Abu Zakariya Yahya II ( ar, أبو زكريا يحيى الواثق) known as Yahyâ II or al-Wathiq, was the son and successor of
Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad al-Mustansir. He was the fourth
Hafsid
The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (western ...
Sultan of
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
who reigned over
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...
from 1277 to 1279.
Life
During his reign a new gate, the
Bab Jedid was cut in the wall of the medina.
In 1278 there was an uprising of the province of
Béjaïa
Béjaïa (; ; ar, بجاية, Latn, ar, Bijāya, ; kab, Bgayet, Vgayet), formerly Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean port city and commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province, Kabylia. Béjaïa is ...
against its Andalusian Chancellor Ibn al-Habbabar. The latter was known for his hostility towards the
Almohads
The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fo ...
, and described by the chronicler Ibn Chamâa as the real ruler of Tunis. Ibn Khaldoun relates that the Chancellor sent his brother Abû al-Alâ 'Idrîs to Béjaïa to take care of the finances of the city, alongside the governor, the Almohad Muḥammad ben Abi Hilâl al-Hintâtî. When the governor had the chancellor assassinated in 1278 he was then obliged to look for someone who could replace the existing authority in Tunis that had appointed the chancellor.
Al-Hintâtî therefore called on the sultan's uncle, Abû Ishaq Ibrahim, to rebel. The latter had already revolted against Abû `Abd Allah Muhammad al-Mustansir, his brother and father of Abu Zakariyâ Yahyâ II, and had fled to Andalusia then to
Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the por ...
. Ibrahim also had the backing of king
Pedro III of Aragon.
Welcomed by Muḥammad ben Abi Hilâl al-Hintâtî and the notables of Béjaïa, he took the city in April 1279 and in August of the same year entered Tunis where he was recognized as sultan. His seizure of the throne was peaceful after the army leaders rose up and agreed to recognize him as the new sultan.
Abu Zakariya Yahya yielded his throne to his uncle, but as soon as he took power, Ibrahim ordered the execution of his predecessor and his three children. The only one to escape was his posthumous son, Abu-Assida Muhammad II, who was to be the 6th Hafsid sultan.
Bibliography
*Dominique Valérian, CANDLE, PORT MAGHRÉBIN, 1067-1510 , Rome, Publications of the French School of Rome,2006, VIII-795
read online, p. 35-101
*Yver, G. "Ḥafṣids." Encyclopaedia of Islam, first edition (1913-1936). Ed. M. Th. Houtsma, TW Arnold, R. Basset, R. Hartmann. Brill Online, 2016. SEO. May 25, 2016 http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/hafsids-SIM_2608
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yahya 02 al-Wathiq
1279 deaths
Year of birth unknown
13th-century Hafsid caliphs