Ismail I of Granada

Abu'l-Walid Ismail I ibn Faraj (3 March 1279 – 8 July 1325) was the fifth Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula from 1314 to 1325. A grandson of Muhammad II on the side of his mother Fatima, he was the first of the lineage of sultans now known as the al-dawla al-isma'iliyya al-nasriyya (lit. 'the Nasrid dynasty of Ismail'). Historians characterise him as an effective ruler who improved the emirate's position with military victories during his reign.

He claimed the throne during the reign of his maternal uncle, Sultan Nasr, after a rebellion started by his father Abu Said Faraj. Their forces defeated the unpopular Nasr and Ismail was proclaimed sultan in the Alhambra in February 1314. He spent the early years of his reign fighting Nasr, who attempted to regain the throne from his base in Guadix, where he was initially allowed to rule as governor. Nasr enlisted the help of Castile, which then secured a papal authorisation for a crusade against Ismail. The war continued with intermittent truces and reached its climax in the Battle of the Vega on 25 June 1319, which resulted in a complete victory for Ismail's forces, led by Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula, over Castile. The deaths in the battle of Infante Peter and Infante John, the two regents for the infant King Alfonso XI, left Castile leaderless and forced it to end support for Nasr.

After an initial truce, Ismail followed up his victory with the capture of castles on the Castilian border in 1324 and 1325, including Baza, Orce, Huéscar, Galera, and Martos. This campaign included the first use of cannons in a siege on the Iberian Peninsula, and atrocities during the assault of Martos which became infamous in Muslim chronicles. He was murdered by his relative, Muhammad ibn Ismail, on 8 July 1325, for personal reasons. During his life Ismail added buildings to the Alhambra palace complex, its Generalife palace, and the Alcázar Genil palace.

Background

Abu'l-Walid Ismail ibn Faraj was the son of Fatima bint al-Ahmar and Abu Said Faraj ibn Ismail. Ismail's mother Fatima was the daughter of Sultan Muhammad II (r. 1273–1302) and the sister of the sultans Muhammad III (r. 1302–1309) and Nasr (r. 1309–1314), the two immediate successors to and sons of Muhammad II. Ismail's father, Abu Said Faraj was also a member of the royal family, the son of Ismail ibn Nasr, who was a brother of the dynasty founder Muhammad I (r. 1238–1273). Therefore, Ismail was related to the ruling Nasrid dynasty in two ways: through his mother he was the grandson of Muhammad II and great-grandson of Muhammad I, while through his father he was a great-nephew of Muhammad I. Abu Said married Fatima during the reign of her father, Muhammad II, for whom he was a trusted advisor as well as a cousin. Abu Said was also appointed governor of Málaga by Muhammad II. Málaga was the second largest city of the Emirate of Granada after the capital, Granada, and its most important Mediterranean port, without which "Granada was no more than an isolated mountain-girt city," according to the historian L. P. Harvey. Abu Said's father, Ismail ibn Nasr, had also served as its governor until he died in 1257.

The emirate was the last Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula, founded by Muhammad I in the 1230s. Through a combination of diplomatic and military manoeuvres, the emirate succeeded in maintaining its independence, despite being located between two larger neighbours: the Christian Crown of Castile to the north and the Muslim Marinid Sultanate in Morocco. Granada intermittently entered into alliance or went to war with both these powers, or encouraged them to fight one another, in order to avoid being dominated by either. From time to time, the sultans of Granada swore fealty and paid tributes to the kings of Castile, an important source of income for Castile. From Castile's point of view, Granada was a royal vassal, while Muslim sources never described the relationship as such, and Muhammad I, for instance, on occasions declared his fealty to other Muslim sovereigns.

Early life

Ismail was born on 3 March 1279 (17 Shawwal 677 AH), shortly after his father Abu Said was sent to Málaga as governor on 11 February. He was likely born in the Alhambra, the royal palace complex in Granada, because his mother was in late pregnancy at the time of Abu Said's departure, and the Nasrid rule in Málaga was still unstable because it had just been recaptured after a long rebellion by the Banu Ashqilula. Ismail and his mother subsequently moved to Málaga, where his father served as an effective governor and a trusted advisor for Muhammad II and later Muhammad III. Ismail had a younger brother, named Muhammad, whose birth date was unknown. During his youth Ismail was said to be well-loved by his father and by his maternal grandfather, Muhammad II. Biographers described him as a person who loved hunting and who had long, dark-red beard.

Ismail's maternal uncle Sultan Nasr became unpopular at court in the last years of his reign. The near-contemporary historian Ibn Khaldun wrote that this was due to his and his vizier's "tendencies towards violence and injustice", while Harvey rejects this explanation as propaganda and writes that "exactly why Naṣr fell is not clear." The historian Antonio Fernández-Puertas links Nasr's unpopularity to his activities in science, especially astronomy, which were deemed excessive by his nobles. Furthermore, Nasr was suspected of being too pro-Christian, because of his education by his Christian mother and his good relationship with Ferdinand IV. His vizier, Ibn al-Hajj, was also unpopular as he was believed to have too much power over the Sultan. Compounding their image problem, they both often dressed in the Castilian manner. Harvey also opines that Nasr was blamed "perhaps unfairly" for Granada's losses in the war that occurred during his reign against the Marinid Sultanate and the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Initially, he faced an attempted coup to restore his predecessor, the dethroned Muhammad III, in November 1310. That attempt failed, but Abu Said Faraj, encouraged by an anti-Nasr faction he met at court, started another rebellion the following year in the name of his son Ismail, who had a stronger claim to the throne thanks to the lineage of his mother. According to Fernández-Puertas, Abu Said's decision was partly prompted by the drowning of Muhammad III at the order of Nasr after the failed coup, but there are conflicting reports of when this assassination happened; other historians such as Francisco Vidal Castro considered the most likely date to be in February 1314, long after the start of Abu Said's rebellion.

The pro-Ismail rebels, led by Abu Said, took Antequera, Marbella, and Vélez-Málaga; advanced to the Vega of Granada; and defeated Nasr's forces at a place called al-Atsha by Arabic sources, possibly today's Láchar. Abu Said proceeded to besiege the capital but lacked the necessary supplies for a protracted campaign. Castile's forces under the brother of King Ferdinand IV (r. 1285–1312), Infante Peter, defeated Abu Said and Ismail on 28 May 1312. Abu Said sought peace, which was signed on 5 August, under which Abu Said was able to retain his post as governor of Málaga and resumed paying tributes to the sultan.

Rise to power

Fearing the sultan's vengeance, Abu Said sent his katib (secretary) Ibn Isa to negotiate a secret deal with the Marinids, in which he was to yield Málaga in exchange for the governorship of Salé in North Africa. The negotiations became known to the people of Málaga and were considered treachery; the citizens rose up and deposed him as their leader in favour of Ismail. Ismail did not arrest his father but kept him under watch in Málaga. During a visit outside the city, Abu Said was suspected of attempting to flee and was captured by Málaga's citizens. Ismail arrived before his father was harmed, then ordered his imprisonment in the castle of Cártama. Later, during Ismail's reign, he was moved to the castle of Salobreña, where he died in 1320.