Yahya al-Mu`tasim (; ''Abū Zakarīyā' Al-Mu`taṣim Yaḥyā ibn An-Nāṣir''; died 1236) was an

Almohad 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 ...

rival caliph who reigned from 1227 to 1229. He was a son of

Muhammad al-Nasir Muhammad al-Nasir (,'' Muḥammad an-Nāṣir'', – 1213) was the fourth Almohad Caliph from 1199 until his death. Évariste Lévi-Provençalal-Nāṣir Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online, 2013. Reference. 9 January 2013. Co ...

''Yahya al-Mutasim''
/ref> and brother of Yusuf II, Almohad caliph.

Life

At the death of his uncle

Abdallah al-Adil Abu Muhammad ʿAbdallah 'al-ʿAdil' ( ''ʿAbd Allāh''; d. October 4, 1227) was an Almohad Caliph, a former governor in al-Andalus who challenged and secured the murder of his predecessor, Abd al-Wahid I. His 1224 coup ushered in a period of in ...

, Yahya was supported by the sheikhs of

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, but two years later he was turned down by another pretender, his other uncle

Idris al-Ma'mun Abu al-Ala Idris al-Ma'mun (; ''Abū Al-`lā Al-Mā'mūn Idrīs ibn Al-Manṣūr''; died 16 or 17 October 1232) was an Almohad rival caliph who reigned in part of the empire from 1229 until his death. He was a son of Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur an ...

. At the latter's death in 1232, Yahya renewed his pretenses, but his cousin Abd al-Wahid II was preferred to him. He was anyway able to keep Marrakesh until his death in 1236, after which the Almohad territories were again united under Abd al-Wahid.

Sources

Charles-André Julien Charles-André Julien (2 September 1891 – 19 July 1991) was a French journalist and historian specialised in the history of the Maghreb, his most famous work is ''Histoire de l'Afrique du Nord : Des origines à 1830'' (History of North Africa ...

. ''Histoire de l‘Afrique du Nord, des origines à 1830''.

Notes

{{s-end 1236 deaths 13th-century caliphs 13th-century monarchs in Africa Almohad caliphs People from Marrakesh 13th-century Berber people Year of birth unknown