Caliph of Cordoba from 961 to 976
Al-Hakam II
????? ??????
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Silver
dirham
of al-Hakam II, minted in 358
AH
(968?9 AD)
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Reign
| 15 October 961 ? 16 October 976
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Predecessor
| Abd-ar-Rahman III
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Successor
| Hisham II
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Born
| 13 January 915
Cordoba
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Died
| 16 October 976
(976-10-16)
(aged 61)
Cordoba
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Spouse
| Subh
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Issue
| Abd al-Rahman (962?970)
[1]
Hisham II
(966?1013)
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Ab? al-??? al-Hakam III ibn ?Abd al-Ra?m?n
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Dynasty
| Umayyad
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Father
| Abd-ar-Rahman III
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Mother
| Murjan
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Al-Hakam II
, also known as
Ab? al-??? al-Mustan?ir bi-Ll?h al-Hakam b. ?Abd al-Ra?m?n
(
????? ???????? ??????????????? ??????? ????????? ??? ?????? ???????????
; 13 January 915 ? 16 October 976), was the
Caliph of Cordoba
. He was the second Umayyad
Caliph of Cordoba
in
Al-Andalus
, and son of
Abd-al-Rahman III
and Murjan. He ruled from 961 to 976.
Rule
[
edit
]
Al-Hakam II succeeded to the Caliphate after the death of his father Abd-ar-Rahman III in 961. He secured peace with the
Catholic
kingdoms of northern Iberia, and made use of the stability to develop agriculture through the construction of irrigation works. Economic development was also encouraged through the widening of streets and the building of markets.
Whilst the internal administration was left increasingly to
vizir
Al-Mushafi,
[2]
general
Gh?lib ibn ?Abd al-Ra?m?n
was gradually gaining influence as leader of the army in North Africa. He was chiefly preoccupied with repulsing the last
Norman
attacks (c. 970),
[3]
[4]
and with the struggle against the
Zirids
and the
Fatimids
in northern
Morocco
. The Fatimids were defeated in Morocco in 974, while Al-Hakam II was able to maintain the supremacy of the caliphate over the Catholic states of
Navarre
,
Castile
and
Leon
.
Patronage
[
edit
]
Literature and science
[
edit
]
Hakam himself was very well versed in numerous sciences. He had books purchased from
Damascus
,
Baghdad
,
Constantinople
,
Cairo
,
Mecca
,
Medina
,
Kufa
, and
Basra
. His status as a patron of knowledge brought him fame across the Muslim world to the point that even books written in
Persia
, which was under Arab
Abbasid
control, were dedicated to him. During his reign, a massive translation effort was undertaken, and many books were translated from
Latin
and
Greek
into
Arabic
. He formed a joint committee of
Muwallad
Muslims and
Mozarab
Catholics for this task.
[5]
His personal library was of enormous proportions. Some accounts speak of him having more than 600,000 books. The catalogue of library books itself was claimed to be 44 volumes long.
[5]
Of special importance to Al-Hakam was history, and he himself wrote a history of al-Andalus.
[5]
Following his death,
Hajib
Almanzor
had all "ancient science" books destroyed.
[6]
The mathematician
Lubna of Cordoba
was employed as Al-Hakam's private secretary. She was said to be "thoroughly versed in the exact sciences; her talents were equal to the solution of the most complex geometrical and algebraic problems".
[7]
The famous
physician
,
scientist
, and
surgeon
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi
(Abulcasis) was also active in Al-Hakam's court during his reign, while the leading figures of the Translation movement during the reign of Hakam were
Mutazilites
and
Ibn Masarra
.
[8]
Construction
[
edit
]
Starting in 961, al-Hakam II initiated a major expansion of the
Great Mosque of Cordoba
. The mosque's prayer hall was extended 45 meters further south. This expansion added several of the building's most architecturally significant features that have survived to the present day, including a richly-decorated
mihrab
, intersecting
multifoil arches
, and four ornate
ribbed
domes.
[9]
[10]
[11]
The palace-city of
Madinat al-Zahra
, first built by his father Abd ar-Rahman III after 936, continued to be built up and renovated under al-Hakam II.
[12]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Al-Hakam married
Subh of Cordoba
, a
Basque
concubine
. She held sway and strong influence over the court. It is said that al-Hakam nicknamed her with the masculine name Ja'far.
[13]
They had two sons, the first is Abd al-Rahman (962?970),
[1]
who died young, and the second is
Hisham II
(966?1013).
