Wāḍiḥ al-Ṣiqlabī
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Wāḍiḥ al-Ṣiqlabī (; died November 1011) was a Slav general of the late Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba. He served as governor of the Middle March and as the '' ḥājib'', effectively prime minister, of the caliphs Muḥammad II (1010) and
Hishām II Hisham II or Abu'l-Walid Hisham II al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah (, Abū'l-Walīd Hishām al-Muʾayyad bi-ʾllāh) (son of Al-Hakam II and Subh of Cordoba) was the third Umayyad Caliph of Spain, in Al-Andalus from 976 to 1009, and 1010–13. Reign In 97 ...
(1010–1011). He played a major role in the opening of the final ''fitna'' (civil war) of Córdoba. Wāḍiḥ, a Slav, was the governor of the Middle March with his capital at
Medinaceli Medinaceli () is a municipality and town in the province of Soria, in Castile and León, Spain. The municipality includes other villages like Torralba del Moral. Etymology Its name derives from the Arabic 'madīnat salīm', which was named afte ...
from at least the 990s. In 997, the leader of the
Maghrāwa The Maghrawa or Meghrawa ( ar, المغراويون) were a large Zenata Berber tribal confederation whose cradle and seat of power was the territory located on the Chlef in the north-western part of today's Algeria, bounded by the Ouarsenis to ...
Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
tribe in Africa,
Zīrī ibn ʿAṭīya Ziri ibn Atiyya (Berber language: Ziri en Ɛaṭiyya Ameɣraw) also known as Ziri ibn Atiyya ibn Abd Allah ibn Tabādalt ibn Muhammad ibn Khazar az-Zanātī al-Maghrāwī al-Khazarī (died 1001) was the tribal leader of the Berber Maghrawa tribal ...
, renounced his allegiance to Córdoba. In response, al-Manṣūr, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Caliphate, dispatched Wāḍiḥ to Africa at the head of a large army in 998 to expand the Umayyad beachhead there, which at the time consisted only of Ceuta. He later sent his son, ʿAbd al-Malik, to assist Wāḍiḥ. Together they defeated Zīrī, captured
Fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
and established an Umayyad administration over all of Morocco, which lasted until the death of al-Manṣūr in 1002. After the forced abdication of Caliph
Hishām II Hisham II or Abu'l-Walid Hisham II al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah (, Abū'l-Walīd Hishām al-Muʾayyad bi-ʾllāh) (son of Al-Hakam II and Subh of Cordoba) was the third Umayyad Caliph of Spain, in Al-Andalus from 976 to 1009, and 1010–13. Reign In 97 ...
in February 1009, Wāḍiḥ supported the new caliph, Muḥammad II al-Mahdī. When Muḥammad alienated the Berbers in the army, many withdrew from the city of Córdoba north towards Calatrava, proclaiming as their caliph Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam. They approached Wāḍiḥ to lead them, but were rebuffed. Count Sancho García of Castile, however, accepted their offer and the combined Castilian–Berber army marched on Córdoba. After interfering with but failing to stop their advance, Wāḍiḥ retreated to Córdoba. In November 1009, the city fell. Muḥammad and Wāḍiḥ escaped to
Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...
, while the Berbers installed Sulaymān as caliph. Having failed to prevent the enthronement of Sulaymān, Wāḍiḥ sought to extricate himself from politics. He went to Tortosa and from there sent a letter to Sulaymān, begging to be relieved of his post so he could go to Lorca and devote himself to God, probably in a ''
ribāṭ A ribāṭ ( ar, رِبَـاط; hospice, hostel, base or retreat) is an Arabic term for a small fortification built along a frontier during the first years of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb to house military volunteers, called ''murabitun'' ...
''. He was refused, and began working for Muḥammad's restoration. He secured the allegiance of some of the ''
Ṣaqāliba Saqaliba ( ar, صقالبة, ṣaqāliba, singular ar, صقلبي, ṣaqlabī) is a term used in medieval Arabic sources to refer to Slavs and other peoples of Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, or in a broad sense to European slaves. The te ...
'' in the east. He negotiated an alliance with the Frankish counts Ramon Borrell of Barcelona and
Ermengol I of Urgell Ermengol (or Armengol) I (974–1010), called ''el de Córdoba'', was the Count of Urgell from 992 to his death. He was the second son of Borrell II of Barcelona and his first wife, Letgarda. He was the second of the counts of Urgell and famous ma ...
. Each count received 200 '' dīnār''s and together they supplied 9,000 soldiers, to be paid two ''dīnār''s a day. The Frankish army joined with Wāḍiḥ's at Toledo and together they marched towards Córdoba. The Berber army of Sulaymān marched out to meet them. At ʿAqabat al-Baqar, on 22 or 31 May 1010, Wāḍiḥ and the Franks won a major victory and advanced to the capital. Wāḍiḥ was appointed ''ḥājib''. On 21 June, however, the combined army was defeated at the battle of Marbella, after which the remaining Frankish contingent left for home. Returning to Córdoba after his defeat, Wāḍiḥ staged a ''coup d'état'' with the support of other officers who had once served al-Manṣūr. He had Muḥammad, now extremely unpopular in the capital, arrested, tried and executed on 23 June 1010. He sent his head to the Berbers and had his body thrown into a sewer. Hishām II was reinstated, and immediately re-appointed Wāḍiḥ ''ḥājib''. Unimpressed by the head of Muḥammad, Sulaymān and the Berbers laid siege to the city. Wāḍiḥ tried sending messengers to make terms with the besiegers, but they were intercepted. He was captured by his own allies while trying to flee Córdoba in November 1011 and killed.


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * *{{cite journal , first=David J. , last=Wasserstein , title=The Emergence of the Taifa Kingdom of Toledo , journal=Al-Qantara , volume=21 , issue=1 , year=2000 , pages=17–56 , url=http://al-qantara.revistas.csic.es/index.php/al-qantara/article/view/402


External links


Wadih
''Biografías y vidas: La enciclopedia biográfica en línea'' 10th-century births 1011 deaths 10th-century Al-Andalus people 11th-century Al-Andalus people People from the Caliphate of Córdoba Al-Andalus military personnel 11th-century rulers in Al-Andalus Slaves of Al-Andalus Central March Slavs of the medieval Islamic world