The Dhulnunid dynasty or Dhunnunid dynasty, known in Arabic sources as 'Banū Dhī al-Nūn' ( ar, ﺑﻨﻮ ذي اﻟﻨﻭﻦ) was a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Berber dynasty that reigned over the

Taifa of Toledo The Taifa of Toledo () was an islamic polity (''taifa'') located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula in the high middle ages. It was ruled by the Dhulnunids, a Hawwara Berber clan. It emerged after 1018 upon the fracturing of the Caliphate of C ...

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...

in the 11th century. According to Ibn 'Idhari, the family’s original name was ''Dhannūn'', which was a common Berber name.

Origins

The Dhulnunids were a Berber family from the

Hawwara Hawwara ( Berber: ''Ihuwwaren'', ), also spelled Huwwara, Howwara, Hewwara or Houara, is a large tribal confederation of Berbers and Arabized Berbers spread widely in the Maghreb, with descendants in Upper Egypt and Sudan. Hawwara are amongst t ...

tribe who came to the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

at the time of the Islamic conquest. They settled in the heart of Santabariyya or Shant Bariya (Santaver in the

Province of Cuenca Cuenca is one of the five provinces of the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. It is located in the eastern part of this autonomous community and covers 17,141 square km. It has a population of 203,841 inhabitants -- the least populated of ...

) and through a process of cultural Arabization between the 8th-10th centuries changed their name from the Berber Zennún to the Arabised form dhi-l-Nun. During the second half of the 9th century they came to control a large territory that included

Uclés Uclés is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the province of Cuenca, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 64.61 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 212. History ...

, Huete, Cuenca, Huélamo,

Las Valeras Las Valeras is a municipality located in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given p ...

, Alarcón and Iniesta. Due to the geographic isolation of the area, they were in continuous revolt against the

Caliphate of Córdoba The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خلافة قرطبة; transliterated ''Khilāfat Qurṭuba''), also known as the Cordoban Caliphate was an Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 929 to 1031. Its territory comprised Iberia and parts o ...

, maintaining a certain independence, and periodically threatening Toledo. With the decline of the Umayyad caliphate in the early 11th century, caliph Sulayman ibn al-Hakam granted Abd el-Rahman ibn Di-l-Nun the lordship of Santaver, Huete, Uclés and Cuenca, along with the title of Násir ad-Dawla. In 1018 this same Abd al-Rahman entrusted the government of Uclés to his son Ismaíl whom he also sent him to Toledo at the request of its people, who were dissatisfied with their rulers.

The Taifa of Toledo

This dynasty provided the three rulers to the Taifa of Toledo: *

Ismail al-Zahir Ismail b. Abd al-Rahman b. Di-l-Nun (died 1043 in Toledo), also known as Ismaíl al-Zafir, Ismaíl az-Záfir or simply “Al-Zafir” (the victor) was the first ruler of the Taifa of Toledo from the Dhulnunid dynasty. He reigned from 1032 until his ...

(1023–1043) *

Al-Mamun Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...

(1043–1075), son of Ismail. *

Yahya al-Qadir Yahya ibn Ismail ibn Yahya, known by the regnal name al-Qadir bi-llah (died 28 October 1092) was the Dhulnunid ruler of the Taifa of Toledo in Spain between 1075 until the fall of Toledo 1085 and of the Taifa of Valencia from 1086 until his deat ...

(1075–1080), grandson of Al-Mamun, also a ruler of the

Taifa of Valencia The Taifa of Valencia () was a medieval Moorish taifa kingdom which existed, in and around Valencia, Spain during four distinct periods: from 1010 to 1065, from 1075 to 1099, from 1145 to 1147 and last from 1229 to 1238 when it was finally co ...

. Al-Qadir was so unpopular that Toledo rebelled against him and he was obliged to seek the support of

Alfonso VI of León and Castile Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

to regain his capital. Although he was successful, he eventually ceded the city to Alfonso in return for the king's support in installing him in Valencia. This brought the Taifa of Toledo to and end, and Al-Qadir's rule in Valencia was brought to and end by the invading

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

in 1092.

References

{{reflist 11th century in Al-Andalus Taifa of Toledo Al-Andalus dynasties Berber dynasties