[14]
Possible homosexuality
[
edit
]
According to
E. Levi-Provencal
, the phrase
?ubb al-walad
, as found in
al-Maqqari
's
Naf? al-?ayyib
,
[15]
is a reference to al-Hakam's
homosexuality
or "preference for boys".
[16]
[17]
However, several historians render it as "paternal love", referring instead to him choosing his young son as a successor.
[18]
[19]
[20]
The fact that he did not produce a suitable heir before the age of 46 has been ascribed either to him being more attracted to men,
[21]
?although this is only reported euphemistically in the sources,
[17]
?or because he was too absorbed with his books to care for sensual pleasures.
[13]
Subh may have dressed as a
ghulam
or a young man to make herself more attractive to al-Hakam (adopting a short haircut and wearing trousers), although it is also possible she did this in order to gain better access to the male-dominated royal court.
[22]
Death and succession
[
edit
]
Al-Hakam II suffered a
stroke
near the end of his life that curtailed his activities and may explain why he was unable to properly prepare his son for leadership.
[23]
Modern scholars have speculated that, based on the historical descriptions of his death, it was another
cerebrovascular
stroke, possibly brought on by the cold weather, that claimed his life in October 976.
[24]
He was succeeded by his son,
Hisham II
al-Mu'ayad, who was 11 years old at the time and during his minority under regency by General Ghalib al-Nasiri, al-Mushafi, chief administrator of the late caliph, and
Subh
, his mother, assisted by her secretary
Almanzor
.
[25]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Prado-Vilar 1997
, p. 23.
- ^
Bariani, Laura (2003).
Almanzor
(in Spanish). Editorial NEREA. p. 66.
ISBN
9788489569850
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Brill, E. J. (1993).
E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913 - 1936 Volume III
. BRILL. p. 223.
ISBN
9004097899
.
- ^
Scheen, Rolf (1996).
"Vikings raids on the Spanish Peninsula"
.
Militaria. Revista de culturea militar
(8).
Complutense University of Madrid
: 67
. Retrieved
2018-10-05
.
- ^
a
b
c
Najeebabadi, Akbar (2001).
The History of Islam V.3
. Riyadh: Darussalam. p. 145.
ISBN
978-9960-892-93-1
.
- ^
Ann Christy,
Christians in Al-Andalus:711-1000
, (Curzon Press, 2002), 142.
- ^
Scott, Samuel Parsons (1904).
History of the Moorish Empire in Europe Vol. 3
. Lippincott. p. 447.
- ^
Samso, Julio; Fierro, Maribel (23 October 2019).
The Formation of al-Andalus, Part 2: Language, Religion, Culture and the Sciences
. Routledge.
ISBN
9781351889575
.
- ^
Barrucand, Marianne; Bednorz, Achim (1992).
Moorish architecture in Andalusia
. Taschen. pp. 73?85.
ISBN
3822896322
.
- ^
Dodds, Jerrilynn D. (1992). "The Great Mosque of Cordoba". In Dodds, Jerrilynn D. (ed.).
Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain
. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 18?23.
ISBN
0870996371
.
- ^
Bloom, Jonathan M. (2020).
Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700-1800
. Yale University Press. pp. 69?77.
ISBN
9780300218701
.
- ^
Vallejo Triano, Antonio (2007).
"Madinat Al-Zahra; Transformation of a Caliphal City"
. In Anderson, Glaire D.; Rosser-Owen, Mariam (eds.).
Revisiting al-Andalus: perspectives on the material culture of Islamic Iberia and beyond
. Brill. pp. 3?26.
ISBN
978-90-04-16227-3
.
- ^
a
b
Ruggles, D. Fairchild
(2004).
"Mothers of a hybrid dynasty: Race, genealogy, and acculturation in al-Andalus"
.
Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies
.
34
(1): 73.
doi
:
10.1215/10829636-34-1-65
.
S2CID
170890527
.
- ^
Christys, Ann Rosemary (2013-01-11).
Christians in Al-Andalus 711-1000
. Routledge. p. 106.
ISBN
978-1-136-12730-4
.
- ^
Al-Makkari,
Analectes sur l'histoire et la litterature des Arabes d'Espagne
, vol.2, p.59)
- ^
Levi-Provencal, Evariste (1957).
Espana musulmana hasta la caida del Califato de Cordoba (711-1031 de J.C.)
. Espasa-Calpe. pp. 447?8.
