Munuza

Uthman ibn Naissa better known as Munuza was the Moorish governor of northern Iberia (including the region of Asturias in modern Spain) in the early 8th century. He was subject to the Wāli of Al-Andalus, Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi. He was defeated in the Battle of Covadonga and killed by Pelayo of Asturias at the beginning of the Reconquista. The occupation of Asturias had a duration of two years.

Tradition has it that he fell in love with Pelayo's sister, Ormesinda, and that, together with Kazim, kidnapped and married her. The chronicle of Alfonso III speaks of a "compulsory marriage", the failure of which compelled Pelayo into rebellion. The historical context can only be speculated, but Pelayo may have tried to secure alliances and a preferential status among the local nobles through the marriage of his sister to the new power in the area, as the Asturian kings would later do with Basques in Pamplona and all of the Christian families did with the Caliphate in Córdoba. It may also have served as a counterweight to Peter of Cantabria and represented nominal submission. After the loss of a Muslim garrison out on a punitive expedition, Munuza took undisputed control of the Asturian coastal region, but kept court in the western districts closer to dominated and occupied Galicia. Having been defeated in his bid to secure the region of León, he fled from Gijón, but Christian chronicles reported he was killed with all his soldiers in Trubia or La Felguera.

However, there are later reports of him being in charge of operations in the French-occupied Pyrenees, married to an illegitimate daughter of Toulouse and with their support raised an unsuccessful insurrection against Cordoba to declare an independent Hispano-Berber principality. He was executed in 731.

See also

• Al-Andalus
• Muslim conquests
• Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula
• Reconquista

References

• Collins, Roger. The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–97. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1989. ISBN 0 631 15923 1.
• David Nicolle, Graham Turner: Poitiers AD 732: Charles Martel Turns the Islamic Tide. Ospreay Publishing 2008, ISBN 9781846032301, pp. 23 (online copy at Google Books)

Persondata
Name
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death