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Moorish Granada
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Granada's glory was always precarious. It was established as an
independent kingdom
in 1238 by
Ibn Ahmar
, a prince of the Arab Nasrid tribe which had been driven south from Zaragoza. He proved a just and capable ruler but all over Spain the Christian kingdoms were in the ascendant. The Moors of Granada survived only through paying tribute and allegiance to Fernando III of Castile - whom they were forced to assist in the conquest of Muslim Sevilla - and by the time of Ibn Ahmar's death in 1275 theirs was the only surviving Spanish Muslim kingdom. It had, however, consolidated its territory (stretching from just north of the city down to a coastal strip between Tarifa and AlmerAa) and, stimulated by refugees, developed a flourishing commerce, industry and culture.
By a series of shrewd manoeuvres Granada maintained its autonomy for two and a half centuries, its rulers turning for protection, in turn as it suited them, to the Christian kingdoms of AragA?n and Castile and to the Merinid Muslims of Morocco. The city-state enjoyed a particularly confident and prosperous period under
Yusuf I
(1334-54) and
Mohammed V
(1354-91), the sultans responsible for much of the existing Alhambra palace. But by the mid-fifteenth century a pattern of coups and internal strife became established and a rapid succession of rulers did little to stem Christian inroads. In 1479 the kingdoms of AragA?n and Castile were united by the marriage of Fernando and Isabel and within ten years had conquered Ronda, MA?laga and AlmerAa. The city of Granada now stood completely alone, tragically preoccupied in a
civil war
between supporters of the sultan's two favourite wives. The Reyes CatA?licos made escalating and finally untenable demands upon it, and in 1490 war broke out.
Boabdil
, the last Moorish king, appealed in vain for help from his fellow Muslims in Morocco, Egypt and Ottoman Turkey, and in the following year
Fernando and Isabel
marched on Granada with an army said to total 150,000 troops. For seven months, through the winter of 1491, they laid siege to the city, and on January 2, 1492, Boabdil formally surrendered its keys. The Christian Reconquest of Spain was complete. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Spain,
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