Hay, indudablemente, algo de verdad en la alusien que un cronista musulman (apud Maqqari,
Analectes
, II, 59) hace a la ≪paidofilias≫ (
hubb al-walad
) de al-Hakam II, antes de su accesien al trono. En todo caso es evidente que solo despues de su adveni- miento fue cuando se preocupo de tener un hijo susceptible de sucederle. ¿Habra que creer, segun el mismo cronista, que fue la practica de este vicio, tan corriente en la Espana musulmana en todas las epocas, el que occasiono la paternidad tan tardia de al-Hakam II? Vease, sin embargo, Ibn Hazm,
Tawg al-hamama
, pag. 6, a proposito de la pasion que sentia el califa por su concubina Subh.
- ^
a
b
Prado-Vilar, Francisco (1997). "Circular visions of fertility and punishment: caliphal ivory caskets from al-Andalus".
Muqarnas
.
14
: 19?41.
doi
:
10.1163/22118993-90000368
.
JSTOR
1523234
.
- ^
De Gayangos, Pascual (1843).
The History Of The Mohammedan Dynasties In Spain Vol II
. By W.H.Allen And Company. pp.
176
-7.
Ibn Bessam, copying Ibn Hayyan, says, "Among other virtues Al-hakem possessed that of paternal love in such a degree that it blinded his prudence and induced him to appoint a son of his, who was then a child, to be his successor, in preference to any of his brothers or nephews, all men of mature age, well versed in the management of affairs and in the command of the armies, capable of making their mandates obeyed, and of maintaining themselves in power.
- ^
al-Wasif, M. F. (2012). "Mustansir, al-Hakam".
Biblioteca de al-Andalus
. Vol. 7. Arabes Fundacion Ibn Tufayl de Estudios Arabes. p. 591.
ISBN
978-84-934026-0-0
.
Cabe senalar, por ultimo, que seria bastante dificil dar credibilidad a la cuestion de la "paidofilia" de al-Hakam II en un pasaje de Ibn Hayy?n tomado por al-Maqqar? -y viene mas claro en el
Daj?ra
-, en el cual figura
?ubb al-walad
en el contexto de una critica de Ibn ?ayy?n dirigida a al-?akam II por haberse dejado llevar por el amor al hijo (
?ubb al-walad
) que le impulso a nombrar y tomar juramento de fidelidad a su hijo menor en calidad de presunto heredero del califato, acto que tuvo lugar el 1 de Jum?da II del 365 (=5 febrero 975) en el Alcazar de Cordoba, La misma critica basada en dicho argumento, la hace tambien Ibn al-Ja??b en sus
A?m?l
. Y no vamos a insistir in la evidencia de que el termino
waled
significa "hijo", empleado en muchas ocasiones en los textos andalusies para referirse a un infante Omeya, y no "efebo/s" (
gulam
/
gilm?n
), y este precedido por "hubb" indicaria lo que se ha dicho antes.
- ^
Garcia-Sanjuan, Alejandro (2008).
"Legalidad islamica y legitimidad politica en el califato de Cordoba: la proclamacion de Hisham II (360-66/971-76)"
.
Al-Qantara XXIX-1 (2008)
.
29
(1): 70.
Ibn Hayyan, quien no duda en condenar la actuacion de al-Hakam sobre su sucesion, acusandolo de haberse dejado llevar en exceso por el amor hacia el hijo (
k?na mimman istahw?-hu ?ubb al-walad wa-afra?a f?-h?
) y descartando asi como heredero a algun adulto, bien fuese alguno de sus hermanos u otro miembro del linaje Omeya que pudiese haber desempenado el imamato ≪sin favoritismos≫ (
bi-l? mu??b?
).
- ^
Evariste Levi-Provencal
,
Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane
, Paris, 1950
- ^
Ibtissam Bouachrine,
Women and Islam
, Lexington Books, 2014, pp. 5, 22
- ^
Al-Hakam II, Caliph of Cordoba
, Marilyn Higbee Walker,
Encyclopedia of Medieval Iberia
, ed. Michael Gerli (New York: Routledge, 2003), 377.
- ^
Arjona-Castro, A. (February 1997). "Cerebrovascular stroke, the cause of the death of the caliph al-Hakam II".
Neurologia
.
12
(2): 78?81.
PMID
9147455
.
- ^
Mernissi, Fatima; Mary Jo Lakeland (2003). The forgotten queens of Islam. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-579868-5
.
External links
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