Muhammad ibn Nasr

Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr (in Arabic: محمد بن نصر‎; Arjona, 1194 – Granada, 1273) was the first king of the Kingdom of Granada and as such founder of the Nasrid dynasty.

He ruled between 1238 and 1273 as Muhámmad I with the nickname al-Ḡālib bi-l-Lāh (الغالب بالله, 'the champion by the Grace of God'), although he would be better known as Ibn al-Aḥmar, castilianized Alhamar (الأحمر, 'The Rojo'), due to the red coloration of his beard.

Biography

Bust of Muhámmad ibn Nasr in Arjona, Spain.

View of Arjona.

Origins

Patrilineal descendant of the Banu Nasr family, known by the nickname Ibn al-Ahmar ("the descendant of the Bermejo"), who claimed to come from one of the companions who followed the Prophet Muhammad during the hijra, they settled in the taifa of Zaragoza, where they remained until 1118, when it was conquered by the Aragonese king Alfonso I, forcing the Banu Nasr to move to Arjona where, in 1194, the future Muhammad I would be born.

Sultan of Arjona

In 1212, as a result of the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, the power of the Almohads began to decline, giving rise to the so-called Third Taifa kingdoms, among which the Taifa of Murcia, created in 1228 and which, under the mandate of Ibn Hud, will extend his rule over all of Al-Andalus, with the exception of the taifas of Valencia and Niebla.

Muhammad ibn Nasr, although dedicated to agriculture (Ibn al-Khatib's General Estoria states that he inherited extensive domains from his parents "that he cultivated with his own hands"), achieved recognition and prestige in his hometown by leading military operations to defend the border against Christian incursions.

These Christian incursions and the continuous defeats suffered by Ibn Hud's troops cause the population's discontent against him and are taken advantage of by Muhammad ibn Nasr to rise up, with the support of his family headed by his uncle Yahya ibn Nasr and the Banu Isqalyula with whom he is related by marriage, on July 16, 1232 against the king of the taifa of Murcia and proclaim himself sultan of the taifa of Arjona that will be the seed of the future Nasrid kingdom of Granada.

He immediately began the territorial expansion taking Guadix, Baza and Jerez de la Frontera. His conquests continue in 1233 with the capture of Úbeda, Porcuna, Córdoba and Jaén, this city where he will move his capital.

Their next objective is to take over the taifa of Seville, for which they sign an alliance with their king Muhammad al-Bayi, who has seized power after dethroning the brother of Ibn Hud, and whom they manage to defeat in their attempt to reconquer the city. After having the Sevillian monarch assassinated, Muhammad ibn Nasr places his relative Ali ben Isqalyula as ruler of Seville, who after only a month in power will be forced to flee when the Sevillians choose to recognize Ibn Hud as king, who in In 1235 he had reconquered Córdoba and, in 1234, he had managed to get the Caliph of Baghdad to officially recognize him as ruler of all of Al-Andalus.

The territorial losses and the political support achieved by his rival, upon being recognized as the governor of Al-Andalus, forced Muhammad ibn Nasr to pay homage to Ibn Hud, recognizing him as emir and paying him allegiance in exchange for being recognized as Lord of Arjona, Jaén and Porcuna.

King of Grenada

This situation changed when, in 1236, Ibn Hud surrendered the city of Córdoba to the Castilian King Ferdinand III, declaring him vassalage. The high taxes that he agreed to pay to the Castilian king caused the discontent of the population and his assassination in 1237. Muhammad ibn Nasr took advantage of the situation to successively take, and throughout 1238, Almería, Málaga and Granada where he would establish his new capital, proclaiming himself king, known as Muhammad I.

He will enter Granada through the Elvira Gate proclaiming Wa lā gāliba illā-llāh|Wa lâ Ghâlib illâ Allâh ('There is no other victor but Allah'), a phrase that, in addition to giving rise to his nickname: al-Gálib bi-l-Lah ('the victorious by God'), would become the currency of the dynasty Nasrid, which will appear repeated in all the Nasrid palaces built in the following two centuries, beginning with the Alhambra itself, whose construction was started by Muhammad I on the fortress that already dominated the city.

With the conquests of Granada, Almería and Málaga, Muhámmad I achieved the maximum territorial control that the Nasrid dynasty would reach, although he would only maintain it for 8 years since this great territorial expansion would arouse the suspicion of the Christian kingdoms, especially of the Castilian king Ferdinand III who, in the spring of 1244, conquered Arjona and, after unsuccessfully besieging Granada for 20 days, surrounded the city of Jaén until he forced Muhammad I to agree, in 1246, to hand over the city, to declare himself a vassal of the Christian king with a payment of 150,000 maravedis per year and to lend him military aid in exchange for a 20-year truce.

The territorial loss was an advantage for Muhammad I in the long run, since it allowed him to dedicate himself to strengthening his kingdom without worrying about possible external threats, since his vassalage with Fernando III protected him not only from the Castilians but also from the Aragonese whose king, Jaime I, set his expansionist objectives in Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The military support required by the agreement became effective in 1248 when the King of Granada made available to Ferdinand III a contingent of 500 horsemen who intervened decisively in the Christian reconquest of Seville. The peace agreement was renewed on the death of Fernando III by his son, King Alfonso X the Wise, who once again received military support from Granada in the conquest, in 1262, of the Taifa of Niebla. In that same year, Muhammad I attempted the conquest of Ceuta, although he failed miserably after suffering a severe defeat.

The pact with the Castilians was broken in 1264 when the Kingdom of Granada, after the fall of the Niebla taifa, became the only reconquest target remaining for Alfonso X and Muhammad I sought new allies in the Benimerine kings who, since 1258, governed part of the territory of present-day Morocco. The sending of troops and the Nasrid support for the Mudejar uprisings in Jerez and Murcia caused Alfonso X and Jaime I to react by sending troops who, after quelling the rebels, laid siege to Granada, although they would suffer a severe defeat.

The situation was taken advantage of by the governors of Málaga and Guadix who, although in-laws of Muhammad I, who had put them in charge of the army, felt displaced by the arrival of the Benimerines and in 1266 they revolted and declared themselves vassals of Alfonso X. In response, Muhammad I besieged Málaga for three months and, failing to achieve its conquest, reaches an agreement with the Castilian-Leonese king whereby, in exchange for a tribute of 250,000 maravedís per year and the resignation of Jerez and Murcia, achieved that Alfonso X did not provide any support to the rebels. Failure to comply with the agreement by Alfonso X caused Muhammad I to support the Castilian nobles who, led by Nuño González de Lara, rebelled in 1272, obtaining in return their support in the capture of Antequera that same year.

In its religious aspect, and once it took possession of Granada, it abandoned its Sufi and ascetic tendencies to support the religious doctrine of the Maliki rite, the majority in the entire Maghreb Muslim world.

Established in 1238 the capital of the Nasrid kingdom in Granada, the emir installed his government and residence in the local palace 'Badis b. Habus' (converted into the 15th century Dar al-Horra). That same year, the existing fortifications on Mount Sabika were transformed into the foundations of the "new or yadida fortress" (The Alhambra), improving and erecting defensive constructions: the Torre de la Vela and the Torre del Homenaje. Under his reign, construction began on the palatial area of the Alhambra, which until then was strictly a military structure that defended the city of Granada, expanding the system for conducting water from the Darro River.

Before he died, on January 20, 1273, when he fell from a horse, he left his eldest son Abu Abd Alah Muhammad, known by the nickname al-Faqih ('the jurist'), who ascended the throne under the name of Muhammad II.