ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥabīb al-Fihrī (), called al-Ṣiqlabī (), was an

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

-appointed governor of

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

(Spain) in the 770s. He was sent from

Ifrīqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

to oppose the Umayyad ruler

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (; 7 March 731 – 30 September 788), commonly known as Abd al-Rahman I, was the founder and first emir of the Emirate of Córdoba, ruling from 756 to 788. He established the Umayyad dynasty in al-Andalus, ...

. He landed in Tudmīr and demanded the submission of Sulaymān ibn Yaqẓān al-Kalbī al-Aʿrābī, commander of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. When this was refused, he marched against him and was defeated near

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Shortly afterwards he was assassinated by 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 (1913–196 ...

. His was the last effort by the Abbasids to assert their rule in al-Andalus.Roger Collins, ''The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797'' (Basil Blackwell, 1989), pp. 174–177. Ibn Ḥabīb was a member of the Fihrid family, which was prominent in Ifrīqiya. A Fihrid, Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fihrī, was the governor of al-Andalus deposed by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I in 756.Pierre Guichard, "The Population of the Region of Valencia During the First Two Centuries of Muslim Domination", in Manuela Marin (ed.), ''The Formation of al-Andalus, Part 1: History and Society'' (Ashgate, 1998), p. 143. According to some modern historians, Ibn Ḥabīb was also related by marriage to Yūsuf, but this is not supported by any primary source.Abdurrahman A. El-Hajji, "Andalusian Diplomatic Relations with the Franks during the Umayyad Period", ''Islamic Studies'' 30 (1991), pp. 241–262. Ibn Ḥabīb's nickname, al-Ṣiqlabī, literally means "the

Slav The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and N ...

", but according to

Ibn ʿIdhārī Abū al-ʽAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʽIḏārī al-Marrākushī () was a Maghrebi historian of the late-13th/early-14th century, and author of the famous '' Al-Bayan al-Mughrib'', an important medieval history of the Maghreb (Morocco, No ...

it was given to him not on account of his origins but because of his tall height, fair complexion and blue eyes. The region of Tudmīr in southeastern Spain, which Ibn Ḥabīb made his base of operations, was originally an autonomous Christian tributary under

Theodemir Theodemir, Theodemar, Theudemer or Theudimer was a Germanic name common among the various Germanic peoples of early medieval Europe. According to Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (9th century), the form ''Theudemar'' is Frankish and ''Theudemir'' is ...

, who gave his name to the region. It was still under the rule of Theodemir's son

Athanagild Athanagild ( 517 – December 567) was the Visigothic king of Hispania and Septimania. He had rebelled against his predecessor, Agila I, in 551. The armies of Agila and Athanagild met at Seville, where Agila met a second defeat. Following the dea ...

as late as 754. Ibn Ḥabīb's decision to target Barcelona when the centre of Umayyad power,

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, lay closer to Tudmīr is difficult to explain. Possibly Ibn Ḥabīb believed there was more support for the Abbasids among the

Yemenis Yemenis or Yemenites () are the Citizenship, citizen population of Yemen. Genetic studies Yemen, located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, serves as a crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. The genomes of present-day Yem ...

of the northeast and hoped by his challenge to Ibn al-Aʿrābī to draw them to his following. The 11th-century '' Collection of Anecdotes on the Conquest of al-Andalus'' places Ibn Ḥabīb's arrival shortly after ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I had defeated a Yemeni rebellion in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, so perhaps he judged that his base of support near Córdoba had been too weakened for an immediate attack on the centre. The

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

sources are inconsistent in dating Ibn Ḥabīb's arrival in Spain. The ''Collection of Anecdotes'' placed it around 775, but Ibn al-Athīr writing in the 13th century placed it in 778. Collating the Arabic and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

sources,

Roger Collins Roger J. H. Collins (born 2 September 1949) is an English medievalist, currently an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh. Collins studied at the University of Oxford ( Queen's and Saint Cross Colleges) under Peter Brown ...

places it in the early 770s. Antonio Ubieto Arteta, accepts a date of 161 AH, which fell between 9 October 777 and 27 September 778.Antonio Ubieto Arteta
''La Chanson de Roland y algunos problemas históricos''
(Anubar, 1985), p. 108. Pierre Guichard, basing his conclusion on Ibn al-Athīr and al-ʿUdhrī, places Ibn Ḥabīb's arrival in 161 (777). Guichard believes he held out in Tudmīr for several months before being forced to hide out in "the mountains of the land of Valencia" until his assassination in 163 (779). According to the ''Collection of Anecdotes'', the Berber who assassinated him, Sḥaʿān, had ingratiated himself with Ibn Ḥabīb for just that purpose. Having killed him, he led the pro-Abbasid cavalry over to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I.David James (ed.), ''A History of Early al-Andalus: The Akhbār majmūʿa. A Study of the Unique Arabic Manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, with a Translation, Notes and Comments'' (Routledge, 2012), pp. 106–107 and p. xv (map). Some modern historians have linked Ibn Ḥabīb to the embassy sent by al-Aʿrābī of Barcelona and Ḥusayn of Zaragoza to

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, king of the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

, in 777. This search for an alliance abroad against ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I precipitated the Frankish campaign that ended in disaster at the

battle of Roncevaux Pass The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, '' Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on ...

. Ibn Ḥabīb's involvement, however, is chronologically impossible as well as incongruous with al-Aʿrābī's cool reception to Ibn Ḥabīb's overtures.

References

{{Umayyad governors of al-Andalus 770s deaths Monarchs in al-Andalus Governors in Europe Governors of the Abbasid Caliphate Assassinated people of the medieval Islamic world 8th-century Arab people