In the Christian part of the Iberian Peninsula, the 11th century saw the rise of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, the birth of Portugal, the dominance of the county of Barcelona over the other Catalan counties, the adventures of El Cid, and the opening of the Way of St. James. In the Muslim zone, the death of Almanzor was notable, but even more so was the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba into taifas, small kingdoms that, in those first hundred years, numbered as many as thirty-seven. One of the taifas that shone brightly during this period was Denia, which emerged in the year 1010 and experienced a period of peace and cultural splendor under a scholarly ruler who was not of Arab or North African origin but Slavic: Mujahid al-Amiri.

There is little biographical information about Mujahid before that time. His exact date and place of birth are unknown, with suggestions pointing to the year 960 for the former and Denia itself for the latter, which at the time belonged to the Cordoban caliphate. However, it is known that he was a saqaliba, a term taken from the Greek sklavinia and used to refer to the Slavic peoples who came into contact with the Byzantine Empire starting in the 6th century. The Andalusians and Muslims of the western Mediterranean adopted the term and applied it to European slaves, as opposed to the word ‘abīd, which referred to slaves of black ethnicity.

It is believed that his mother, called Yud in the sources, was a Christian captive purchased by Almanzor, who at the time held the position of háyib (similar to a chamberlain) under Hisham II, the Umayyad caliph of Córdoba, although in practice he wielded authority due to the ruler’s weakness. It was Almanzor who converted the young Mujahid to Islam, renamed him Abu-‘l Jaysh Mujahid ibn Abd Allah al-Amiri (or Mujahid al-Muwaffaq, as his previous name is unknown), and provided him with a good education alongside his own children. It was not uncommon for converted slaves to rise through the ranks in the Muslim slave system, with many taking on important positions.

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Bust of Almanzor erected in the town of Catalañazor, Soria. Credit: Luis Rogelio HM / Wikimedia Commons

In fact, the sources are confused with these biographical details. Some call him by other names (such as Mujahid bin Youssef bin Ali), while others identify him as a servant of Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Sanchul, the son Almanzor had with Abda (the name taken by his wife Urraca the Basque, daughter of King Sancho Garcés II of Pamplona), who served as the amiri advisor of the aforementioned Hisham II, with whom he had a close friendship. Christian chronicles, for obvious reasons, referred to him as Abderramán Sanchuelo. It is likely that Mujahid was close to him in Denia, as he succeeded him in ruling that taifa after his death in 1009.

Ibn Khaldun, a 14th-century Andalusian scholar, recounts in his work Al-Muqaddima (“Introduction to Universal History”) that there was a Mujahid who fled from Córdoba after the assassination of Muhámmad II al-Mahdi, who had proclaimed himself caliph in 1099 after overthrowing and exiling Hisham II and Abderramán Sanchuelo, only to be deposed himself by a Berber revolt supported by the Castilian count Sancho García. It is difficult to know if this was the same Mujahid, but it is likely, as Ibn Khaldun says he took refuge in Tortosa and then moved to Denia.

To complicate matters further, the chronicler Ibn Idhari al-Marrakushi states in his work Kitāb al-bayān al-muġrib fī ājbār mulūk al-āndalus wa-l-maġrib (“The Book of the Marvelous History of the Kings of al-Andalus and the Maghreb,” generally shortened to Bayán), written around 1312, that Mujahid had been governor of eastern Algeria during Almanzor’s time, and that after his death, he crossed over to al-Andalus and took control of the taifa of Denia. A modern historian, the late Egyptian Muhammad Abdullah Annan, reverses the order, placing him first in the taifa of Denia and later in Algeria in 1027.

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The taifas’ kingdoms in the year 1031. Credit: Wilfredor / Wikimedia Commons

The fact is that Mujahid took advantage of that confusing period, known as the Fitna of al-Andalus (the civil war that caused the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba between 1009 and 1031), to become the de facto ruler of Denia in 1010. We say de facto because, like his patron Almanzor, he wielded power from behind the scenes through a puppet Umayyad caliph named ‘Abd Allah al Mu’ayti. He was a prestigious jurist of royal lineage, descended from Uqba ibn Abi Mu’ayt (a neighbor and enemy of Muhammad when he began his preachings), and he granted Mujahid control of Algeria and Denia under his authority.

