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Alhamar, The Founder Of The AlhambraAlhamar, The Founder Of The Alhambra
Alhamar, The Founder Of The Alhambra
The Moors of Granada regarded the Alhambra as a miracle of art, and had a
tradition that the king who founded it dealt in magic, or at least in alchemy,
by means whereof he procured the immense sums of gold expended in its
erection. A brief view of his reign will show the secret of his wealth. He is
known in Arabian history as Muhamed Ibn-l-Ahmar; but his name in general is
written simply Alhamar, and was given to him, we are told, on account of his
ruddy complexion.
He was of the noble and opulent line of the Beni Nasar, or tribe of
Nasar, and was born in Arjona, in the year of the Hegira 592 (A. D. 1195). At
his birth the astrologers, we are told, cast his horoscope according to
Oriental custom, and pronounced it highly auspicious; and a santon predicted
for him a glorious career. No expense was spared in fitting him for the high
destinies prognosticated. Before he attained the full years of manhood, the
famous battle of the Navas (or plains) of Tolosa shattered the Moorish empire,
and eventually severed the Moslems of Spain from the Moslems of Africa.
Factions soon arose among the former, headed by warlike chiefs, ambitious of
grasping the sovereignty of the Peninsula. Alhamar became engaged in these
wars; he was the general and leader of the Beni Nasar, and, as such, he
opposed and thwarted the ambition of Aben Hud, who had raised his standard
among the warlike mountains of the Alpuxarras, and been proclaimed king of
Murcia and Granada. Many conflicts took place between these warring
chieftains; Alhamar dispossessed his rival of several important places, and
was proclaimed king of Jaen by his soldiery; but he aspired to the sovereignty
of the whole of Andalusia, for he was of a sanguine spirit and lofty
ambition. His valor and generosity went hand in hand; what he gained by the
one he secured by the other; and at the death of Aben Hud (A. D. 1238), he
became sovereign of all the territories which owned allegiance to that
powerful chief. He made his formal entry into Granada in the same year, amid
the enthusiastic shouts of the multitude, who hailed him as the only one
capable of uniting the various factions which prevailed, and which threatened
to lay the empire at the mercy of the Christian princes.
Alhamar established his court in Granada; he was the first of the
illustrious line of Nasar that sat upon a throne. He took immediate measures
to put his little kingdom in a posture of defence against the assaults to be
expected from his Christian neighbors, repairing and strengthening the
frontier posts and fortifying the capital. Not content with the provisions of
the Moslem law, by which every man is made a soldier, he raised a regular army
to garrison his strong-holds, allowing every soldier stationed on the frontier
a portion of land for the support of himself, his horse, and his family; thus
interesting him in the defence of the soil in which he had a property. These
wise precautions were justified by events. The Christians, profiting by the
dismemberment of the Moslem power, were rapidly regaining their ancient
territories. James the Conqueror had subjected all Valencia, and Ferdinand the
Saint sat down in person before Jaen, the bulwark of Granada. Alhamar ventured
to oppose him in open field, but met with a signal defeat, and retired
discomfited to his capital. Jaen still held out, and kept the enemy at bay
during an entire winter, but Ferdinand swore not to raise his camp until he
had gained possession of the place. Alhamar found it impossible to throw
reinforcements into the besieged city; he saw that its fall must be followed
by the investment of his capital, and was conscious of the insufficiency of
his means to cope with the potent sovereign of Castile. Taking a sudden
resolution, therefore, he repaired privately to the Christian camp, made his
unexpected appearance in the presence of King Ferdinand, and frankly announced
himself as the king of Granada. "I come," said he, "confiding in your good
faith, to put myself under your protection. Take all I possess and receive me
as your vassal"; so saying, he knelt and kissed the king`s hand in token of
allegiance.
Ferdinand was won by this instance of confiding faith, and determined
not to be outdone in generosity. He raised his late enemy from the earth,
embraced him as a friend, and, refusing the wealth he offered, left him
sovereign of his dominions, under the feudal tenure of a yearly tribute,
attendance at the Cortes as one of the nobles of the empire, and service in
war with a certain number of horsemen. He moreover conferred on him the honor
of knighthood, and armed him with his own hands.
It was not long after this that Alhamar was called upon, for his military
services, to aid King Ferdinand in his famous siege of Seville. The Moorish
king sallied forth with five hundred chosen horsemen of Granada, than whom
none in the world knew better how to manage the steed or wield the lance.
It was a humiliating service, however, for they had to draw the sword against
their brethren of the faith.
Alhamar gained a melancholy distinction by his prowess in this renowned
conquest, but more true honor by the humanity which he prevailed upon
Ferdinand to introduce into the usages of war. When in 1248 the famous city
of Seville surrendered to the Castilian monarch, Alhamar returned sad and
full of care to his dominions. He saw the gathering ills that menaced the
Moslem cause; and uttered an ejaculation often used by him in moments of
anxiety and trouble- "How straitened and wretched would be our life, if our
hope were not so spacious and extensive." "Que angosta y miserable seria
nuestra vida, sino fuera lan dilatada y espaciosa nuestra esperanza!"
As he approached Granada on his return he beheld arches of triumph
which had been erected in honor of his martial exploits. The people thronged
forth to see him with impatient joy, for his benignant rule had won all
hearts. Wherever he passed he was hailed with acclamations as "El Ghalib!"
(the conqueror). Alhamar gave a melancholy shake of the head on hearing the
appellation. "We le ghalib il Allah!" ("There is no conqueror but God!"),
exclaimed he. From that time forward this exclamation became his motto, and
the motto of his descendants, and appears to this day emblazoned on his
escutcheons in the halls of the Alhambra.
