The Taifa of Murcia () was an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

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 ...

'' of medieval

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 ...

, in what is now southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It became independent as a ''taifa'' centered on the Moorish city of

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

after the fall of the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

Caliphate of Córdoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

(11th century). The Moorish Taifa of Murcia included

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

and part of

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

as well. The taifa is apparently the one that existed the greatest number of separate time periods (five): from 1011 to 1014, from 1065 to 1078, in 1145, from 1147 to 1172 and finally from 1228 to 1266 when it was absorbed by Castile, becoming the

Kingdom of Murcia After roughly two decades as a protectorate of the Crown of Castile, the territory of the Taifa of Murcia became the Kingdom of Murcia (, a territorial jurisdiction of the Crown of Castile) in the wake of its Conquest of Murcia (1265–66), conq ...

, one of the constituent kingdoms of the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

History

Foundation

In the year 713, only two years after the Moorish invasion of the Peninsula, the emir Abd al Aziz occupied the province. Murcia was founded with the name of ''Medīnah Mursīyyah'' in A.D. 825 by

Abd ar-Rahman II Abd ar-Rahman II (; 792–852) was the fourth ''Umayyad'' Emir of Córdoba in al-Andalus from 822 until his death in 852. A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts. Abd ar-Rahman was born in Toled ...

, emir of

. The

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

, taking advantage of the course of the river Segura, created a complex network of irrigation channels that made the town prosperous and is the predecessor of the modern irrigation system. The traveller

Muhammad al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...

described it in the 12th century as populous and strongly fortified.

Establishment of the kingdom

After the fall of the

Caliphate of Cordoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...

in 1031, Murcia passed successively under the rule of

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

and

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, ...

. From 1078 until 1091 it was under the forcible control of

, by

Abbad II al-Mu'tadid Abu ʿAmr ʿAbbad II al-Muʿtadid (; died 28 February 1069), a member of the Abbadid dynasty, was the second independent emir of Seville (reigned 1042–1069) in Al-Andalus. His father, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abbad, had established the Taifa of ...

. In 1165, Ibn Mardanish was defeated in the

Battle of Fahs al-Jullab The Battle of Faḥṣ al-Jullāb was fought on Thursday 15 October 1165 between the invading Almohads and the king of Murcia, Ibn Mardanīsh. An Almohad army under ''sayyid''s Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar and Abū Saʿīd ʿUthmān, the brothers of t ...

by the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

. In 1172 Murcia was taken by the Almohads, and from 1223 to 1243 it became the capital of an independent kingdom. In

1243 Year 1243 ( MCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March – King Ferdinand III (the Saint) turns the independent Taifa of Murcia into a protectorate, and initiates the ...

it was conquered and under the

Treaty of Alcaraz The Treaty of Alcaraz was an agreement signed in Alcaraz, Albacete, Alcaraz around April 2, 1243, between Alfonso X of Castile, Alfonso of Castile – the future Alfonso X – acting on behalf of Ferdinand III of Castile, and several representativ ...

swore fealty to Castille.

Aragon then Castile

James II called ''Jaume II el Just'' or the Just, a grandson of James I, initiated in 1296 a final impulse of his army further southwards than the Biar-Busot pacts. His campaign aimed at the fertile countryside around

whose local Muslim rulers were bound by pacts with Castile and governing by proxy on behalf of this kingdom; Castilian troops often raided the area to assert a sovereignty which, in any case, was not stable but characterized by the typical skirmishes and ever changing alliances of a frontier territory. The

Castilians Castilians () are the inhabitants of the historical region of Castile in central Spain. However, the boundaries of the region are disputed. Not all people in the regions of the medieval Kingdom of Castile or Crown of Castile think of themsel ...

, led by King

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

, took the Kingdom of Murcia at the end of this period, when large numbers of immigrants from north

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

settled in the town; Catalan names are still not uncommon. In 1296, Murcia and its region were transferred to the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, but in 1304, in virtue of the

Treaty of Torrellas The Treaty of Torrellas (called a ''sentencia arbitral'', "sentence by arbitration," in Castilian), signed in Torrellas on 1304, settled the question of conquest of the Kingdom of Murcia, thitherto a dependency of the Crown of Castile, by Ja ...

, it was finally incorporated as part of the

List of rulers

From 1012 to around 1049, Murcia was ruled by the rulers of the ''taifas'' of Almería, Valencia or Dénia.

Tahirids

* – 1063: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Tahir *1063–1078: Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Tahir *''To Seville'' *''Almoravid conquest, 1091'' *1096–1097: Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Abi Ja'far Abd al-Rahman Ibn Tahir *''Almoravid conquest''

Hudids

*1145–1147:

Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Iyad Abu or ABU may refer to: Aviation * Airman Battle Uniform, a utility uniform of the United States Air Force * IATA airport code for A. A. Bere Tallo Airport in Atambua, Province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia People * Abu (Arabic term), a kun ...

**1146: Abd Allah ibn Faraj al-Thaghri, rival Throwing off Almoravid authority, Ibn Iyad of Murcia recognized the supremacy of the Hudid ruler

Sayf al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū'l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī (, 22 June 916 – 8 February 967), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla (, ), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, ...

in 1146. *1148–1172: Ibn Mardanish *''Almohad conquest'' *1228–1238: Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Yusuf Ibn Hud al-Mutawakkil *1238–1239: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Wathiq (first time) *1239–1241: Diya' al-Dawla al-'AzIz ibn 'Abd al-Malik *1241–1262: Abu Ja'far Baha' al-Dawla Muhammad Ibn Hud *1262–1264: Muhammad ibn Abi Ja'far Muhammad *1264–????: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Wathiq (second time) Sometime between 1264 and the Aragonese conquest of 1266, Abu Bakr was overthrown by Abdallah ibn Ali of the

Banu Ashqilula The Banu Ashqilula were an Arab dynasty who governed Málaga and Guadix. Their assistance to Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar in founding the Emirate of Granada and their later opposition to al-Ahmar's successors made the Asqilula one of the most influential ...

, allies of the Nasrids of Granada.