However, the caliph soon realized that his subordinate was the one truly holding the reins of power, and wishing to rid himself of this shadow, he did not pass up the first opportunity to send him away: the campaign to conquer Sardinia. The island, once a Byzantine possession, had been under Muslim control for seventy years, from 710 to 778, until a popular uprising expelled the invaders. They attempted to return in 821 but failed, and since then, the Sardinians had remained independent, constituting a tempting target for Saracen pirates from time to time. Now, it was Denia’s turn.

Despite its small size and youth, that taifa had already achieved a strong position thanks to maritime trade, the fertility of its lands, and the prosperity of regions such as Altea, Orba, Bairén, Cocentaina, Sagra Callosa, or Bocairente. So much so that it became the first taifa to mint coins, just a year after beginning its independent path, in a mint located in Elda (a town currently about 126 kilometers from Denia). Minting coins was a sign of prosperity since ancient times, something confirmed in this case by the organization of a powerful army of conquest.

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Dirhams minted in the Taifa of Denia in the 11th century. Credit: Dorieo / Wikimedia Commons

According to Ibn al-Khatib, a 14th-century scholar from Loja also known by the nickname Lisaneddín (“Tongue of Religion”), that army totaled a thousand soldiers who embarked on a fleet of 120 ships and set sail for the Balearic archipelago in 1015. After seizing it, they continued with the pre-established plan and attacked Sardinia. They occupied the island’s northwest and used it as a base for raids against the northwestern coast of Italy, devastating Pisa while its army was campaigning in Calabria and jeopardizing Italian trade in the Tyrrhenian Sea, both Pisan and Genoese, by attacking their merchant ships.

This led Pope Benedict VIII to call for a local crusade in which a Pisan-Genoese squadron joined forces with the island’s resistance, managing to defeat Mujahid after a long series of attacks and counterattacks by both sides. In the end, he had no choice but to withdraw, but the following year he returned with reinforced troops, including cavalry, and defeated the army of the Giudicato of Cagliari, one of the four feudal jurisdictions into which Sardinia was administratively divided. Once again, it was the southernmost one, and from there he sent another expedition against the mainland, besieging Ortonovo, a town in Liguria. A famous anecdote, recorded by Thietmar, chronicler and bishop of Merseburg, occurred there.

According to him, Mujahid sent the Pope a sack full of chestnuts as a metaphor for the number of soldiers with which he could attack him, but the pontiff responded by sending him a sack of millet seeds, representing the forces he would oppose to him. And indeed, in 1016 the combined fleet of Pisa and Genoa reappeared on the horizon, spreading panic among the Saracens and causing a mutiny. Mujahid embarked with his family to escape, but many of his ships were sunk by a storm, and the rest were captured by the enemy.

Among the spoils obtained were reportedly a large number of sheep seized in Sardinia and other treasures. The worst, however, was that his wife, brothers, and several of his children were taken prisoner, including his heir, Alí Iqbal al-Dawla, who would spend a decade in captivity before his ransom of ten thousand dinars was paid. Alí returned somewhat Christianized, as his grandmother, who we should remember followed that faith, chose to stay on the island and educated him in that time, forcing his father to re-instruct him in Islam. During those ten years, he also added French to the two languages he already mastered, Arabic and Mozarabic (apparently also the Romance language that would become Castilian), and even wrote poetry.

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The façade of the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa is decorated with eight 18th-century statues of great enemies of the Republic, defeated and chained. Among them is Mujahid. Credit: Postcrosser / Wikimedia Commons

Unfortunately for him, during his absence, Mujahid had named another son, Hassan Saad al-Dawla, as his successor. Hassan was not pleased to be relegated upon Alí’s return, and as one might imagine, when their father died, he allied with his uncle Al-Mu’tadid bin Abbad, emir of Seville, to assassinate him. He was unsuccessful, however, and Alí would go on to have a long, prosperous, and peaceful reign, arranging diplomatic marriages for his descendants and maintaining a policy of tolerance towards Christians, like his father, while his brother ended up in exile.

