The Aftasid dynasty(from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

بنو الأفطس ''Banu-l'Aftas'' or ''Banu al-Aftas'') was a

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 (1913–19 ...

Miknasa The Miknasa (Berber: ''Imeknasen'') was a Zenata Berber tribe in Morocco and Algeria. The Miknasa Berbers historically populated the Aurès and are part of the Dharisa tribe belonging to Botr who descended from Madghis, coming from the Aures mount ...

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

centered in

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populati ...

(1022–1094) in

Al Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the Mus ...

(

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or s ...

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...

History

When the

Caliphate of Cordoba A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

broke up into the

Taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

kingdoms, the Berber mercenary

Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Maslamah ibn al-Aftas Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Maslama () (c. 1004 – c. 1060), surnamed Ibn al-Aftas, was the founder of the Aftasid dynasty of the taifa of Badajoz, in what was then Al-Andalus. He was a miknasa berber from the Córdoba region. Ibn al-Aftas ...

(1022–1045) took control of Badajoz, by death of Sabur al-Khatib (a

Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

ic serf, previously serving at the court of

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

al-Hakam II Al-Hakam II, also known as Abū al-ʿĀṣ al-Mustanṣir bi-Llāh al-Hakam b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (; January 13, 915 – October 16, 976), was the Caliph of Córdoba. He was the second ''Umayyad'' Caliph of Córdoba in Al-Andalus, and son of Ab ...

, that had proclaimed himself Lord of Badajoz in 1009, and that Ibn al-Aftas served). Ibn al-Aftas added to his name the

Laqab Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet ...

''al-Mansur Billah'', ''Victorious by Grace of God'', and ruled over an extensive part of the Al Garb Al Andalus, from the

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

river to the south of

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...

river, establishing the

Taifa of Badajoz The Taifa of Badajoz (from ar, طائفة بطليوس) was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Sp ...

. Ibn al-Aftas died in 1045. Under Ibn al-Aftas' successors, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Muzzaffar (1045–1065) and his two sons 'Umar ibn Muhammad al-Mutawakkil (1065-1094 in

Évora Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District. Due to its well-preserved old ...

) and

Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Mansur Yahya may refer to: * Yahya (name), a common Arabic male given name * Yahya (Zaragoza), 11th-century ruler of Zaragoza * John the Baptist in Islam, also known as Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā See also * Tepe Yahya Tapeh Yahya () is an archaeological ...

(1065-1072 in Badajoz), the

not only controlled large expanses of western Spain and Portugal, but was also a major centre of

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...

culture, which was fostered by the Aftasid rulers. In 1055, Badajoz came under the suzerainty of the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...

- Castile and was forced to pay tribute. The taifa lost control over significant parts of its territory, south of the

Mondego river The Rio Mondego () or Mondego River is the longest river entirely within Portuguese territory. It has its source in Serra da Estrela, the highest mountain range in mainland Portugal (i.e. excluding the Portuguese islands). It runs from the Go ...

(south of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

). The

Abbadid dynasty The Abbadid dynasty or Abbadids ( ar, بنو عباد, Banū ʿAbbādi) was an Arab Muslim dynasty which arose in al-Andalus on the downfall of the Caliphate of Cordoba (756–1031). After the collapse, there were multiple small Muslim states call ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

conquered parts of their territory. In 1094, the kingdom was annexed by the

Almoravid dynasty The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century tha ...

. Badajoz was taken at the end of 1095 by the Almoravid general Abu Bakr, with the connivance of the inhabitants who were fed up of the fiscal exactions of their emir, Umar ibn Muhammad al-Mutawakkil. Al-Mutawakkil and two of his sons Al-Fadl and S'ad, were taken prisoner and sent to

, but were executed before their arrival, which was eulogized in a poem by Ibn 'Abdun. Another son of Al-Mutawakkil, Al-Mansur, escaped and fortified himself for some time in the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

of Montanchez, in the modern province of Caceres, and finally together with his followers, migrated into the dominions of

Alfonso VI Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, where he abandoned

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

for

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

Aftasid rulers

Abdallah ibn Al-Aftas Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Maslama () (c. 1004 – c. 1060), surnamed Ibn al-Aftas, was the founder of the Aftasid dynasty of the taifa of Badajoz, in what was then Al-Andalus. He was a miknasa berber from the Córdoba region. Ibn al-Aftas ...

(1022-1045) * Muhammad b. 'Abdallah, Abu Bakr al-Muzaffar (1045-1068) * Yahya b. Muhammad (1068) * 'Umar b. Muhammad, Abu Hafs al-Mutawakkil (1068-1094), killed 1094 or 1095C.E. Bosworth, ''The New Islamic Dynasties'', (Columbia University Press, 1996), 18.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aftasid Dynasty Berber dynasties Taifa of Badajoz Al-Andalus dynasties 11th century in Al-Andalus Miknasa