The taifa of Zaragoza () was an independent

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

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 ...

state in the east of

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, ...

(present day

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

), which was established in 1018 as one of the

taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

kingdoms, with its capital in Saraqusta (

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

) city. Zaragoza's taifa emerged in the 11th century following the destruction of 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 ...

in the

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

controlled

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 ...

. During the first three decades of this period (1018–1038), the city was ruled by the Arab

Banu Tujib The Banu Tujib ( ar, بنو تجيب), the Tujibids ( ar, التجيبيون, al-Tujibiyyun, sing. Tujibi) or Banu al-Muhajir, were an Arab dynasty on the Upper March of Al-Andalus active from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. They were given ...

tribe. They were replaced by the Arab

Banu Hud The Banu Hud ( ar, بنو هود ', the Hudid dynasty) were an Arab dynasty that ruled the ' of Zaragoza from 1039 until 1110. In 1039, under the leadership of Al-Mustain I, Sulayman ibn Hud al-Judhami, the Bani Hud seized control of Zaragoza f ...

rulers, who had to deal with a complicated alliance with

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ''al-sīd'', which would evolve into El ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and his Castilian masters against the

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 ...

, who managed to bring the Taifas Emirates under their control. After the death of El Cid, his kingdom was conquered by the Almoravids, and by 1100 they had crossed the Ebro into

Barbastro Barbastro (Latin: ''Barbastrum'' or ''Civitas Barbastrensis'', Aragonese: ''Balbastro'') is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain. The city (also known originally as Barbastra or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers Cinc ...

, which brought them into direct confrontation with

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

. The Banu Hud stubbornly resisted the Almoravid dynasty and ruled until they were eventually defeated by the Almoravids in May 1110. The last sultan of the Banu Hud, Abd-al-Malik, and Imad ad-Dawla of Saraqusta, were forced to abandon the capital. Abd-al-Malik allied himself with the Christian Aragonese under

Alfonso I of Aragon Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pet ...

and from then on the Muslim soldiers of Saraqusta served in the Aragonese forces. Soon afterwards (1118) a good deal of the old taifa, including the city of Zaragoza, was conquered by the Christian kingdom of Aragon, and remained in Christian hands thereafter. Between c. 1040 and c. 1105, the

Taifa of Lérida The Taifa of Lérida () was a factional kingdom (''ṭāʾifa'') in Muslim Iberia between 1039/1046 and 1102/1110. Based on the city of Lérida (Catalan ''Lleida'', Arabic ''Lārida''), the ''ṭāʾifa'' was not an independent state throughout t ...

was separate from that of Zaragoza.

List of Emirs

This list is taken from The Routledge Handbook of Muslim Iberia, edited by Maribel Fierro.

Tujibid dynasty

Al-Mundhir ibn Yahya al-Tujibi Al-Mundhir I ibn Yahya al-Tujibi ( ar, المنذر بن يحيى التجيبي) or Mundhir I was the first head of the Banu Tujib to rule the city of Zaragoza independent of control by the Caliphate of Córdoba, founding the Taifa of Zaragoza ...

: c. 1013–1021/2 *

Yahya ibn al-Mundhir Yahya ibn al-Mundhir al-Tuğībī al-Mudhaffar ( ar, يحي بن المنذر المظفر) was the second head of the Banu Tujib clan and emir of the Taifa of Zaragoza The taifa of Zaragoza () was an independent Arab Muslim state in the ea ...

: 1021/2–1036 *

Al-Mundhir ibn Yahya Al-Mundhir II ibn Yahya ibn al-Mundhir Mu'azz al-Dawlah ( ar, المنذر بن يحي معز الدولة) or Mundhir II was the third head of the Banu Tujib group. He ruled the Taifa of Zaragoza The taifa of Zaragoza () was an independent ...

: 1036–1038/9 * Abd Allah ibn al-Hakam al-Tujibi: 1038/9

Huddid dynasty

* Al-Musta'in I: 1038/9–1046 *

Muhammad al-Hayib Adud ad-Dawla Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

(Calatayud): 1046/7–1066/7 with... ** Lubb (Huesca): 1047–1048 and... ** Mundir al-Hayib al-Zafir Nasir ad-Dawla (Tudela): 1047–1048/9 and... ** Yusuf al-Muzaffar Sayf ad-Dawla (Lérida): 1047–1078/81 and... *

Ahmad al-Muqtadir Ahmad ibn Sulayman al-Muqtadir (or just Moctadir; ar, أبو جعفر أحمد "المقتدر بالله" بن سليمان, ''Abu Ja'far Ahmad al-Muqtadir bi-Llah ibn Sulayman'') was a member of the Banu Hud family who ruled the Islamic taifa ...

: 1046–1081/3 *

Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud Abu Amir Yusuf ibn Ahmad ibn Hud ( ar, أبو عامر يوسف إبن أحمد إبن هود, Abū ʿĀmir Yūsuf ibn Aḥmad ibn Hūd; died ), more commonly known as al-Mu'taman, was a mathematician, and also one of the kings of the Taifa of Za ...

: 1081/3–1085 *

Al-Musta'in II Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Yusuf ibn Hud ( ar, أبو جعفر أحمد بن يوسف بن هود), known by the regnal name al-Musta'in Billah ( ar, المستعين بالله, , He who looks for help to God), was the fourth member of the Banu Hud fam ...

: 1085–1110 * 'Abd al-Malik Imad ad-Dawla: 1110

Almoravid dynasty 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 s ...

Muhammad ibn al-Hajj Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

: 1110–1115 * ibn Tifalwit: 1115–1117 ** Conquered by

Alfonso the Battler Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pet ...

, King of Navarre and Aragon, in 1118

References

{{coord missing, Spain History of Zaragoza 11th-century establishments in Al-Andalus States and territories established in 1013 1013 establishments in Europe States and territories disestablished in 1110 1110 disestablishments in Europe Upper March 12th-century disestablishments in Al-Andalus

List of Emirs

Tujibid dynasty

Huddid dynasty

Almoravid dynasty 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 s ...

See also

References