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The taifa of the Banu Razín

Albarracín, Sierra de Albarracín, Teruel

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The taifa of the Banu Razín

Historical milestone · Albarracín, Sierra de Albarracín, Teruel

Image of Albarracín, not of the place itself.

The Banu Razín were a branch of the Berber Hawwara tribe settled in the Sierra de Albarracín, with domains reaching as far as the upper Jiloca -called Sahla, from which Cella derives- and perhaps as far as Calamocha. The family is already mentioned in connection with an expedition by Abd al-Rahman III in 935; after the death of their leader, around 972, his sons were confirmed as lords by Caliph al-Hakam II, with notable autonomy in exchange for tribute. Taking advantage of the crisis of the Caliphate of Córdoba, in the 11th century, between 1012 and 1014, Jálaf ben Razín proclaimed himself independent and made Santa Mariya al-Xarc the capital of a taifa, from which the place name Albarracín derives. The taifa appears in the Poem of the Cid as an ally of the Cid and survived until the Almoravid campaigns that subdued the taifa kingdoms of al-Andalus.

siglo XI

Photo: Manuel Matas (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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