1009-1010 Sulayman II (Caliphate of Cordoba)

Sulayman II ibn al-Hakam (or Sulayman al-Musta’in) (died 1016) was the fifth Umayyad caliph of Córdoba, ruling from 1009 to 1010, and from 1013 to 1016 in Al-Andalus. In 1009, after Muhammad II ibn Hisham had led a revolution against caliph Hisham II al-Hakam and imprisoned him taking  advantage of the fact that the kingdom’s strong man Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo was fighting in León against the Christian king Alfonso V, Sulayman took command of an army of Berbers who had abandoned Muhammad; through alliance with count Sancho García of Castile he was able to defeat Muhammad on November 1 of that year in the battle of Alcolea.

 

                                                                                                         Alfonso V in the Cathedral of Leon
                                                                                                                Illustration of středověk

 

 

 

While Muhammad took refuge inToledo he entered Córdoba, which he allowed to be plundered by Berbers and Castilians, he freed and recognized caliph Hisham II, only to depose him after a few days. He was thus elected caliph by his Berber troops, assuming the title (laqab) of al-Musta’in bi-llah (“He Who Seeks God’s Help”).

Sulayman was however unable to conquer Toledo. In May 1010 Muhammad, who had reorganized his troops of “slave”  mercenaries from all over Europe and had allied with Count  Ramon Borrell of Barcelona, defeated Sulayman and conquered Córdoba, which was plundered by the Catalans. Muhammad was made caliph again, but his mercenaries assassinated him in July and restored Hisham II .

Tudmir
The kingdom of Denia was created in 1010 following the disintegration of the Caliphate of Cordoba by Mujahid al-Siqlabi, a former high functionary of the Caliphate and had a relatively powerful navy which in 1015 was used to take control of the Balearic Islands to then invade Sardinia. At that time Murcia was in the hands of Mujāhid, of which the following text could be a proof :

“The Kitābu-l-af’āl (the book of verbs) by Mohammed Ibn ’A’mir Al-maghrebí, better known by the surname of Ibnu-l-kūttiyyah (the son of the Goth), with the additions by Ibn Tarif, a maulí of the ‘Obeydites, is generally considered to be the best work on the subject". 

“A compilation of Abū Ghālib Temām Ibn Ghālib, known by the surname of Ibnu-t-tabbān, on the various topics connected with the language, passes for the best book of its kind, not only on account of the valuable information which he collected in an abridged state, but also owing to what he introduced of his own, and the fidelity of his quotations. The author, I presume, is still living, (may he live long!) But I cannot proceed any further with my epistle without relating an anecdote concerning this distinguished writer. I was told by Abū-l-walíd ‘Ab-dullah Ibn Mohammed Ibn ’Abdillah, known by the surname of Ibnu-l-faradhí, that when Abū-l-jeysh Mujāhid, King of Al-jezāyir (Algiers) and Denia, conquered the city of Murcia, he sent to Abū Ghālib, who was then residing in that city, the sum of one thousand dinārs of Andalus, on condition that he would make an addition to the title-page of the said work, and say that it had been written for him. This, however, Abū Ghālib refused to do, and returned the money, nor did he ever afterwards comply with the wishes of the Sultān; on the contrary, he said to the messenger, “Tell your master that were he to lavish on me all the treasures of this world, I would persist in my resolution; I cannot tell a lie; this book of mine was not written for him, but for the generality of studious people.” When Abū Ghālib’s answer was communicated to Mujāhid, he was very much surprised at the boldness and severity of his words, but he could not help admiring the steel temper of the writer’s soul, and his contempt for wordly considerations”.