Returning to Mujahid, when he came back from Sardinia, he found that his puppet ruler ‘Abd Allah al Mu’ayti had already taken the initiative to consolidate all authority for himself. Mujahid wasted no time: he ordered his arrest and expulsion to Morocco, thus becoming the sole ruler. He then made a radical shift in policy, abandoning further foreign adventures to focus entirely on relations with his neighbors in Al-Andalus.

Of course, he continued to send periodic raids from Denia and the Balearics to the coasts of Liguria, Tuscany, and Lombardy because it was a common practice in the Middle Ages, both in the Muslim and Christian worlds, as well as in the Nordic one. These raids were carried out at the end of the agricultural season and served to supplement the economy (plunder, slaves) and keep the army trained. However, beyond that, he sought to avoid wars and focused on his neighbors.

Thus, he cooperated with Khairan al-Amiri, better known as Jairan, emir of the taifa of Almería, a Slavic eunuch who had been an officer in Almanzor’s army until he seized the city and declared himself independent, in a conspiracy to succeed to the throne of Córdoba. With Jairan, Mujahid had his ups and downs due to the aggressive expansionism the former displayed, trying to extend his borders at the expense of territories in Murcia, Jaén, Orihuela, La Mancha, and Valencia. The latter would become another significant episode during Mujahid’s period.

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Statue of Jairán erected at the foot of the citadel of Almería, which he ordered to reinforce. Credit: Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net) / Wikimedia Commons

And the fact is that the death of Mubarak and Muzzafar, the two co-regents of that taifa, in an uprising allowed him to reach an agreement in 1020 with Labib al-Fata al-Saqlabi, emir of Tortosa (who was also a Slav), to share the Valencian throne. Labib took the north, which was the wealthiest part, while he took the south, but only for a couple of years, as the Valencian people, encouraged by Ramón Borrell, count of Barcelona, Girona, and Osona, rebelled and expelled the ruler of Tortosa; poetic justice in a way, since he had instigated the uprising against the previous co-regents. Mujahid became the sole regent, although he soon handed over the position to Abd al-Aziz ibn Abi Amir.

This Abd al-Aziz was the son of the aforementioned Abderramán Sanchuelo (therefore, a grandson of Almanzor), and at the time, he was a fifteen-year-old adolescent. Out of gratitude, he maintained good relations with Denia until, as was often the case, rivalry eventually erupted, leading to hostility in which the young man did not hesitate to seek help from the Christians—after all, he was the grandson of one, King Sancho Garcés II of Pamplona—and thus extended his domains to the Segura River. Amir also had problems with Jairán, the emir of Almería, and when Jairán died, he was proclaimed in his place, although the governor he appointed there ended up declaring independence.

After Jairán’s death in 1028 and his lieutenant, Zuhair al-Amiri, left his governance of Murcia to succeed him, Mujahid took advantage and seized the Murcian taifa, demanding a ransom to release the new ruler, Abu Bakr bin Tahir. A decade later, Zuhair al-Amiri also died and was replaced by Abd al-Aziz al-Mansur, who united the taifas of Murcia and Almería under his command. Mujahid felt threatened and declared war on him from Valencia, where, despite the fact that cities like Xàtiva and Lorca joined him, hostilities favored Abd al-Aziz, who hired Castilian mercenaries.

Mujahid had to return to Denia defeated, marking the beginning of his final years of decline, during which he accepted the nominal authority of a strange figure endorsed by the Abbadid emir of Seville, Abú ul-Cásim Muhámmad ibn Abbad. In 1030, the emir, who was also a prestigious qadi (judge), sought to strengthen his initially precarious position, supported only by the nobility, by protecting an impostor who claimed to be Caliph Hisham II, the third Umayyad caliph of Córdoba, who had been very popular for ascending the throne as a child despite assassination attempts, abolishing taxes, and leading victorious military campaigns.

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Amirid domains (dark red) and allied or influenced territories (light red); the attached chart also shows the coasts of Sardinia and Corsica conquered by Mujahid. Credit: AbdurRahman AbdulMoneim / Wikimedia Commons

However, his vizier was eliminated by Almanzor, who took over the position and reduced the caliph to a puppet, although he always respected his life to maintain a facade of legitimacy. After Almanzor’s death, his son Sanchuelo pressured the caliph—now an adult but childless—to name him his successor, as he was the grandson of the king of Pamplona. In 1008, a popular uprising known as the Cordoban Revolution overthrew Hisham II and gave power to Muhámmad II al-Mahdi, the great-grandson of the famous Abderramán III.

