Banu Qasi

Infobox Former Country
native_name = بنو قاسي
conventional_long_name = The House of Banu Qasi
common_name = Banu Qasi dynasty
continent = Europe
region = Southern Iberia
status = Taifa
government_type = Monarchy
year_start = 714
year_end = 1115
p1 =
flag_p1 =
s1 =
flag_s1 =




image_map_caption = The Banu Qasi emirate and its main ally, the Kingdom of Pamplona, in the 10th century
capital = Tudela, Navarre
capital_exile = Alpuente, Aragon
common_languages = Andalusi Arabic(official), Mozarabic, Ladino, Various Basque dialects
religion = Islam

Banu Qasi (Arabic: بنو قاسي ("Banū Qāsī"), meaning "sons" or "heirs of Cassius") was the name of a Basque Muladi (Visigoths or Hispano-Romans converted to Islam) dynasty that ruled the entire Ebro valley in the 9th and 10th centuries. It was eventually conquered by the expansive taifa of Zaragoza at the beginning of the 11th century.

The dynasty descended from the Hispano-Roman or Visigothic nobleman named Count Cassius, and was a patrilineal dynasty: that is, the father's position and power was inherited by his sons, particularly the eldest son (primogeniture). Their position and holdings originated from a 7th century Visigothic realm.

According to the 10th century Muwallad historian Ibn al-Qutiyya, Count Cassius converted to Islam in 714 as the "mawali" (client) of the Umayyads, shortly after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, as a means to preserve his lands and political power and adopted the Arabic surname "Banu Qasi". After his conversion, he travelled to Damascus to personally swear allegiance to the Umayyad Caliph, Al-Walid I.

As a result, Count Cassius managed to protect the Asturian rump of the Visigoth kingdom and, with the institutionalization of Muslim Al-Andalus, the region of Upper Ebro (modern districts of Logroño and Southern Navarra) formed an autonomous principality under the Banu Qasi dynasty.

The conversion of Count Cassius made his descendants, the Banu Qasi dynasty, as with most of the Ebro's muslims, Muwalludun. However, their origins, as recounted by Ibn al-Qutiyya, may be a product of the spurious antiquarianism of the latter Umayyad period rather than reliable genealogy, that satisfied the need for stories which bridged the conquest.

The Banu Qasi, like other elite indigenous converts, formally attached themselves to Arab-Islamic tribal and clan structures. This can be seen when the likes of the "family of Cassius" became the Banu Qasi. The Banu Qasi were a local, rather than a foreign imposed, Muslim regime, and relations with the still partially pagan Basques of Northern Navarra were generally amicable for almost two centuries.

The Arab historian Ibn Hazm listed the sons of Count Cassius as "Fortun", "Abu Tawr", "Abu Salama", "Yunus" and "Yahya". The Banu Qasi dynasty was directly descended from Fortun, the eldest son of Count Cassius.

In fact, it was Fortun's son, Musa ibn Fortun effectively founded half of what was to become the Kingdom of Navarre, to whose kings the Banu Qasi were related and which kept its independence by a mixture of diplomacy and military alliances, both with the Basques, & with the Mozarabs. [ [http://www.art-science.com/Ken/Genealogy/PD/ch42_Fortun.html Fortun & Aurea] ]

The Banu Qasi were nominal muslims and their adherence of Islam was more a matter of convenience than conviction. The daughters of the Banu Qasi normally married with members of the Christian Basque nobility and vice-versa. For instance, the mother of the Banu Qasi governor, Musa ibn Musa was the sister of the Pampalonan King, Íñigo Arista. Also, according to the Arab historian Ibn Hazm, Fruela II of León, son of Alfonso III of Asturias, married a woman of the Banu Qasi named Urraca, who was apparently a convert from Islam to Christianity.

The Umayyads of Córdoba sanctioned the rule of the Banu Qasi and granted them autonomy by appointing them as governors. Such acts on the part of the Umayyads tacitly acknowledged the political truth that the real power in the Ebro valley lay in the hands of the Banu Qasi, and that the Umayyads never fully resolved the perplexing problem of effective, central control of an outlying region. The emirs and caliphs of Umayyad al-Andalus probably lacked direct means to control the Ebro, partly resulting from the great distance separating Córdoba and Zaragoza.

