The Kingdom of Granada — The city — The Alhambra — General life — Arts and learning in Granada — Dress — General Review of Spain under the Arabs — Government — The Functionaries — Economic condition — Manufactures — Agriculture— The fine arts — Learning — Position of women — The women scholars — Pastimes.
The kingdom of Granada comprised those parts of Spain which lie in the south-eastern corner of the peninsula; and, in its most flourishing period, never exceeded seventy leagues in length from east to west, and twenty-five in breadth from north to south. Within this narrow circuit it contained all the physical resources of a great empire. Its broad valleys were intersected by mountains rich in mineral wealth, whose hardy population supplied the state with husbandmen and soldiers. Its pastures were fed by abundant streams, and its coasts were studded with commodious ports, the principal marts of the Mediterranean. It possessed thirty cities, eighty fortified towns, and several thousand walled townships and villages. The plain or Meadow (Ghotat) of Granada, now called the Vega de Granada, the arena of the death-struggle, covered a space of thirty leagues.
Watered by the Shenil (Xenil), Daroh (Darro), and three other rivers issuing from the neighbouring mountains of the Jabal Shulair (Sierra Nevada), and studded in every direction with orchards, gardens, groves, palaces, mansions, villas, and vineyards, the Meadow presented a rare spectacle of luxuriance and beauty. Around the gardens lay fields clothed with perpetual verdure. The Arabs exhausted on the Vega all their elaborate powers of cultivation. They distributed the waters of the Xenil and Darro into numberless channels, and obtained by their skill and labour a succession of fruit and cereals throughout the year. They successfully cultivated products of the most opposite latitudes. Large quantities of silk and flax were exported from the ports of Almeria and Malaga to the Italian cities then rising into opulence. Their manufactures were varied and numerous, and each city was noted for a special industry. The ports of the Ahmarite kingdom swarmed with the shipping of Europe, Levant, and Africa, and its capital, as the chief centre of a remarkable commercial activity, had "become the common city of all nations." The citizens of Granada were universally reputed and honoured for their probity and trustworthiness, and their mere word was considered surer than the Christian Spaniard's document. Besides textile fabrics and precious metals they exported large quantities of raw produce, especially flax and silk. Florence derived her principal supply of this article from the ports of Almeria and Malaga.
Granada, called by the Arabs Gharnata, stood "like a watch-tower" in the Meadow. It rested, as it does now, partly in the Vega and partly on the slope of the hills, on which her elevated and populous suburbs were entirely built. The rippling Darro flowed through the city, and after supplying its numerous mansions, markets, mills, and baths, winded its course into the plain below. In the days of the Banu-Nasr, Granada was encompassed by a strong wall, pierced with twenty gates, and was flanked by a thousand and thirty towers. The castle (Kassaba) stood in the centre. Every house in the city had its own garden planted with orange, lemon, citron, laurel, myrtle, and other odoriferous trees and plants, and its separate supply of running water. Beautiful fountains for the comfort and convenience of the public were to be found in large numbers in every street. The houses were extremely elegant, and beautifully ornamented with damasquina work. The population of the city towards the middle of the fifteenth century amounted to four hundred thousand souls.
On the summit of one of the hills opposite, Ibn ul-Ahmar built the fortress or city of al-Hamra which was capable of holding within its circuit forty thousand men. It is impossible within this short space to do justice to "this fabric of the genii." The towers, citadels, and palaces, with their light and elegant architecture, the graceful porticos and colonnades, the domes and ceilings still glowing with tints which have lost none of their original brilliancy; the airy halls, constructed to admit the perfume of the surrounding gardens; the numberless fountains over which the owners had such perfect control, that the water could be made high or low, visible or invisible at pleasure, sometimes allowed to spout in the air, at other times to spread out in large, oblong sheets, in which were reflected buildings, fountains, and serene azure sky ; the lovely arabesques, paintings and mosaics finished with such care and accuracy as to make even the smallest apartments fascinating, and illuminated in varied shades of gold, pink, light blue, and dusky purple; the lovely dados of porcelain mosaic of various figures and colours; the beautiful Hall of Lions with its cloister of a hundred and twenty-eight slender and graceful columns, its blue-and-white pavement, its harmony of scarlet, azure and gold; the arabesques glowing with colour like the pattern on a cashmere shawl, its lovely marble filagree filling in the arches, its beautiful cupolas, its famous alabaster cup in the centre; the enchanting Hall of Music, where the Court sat and listened to the music of the performers in the tribunes above; the beautiful seraglio with its delicate and graceful brass lattice work and exquisite ceilings; the lovely colouring of the stalactites in the larger halls and of the conical linings in the smaller chambers — all these require a master's pen to describe.
Opposite to the al-Hamra, on the side of a steep mountain, stands the celebrated royal villa of Al-Generaliffe, and like the Red Palace, is within the enclosure of the walls of the city. "It also," to use the words of a clever writer, "was a marvel of beauty with fountains, groves, and flowers, though little is left of their old glory but a few gigantic cypresses and myrtles." The gardens were terraced in the form of an amphitheatre, and were irrigated by streams issuing from the summit of the mountains, which, after forming numerous cascades, lost themselves among the trees and flowering shrubs.
