Velasco the Basque ( ar, بلشك الجلشقي, ''Balask al-Galaski'')This is the Romanization of Collins 2012; Lévi-Provençal & García Gómez 1954 use ''Balašk al-Ŷalašqi''; and Cañada Juste 1976 uses ''Balashk al-Chalashqí''. was the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

ruler of

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

in the early 9th century. Velasco may have come to power in 799 in the uprising that overthrew the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

rule in Pamplona, when Muṭarrif ibn Mūsa, probably of the Banu Qasi, was assassinated there. The contemporary ''

Annales Regni Francorum The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...

'' record that "the Navarri and the Pamplonans, who had defected to the Saracens in recent years, were received back into allegiance" in 806. Velasco must be seen as a pro-

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

leader, perhaps even a Frankish appointee. According to the 11th-century ''Muqtabis'' of Ibn Ḥayyān, in the year 816 ( AH 200) the Córdoban ''

ḥājib A ''hajib'' or ''hadjib'' ( ar, الحاجب, al-ḥājib, to block, the prevent someone from entering somewhere; It is a word "hajb" meaning to cover, to hide. It means "the person who prevents a person from entering a place, the doorman". The ...

'' ʿAbd al-Karīm led an expedition against Velasco, whom he describes as the "lord of Pamplona" ( ar, صاحب بنبلونة, '' ṣāḥib'') and the "enemy of God". There is no record of Velasco receiving any assistance from his Frankish allies. In fact, the Umayyad governor of

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 ...

, the future ʿAbd al-Raḥmān II, even sent an embassy to the Frankish emperor

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

that year, perhaps to forestall just such a Frankish reaction. Velasco did receive assistance from the neighbouring

Kingdom of Asturias The Kingdom of Asturias ( la, Asturum Regnum; ast, Reinu d'Asturies) was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest of ...

. The Asturian contingent included some Basques from the region of

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its c ...

. After thirteen days of fighting "without truce" along the river Arum, Velasco was defeated and the Álavan leader, García López (''Garsiya ibn Lubb''), was killed. This García was a cousin of King

Alfonso II of Asturias Alfonso II of Asturias (842), nicknamed the Chaste ( es, el Casto), was the king of Asturias during two different periods: first in the year 783 and later from 791 until his death in 842. Upon his death, Nepotian, a family member of undeter ...

, who was himself half-Basque. The "best knight of Pamplona", Sancho, and a certain Ṣaltān, leader of the '' majūs'' (idolaters), were also among those killed. Following their defeat, the Basques blocked the rivers and mountain passes, frustrating any further Umayyad advance. Ṣaltān was probably the leader of a faction of pagan Basques. Nothing is heard of Velasco after his defeat in 816, but he was no longer lord of Pamplona by 824, when

Íñigo Arista Íñigo Arista ( eu, Eneko, ar, ونّقه, ''Wannaqo'', c. 790 – 851 or 852) was a Basque leader, considered the first king of Pamplona. He is thought to have risen to prominence after the defeat of local Frankish partisans at the Battle of ...

was ruling there.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{refend Basque people 9th-century people from the Kingdom of Pamplona Upper March