Taifa of Toledo
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| Capital | Toledo | ||||
| Main language | Arabic | ||||
| Other languages | Mozárabe | ||||
| Religion | Islam, Christianity, Judaism | ||||
| Government | monarchy | ||||
| king taifa | |||||
| • 1023-1043 | Ismaíl al-Záfir (Banu Dil-Nun Dynasty) | ||||
| • 1043-1075 | Al-Mamun de Toledo (Banu Dil-Nun Dynasty) | ||||
| • 1075-1080 | Al-Cádir (Banu Dil-Nun Dynasty) | ||||
| • 1080-1081 | Connected by the taifa of Badajoz | ||||
| • 1081-1085 | Al-Cádir (restoration) | ||||
| Historical period | Age | ||||
| • Final independence of Cordoba | 22 July 1035 | ||||
| • Entrance of Alfonso VI in the city | 25 May 1085 | ||||
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The Taifa of Toledo or Kingdom of Toledo was one of the taifas of Al-Andalus that arose from the decomposition of the Caliphate of Córdoba on July 22, 1035 and It ends with the Christian reconquest in 1085 (AD 478) by Alfonso VI. It came to coincide approximately with the current autonomous communities of Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid, and with the old region of Castilla la Nueva.
The taifa kingdom
Toledo kept its aura of having been a Visigothic urbs regia, which the Arabs perpetuated by calling it madinat al-muluk. It had great strategic importance as the capital of the Middle March —the latter formed as a result of the Berber revolt of the year 741—, and was able to maintain a relative dependence on Córdoba until the century of the Caliphate. It was, however, as a result of the fall of the Caliphate when Toledo acquired greater importance as a Muslim city, when it became the capital of a taifa kingdom that roughly covered the current Spanish provinces of Toledo, Madrid, Guadalajara, Cuenca and Ciudad Real (provinces of Castilla la Nueva). Independent when the civil wars of the beginning of the XI took place there, some personalities of the city seized power there, among them the cadi Abú Bala Ya'is ibn Muhámmad and some others, among whom they cite the sources also to an Ibn Masarra, to an Abd al-Rahmn and to Abd al-Málik ibn Matiyo. The people of Toledo, possibly dissatisfied with the disagreements between them and, especially, with the bad government of the latter, decided to offer the government of the Taifa to the lord of Santaver, Abd al-Rahman ibn Dil-Nun, who sent them to take over power. to his son Ismail al-Zafir around 1035.
The Banu Dil-Nun were a Berber family from the Hawwara tribe, who arrived in the peninsula at the time of the Islamic conquest. They settled in the heart of Santabariyya or Santaver and in the Arabization process of the VIII-X centuries they changed their Berber ethnicity from Zennún, Arabizing it into Banu Di-l-Nun. During all this time they were one of the most prominent lineages of the Middle March, cited by sources for their uprisings against the emiral power and for their alternative submissions.
They returned to their autonomy with the decline of the Caliphate during the first decade of the 11th century: then, possibly, Abd al-Rahman ibn Dil-Nun managed to get the caliph Sulaiman al-Mustain (1009-10 and 1013-16) granted the appointment as lord of Santaver, Huete, Uclés and Cuenca, bearing the title of Násir al-Dawla. This Abd al-Rahmán entrusted the government of Uclés to his son Ismail in 1018 and later, as has already been said, he sent him to Toledo.
Cities
- Border cities
- Bascos (Bâsk)
A city with a primarily military function, founded as a Muslim core prior to the X century on a Roman settlement near the confluence of the river Huso with the Tagus. It could have had a population between 2,500 and 3,000 inhabitants.
- Talavera de la Reina (Talabîra)
A city with a large population —often mentioned by Arab geographers such as Al-Idrisi—, it was founded as a Muslim nucleus on a Roman city in the year 713 and fortified in the year 855, with improvements from the time of the Caliphate.
- MaquedaMakâda)
Its origin dates back to the second half of the X century.
- Alhamínal-Fahmîn)
Small but important from a defensive point of view, located within the current municipality of Méntrida, in the north of the current province of Toledo. It did, however, have a larger mosque.
- Channels (Qânalis), Olmos (Walmus) and Calatalifa (Qala`at al-Halfâ)
These are 3 nearby nuclei, halfway between the current provinces of Toledo and Madrid (the first two in the current province of Toledo, the last in the Community of Madrid), located on the step of the fault on which settles the river Guadarrama.
