The Emirate of Granada (), also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (), was an Islamic realm in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Nasrids, a dynasty of Arab origin. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe.
Muslims had been present in the Iberian Peninsula, which they called Al-Andalus, since the early eighth century. At its greatest geographical extent, Muslim-controlled territory occupied most of the peninsula and part of present-day southern France. From the ninth to the tenth century, under the Caliphate of Córdoba, the region was one of the most prosperous and advanced in Europe. Conflict with the northern Christian kingdoms was recurrent, while mounting civil strife led to a fragmenting of Muslim states in the early 11th century. This marked a precipitous decline in the power of Iberian Muslim polities and facilitated the centuries-long Christian Reconquista and the recurrent conquest of southern Spain by North African dynasties, commencing with the Almoravids in the late 11th century.
By 1230, the Almohad Caliphate in Morocco ruled the remaining Muslim territories in southern Iberia. Exploiting the Almohad's dynastic strife, the ambitious Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar rose to power and established the Nasrid dynasty in control of a sizeable portion of this territory, roughly corresponding to the modern Spanish provinces of Granada, Almería, and Málaga. By 1250, the emirate was the last Muslim polity in the peninsula. Although effectively a vassal of the rising Crown of Castile, for over two centuries Granada enjoyed considerable cultural and economic prosperity. Much of the famed Alhambra palace complex was built during this period, and the Nasrids were the longest-lived Muslim dynasty in Iberia.
Nascent Christian power in Iberia meant that Granada's existence was always precarious. In 1491, after a decade of intermittent warfare known as the Granada War, the emirate was forced to capitulate to the Catholic Monarchs. The following year, Muhammad XII, the last Nasrid ruler of Granada, formally relinquished his sovereignty and surrendered his territories to Castile, eventually moving to North Africa in exile. This marked the end of independent Muslim rule in Iberia.
History
Establishment
Since the mid 12th century, the Muslim-controlled part of the Iberian Peninsula, known as al-Andalus, was ruled by the Almohad Caliphate, a Muslim empire based in what is now Morocco. The Almohad regime grew more unstable following the defeat of the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 by a coalition of Christian kingdoms from the north. In 1228, the Almohad caliph Idris al-Ma'mun, wishing to focus on retaining control of the Maghreb (North Africa), decided to abandon al-Andalus. The resultant power vacuum allowed local leaders to carve out their own small states, creating a third period of Taifa kingdoms. Of these leaders, the most powerful was initially Ibn Hud of Murcia (), who had rebelled against the last Almohad governors and managed to unite much of what remained of al-Andalus. However, in 1231 Ibn Hud was defeated by the Leonese and lost control of Badajoz and the surrounding area, which compromised his authority and reputation as a reliable defender of al-Andalus.
Meanwhile, one of Ibn Hud's foremost military commanders had been a man called Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr, commonly known as Ibn al-Ahmar, who was born in Arjona. His position in the army reportedly aroused the envy of others who accused him of planning a coup against Ibn Hud, forcing him to flee to Arjona. Ibn al-Ahmar's origins were likely modest, but he seems to have acquired a reputation for piety and as a successful military leader. With Ibn Hud's position weakened by his defeats, the inhabitants of the Arjona area declared Ibn al-Ahmar as their emir after Friday prayers on 16 July 1232 (26 Ramadan 629 AH).
Ibn al-Ahmar was related to the Nasrids on his father's side and to the Banu Ashqilula on his mother's side. These two families thus formed the initial core of his small army, along with other volunteers and Andalusi soldiers who had previously served the Almohads. Other prominent families, such as the Banu 'l-Mawl of Cordoba and the Banu Sinadid of Jaen, joined them over the next years and thereafter remained attached to the Nasrid court.