DHU AN-NUNID DYNASTY

11th-century Muslim Berber dynasty of Toledo that ruled central Spain from Guadalajara and Talavera to Murcia during the unruly period of the party kingdoms (ta'ifahs). As early as the mid-8th century the Banu Zannuntheir name was later Arabicizedhad settled northeast of Toledo, where they became an influential family. In the civil war that broke up the Spanish Umayyad state (100831), 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Dhu an-Nun, who had been invited by the Toledans to rule their city, and his son Isma'il az-Zafir were the first local rulers to refuse to recognize the central authority of the Umayyad caliph of Crdoba. Az-Zafir established himself as an independent king in Toledo and, despite constant wars with the Christians, ruled until 1043. His son Yahya al-Ma'mun (reigned 104375) allied with Christians several times against his Muslim enemies and even entertained King Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon at his court (1072). In 1065 al-Ma'mun seized the 'Amirid capital of Valencia and in 107475 was able to take Crdoba, the former seat of the Umayyads. But Yahya al-Qadir (reigned 107592), al-Ma'mun's grandson, soon lost both Valencia and Crdoba. An alliance with Alfonso VI hastened the end of the Dhu an-Nunid kingdom: while al-Qadir was briefly restored to Toledo, he bargained away his capital to the Christians in return for Valencia (1085), where he was assassinated in 1092.