Abu Zakariya Yahya II () known as Yahyâ II or al-Wathiq, was the son and successor of Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad al-Mustansir. He was the fourth

Hafsid The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

Sultan of

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

who reigned over

Ifriqiya 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 ...

from 1277 to 1279.

Life

During his reign a new gate, the Bab Jedid was cut in the wall of the medina. In 1278 there was an uprising of the province of

Béjaïa Béjaïa ( ; , , ), formerly known as Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean seaport, port city and communes of Algeria, commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province. Geography Location Béjaïa owes its ...

against its Andalusian Chancellor Ibn al-Habbabar. The latter was known for his hostility towards 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 ...

, and described by the chronicler Ibn Chamâa as the real ruler of Tunis. Ibn Khaldoun relates that the Chancellor sent his brother Abû al-Alâ 'Idrîs to Béjaïa to take care of the finances of the city, alongside the governor, the Almohad Muḥammad ben Abi Hilâl al-Hintâtî. When the governor had the chancellor assassinated in 1278 he was then obliged to look for someone who could replace the existing authority in Tunis that had appointed the chancellor. Al-Hintâtî therefore called on the sultan's uncle, Abû Ishaq Ibrahim, to rebel. The latter had already revolted against Abû `Abd Allah Muhammad al-Mustansir, his brother and father of Abu Zakariyâ Yahyâ II, and had fled to Andalusia then to

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

. Ibrahim also had the backing of king

Pedro III of Aragon Peter III of Aragon (In Aragonese, ''Pero''; in Catalan, ''Pere''; in Italian, ''Pietro''; November 1285) was King of Aragon, King of Valencia (as ), and Count of Barcelona (as ) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conq ...

. Welcomed by Muḥammad ben Abi Hilâl al-Hintâtî and the notables of Béjaïa, he took the city in April 1279 and in August of the same year entered Tunis where he was recognized as sultan. His seizure of the throne was peaceful after the army leaders rose up and agreed to recognize him as the new sultan. Abu Zakariya Yahya yielded his throne to his uncle, but as soon as he took power, Ibrahim ordered the execution of his predecessor and his three children. The only one to escape was his posthumous son, Abu-Assida Muhammad II, who was to be the 6th Hafsid sultan.

Bibliography

*Dominique Valérian, CANDLE, PORT MAGHRÉBIN, 1067-1510 , Rome, Publications of the French School of Rome,2006, VIII-795
read online
, p. 35-101 *Yver, G. "Ḥafṣids." Encyclopaedia of Islam, first edition (1913-1936). Ed. M. Th. Houtsma, TW Arnold, R. Basset, R. Hartmann. Brill Online, 2016. SEO. May 25, 2016 http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/hafsids-SIM_2608

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yahya 02 al-Wathiq 1279 deaths Year of birth unknown 13th-century Hafsid caliphs