One method employed by the Umayyads for controlling the Banu Qasi was punitive military expeditions sent by the Caliph to the region. This is what happened when the emir Muhammad I sent a force against Zaragoza and its Banu Qasi ruler Is'mail in 882. Yet even military force on the part of the Umayyads never altered the balance of power in the Ebro. In short, the Ebro always enjoyed some autonomy from the central government at Córdoba.

A Banu Qasi governor ruled Pampalona in the late eighth century, possibly as a result of the Cordoban Muslim conquest of part of Navarra in 781. However, Banu Qasi rule in Pampalona was overthrown at the end of the 8th century by a pro-Frankish party in Navarra, but the latter was in turn defeated by the partisans of independence, led by the strongest of the Navarrese oligarchs, Íñigo Arista, who would eventually become the first king of Pampalona.

By the end of the 8th century, this family had established a base of power in Tudela and broken free from the power of the Umayyad emirs of Córdoba and also the Carolingians. Like many other families in Al-Andalus who claimed descent from the Visigothic aristocracy, the Banu Qasi were never completely acceptable to all sections of the Arab ruling class.

Their chief seat was Tudela, and at their height, also held Olite, Huesca, Arnedo, Tarazona, Borja, Lleida, Toledo, Zaragoza and probably Ejea. The autonomous realm of the Banu Qasi was an important ally of the Kingdom of Pamplona. Both states buffered each other from the incursions of the larger Muslim and Christian kingdoms around them. In fact they helped each other even in their very beginnings, when the Banū Qāsī and Pamplonese troops defeated the Franks at the third Battle of Roncevaux (824).

The relations of the Kingdom of Pampalona with the Banu Qasi was strengthened by a number of inter-dynastic marriages. The Banu Qasi, like the Pampalonans, were initially the chief enemies were the Asturian kingdom.

The tiny Basque Emirate was faced by enemies in several directions. Although, never realized, the threat of Frankish attempts to regain control over the Western Pyrenees was a real one. In actuality, even more menancing was the gradual eastwards expansion of the Asturian Kingdom; while in the south lay the Caliphate of Córdoba, ever anxious to impose its authority over the frontier regions.

Musa ibn Musa and Íñigo Arista joined forces to ambush and capture one of Abd Al-Rahman's commanders in 843, but the consequence was a massive military response from Cordoba, led by the Emir in person, which led to the defeat of the allies and the taking of slaves in the vicinity of Pampalona. A second retaliatory expedition in 844 inflicted a further defeat, in which one of Íñigo's brothers were killed. Even so, the Banu Qasi in collaboration with the Pampalonans conducted further military expeditions in defiance of Cordoba again in
847 and 850.

The Banu Qasi chief, Musa ibn Musa, had such a high regard for his own power that, according to the "Chronicle of Alfonso III", he called himself "the third king of Spain". His ambition to extend his dominions to the West brought him into conflict with Ordoño I who defeated him in 859, but his sons who succeeded him after his death three years later, were more inclined to collaborate with the Asturians in opposition to the Umayyad regime in Cordoba.

The defeat of Musa ibn Musa by Ordoño I in 859, however, left their allies, the kingdom of Pampalona, particularly vulnerable to further threats from the Cordobans. In 860, an expedition led by Muhammad I entered the kingdom and captured Fortun Garcés, the heir to the throne, who was taken to Cordoba and kept there as a hostage for the next 20 years.

Although these events left both the Banu Qasi and the Kingdom of Pampalona weakened during the course of the ensuing decade, their alliance was resumed in the early 870's. In 872, the four sons of Musa ibn Musa succeeded in seizing power in all of the major towns of Northern Navarra which included Zaragoza, Tarazona, Huesca, Lerida, and Tudela. Although Huesca was regained for the Cordoban Emir in 873, the Banu Qasi could not be dislodged from their hold over the rest of the region. In consequence, almost annual expeditions were launched into the Ebro valley by the Emir Of Cordoba, which naturally included the ravaging of the districts around Pampalona. However, neither the Christian city nor any of the strongholds of the Banu Qasi fell to the Cordoban forces.

