Chapter 2: Glories and Triumphs, Sadness and Defeats: 1078-1086
The knights of Christendom flooded into Egypt in droves, spurred into action by the Pope’s call to arms. At the head of the Crusader armies were the Kings of Denmark and France who had met ahead of time to devise their strategies. While the Pope himself had begun besieging Alexandria, keen to take back the bastion of Christianity from the Shi’ite Caliph, King Philippe II of France and King Svend of Denmark split their priorities. King Philippe led his armies straight to al-Faiyumiyya to meet the Muslim force head-on, which he promptly demolished. Meanwhile King Svend landed in the Eastern Delta to commence a pincer move on the capital: the Pope would come in from the west while the armies of Denmark cut off any access to the Levant for escaping Egyptian armies.
On November 11th, 1080 the armies of Pope Alexander broke into the keep of al-Faiyumiyya and captured the Fatimid capital. The young Caliph Nuraddin managed to escape with a small cadre of trusted advisors and soldiers to Aswan in Upper Egypt.
Christian troops rode across the desert and through the floodplains of the Nile, sacking town after town and slaughtering Christians and Muslims alike. Crusaders paid special attention to any Jews living in the cities, forcing them to shelter in their synagogues and then setting them alight in a ghastly affair. Days before the final fall of Egypt the body of the Caliph was found with his head dashed against the stone floors of his keep, murdered by a Coptic informer for the Crusaders. When the news spread through the occupied cities of Egypt Copts everywhere rose up in celebration.
Finally, after a year of intense bloodshed, the Pope claimed victory. On February 14th, 1081, Niels of Denmark was crowned King of Egypt and the Muslim world was splintered.
Back in al-Andalus Tariq began his next great offensive on the
taifa of Gharnatah. During one fierce battle outside of Yayyan (Jaen), the soldiers of Gharnatah outnumbered Tariq’s forces; Emir Badis took the initiative and charged across his border, directly across a river, hoping to take Tariq by surprise. Quickly the soldiers of Qurtubah rushed in and managed to hold the line as Tariq gathered his forces from Ishbiliyya and the west. The Qurtubis held on bravely until the western troops arrived. The river that Emir Badis boldly crossed ended up being his undoing. As he crossed at a shallow forge a spear pierced his horse’s flank and sent the elderly emir crashing into the river. The soldier scooped up his frail body and delivered him back to Tariq and delivered victory to Ishbiliyya.
Tariq had managed to seize Gharnatah without a fight and the southern pride of al-Andalus happily surrendered itself as Badis had driven the city into the ground allowing a vicious gang of smugglers to control most of the city’s economy.
Under Tariq’s thumb were the three major Andalusi cities: Ishbiliyya, Qurtubah, and now Gharnatah. Very little now stood in his way to reclaim the legacy of al-Andalus. Tariq set about subjugating the rest of the small
tawa’if throughout al-Andalus, forcing some sheikhs to submit to vassalization while stripping others of their lands and titles.
While sieging down the coastal city of al-Mariyya (Almeria) Tariq received disturbing news: Christian victory in the Crusade for Egypt had intensified the desire for conquest of more Muslim land. Thousands of battle-hardened German Crusaders stood ready to conquer Balansiyya (Valencia) in the name of the Holy Roman Emperor, Heinrich IV. Again, Tariq took up arms to support his Arab brethren and to keep foreign invaders out of what he knew would be his future kingdom.
The first wave of Germans decided to land in the recently captured city of al-Mariyya to capture a weakened base on the Mediterranean coast. Tariq controlled the largest Muslim army in al-Andalus and quickly wheeled around to stop this first incursion. The battle was won with minimal casualties however more soldiers were soon to arrive. Meanwhile the selfish Sultan of Batliyus declared his vocal support for the defense of Balansiyya but instead led his troops north to capture Portucale in Galicia.
As the Germans poured into Iberia an army of ten thousands bore down on Tariq's men, trapped in the hills of al-Mansaf with reinforcements miles away in Ishbiliyya. They were too late. The Germans forced their way atop the hills and slaughtered Tariq’s men in the hundreds. Three thousand died that day, protecting the integrity of their homeland.
And so, in a matter of a year, Balansiyya fell to the Germans and marked the first time a
taifa fell to outside invaders. The Holy Roman Empire now held a significant port in al-Andalus from which to prepare further conquests into the Muslim lands.
Across the Mediterranean in Baghdad the Caliph Muhammad called for a Great Jihad in retribution for Christian incursions into Egypt. The Seljuk Empire was only just recovering from a brutal civil war and Malik Shah was potentially the only Sunni power strong enough to take on the newly minted Kingdom of Egypt.
Tariq, fueled by rage, continued to establish his dominance of the Muslim powers in anticipation of a major showdown with the Kaiser. Now was the time to declare himself the true successor to the Umayyads, the protector of Iberian Muslims, and the ruler of the Jewel of the World: Tariq ibn Haytham, Sultan of al-Andalus.
Sultan Tariq immediately set out to build alliances and shore up his power. First, he betrothed his eldest daughter to the most powerful vassal of the Almoravids: Emir Abu Bakr of Marrakesh. This alliance immediately boosted his potential fighting force. Next, Tariq began cleaning up the rest of the small
tawa’if and sheikhdoms left independent between his kingdom and that of Batliyus. The Emir of Mayurqa was forced into vassalization while the perennial thorn in Tariq’s side, the
Taifa of Tulaytulah, was peacefully annexed thanks to the threat of both Tariq and the German Kaiser.
The woeful and excommunicated King of Aragon, Sancho, declared his intention to make an attempt at reconquista with a pitiful army. He hoped to gain many others seeking adventure in the south of Iberia. Sancho managed to gather a large force of fortune seekers and declared war on the Hudid Emirate of Saraquista.
Tariq, now the sworn defender of Iberian Muslims, quickly pulled together a force of eleven thousand and rode quickly northward to their defense. The troops of the reconquista met Tariq outside of Bani Razin (Albarracin). Near the plains of Hijar the Andalusis stood firm and drove the Christian soldiers back. Tariq firmly made his newly minted presence as Sultan known among the troops of Aragon that day.
Later that day, Sancho was found murdered in his chambers and all his bluster came to naught as the reconquista dissolved.
On Tariq’s 50th birthday he declared a great display of
furusiyya to be put on in his honor and the honor of al-Andalus, putting the final seal on his claim to the great legacy of his forebears.
