Hisham II

Abû l-Walîd Hishâm ibn al-Hakam (in Arabic, أبو الوليد هشام بن الحكم), better known as Hisham II or Hixem II (Córdoba, June 11, 965-ibid, May 18, 1013), was the third Umayyad caliph of Córdoba between 976 and 1009 and again between 1010 and 1013, with the laqab (honorific nickname) of al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah (المؤيد بالله), i.e. the one who receives assistance victorious of God.

Ascension to the throne

When Caliph Al-Hakam II died in 976, he left his son Hisham, still a minor, as his sole heir, which posed a serious succession problem because Islamic law prohibited a minor from being caliph. This opened the options of Al-Hakam's brother, Al-Mugira, who had the support of some high dignitaries of the caliphal court. However, the most powerful person in it, the vizier Jaáfar al-Mushafi, opposed this alternative and ordered Muhammad ibn Abi Amir to end Al-Mugira's life. Muhammad complied with the order and the murder was passed off as a suicide.

According to another uncontested version of events, the saqalibah who formed the Slavic guard of the palace tried to replace Hisham on the throne with his uncle Al-Mugira, but among the supports that the child caliph had were powerful figures. of the court, among whom stood out his own mother, the Basque concubine Subh, the chamberlain Jaáfar al-Mushafi and his tutor Muhammad ibn Abi Amir, who made the plot fail by managing to assassinate the claimant to the throne.

The regency

The caliph's minority led both the vizier, Al-Mushafi, and Muhammad ibn Abi Amir, with the support of the queen mother Subh, to form a regency council and imprison Hisham in the palace where, although he appears as ruler, will lack any political influence.

The figure of Ibn Abi Amir begins to grow in popularity by taking demagogic measures such as the abolition of taxes or through successful military campaigns that ensure him the support of the army. He then begins to scheme to seize absolute power, for which he must get rid of the co-regent Al-Mushafi.

In cahoots with Subh, possibly becoming his lover, and relying on the Berbers, he attracts the famous Slavic general Galib into his circle, for which he marries his daughter and, in 977, eliminates the vizier by accusing him of treason and executing him along with to his sons, and after taking over the position of vizier, he began the period known as the Amiri dictatorship that would last until the year 1009 with the successive stages of Ibn Abi Amir himself and his two sons Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar and Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo.

Amiri dictatorship and Córdoba revolution

Finally Ibn Abi Amir and General Galib, the two strong men after the overthrow of Al-Mushafi, faced each other on the battlefield in the year 981. Galib died in combat and Ibn Abi Amir was left as hayibunique. Since then, the new most powerful man in Al-Andalus, above the caliph himself, adopted the nickname of Almanzor, "the Victorious." "Caliph Hisham became a shadow enclosed within the walls of Madinat al-Zahra, ruling only nominally, while an army of servants and courtiers closely supervised by the hajib devoted themselves to cultivating an idiocy that "did not subside when the caliph reached the age of majority," comments Eduardo Manzano Moreno. This same historian points out that Almanzor will always maintain absolute respect for the Umayyad legitimacy of the caliph Hisham II and his work of government will adhere to this principle, as stated. They would demonstrate the great expansion that was carried out under his mandate of the Córdoba mosque or the reactivation of the holy war against the Christian kingdoms of the north.

To defeat his rival General Galib, Almanzor had the help of the Berber general Chafar ben Hamrun. But two years later, in 983, General Chafar himself will be eliminated by order of Almanzor.

With the path cleared of possible rivals, Al-Mansur bi-l-Lah (Almanzor) will rule absolutely until his death, twenty years later, in the summer of the year 1002. His son Abd al-Málik al-Muzáffar - who had held the title of vizier since 991 - succeeded him in power and, although Caliph Hisham II was already thirty-seven years old, he continued to be removed from any political or government decisions.

The death of Almanzor provoked rebellions both internally and in the Christian kingdoms, forcing Abd al-Málik to act energetically to quell them. Thus, the Slavic guard (the saqalibah) was practically annihilated after trying to overthrow Hisham from the throne and replace him with an Umayyad prince. And with respect to the Christian kingdoms, the Amiri strengthened his position through successive military campaigns against Galicia, León, Navarra and Barcelona, which earned him, in 1007, the caliph granting him the title of al-Muzáffar ("The Victor"), a year before his unexpected death.

The premature death of Abd al-Málik in 1008 marked the rise to power of his brother Abd al-Rahmán, known by the nickname Sanchuelo for being the grandson of Sancho Garcés II of Pamplona via maternal. His attempt to have Hisham II, who had no children, name him as his heir as caliph, led to a coup d'état in 1009, followed by a popular uprising ("Cordoban Revolution") led by the Umayyad prince Muhammad II. -Mahdi, great-grandson of Abd al-Rahman III. The result of this uprising was the deposition of Hisham II and, after the death of "Sanchuelo", the end of the Amirid dictatorship.

Recovery of the throne

Hisham II was kept imprisoned in Córdoba for several months. That was a turbulent period, in which several changes in power occurred due to clashes between Berbers and Arabs. In one of these coups d'état, on July 23, 1010, Hisham was restored to the throne by Slavic mercenary troops under the command of al-Wádih, who became the new strong man of the regime. However, al-Wádih was never able to gain control of the Berber troops, and they finally imposed their own candidate Sulaimán al-Mustaín as the new caliph, after taking and sacking Córdoba in 1013.

Later it is not known what exactly happened to Hisham, although it is assumed that he must have been murdered on April 19, 1013 by the Berbers.