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The Emirate of Granada was established in 1228, after the Almohad dynasty was defeated by the Christians at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

The July 16 1212 battle of Las Navas de Tolosa is considered a major turning point in the history of Medieval Iberian Peninsula. The forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile were joined by the armies of his Christian rivals, Sancho VII of Navarre, Pedro II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal in battle against the Berber people Muslim Almohad...
. The Almohad prince Idris had left Iberia to take the Almohad leadership, the ambitious Ibn al-Ahmar established the longest lasting Muslim dynasty on the Iberian peninsula - the Nasrids.

With the Reconquista
Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims....
 in full swing after the conquest of Cordoba in 1236, the Nasrids aligned themselves with Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile

Saint Ferdinand III , was the King of Castile from 1217 and King of Le?n from 1230. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII of Castile and consolidated the Reconquista....
, officially becoming a tributary state in 1238.






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The Emirate of Granada was established in 1228, after the Almohad dynasty was defeated by the Christians at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

The July 16 1212 battle of Las Navas de Tolosa is considered a major turning point in the history of Medieval Iberian Peninsula. The forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile were joined by the armies of his Christian rivals, Sancho VII of Navarre, Pedro II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal in battle against the Berber people Muslim Almohad...
. The Almohad prince Idris had left Iberia to take the Almohad leadership, the ambitious Ibn al-Ahmar established the longest lasting Muslim dynasty on the Iberian peninsula - the Nasrids.

With the Reconquista
Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims....
 in full swing after the conquest of Cordoba in 1236, the Nasrids aligned themselves with Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile

Saint Ferdinand III , was the King of Castile from 1217 and King of Le?n from 1230. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII of Castile and consolidated the Reconquista....
, officially becoming a tributary state in 1238. The state officially became the Kingdom of Granada in 1238. The Nasrid emir
Emir

Emir , is a high Nobility or office, used throughout the Arab World and historically in some Turkic peoples states and Afghanistan. Emirs are usually considered high-ranking sheikhs, but in monarchical states the term is also used for princes, with "Emirate" being analogous to principality in this sense....
s and kings were responsible for building most of the palaces in the Alhambra
Alhambra

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex of the Moors rulers of Emirate of Granada in southern Spain , occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada....
. The taifa
Taifa

In the history of Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, an emirate or petty kingdom, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba in 1031....
 became a vassal state of the Christian kingdom of Castile for the next 250 years. The Nasrid sultans and kings paid tribute to the Christian kings and cooperated with them in the battle against rebellious Muslims under Castilian rule.

Initially the kingdom of Granada linked the commercial routes from Europe with those of the Maghreb
Maghreb

The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea....
. The territory constantly shrank due to repeated Castilian invasions, however, and by 1492, Granada controlled only a small territory on the Mediterranean coast. Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 was the official language, and was the mother tongue of the majority of the population.

Granada was held as a vassal to Castile for many decades, and provided trade links with the Muslim world, particularly the gold trade with the sub-saharan areas south of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. The Nasrids
Nasrid dynasty

The Nasrid dynasty or Banuu Nasri was the last Arab and Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Nasrid dynasty rose to power after the defeat of the Almohad dynasty in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa....
 also provided troops for Castile while the kingdom was also a source of mercenary fighters from North Africa. However, Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 discovered direct African trade routes by sailing around the coast of West Africa. Thus Granada became less and less important for Castile and with the unification of Castile and Aragon in 1479, those kingdoms set their sights on conquering Granada and Navarre.

On January 2, 1492, the last Muslim leader, Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil to the Spanish, surrendered complete control of Granada, to Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Católicos ("The Catholic Monarchs"), after the city was besieged.

See also

  • Romance of Abenamar
    Romance of Abenamar

    The Romance of Aben?mar is a medieval Spanish Romance , written as a dialog between the Moor Aben?mar and the Catholic John II of Castile of Castile....


External links

  • R.H. Shamsuddín Elía, Historia de Al-Andalus, Boletín N° 53 -08/2006
  • Nicolás Homar Vives,
  • Les Nasrides, Les Banû al-Ahmar à Grenade