The Banu al-ʿAzafi (), or the ʿAzafids, was a noble family in the North African city of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

( ar, Sabta, today part of Spain). In 654 AH (1256/57 CE)

Abu al-Qasim al-Azafi Abu or ABU may refer to: Places * Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan * Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan * Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria * Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...

, a member of the dynasty, became the ruler of the city after expelling the governor of the

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...

caliph Umar al-Murtada. Afterwards, the dynasty were the ''de facto'' rulers of the city although they later acknowledged the

Marinids The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...

as their sovereign. In 1304 they rebelled against the Marinids, but this independence was short-lived as the city was conquered by the fleet of

Nasrid The Nasrid dynasty ( ar, بنو نصر ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; Spanish: ''Nazarí'') was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula, ruling the Emirate of Granada from 1230 until 1492. Its members claimed to be of Ara ...

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

in May 1306. In 1309 Granada returned the city to the Marinids and in 1311 Yahya al-Azafi was made the governor of Ceuta and the Azafids returned to the city. After the death of Yahya (date unknown between 1322 and 1328), order broke down in the city under the rule of his son Abu al-Qasim. At the invitation of the people, Marinid forces marched into the city in 1327 or 1328, ending its autonomy and putting it under the direct rule of

Abu Sa'id Uthman II Abu Sa'id Uthman II (; Abū Sa'īd 'Abdullāh 'Uthmān ibn Yūsuf Abū Ya'qūb; ) (December 1276 – August 1331) was the 10th Marinid sultan of Morocco, reigning from 1310 to 1331. A younger son of Abū Ya'qūb Yusuf an-Nasir, Abū Sa'īd 'Uthm ...

References

* * * History of Ceuta Muslim dynasties African dynasties {{Africa-hist-stub