'ABBADID DYNASTY

Muslim-Arab dynasty of Andalusia that arose in Seville in the 11th century, in the period of the factions, or "party kingdoms" (taifas), following the downfall of the caliphate of Crdoba. In 1023 the qadi (religious judge) Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn 'Abbad declared Seville independent of Crdoba. His son Abu 'Amr 'Abbad, known as al-Mu'tadid (1042-69), greatly enlarged his territory by forcibly annexing the minor kingdoms of Mertola, Niebla, Huelva, Salts, Silves, and Santa Mara de Algarve. A poet and patron of poets, al-Mu'tadid also had a reputation for ruthlessness and cruelty; in 1053 he suffocated a number of Berber chiefs of southern Andalusia in a steam bath in Seville and then seized their kingdoms of Arcos, Morn, and Ronda. The last member of the dynasty, the poet-king Muhammad ibn 'Abbad al-Mu'tamid (1069-95), made Seville a brilliant centre of Spanish-Muslim culture. In 1071 he took Crdoba, maintaining a precarious hold on the city until 1075; he held it again, 1078-91, while Ibn 'Ammar, his vizier and fellow poet, conquered Murcia. The 'Abbadids' position was weakened, however, by an outbreak of hostilities with the Castilian king Alfonso VI; Christian progress in Aragon and Valencia and the fall of Toledo (1085), together with pressure from religious enthusiasts at home, forced al-Mu'tamid to seek an alliance with Yusuf ibn Tashufin of the Almoravid dynasty. Despite 'Abbadid support of Ibn Tashufin at the Battle of Az-Zallaqah in 1086, Ibn Tashufin later turned against his ally and besieged Seville; the city was betrayed by Almoravid sympathizers in 1091 after a heroic defense by al-Mu'tamid. With the exile of al-Mu'tamid and his family to Morocco began the ascendency in Spain of the Almoravids.