Government Monarchy Downfall of Caliphate of Córdoba 1013 Capital Granada | Historical era Middle Ages Founded 1013 Currency Dirham | |
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Languages Arabic, Berber, Mozarabic, Hebrew Religion Islam, Roman Catholicism, Judaism | ||
The Taifa of Granada (Arabic: طائفة غرناطة, Ta'ifa Garnata) was a Berber kingdom in Al-Andalus, within the present day Granada Province in southern Spain. The kingdom originated in 1013 and lasted until 1091.
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Visigoths
"Garnata" or "Garnata al-Yahud" was a settlement next to the town the Christians called "Elvira", after the former Iberian name "Ilbira".
Moors
The nearby situated Iberian town of Elvira became the capital of the Al-Andalus Caliphate of Córdoba province. Civil conflicts that wracked the Caliphate in the early eleventh century led to the destruction of the city in 1010. Zawi ben Ziri, the Zirid was chief of one of the Berber armies that took part in the Caliphate civil war that destroyed Medina Azahara in Córdoba, and later destroyed Medina Elvira. Under his leadership the Elvira townsmen abandoned the provincial capital and established themselves in the Jewish settlement of Gharnata al-Yahud, thereby founding the city of Granada. He founded the first Taifa of Granada kingdom and moved the capital from Elvira to Garnata al-Yahud.
The Zirid was a Berber Sanhaja family from the region of Kabylia in North Africa whose members became chiefs and kings in many other Islamic regions, such as in Tunisia.
The Taifa of Granada kingdom ended after conquest by the Berber Almoravids in 1091, who took the territory and united it with others in their dynasty.