'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'' 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 as general against another Zaragoza rebel, taking Zaragoza and Huesca, expelling Bahlul ibn Marzuq 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, 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 in 814. This conforms with the timeline provided by the chronicler Al-Udri, 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. 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, 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 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, ''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