'Amrus ibn Yusuf al-Muwallad al-Laridi (, died 808/9 or 813/4) was a Muwallad (probably of

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

origin) general of the

Emirate of Córdoba An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...

and governor of

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Amrus, a native of

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

, and his kinsman Shabrit () were ''

mawālī ''Mawlā'' (, plural ''mawālī'' ), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the ter ...

'' servants of Aysun ibn Sulayman al-Arabi, who was the son of the ''wali'' of Barcelona and Girona. The kinsmen joined Aysun's brother when

Matruh al-Arabi Matruh ben Sulayman al-Arabi () was a Wali, or governor, of Barcelona from 778 to 792. Roger Collins, ''The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797'' (Basil Blackwell, 1989). Matruh, together with his father Sulayman al-Arabi, joined Charlemagne's army ...

rebelled and entered Zaragoza. In Muslim year 175 ( AD 791/2), Amrus turned on his master, and he and Sarhabil ibn Saltan al-Zawagi attacked Matruh with swords, killing him. Amrus then went to Córdoba, where he was rewarded by being named ''

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

'' of Talavera. In 802, he was sent from

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, Or ...

as general against another Zaragoza rebel, taking Zaragoza and Huesca, expelling

Bahlul ibn Marzuq Bahlul Ibn Marzuq () (died 802) was born in the current term of La Puebla de Castro (Huesca), was a Vascon-Muslim, the son of a local lord named Marzuq ibn Uskara ("son of the Basque"). He rebelled in Zaragoza against the Arab-Muslim government of ...

and fortifying a settlement that would become Tudela, installing there his son Yusuf ibn Amrus. Zaragoza again rebelled in December, 802, this time under Fortun ibn Musa, apparently a member of the

Banu Qasi The Banu Qasi, Banu Kasi, Beni Casi (, meaning "sons" or "heirs of Cassius"), Banu Musa, or al-Qasawi were a Muladí (local convert) dynasty that in the 9th century ruled the Upper March, a frontier territory of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba, l ...

, and Amrus was in the year 803/804 appointed as governor of Zaragoza. He installed his kinsman, Sabrit, in Huesca. In 807, he quelled a rebellion in Tudela, and upon the death of Oriol of Aragon, he occupied the county of

Sobrarbe Sobrarbe is a comarca of Aragon, Spain. It is located in the north of Huesca province, making up part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Many of its people speak the Aragonese language locally known as ''fabla''. Sobrarbe is a mountainous ...

, which was only regained by

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

under

Aznar Galíndez I Aznar Galíndez I (also '' Asnar Galí'') (died 839) was a Basque Count of Aragon and Conflent from 809 and Cerdanya and Urgell from 820. Aznar has been confused with Aznar Sánchez, Duke of Gascony, and some authorities have even considered the ...

in 814. This conforms with the timeline provided by the chronicler

Al-Udri Abu ʾl-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar ibn Anas al-ʿUdhrī (1003–1085), called Ibn al-Dalāʾī, was an Arab geographer, traveler and historian of al-Andalus. He hailed from the Arab tribe of Udhra which had settled Almería. Life Al-Udhri's f ...

, who reports that Amrus held Zaragoza for 40 days short of ten years, placing his death in 198 (813/4), but al-Udri indicated that others place his death in 193 (808/809). His family, the Banu Amrus (), continued to be involved in the regional politics of the upper

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

valley. Grandson Amrus ibn Umar ibn Amrus () rebelled in Huesca in 870, capturing his cousin Lubb ibn Zakariyya ibn Amrus (), and killing the ''amil'' Musa ibn Galind (), allying himself with the ''amil'' 's paternal uncle

García Íñiguez of Pamplona García or Garcia may refer to: People * García (surname) * Kings of Pamplona/Navarre ** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882 ** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970 ** García Sánchez II of Pamp ...

. However, he shortly was enticed to return to Cordoban loyalty, being made governor of Toledo. Also active at this time were his brother Zakariyya ibn Umar, his uncle Zakariyya ibn Amrus and the latter's son Umar ibn Zakariyya. Mas'ud ibn Amrus (), son of Amrus ibn Umar, was the last of the family, being killed in 884 by kinsman

Muhammad al-Tawil of Huesca Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil (, died 913 or 914) was a Muwallad Wāli of Huesca and a prominent Muslim lord in the Upper March (, ''Aṯ-Ṯaḡr al-Aʿlà'') of Al-Andalus in the late-ninth and early-tenth centuries. Acting autonomously from ...

, a member of the Banu Sabrit, the descendants of the kinsman and ally of Amrus ibn Yusuf. Muhammad founded a family known as the Banu al-Tawil that would rule what was effectively a short-lived

taifa The taifas (from ''ṭā'ifa'', plural ''ṭawā'if'', meaning "party, band, faction") were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that em ...

state at Huesca in the late 9th and early 10th century before themselves being supplanted by the

Banu Tujib The Banu Tujib (), the Tujibids (, 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 control of Zaragoza and Calatayud by the ...

of Zaragoza.

Family tree

Sources

*Alberto Cañada Juste, "Los Banu Qasi (714-924)", in ''Principe de Viana'', vol. 41, pp. 5–95 (1980). *Fernando de la Granja, "La Marca Superior en la Obra de al-'Udrí", ''Estudios de la Edad Media de la Corona de Aragón'', vol. 8 (1967), pp. 457–545 *

Évariste Lévi-Provençal Évariste Lévi-Provençal (4 January 1894 – 27 March 1956) was a French medievalist, orientalist, Arabist, and historian of Islam. The scholar who would take the name Lévi-Provençal was born 4 January 1894 in Constantine, French Algeria ...

, ''Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane'' (1944-1953).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amrus Ibn Yusuf 9th-century people from al-Andalus 9th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Upper March 8th-century people from al-Andalus Al-Andalus military personnel