- Madrid (Majrît)
Built in the IX century during the rule of Muhammad I of Córdoba. It is possible that, in addition to being a defensive watchtower In the face of Christian attacks from the north, it acted as a nucleus for the control of Toledo —a city already mentioned as prone to insubordination— by the Cordoba central authority. During the century X Córdoba even appointed governors in the city.
- Talamanca (Talamanka)
It was strategically important to protect the access to the Tagus valley located further south. Built during the government of Muhammad I of Córdoba, it never reached a large size.
- Alcalá la ViejaQala`at `Abd al-Salâm)
Fortified fortress located in the vicinity of present-day Alcalá de Henares and built in the second half of the IX century.
- GuadalajaraMadînat al-Faraj or Wâdi l-Hijara)
The city, from which its waters and gardens stood out, is considered an ex novo creation by the Muslims —due to the uncertain location of the previous Roman city of Arriaca — located on the bank of the Henares; it had a strategic importance within the territory of aṯ-Ṯaḡr al-Awsaṭ.
- Sigüenza
Probably not a major core.
- AtienzaAntasiya)
Although it was not an important nucleus, its location stands out at a crossroads.
- Medinaceli (Madînat Sâlim)
The construction of Medinaceli —which took shape throughout the X century into a city of notable importance when it became Middle March barracks—dated to the first half of the X century. Some consider it to be situated above the ancient city of Ocilis.
- Cities of the interior
- Toledo (Tulaytula)
Toledo, the most important city of the taifa, was already the capital of Visigothic Hispania. insurrection against the central power of the emirate and the Córdoba caliphate. The local authorities took control of the taifa around the year 1010, a situation caused by the power vacuum that represented the last throes of the process of internal decomposition of the Caliphate of Córdoba. Power was later assumed by the Banu Di-l-Nun family—creating a new ruling dynasty—probably around 1032 and 1033.
- Santaver (Santabarîya)
Despite never having been a nucleus of great importance, Santabarîya —excellently located from a defensive point of view— was the center of a large area populated by an important Berber population of the tribe miknasa and carried out several insurrections during the Córdoba emirate. After the decomposition of the caliphate, it was added to the Taifa of Toledo.
- Calatrava la Vieja (Qala'at Rabah)
Of Umayyad foundation (late VIII century), for four centuries it formed part of Al-Andalus. It was the most important city on the route between Toledo and Córdoba during the emirate. It controlled the Guadiana valley and the surrounding lands from Guadamur to Alarcos and Salvatierra.
Heyday
The territory of the Taifa of Toledo coincided with the current provinces of Toledo, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, northern Albacete, Cáceres, Guadalajara (up to the border with Zaragoza in Medinaceli), Madrid up to the Sierra de Guadarrama.
Ismail al-Zafir was the first monarch of this lineage until 1043, fighting against the Cordovans to maintain independence. Then Al-Mamún of Toledo reigned, who requested the help of Fernando I of León and Castilla against Sulaymán ben Hud al-Musta'in of Zaragoza; Twenty years later, the people of Toledo, attacked by Fernando, bought their tranquility by paying pariahs.
In turn, attacked by Abd al-Málik ben Abd al-Aziz al-Mansur, ruler of Valencia since 1061, he preferred to ask Al-Mamún of Toledo for help rather than accept Castilian control, but the king of Toledo took the opportunity to Depose the Valencian and annex the Taifa of Valencia in 1064, with the acquiescence of Fernando I.
Toledans and Sevillians aspired to unite the former capital of the caliphate to their domains, which would be added to the Taifa of Seville in 1070. The new king, Alfonso VI of León and Castilla, followed a policy of supporting all against all in his exclusive benefit: with the help of Al-Mutamid of Seville, he defeated Abd Allah from Granada and forced him to pay outcasts (1074), while supporting Al-Mamún of Toledo to occupy the Taifa of Córdoba in 1075.
Al-Mamún de Toledo thus became the most important king of the Taifa of Toledo, which in 1075 included Córdoba and Valencia. That same year he was poisoned in Córdoba and his grandson Al-Cádir assumed the government of Toledo.
End of Muslim rule
Al-Cádir in 1075 considered himself strong enough in his domains of Toledo-Córdoba-Valencia to dispense with Castilian and expelled from Toledo those in favor of collaboration-submission with the Christians; but these provoked a revolt in Valencia, which declared itself independent under the command of Abd al-Aziz, and Toledo, without the support of Castile, lost the Cordoba lands in 1077, as well as the southern provinces of the region, and was attacked its territory by Al-Mutawákkil of the Badajoz taifa.