In 855, Toledo was conquered by the Emir of Córdoba, Muhammad I. Muhammads control of Toledo was short lived, however, and the city was soon under the control of the Banu Qasi governor, Musa ibn Musa.

For some years the Banu Qasi remained loyal to Córdoba, but in 882 the Emir of Córdoba, Muhammad I sent a force under his general, Hashim ibn Abd al-Aziz against them. Muhammad ibn Lubb, who may have been the nephew of Musa ibn Musa, marched out against Hashim. Then he changed his mind and tried to persuade Hashim to unite with him against the Asturians, now ruled by Alfonso III. The earlier hostage taking by all parties greatly complicated the situation. Hashim did not want to antagonize Alfonso who was holding his son. Hashim himself held Is'mail, the son of Muhammad ibn Lubb, and he sent his captive and other gifts to Alfonso in return for his son. Toledo escaped capture by Muhammad and the Banu Qasi kept intermittent control of the city until 920.

Eventually, the Banu Qasi and the Kingdom of Pampalona, based on reaction to a mutual threat, made an alliance with the Kingdom of the Asturias. One of King Alfonso III's sons, the future Ordono II, was sent to be brought up in one of the courts of the Banu Qasi, probably that of Muhammad ibn Lubb, who had become the dominant member of that dynasty in the mid-870's.

However, the old alliance between the Banu Qasi and its allies broken in the 880's. Muhammad ibn Lubb found it expedient to renew his allegiance to the Emir of Cordoba, and return Zaragoza to Umayyad control, while being recognized as the Umayyad ruler's governor of Tudela and Tarazona. The emergence of another rival local dynasty, the Tujibids, to whom the Umayyads then entrusted Zaragoza and Calatayud, led to a fragmentation of the power of the Banu Qasi in the Ebro valley and increasing conflict with all of their powers. This would include raids on both Pampalonan and Asturian lands. Muhammad ibn Lubb was killed in 898 in the course of a protracted siege of Zaragoza, and the Christian monarchs attempted unsuccessfully to annex the territories under his control.

In 905, a new dynasty under Sancho Garcés took control. Sancho Garcés wanted to make his principality a fully sovereign Christian state equal in forms and pretensions to France or Asturias-Leon. He took the title "King of Pampalona" and permanently ended the longstanding alliance with the Banu Qasi. Alfonso III, acting in concert with Fortun Garcés of Pampalona in, was defeated in the vicinity of Tarazona in 899 by Muhammad's son, Lubb ibn Muhammad. Another Asturian invasion of the Upper Ebro valley was driven back in 904, but Lubb ibn Muhammad's raid on Pampalona in 907 proved fatal to his brief restoration of Banu Qasi dominance in the Ebro valley. He fell into an ambush prepared by Sancho Garcés II and was killed.

After losing Tudela to the taifa of Zaragoza, the Banu Qasi were able to establish a modest realm at Alpuente, (Aragon).

Alfonso the Battler of Navarre and Aragon conquered Tudela in 1115. The Muslim and Jewish communities living there remained protected by the Navarrese state until the Castilian conquest of 1512-22, when the Spanish Inquisition forced their conversion or exile.

ee also

*Basque people
*Kingdom of Navarre
*Al-Andalus
*Taifa

References

* Stalls, Clay (eds.) (1995) "Possessing the Land: Aragon's Expansion into Islam's Ebro Frontier Under Alfonso the Battler", BRILL. ISBN 9004103678
*Alberto Cañada Juste, "El posible solar originario de los Banu Qasi", in "Homenaje a don José M.ª Lacarra...", Zaragoza, 1977, I.
*Harvey, L. P. "Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614: 1500 to 1614 ". University of Chicago Press, 2005. ISBN 0226319636
*Rosamond McKitterick, et al. "The New Cambridge Medieval History".Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 052136292X
*O'Callaghan, Joseph F. "A History of Medieval Spain". Cornell University Press, 1983. ISBN 0801492645

External links

* [http://euskomedia.org/aunamendi/10935 Banu Kasi] , [http://euskomedia.org/aunamendi/29699 Casius] , [http://euskomedia.org/aunamendi/54481 Kasi] and [http://euskomedia.org/aunamendi/105201 Qasi] in the Spanish-language Auñamendi Encyclopedia.