Mujahid al-Amiri facts for kids

Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī was a powerful ruler in a part of Spain called Al-Andalus a long time ago. He was known as the ruler of Dénia and the Balearic Islands from 1014 until he died in 1044 or 1045.

Mujāhid's time as ruler was mostly peaceful, except for one big adventure where he tried to take over Sardinia. He was also very interested in learning and books. His palace became a famous place where smart people, writers, and poets gathered. He even wrote a book about poetry himself, though it is now lost.

Early Life and Rise to Power

Mujāhid was born a ṣaḳlabī, which means he was a slave of Slavic origin. His mother was a Christian who had been captured. He was bought by a powerful leader named al-Manṣūr. Al-Manṣūr made sure Mujāhid received a good education and converted to Islam.

After 1002, Mujāhid might have worked as a governor in Dénia. In 1009, after al-Manṣūr's son, Sanchuelo, died, Mujāhid took control of Dénia. He even set up his own puppet caliph, a religious and political leader, named al-Muʿayṭī.

The Sardinia Adventure

In 1015, Mujāhid decided to try and conquer the island of Sardinia. He sailed there with 120 ships and took over the southern coast. However, forces from Pisa and Genoa in Italy defeated him.

The next year, he returned to Sardinia with a large army of horsemen. He defeated the local ruler of Cagliari and made the conquered area stronger. He even sent a small group to attack Luni on the Italian coast. A German writer joked that Mujāhid sent a bag of chestnuts to the Pope to show how many Muslim soldiers he had. But Pope Benedict VIII sent back a bag of millet, showing how many Christian soldiers were ready to fight!

In May 1016, the Italian forces came back to Sardinia. Mujāhid's own soldiers started to rebel, so he had to escape by sea. A big storm hit his fleet, and the remaining ships were captured by the Pisan and Genoese fleets. Mujāhid's mother and his son, ʿAlī, were captured. But Mujāhid managed to get back to Dénia. His son ʿAlī remained a prisoner for many years.

While Mujāhid was away in Sardinia, his puppet caliph, al-Muʿayṭī, tried to take real power in Dénia. When Mujāhid returned, he sent the caliph away to Africa.

Ruling Dénia

Not much is known about Mujāhid's rule in Dénia after he sent al-Muʿayṭī away. We don't have many coins from his time, especially from 1016 to 1043. The only coins found are from 1015-1016 and 1043-1044. He made coins called dirhams at a place called "Elota," but nobody knows where that was.

In 1019, Mujāhid became a co-ruler of the taifa (a small kingdom) of Valencia with another leader named Labīb al-Fatā al-Ṣaqlabī. This arrangement only lasted for about a year. Labīb had to leave Valencia and go back to Tortosa. Soon after, Mujāhid was replaced as ruler of Valencia by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī ʿĀmir.

In 1033, the ruler of Seville claimed that a man was the caliph Hishām II, who had actually died in 1013. Mujāhid accepted this fake Hishām II as a leader. This was probably part of a plan to make alliances with the powerful family ruling Seville.

Towards the end of his life, Mujāhid's peaceful rule was broken. He briefly took over Murcia. He also had a disagreement with his younger son, Ḥasan. When Mujāhid died, his son ʿAlī took over. ʿAlī continued to make Dénia a place where culture and learning thrived.

A King Who Loved Learning

Mujāhid was a big supporter of religious and literary studies. He was especially interested in qirāʾāt, which means the different ways to recite the Quran. His interest might have come from his name, as a famous scholar of qirāʾāt was named Ibn Mujāhid.

Many famous writers and thinkers worked at Mujāhid's palace. Ibn Gharsiya wrote a well-known book there. It was about shuʿūbiyya, which criticized Arab dominance in Spain and praised non-Arab people like Berbers and Slavs. Another writer, Ibn Burd al-Aṣghar, dedicated a book to Mujāhid and wrote other works under his support. The brilliant scholar Ibn Ḥazm and the legal expert Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr also spent time at his court.

Mujāhid himself wrote a book about ʿarūḍ, which is the study of Arabic poetry and its rhythms. Sadly, this book is now lost.

See also

In Spanish: Mujahid al-Amiri para niños