Al-Cádir was forced to ask again for Castilian help and with it the support of a large part of the population was alienated: on the one hand were the Muslims, who were in favor of breaking the alliance with Castile, and an approach to the other Muslim kingdoms, and on the other, the Mozarabs and Jews, supporters of the alliance with Castile and even annexation. Thus Al-Mutawákkil from Badajoz entered the city in 1080, while Al-Cádir took refuge in Cuenca.
Al-Cádir regained the throne in 1081 since Alfonso VI of León and Castilla decided to help him recover the Toledo and Valencian lands in exchange for Valencia going to Al-Cádir and Toledo to Alfonso.
Before this agreement, the Toledo citizens opposed to the Alfonso-Al-Qádir collaboration (the Muslims) requested the support of Al-Muqtadir from Zaragoza, Al-Mutamid from Seville and Al-Mutawákkil from Badajoz; while another part of the population, tired of the continuous wars (Mozarabs and Jews), accepted the handing over of Toledo to Alfonso VI, as long as he pretended to take it by force, to avoid that the people of Toledo were accused of betraying the Muslim cause, aware of the loss of prestige that the ceding of Toledo would entail for Islam.
The siege of the city did not prevent Alfonso VI from attacking the taifas of Zaragoza, Valencia and Seville, and on May 6, 1085, after four years of "siege", Toledo surrendered peacefully, after obtaining guarantees from the Muslims that their persons and property would be respected and that they would be allowed to continue in possession of the main mosque. For their part, the Muslim troops promised to abandon the fortresses and the fortress.
Christian dominance
On May 25, 1085, Alfonso VI of León and Castile entered the city. At that time, the kingdom of León y Castilla, considered the heir to the Visigothic kingdom of Toledo, intended to recover for itself the capital of the old Visigothic kingdom. The conquest of the city of Toledo gave rise to the investment of forces between Christians and Muslims on the peninsula, which would eventually lead to the Almoravid conquest of the taifas after they requested their intervention.
Cultural flowering in the Taifa of Toledo
The flourishing of science during the Banu Di l-Nun dynasty in Islamic Toledo allowed Europe to peek years later, through the Toledo School of Translators, at the first pillars of that bridge of modernity that we call Renaissance. The emirs of the taifa kingdoms surrounded themselves with men of culture, in a rivalry for prestige and power with the other dynasties of Al-Andalus, highlighting among all of them Al-Mamún de Toledo, who turned this city into an intellectual and artistic center of first order.
Among the outstanding group of mathematicians, geometers, astronomers and doctors from the kingdom of Toledo, Azarquiel stands out, the backbone of European astronomical science up to Copernicus. One of his greatest achievements was the adaptation of the astronomical tables in use until then to the coordinates of Toledo, becoming known as Toledo tables and becoming a common reference for the exercise of astronomy throughout Europe. He is followed by Said al-Andalusi, an expert builder of astrolabes, who heads the patronage of this entire group of wise men from Toledo; and thanks to whose work, "Book of the categories of nations" we know the name and activities of some other scholars of the Toledo kingdom, such as Al-Kuwaidis, who thoroughly mastered the Arabic language and taught it in Toledo.
Medicine also had a high level at this stage, especially in the court of Al-Mamún in Toledo: One of the most relevant doctors was Ibn al-Bagunis. On his part, Ibn al-Khayyat, who was also dedicated to Astrology, predicted the expulsion of the Muslims from the peninsula, which caused a great uproar. But, without a doubt, the best doctor in Toledo and one of the most important in Al-Andalus was Ibn Wafid, vizier of Al-Mamún in Toledo, whose reputation led him to translate his prestigious works into Latin for dissemination throughout Europe. He planted an experimental botanical garden for his sovereign, and his disciples followed his path, like Ibn Bassal, who dedicated a treatise on agriculture to Al-Mamun of Toledo. Abu'l Jayr, a disciple, in turn, of another disciple of Ibn Wafid, practiced acclimatization trials and herborizations throughout Al-Andalus and northern Morocco. And at this time the first mechanical engineering treatise carried out in Al-Andalus by the hand of Ibn Jalaf al-Muradi also emerged, where thirty types of mechanical devices are described, mostly clocks with automata and war machines.
Art in the Taifa of Toledo
- Astrolabio de al-Sahlî, 1066 d. C. produced at the Toledo Workshop.
- Arqueta de Palencia, 1050 d. C. produced at the Cuenca Workshop.
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