Taifa of Seville

The first king of Seville was Abu al-Qasim (1023–1042). He was qadi of Seville and declared independence from the Caliphate of Córdoba after its downfall in 1031, becoming Abbad I, King of Seville. The second king was his son Abbad II al-Mu'tadid (1042–1069), the last king Muhammad al-Mu'tamid (1069–1091).

The kingdom started as a small, weakly-defended territory comprising parts of the modern Spanish provinces of Seville, Huelva, and Cádiz, but quickly emerged as the most powerful taifa (kingdom) of the time, after its rulers began pursuing a policy of expansion. After several military campaigns, the kingdom achieved dominance over all of western Andalusia and Murcia, gradually absorbing the taifas of Badajoz, Algeciras, Granada, Málaga, Mértola (1044), Huelva (1051), Algarve (1051), Niebla (1053) Algeciras (1055), Silves (1063), Ronda (1065), Morón (1066), Carmona (1067), Arcos (1069), and even Córdoba itself (1070, lost in 1075 to Toledo but regained in 1077). The kingdom reached its largest territorial extent in 1078 with the capture of Murcia by the poet Abu Bakr ibn Ammar.

Nevertheless, the Abbad family was still subject to taxation by the King of Castile, of whom they were vassals. The drain of these taxes weakened the kingdom's power: al-Mu'tamid's decision to stop paying these taxes caused King Alfonso VI (who had already conquered Toledo in 1085) to besiege Seville. Al-Mu'tamid asked help from the Almoravids of Morocco against the Castilian king. The Moroccans established themselves at Algeciras, and after defeating the Christians occupied all the Islamic taifas, including, in 1091, Seville itself. After they ravaged the city, al-Mu'tamid ordered his sons to give up the royal fortress (early Alcázar of Seville) in order to save their lives. He was taken prisoner to Aghmat, in what is now Morocco, where he was executed in 1095.

Besides the intrigues and the eagerness for conquests of the kings, many artists of the time moved to the court of Seville, as the Almería poet Ibn al-Abbâr, author of letters, and the poet Abû 'Âmir ibn Maslama and Abû'l-Walîd al-Himyarî, that made a compilation of the literary works of both ones.

Al-Mu'tadid also was a remarkable poet, having been taught by Ibn Ammar. On the other hand, he had a very cruel personality. His son al-Mu'tamid was even more dedicated to poetry than his father. He was friend of the poet Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn al-`Ammâr, who was famous at that moment after defeating the Castilian king Alfonso VI in a chess contest.

Al-Mu'tamid's sons, al-Rashid and al-Radi, were also very interested in culture, but had no interest in politics, and after the death of the king al-Mu'tamid, the Taifa of Seville was ruled by the Almoravids.

Al-Mu'tamid was lover of the future queen Itimad (Rumayqiyya). A brief tale on the queen Rumayqiyya appears on the book Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the examples of Count Lucanor and Patronio), as the tale XXX, De lo que aconteció al rey Abenabed de Sevilla con su mujer, Ramaiquía ("What happened to the king Abenabed of Seville with her wife, Ramaiquía").

There are chronicles of that time that tells Almoravids fought under a white flag, while Andalusian soldiers as those of Sultan Al-Mu'tamid fought under different green flags with Islamic texts written on them. This is supposedly the origin of the current Andalusian flag, currently used as the autonomous region flag, called Arbonaida or Arbondaira.

• Al-Andalus
• History of Islam
• History of Spain
• Taifa
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Taifa of Seville.

• Brief history of Seville
• War upon Iberia