Yahya ibn Yahya () was the sixth Idrisid ruler of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and the last of the main branch of the dynasty.

Life

Yahya was the namesake son of the fifth Idrisid emir, Yahya ibn Muhammad, and came to power in 863. Unlike the consolidating tendencies of his two predecessors, he was a weak ruler who preferred the luxuries of palace life to government. He parcelled out the Idrisid realm to his relatives: his uncle Husayn received much land to the south of the capital, Fes; his great-uncle, al-Qasim, received the western half of Fes itself, along with the eastern frontier provinces of the

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 ...

tribes of Luwata and

Kutama The Kutama (Berber: ''Ikutamen''; ) were a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form ''Koidamousii'' by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. The Kutama p ...

; and another great-uncle, Dawud ibn Idris, who ruled the country of the Hawwara Berbers, also increased his domains. Yahya's reign in Fes appears to have been secure, as coins with his name are known, unlike his father. Nevertheless, Yahya's dissolute life soon led to scandal, which forced him to flee the palace into the Andalusian quarter of Fes, where he died in unclear circumstances. A powerful citizen of Fes, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Sahl al-Judhami, tried to seize power, but Yahya's widow called upon her father, Ali ibn Umar from the collateral Banu Umar branch of the Idrisids, for aid. Ali gained control over Fes, but his power was challenged by

Kharijite The Kharijites (, singular ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challeng ...

rebels, and power eventually passed to the Banu Qasim branch of the family.

Genealogy

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yahya Ibn Yahya 9th-century Arab people Idrisid emirs Royalty from Fez, Morocco 866 deaths 9th-century monarchs in Africa 9th-century Moroccan people Year of birth unknown Monarchs who abdicated