UMAYYAD
GENEALOGY
(The Caliphate of al-Andalus / Spain)
912 - 961 `Abd ur-Raḥmān III an-Nāṣir li-dīn Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Umawī, Eighth Emir and First Caliph of al-Andalus. Born around 890, he was still an infant when his father was murdered by his grandfather, whose subsequent remorse led him to make `Abd ur-Raḥmān his heir. On accession, he quickly reunified the Emirate, reduced the Christian Kingdoms of the north to tributary status and conquered Ceuta, Mellila and Tangier (In Northern Morocco). He built a new capital, a few kilometres outside Cordoba, where he hoped he could have more freedom from the pressures of the aristocrats. In 929 he claimed the office of Caliph, probably in response to the rapidly expanding Fatamid Caliphate in North Africa. He married several times and took as a concubine Zahrā', after whom, supposedly, he named his new capital- Al-Madīnah az-Zahrā'. He died in 961, but had issue, including:
1) Al-Ḥakam II al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī, Second Caliph of al-Andalus - see below.
2) `Abd ul-Jabbār ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
a) Hishām `Abd il-Jabbār al-Umawī. He claimed the Caliphate in 1006, but was killed. He had issue, including:
i) Muḥammad II al-Mahdī bi-llāh ibn Hishām al-Umawī, Fourth Caliph of al-Andalus - see below.
ii) `Abd ur-Raḥmān V al-Mustaḍhhir ibn Hishām al-Umawī, Tenth Caliph of al-Andalus - see below.
3) Marwān ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
a) `Abd ur-Raḥmān ibn Marwān al-Umawī.
i) Marwān ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī.
4) `Ubaydullāh ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
a) `Abd ur-Raḥmān ibn `Ubaydillāh al-Umawī. He claimed the Caliphate in 978, with the support of Chief Eunuch Fayiq, but was killed. He had issue, including:
i) Muḥammad III al-Mustakfi ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī, Eleventh Caliph of al-Andalus - see below.
5) Sulaymān ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
1) Hishām ibn Sulaymān al-Umawī. He claimed the Caliphate in 1009, but was killed.
2) Ḥakam ibn Sulaymān al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
i) Sulaymān II al-Musta`īn bi-llāh ibn Ḥakam al-Umawī, Fifth Caliph of al-Andalus - see below.
6) `Abd ul-Malik ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
a) Muḥammad ibn `Abd il-Malik al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
i) `Abd ar-Raḥmān IV al-Murtaḍā ibn Muḥammad al-Umawī, Seventh Caliph of al-Andalus.
ii) Hishām III al-Mu`tadd ibn Muḥammad al-Umawī, Twelfth Caliph of al-Andalus
7) Al-Mughīrah ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī. Born in 949, He claimed the Caliphate at the death of his brother in 976, but was killed.
961 - 976 Al-Ḥakam II al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh ibn `Abd ir-Raḥmān al-Umawī, Second Caliph of al-Andalus. Born 915, he was a great intellectual, collecting one of the largest libraries in the world, and he presided over a peaceful and stable realm. Most of the actual governing, however, was done by trusted subordinates: the Chamberlain Ja`far al-Muṣḥafī and the General Ghālib an-Naṣirī. He married Ṣubḥ, also called Ja`far, who served as regent for her son from 976 until her death some time before 1000. She may have been sister to Fayiq, Keeper of the Wardrobe, Chief Royal Bodyguard and Chief Eunuch at the end of Hakam's reign. Hakam was determined that he would be succeeded by one of his sons, by Ṣubḥ but at the time of his death the eldest was still a minor. He died in 976, but had issue, including:
1) `Abd ur-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Umawī. Born 962, he was his father's heir, but died in 970. (son of Ṣubḥ)
2) Abūl-Walīd Hishām II al-Mu'ayad bi-llāh ar-Rāshid ibn al-Ḥakam al-Umawī, Third Caliph of al-Andalus - see below. (son of Ṣubḥ)
976 - 1009, 1009, 1010 - 1013 Abūl-Walīd Hishām II al-Mu'ayad bi-llāh ar-Rāshid ibn al-Ḥakam al-Umawī, Third Caliph of al-Andalus. Born in 966, he was only ten when he succeeded the throne. Power was held by the Chamberlain Ja`far al-Muṣḥafī, the General Ghālib an-Naṣirī and his mother, Ṣubḥ. In time all three were displaced by a the steward to Hisham and his mother, and Master of the Mint, Abū `Āmīr Muḥammad al-Mansūr bi-Ilah al-Hājib ibn `Abdallāh al-Ma`afarī al-`Āmīrī (see `AMIRIDS), who brought the Caliphate to its greatest heights, raiding deep into the Christian Kingdoms and even sacking Santiago di Compostela, the most sacred Christian site in Spain. He encouraged Hisham's reclusive tendencies, tightly controlled who saw him and built a new capital on the other side of Cordoba from Al-Madīnah az-Zahrā' (where the Caliph continued to reside). With al-Mansūr's death, things went downhill. His sons tried to succeed him as regents, but their presumption in attempting to take dejure, as well as defacto, power outraged the people of Cordoba and in 1009 Hisham and his regent were overthrown by a cousin, whose reign lasted less than a year, after which Hisham was restored, but it set a precedent. Later in 1009, he was deposed again and killed, but it was soon revealed that he was not dead, and he was returned to the throne by Slavic mercenaries. In 1013, Hisham was deposed for a third time and supposedly killed. Some claimed that he escaped, roaming the Maghreb for several years and serving as a matmaker and a potter, before returning to Spain in the 1030s, when he led an uprising. Whoever led the uprising was used by the Abbadid rulers of Seville as their figurehead Caliph untill they announced his death in 1058. He had no issue.