The deposed caliph remained imprisoned until 1010 when a coup led by Slavic mercenaries restored him to the caliphate. It was short-lived; three years later, the Berbers rose again with the help of Count Ramón Borrell’s army, brutally sacked Córdoba, and named Sulaimán al-Musta’in, another grandson of Abderramán III, as caliph. It is unclear what happened to Hisham II after that. Some sources say he went into exile and took refuge in Lérida, probably in the town of Balaguer, where he would die in 1036; others claim he was killed by the Berbers in 1013.

In any case, throughout history, we have often seen that figures who disappear under uncertain circumstances tend to give rise to legends and impostors. One of them usurped Hisham II’s identity, which was very convenient for the Sevillian emir to gain legitimacy, as he had come to power by suppressing another Berber revolt. Mujahid believed in that deception in good faith, a symbol of a gradual weakening that culminated in Bona, a North African city he was visiting in 1044 when a Sardinian-Pisan fleet arrived, defeated his forces, and captured him, proceeding to execute him by beheading.

Although Mujahid should be credited with expanding the shipyards of Denia and, according to legend, the invention of alamares (cord fastenings instead of buttons), as mentioned earlier, his great legacy was mainly cultural. He welcomed much of the intellectual elite of the time to his court, especially writers and ulema who had left turbulent Córdoba. He was a patron of theological and literary studies, with a particular emphasis on qiraat (Quranic recitation), which is believed to have influenced his name, as one of the greatest qiraat experts was Abu Bakr Ibn Mujahid, who died in 936, three decades before Mujahid was born.

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Statue in honor of Ibn Hazm erected in Cordoba. Credit: Xosema / Wikimedia Commons

One illustrious scholar established in Denia was Ibn Gharsiya, from a Christian Basque family, but having been captive since childhood, he was raised in the Islamic faith. A muladi poet and katib (writer), he is famous for his risala (treatise) on the Andalusian Shu’ubiyya movement (the stance of non-Arab Muslims against the privileged status of Arabs), dedicating another to Mujahid and composing more works under his patronage.

There were others who worked in that taifa under the patronage of its emir. For example, Ibn Hazm (known as Abén Házam to the Christians), a philosopher, theologian, historian, polymath, and poet descended from Hispanic converts, whose most famous work is Ṭawq al-ḥamāma (“The Ring of the Dove”), though another titled Yamhara (“Arab Lineages”) is of great use to historians for understanding which tribal groups moved to al-Andalus from Africa during the conquest. And we must not forget Yusuf ibn ’Abd al-Barr, a prestigious jurist who served as qadi in Lisbon and Santarém.

More? Al Hamidi, a jurist, writer, and hadith reciter (a hadith is a collection of sayings of Muhammad), who wrote a treatise on prosody; Abu’Amr al-Dani, a master of Quranic recitation; Abu Al-Hasan Ali bin Ismail, known as Ibn Sayyidah, a blind linguist… The last one we’ll mention, Ibn Darrach al-Qastalli, a court poet who settled in Denia in 1028 after serving Almanzor and the taifa of Zaragoza, composed elegant verses in a qasida (Arabic panegyric poem) praising the maritime power Mujahid came to possess, and they make a fitting end to this article:

Ships that are like celestial spheres and whose archers / are stars, armed to the teeth. / You cross the depths of the sea with them, / and its waves grow weary under their overwhelming weight.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on October 17, 2024: Muyahid al-Amiri, el gobernante eslavo de la taifa de Denia que reunió en su corte a los mejores intelectuales andalusíes del siglo XI

SOURCES

Eduardo Manzano Moreno, Historia de España: épocas medievales

María Jesús Rubiera Mata, La taifa de Denia

Travis Bruce, The politics of violence and trade: Denia and Pisa in the eleventh century

Vicente Coscollá Sanz, La Valencia musulmana

Pietro Martini, Storia delle invasioni degli arabi e delle piraterie dei barbeschi in Sardegna

Pierre Guichard, Al-Andalus frente a la conquista cristiana: los musulmanes de Valencia

Wikipedia, Mujahid al-Amiri

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