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada from 1232 to 1492. It was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula and of al-Andalus. Twenty-three sultans ruled Granada from the founding of the dynasty in 1232 by Muhammad I until 1492, when Muhammad XI surrendered all lands to Isabella I of Castile. Today, the most visible evidence of the Nasrid dynasty is the Alhambra palace complex built under their reign.

Historical background

The dynasty founded by Muhammad I of Granada held a territory that included Granada, Jaén, Almería, and Málaga. Valencia, Játiva, and Jaén were conquered by Christians during the campaigns of the Reconquista and for the most part, the Nasrids were made into tribute-paying vassals from 1243. Granada continued as a center of Islamic culture. The Nasrids later formed alliances with the Marinids of Morocco.

Nasrid crafts like textile work such as ceramic overglaze used techniques from 9th century Baghdad and were applied to make lusterware, first in Málaga, Murcia, and Almería, and then by the 15th century in Manises. This style of pottery produced first under Muslim patronage, then Christian, influenced the later style of colorful and glazed Italian ceramics known as maiolica. Throughout the 14th century, the Nasrids are noted for their palace architecture like the Alhambra, which was a product of the efforts of Ismail I and Muhammad V.

In 1469, Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile, resulting in the union of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. The monarchs shared a common cause of conquering the last Muslim kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula. During the time the Christians were launching a campaign against the Emirate of Granada that would effectively end the Nasrid dynasty, the Nasrids were engaged in a civil war over the throne of Granada. When Abu l-Hasan Ali, Sultan of Granada, was ousted by his son Muhammad XI, Abu l-Hasan Ali retreated to Málaga and civil war broke out between the competing factions. Christians took full advantage of this and continued capturing Muslim strongholds. Muhammed XI was caught by Christian forces in 1483 at Lucena, Córdoba. He was freed after he swore an oath of allegiance to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Abu l-Hasan Ali finally abdicated in favor of his brother Muhammad XII, known as Al-Zaghal (the valiant), and a power struggle with Muhammad XI continued. Al-Zaghal prevailed in the inner struggle but was forced to surrender to the Christians. Muhammad XI surrendered Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 and was given a lordship in the Alpujarras mountains, but instead took financial compensation from the Spanish crown to leave the Iberian Peninsula. The remaining Muslim population was given the status of mudéjar.

• Coat of Arms of the Emirate of Granada on a wall in the Alhambra, Nasrid dynasty (1232–1492)
• Contemporary coat of arms (upper right) of the Nasrid dynasty of Granada with garbled Arabic inscription (Wernigerode Armorial).
• A silk textile fragment from the last Muslim dynasty of Al-Andalus, the Nasrid Dynasty (1232–1492), with the epigraphic inscription "glory to our lord the Sultan".
• Painting in the ceiling of the Hall of Kings of the Alhambra, depicting the ten Sultans of Granada.

Lineage

Arab sources attribute to the Nasrid founder an illustrious genealogy that traces back to a prestigious companion of Muhammad named Sa'd ibn Ubadah, chief of the Banu Khazraj of Medina. Two of his descendants are traced to al-Andalus in the 8th century during the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

However, the authenticity of this genealogy is not well documented and appears to be a later fabrication (probably from the Nasrid period of splendor) intended to glorify the dynasty and endow it with origins befitting the brilliance it achieved during that era. Thus, the Arabic sources that mention this genealogy all date from the 14th century and later, after the establishment of the dynasty. Furthermore, the sources that offer the most detail were written by Nasrid authors closely linked to the sultans of the Alhambra, especially Ibn al-Khatib. Other non-Andalusian Arab authors from outside the emirate also mention the noble lineage but state that its authenticity is unknown, although some authors do accept it as valid.

On the other hand, the prominent 11th-century Andalusian scholar and genealogist Ibn Hazm (d. 1064) explicitly documented in his foundational work Jamharat Ansab al-Arab that a lineage of Sa'd ibn Ubadah resided in the fortress of Arjona, which later became the birthplace of the Nasrid dynasty's founder, Muhammad I.

Family tree

The family tree below shows the genealogical relationship between each sultan of the Nasrid dynasty. It starts with their common ancestor, al-Ahmar. Daughters are omitted, as are sons whose descendants never reigned. During times of rival claims to the throne, the family tree generally recognizes the sultan who controlled the city of Granada itself and the Alhambra palace.

List of Nasrid sultans of Granada

First dynasty ( al-dawla al-ghalibiyya )

Sources: Except as noted, dynastic list relies on Mediano (2010); biographical details from Vidal Castro (2008) and O'Callaghan (2014)

Second dynasty ( al-dawla al-isma'iliyya al-nasriyya )

Sources: Except as noted, dynastic list relies on Mediano (2010); biographical details from Vidal Castro (2008) and O'Callaghan (2014)

See also

• Romance of Abenámar
• Taifa of Granada

Bibliography

• Arié, Rachel (1990). L'Espagne musulmane au Temps des Nasrides (1232–1492) (in French) (2nd ed.). De Boccard. ISBN 2-7018-0052-8.
• Boloix-Gallardo, Bárbara (2021). . A Companion to Islamic Granada. Brill. p. 122. ISBN 978-90-04-42581-1.
• Bueno, Francisco (2004). Los Reyes de la Alhambra. Entre la historia y la leyenda (in Spanish). Miguel Sánchez. ISBN 84-7169-082-9.
• Cortés Peña, Antonio Luis; Vincent, Bernard (1983–1987). Historia de Granada. 4 vols (in Spanish). Editorial Don Quijote.
• Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1997). The Alhambra. Vol 1. From the Ninth Century to Yusuf I (1354). Saqi Books. ISBN 0-86356-466-6.
• Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1997). The Alhambra. Vol. 2. (1354–1391). Saqi Books. ISBN 0-86356-467-4.
• Fernández-Puertas, Antonio (April 1997). "The Three Great Sultans of al-Dawla al-Ismā'īliyya al-Naṣriyya Who Built the Fourteenth-Century Alhambra: Ismā'īl I, Yūsuf I, Muḥammad V (713–793/1314–1391)". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Third Series. 7 (1): 1–25. doi:. S2CID .
• Harvey, Leonard Patrick (1992). Islamic Spain 1250 to 1500. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-31962-8.
• Latham, J.D. & Fernández-Puertas, A. (1993). . In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume VII:Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 1020–1029. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
• Mediano, Fernando (2010), Fierro, Maribel (ed.), , The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 106–143, doi:, ISBN 978-0-521-83957-0{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
• Miranda, Ambroxio Huici (1970). "The Iberian Peninsula and Sicily". In Holt, P.M; Lambton, Ann K.S.; Lewis, Bernard (eds.). The Cambridge History of Islam. Vol. 2A. Cambridge University Press.
• O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (2014). The last crusade in the West: Castile and the conquest of Granada. Middle Ages series (1st ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4587-5.
• Vidal Castro, Francisco (2018). . Real Academia de la Historia.
• Vidal Castro, Francisco (2018a). . Real Academia de la Historia.
• Vidal Castro, Francisco (2008c). . Real Academia de la Historia.
• Watt, W. Montgomery (1965). A History of Islamic Spain. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0847-8.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nasrides, The". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 249–250.

External links

• Media related to Banu Nasr at Wikimedia Commons