Umar ibn Hafsun

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`Umar ibn Hafs ibn Ya`fa-r known in Spanish history as Omar ben Hafsun (* ~850 in the mountains near Parauta, Málaga, Spain; † 918) was a leader of anti-Ummayad dynasty forces in southern Spain.

Hafsun came from a muladies family, his grandfather Ya`fa-r ibn Salim having converted from Christianity to Islam. A wild youth, Hasfsun was involved in a number of disputes, even a homicide around the year 879. He joined a group of brigands, was captured by the wali (governor) of Málaga, who merely imposed a fine (having not been informed of the homicide). Hafsun wisely fled the jurisdiction, to Africa where he worked briefly as a stone mason.

He soon returned to Andalucia and by the year 883 he had become the leader of the rebels in the provinces to the south and west of the Emirate of Cordova. Originally he settled in the ruins of the old Bobastro castle, built on the Mesas de Villaverde in the Sierra de la Pizarra mountain range near Ronda in the northern part of the province of Malaga. He rebuilt the castle, and fortified the nearby town of Ardales, Malaga. But soon he had acquired castles and lands in a wide area, not only in Malaga, but including portions of the provinces of Cádiz, Granada known then as Elvira, Jaén, and Seville. He rallied disaffected muwallads^[1] and mozárabs to his cause. About 885 in order to be more centrally located, and quicker to respond to external threats, Hafsun moved his headquarters to the town of Poley, which is now known as Aguilar de la Frontera.

After Hafsun’s defeat by the forces of Abdallah ibn Muhammad at the battle of Poley in 891, he moved his headquarters back to Bobastro. When Abd-ar-Rahman III became Emir of Cordoba in 912 he instigated a policy of annual Spring offensives against Hafsun, using mercenary troops. In 913 they captured the city of Seville, and by the end of 914 had captured 70 of Hafsun’s castles.

Hafsun renounced Islam and became a Christian, a political mistake that cost him the support of his moslem followers. Nonetheless, Hafsun remained a serious threat to Córdoba until his death in 917, after which the coalition of rebels fell completely apart. Hafsun’s sons were either killed in battle or captured, although it wasn’t until 928 that Abd ar-Rahman III was able to take the fortress at Bobastro.

[edit] References

Acién Almansa, Manuel Pedro- (1994) Málaga Musulmana (siglos VIII-XIII). Historia de Málaga.

Ed. Diario Sur. Málaga.

De la Cierva, Ricardo (1979) Historia de España, Vol. III. Ed. Planeta.
Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1984) España Musulmana: 004 (711-1031 : La Conquista, El Emirato, El Califato). Lectorum Pubns Inc. ISBN 84-239-4806-4
Regla, J. (1969) Historia de España Ilustrada. Ed. Ramón Sopena. Barcelona.
Ronart, Stephan and Nandy Ronart (eds.) (1972) Lexikon der Arabischen Welt. Ein historisch-politisches Nachschlagewerk, Artemis Verlag.
Hottinger, Arnold (1995) Die Mauren, Arabische Kultur in Spanien, Wilhelm Fink Verlag.ISBN 3-7705-3075-6
Barthel, Günter and Kristina Stock (eds.) (1994) Lexikon Arabische Welt, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden. ISBN 3-88226-783-6