Chapter 1, 1066-1078:
In 1066 there were three other tawa’if jostling for position as the preeminent power in al-Andalus: Batliyus (Badajoz), Tulaytulah (Toledo), and Gharnatah (Granada); each led by a powerful ruler and each keen to establish dominance.
Qurtubah itself was established as a quasi-republic decades earlier with a “custodian” at its head instead of an emir. Despite these trappings of rule by the people the current custodian, Abd al-Malik, was a ruthless man capable of flying into a wild rage at a moment’s notice. Abd al-Malik had attained power through a feud with his brother where he stripped much of the power from the nobles in order to strengthen his position. He kept the ministers in check who desperately sought to extricate themselves from the situation; a situation which led them to invite one Tariq of Ishbiliyya in to rectify it.
Tariq’s greatest obstacle at this point was the overtures of the Emir of Tulaytulah to the people of Qurtubah. Emir Yahya Dhunnunid offered protection to the Qurtubans from both the Christian kingdoms of the north and from the custodian himself and reasoned that he stood a better chance of keeping the peace than Tariq due to Yahya’s great military prowess.
Sensing his position was not yet strong enough, Tariq instead turned his eyes to the independent sheikhdom of Qadis (Cadiz). Tariq knew in order to shore up his image as an equally powerful protector he would need a few military victories of his own.
Soon after Tariq’s invasion of Qadis the burgeoning kingdom of the Almoravids in the Maghreb began storming into al-Andalus seeking to establish their own empire; an empire that crossed continents. As news reached Tariq of this invasion he knew that he had very little time to solidify his grasp on the other
tawa’if before the Almoravids turned their eyes towards his small emirate.
Meanwhile the Christian Kingdom of Leon began its own invasion towards Batliyus; despite Tariq’s desire to eventually dominate that
taifa as well he made the difficult decision to support his coreligionist against invasion. He reasoned that it would be easier to conquer one emirate than to risk war with all of Iberian Christendom. He resolved to lead his men north after his siege of Qadis concluded.
Knowing that his strength was not in leading his army from the center, Tariq decided to master the art of flanking to provide his more superior commanders with the support they needed to win battles. Taking this newfound knowledge with him, Tariq led his army to Caceres where the men of Batliyus were being badly pushed back by the Leonese.
Arriving just in time Tariq was able to rout the Christians and led his army towards a smaller force outside of Coria. However it was during this battle that Tariq learned that the Qadisis had retaken their city; enraged he wheeled his army back south again, determined to crush the small sheikhdom for good. And crush them he did, bringing the sheikhdom under his protection and forcing the sheikh to submit to vassalization.
Once again leading his men to victory against the Christians Tariq found himself amidst a skirmish and then found a blade glinting in front of his eye. In one expert poke, Tariq screamed in anguish as his eye was removed from its socket.
Tariq’s great sacrifice, however, was not in vain as the Muslims successfully held back the Christian advance. Sensing that Allah was perhaps not on his side despite his pious defense of the faith, Tariq took it upon himself to make the long journey to Mecca to humble himself before taking his army to Qurtubah.
During his
hajj Tariq felt the presence of Allah with him and although he was skeptical he knew that something guided his journey; in reinforcement of this fact the wounds around his lost eye healed soon after his first rotation around the Kaaba.
Upon returning Tariq learned that the armies of Qurtubah were out campaigning against the faltering
taifa of Gharnatah in a desperate letter from the nobles of the great city. Seeing his great victories, against both the Qadisis and the Christians simultaneously, bolstered the nobles’ confidence in Tariq. Meanwhile the Dhunnunid emir struggled in an offensive war against Castille. Clearly Tariq was the favored one in the eyes of the nobles. Their letter reinforced their invitation to Tariq to take the city and protect them from non-Muslim control.
Tariq gathered his troops and surged into the countryside around Qurtubah, securing treaties with each village along the way before finally arriving at the gates of the once great city. Although much of the city had fallen into disrepair including the vast palace complex of the Umayyads,
Medinat az-Zahra, Tariq could feel the history that was made there. He desired to emulate that history and bring similar glory to Ishbiliyya.
After standing in awe for a moment Tariq gathered his commanders around him. Together they came upon a strategy to take the city with ease:
The main aqueducts that once provided the city with water were falling apart and in some areas had collapsed. Mubashir, Tariq’s leading commander, concluded that he could lead a small group of elite soldiers up onto one of the collapsed aqueducts and sneak into the city at night, kill the guards silently and open the gates for Tariq’s
fursan, knights, to ride straight to the
Medina to claim the city.
The plan worked masterfully and soon Tariq was able to declare himself the custodian of Qurtubah. Moving quickly, Tariq disbanded the quasi-republic, removed former Jawharid ministers from power, and declared himself the new Emir.
In the next few years Tariq continued to consolidate his power but after the failure of the Dhunnunids a new threat established itself: the new Sultanate of Batliyus. Abu Bakr of the Aftasids took the step to declare himself the new protector of the Andalusi people after his great victory in defending them against the Leonese. Abu Bakr was clearly challenging the temporal authority of Tariq and in order to once again prove himself he declared war on Galicia to take their southern provinces.
As Tariq continued to gather strength he received news from the far north: a man named Ordono was collecting support from various monarchs to launch a conquest of the Muslim lands, something the Christians were calling a reconquista; a reconquest of Iberia for Christ. It seemed the Christians were starting small with the sheikhdom of Larida on the outskirts of Barcelona.
Ordono won handily and established himself an independent duchy in Larida and held a sizable army, aimed at the Dhunnunids of Tulaytulah.
In the middle of a preemptive war against the Dhunnunids Tariq’s first son was born, named Haytham after Tariq’s illustrious father.
In 1076, far in the east, one of the great Seljuk Turks solidified his conquest of Anatolia from the Byzantine Empire. Ilyas led his troops out of the Seljuk heartland in Persia, conquered a base in Armenia and quickly set to work on the Romans, vanquishing their armies in great rains of arrow fire from the Turkish horse archers. Only time will tell if Ilyas will be able to maintain his grasp on the Greeks.
Late in 1078, the Pope sent out a request to all pious leaders of Christendom to take up arms against the Muslim invaders. Yet, despite Sunni advances in Anatolia, the Pope in his infinite wisdom decided to call for a Crusade against Egypt. If the Fatimids are able to hold strong, there might be hope for Islam to prevail but it is unlikely they will receive any help from their Sunni brethren to the east...
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