Alhamar had purchased peace by submission to the Christian yoke; but
he was conscious that, with elements so discordant and motives for hostility
so deep and ancient, it could not be permanent. Acting, therefore, upon the
old maxim, "arm thyself in peace and clothe thyself in summer," he improved
the present interval of tranquillity by fortifying his dominions, replenishing
his arsenals, and promoting those useful arts which give wealth and real
power. He confided the command of his various cities to such as had
distinguished themselves by valor and prudence, and who seemed most
acceptable to the people. He organized a vigilant police, and established
rigid rules for the administration of justice. The poor and the distressed
always found ready admission to his presence, and attended personally to
their assistance and redress. He erected hospitals for the blind, the aged,
and infirm, and all those incapable of labor, and visited them frequently;
not on set days with pomp and form, so as to give time for every thing to be
put in order, and every abuse concealed; but suddenly, and unexpectedly,
informing himself, by actual observation and close inquiry, of the treatment
of the sick, and the conduct of those appointed to administer to their relief.
He founded schools and colleges, which he visited in the same manner,
inspecting personally the instruction of the youth. He established butcheries
and public ovens, that the people might be furnished with wholesome provisions
at just and regular prices. He introduced abundant streams of water into the
city, erecting baths and fountains, and constructing aqueducts and canals to
irrigate and fertilize the Vega. By these means prosperity and abundance
prevailed in this beautiful city, its gates were thronged with commerce, and
its warehouses filled with luxuries and merchandise of every clime and
country.
He moreover gave premiums and privileges to the best artisans; improved
the breed of horses and other domestic animals; encouraged husbandry; and
increased the natural fertility of the soil twofold by his protection, making
the lovely valleys of his kingdom to bloom like gardens. He fostered also the
growth and fabrication of silk, until the looms of Granada surpassed even
those of Syria in the fineness and beauty of their productions. He moreover
caused the mines of gold and silver and other metals, found in the mountainous
regions of his dominions, to be diligently worked, and was the first king of
Granada who struck money of gold and silver with his name, taking great care
that the coins should be skilfully executed.
It was towards the middle of the thirteenth century, and just after his
return from the siege of Seville, that he commenced the splendid palace of the
Alhambra; superintending the building of it in person; mingling frequently
among the artists and workmen, and directing their labors.
Though thus magnificent in his works and great in his enterprises, he was
simple in his person and moderate in his enjoyments. His dress was not merely
void of splendor, but so plain as not to distinguish him from his subjects.
His harem boasted but few beauties, and these he visited but seldom, though
they were entertained with great magnificence. His wives were daughters of
the principal nobles, and were treated by him as friends and rational
companions. What is more, he managed to make them live in friendship with one
another. He passed much of his time in his gardens; especially in those of the
Alhambra, which he had stored with the rarest plants and the most beautiful
and aromatic flowers. Here he delighted himself in reading histories, or in
causing them to be read and related to him, and sometimes, in intervals of
leisure, employed himself in the instruction of his three sons, for whom he
had provided the most learned and virtuous masters.
As he had frankly and voluntarily offered himself a tributary vassal to
Ferdinand, so he always remained loyal to his word, giving him repeated proofs
of fidelity and attachment. When that renowned monarch died in Seville in
1254, Alhamar sent ambassadors to condole with his successor, Alonzo X, and
with them a gallant train of a hundred Moorish cavaliers of distinguished
rank, who were to attend round the royal bier during the funeral ceremonies,
each bearing a lighted taper. This grand testimonial of respect was repeated
by the Moslem monarch during the remainder of his life on each anniversary of
the death of King Ferdinand el Santo, when the hundred Moorish knights
repaired from Granada to Seville, and took their stations with lighted tapers
in the centre of the sumptuous cathedral round the cenotaph of the illustrious
deceased.
Alhamar retained his faculties and vigor to an advanced age. In his
seventy-ninth year (A. D. 1272) he took the field on horseback, accompanied by
the flower of his chivalry, to resist an invasion of his territories. As the
army sallied forth from Granada, one of the principal adalides, or guides, who
rode in the advance, accidentally broke his lance against the arch of the
gate. The councillors of the king, alarmed by this circumstance, which was
considered an evil omen, entreated him to return. Their supplications were in
vain. The king persisted, and at noontide the omen, say the Moorish
chroniclers, was fatally fulfilled. Alhamar was suddenly struck with illness,
and had nearly fallen from his horse. He was placed on a litter, and borne
back towards Granada, but his illness increased to such a degree that they
were obliged to pitch his tent in the Vega. His physicians were filled with
consternation, not knowing what remedy to prescribe. In a few hours he died,
vomiting blood and in violent convulsions. The Castilian prince, Don Philip,
brother of Alonzo X, was by his side when he expired. His body was embalmed,
enclosed in a silver coffin, and buried in the Alhambra in a sepulchre of
precious marble, amidst the unfeigned lamentations of his subjects, who
bewailed him as a parent.
I have said that he was the first of the illustrious line of Nasar that
sat upon a throne. I may add that he was the founder of a brilliant kingdom,
which will ever be famous in history and romance, as the last rallying place
of Moslem power and splendor in the peninsula. Though his undertakings were
vast, and his expenditures immense, yet his treasury was always full; and
this seeming contradiction gave rise to the story that he was versed in magic
art, and possessed of the secret for transmuting baser metals into gold.
Those who have attended to his domestic policy, as here set forth, will easily
understand the natural magic and simple alchemy which made his ample treasury
to overflow.
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