The sovereigns of Granada rivalled the Caliphs of Cordova in their patronage of learning and arts, and in the construction of sumptuous public works; and under their liberal and enlightened government, Granada became the home and birth-place of eminent scholars, distinguished poets, accomplished soldiers, "men fit in every respect to serve as models." Her daughters were Women no less famous in literature, and the names of Nazhun, Zainab, Hamda, Hafsah, al-Kalayyeh, Safia, Maria shed an ineffaceable lustre on the land of their birth. It was not polite literature alone that was fostered and encouraged by the Arab kings of Granada. History, geography, philosophy, astronomy, the natural and exact sciences in general, medicine and music were cultivated with equal earnestness.
The government of each academy was entrusted to a rector, who was chosen from among the most distinguished scholars. In the middle of the thirteenth century of the Christian era this high office in the university of Granada was held by Siraj ud-din Abu Jaafar Omar al-Hakami. No religious distinction was made in these appointments, and learned Jews and Christians were often appointed to the post of rector. Real learning, in the estimation of the Arabs, "was of greater value than the religious opinion of the literate." It was customary in the Spanish Arabian universities to hold annual commemorations and periodical meetings, to which the public were invited. On these occasions poems were recited and orations delivered by the most eminent persons in the universities. Every college had the following lines inscribed over its gates — "The world is supported by four things only : the learning of the wise, and the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valour of the brave."
After the fall of Cordova chivalry found a congenial home at Granada, where it attained its highest development. As in the capital of the Caliphs, women occupied a pre-eminent position, mingled freely in the society of men, and by their presence enlivened the fetes, tourneys, and the perpetual succession of spectacles which delighted the Granadans. Much of the chivalrous spirit and gallantry for which the Saracens of Granada were conspicuous was undoubtedly due to the ennobling influence of women. The Arab cavalier entered the lists, or went to war with some device emblazoned on his arms, either a heart pierced with darts, a star directing a vessel, or the initial letter of the name of his lady-love. The knights contended openly in her presence for the prize of valour, and often joined her in the graceful dance of the zambra. It is said that the women were handsome, mostly of a middle stature, witty, and brilliant in conversation. Their dress consisted of costly robes of the finest linen, silk, or cotton with a girdle and kerchief. The historian, Ibn ul-Khatib, characterises their "luxury of dress" as a madness. Perfumes were used to a lavish extent, and women, especially ladies of rank, were passionately fond of decorating themselves with hyacinths, chrysolites, emeralds, and other gems, together with ornaments of gold and precious stones; and such was the variegated splendour of their appearance when in the mosques, that they have been compared to "the flowers of spring in a beautiful meadow."
The turban as an article of head-dress was long ago discarded among men who followed the profession of arms. In Valencia, Murcia, and the Eastern provinces Men's generally even the Kazis and Fakihs had abandoned its head- use, and taken to caps. A contemporary writer speaks of a distinguished Allamah (Ulema) entering bare-headed the presence of the Sultan of Murcia. "And," he goes on to say, "Ibn Hud never wore a turban, nor did Ibn ul-Ahmar."
In the western districts, like Cordova and Seville, Kazis and Fakihs generally wore turbans, but they were of much smaller dimensions than those in vogue in Asia. And we are told that the Spanish Moslems were moved to mirth by the sight of the huge head-dress of their Eastern brethren. The sovereigns and princes, the aristocracy and military, with a large proportion of the civil population, followed in dress the fashion of their Frankish neighbours, and dressed like them. The Arab cavaliers, instead of the light armour of their ancestors, their bows and scimitars, were clad in heavy mail, and used the same weapons as the Franks — the crossbow, the spear, and shield. Over the mail they generally threw a short scarlet tunic embroidered with devices.
The Spanish Moslems were said to be the cleanest people on earth in their person and dress, and in the interior of their houses ; "indeed they carry cleanliness to such an extreme that it is not an uncommon thing for a man of the lower classes to spend his last dirhem in soap instead of buying food for his daily consumption, and thus go without his dinner rather than appear in public with dirty clothes."
We have SO far dealt separately with Granada and Cordova. It now remains to give a general review of the system of administration and mode of government among the Spanish Arabs, of the economic condition of the country, and the state of culture under them.
Whilst the Sultan was the supreme head of government the practical work of administration was conducted by ministers who, as in the East, bore the title of vizier. Each department of State was in the charge of a separate minister. There seem to have been four principal offices, viz., finance, foreign affairs, the administration of justice or "redress of grievances," and the management, pay, and supervision of the army. The title of vizier was also conferred on the Privy Councillors; but in order to distinguish the ministers who held portfolios from the ordinary members of the Caliph's council, the former were styled vizier zu'l vizaratain. The President of the Council, called in Asia Grand Vizier was the Hajib, or Chamberlain. He held direct communication with the sovereign, received the royal mandates, and acted generally as the chief of the ministers. They all sat in one hall, but the seat of the President was more elevated than those of the others. The Privy Councillors, like ministers, had the privilege of sitting with the Caliph in the Council chamber.
There were several Secretaries of State, or Katib ud-Dawal, among whom the chief of the correspondence office (Kitabat ur-Rasail) occupied the most prominent position. Another officer, named Katib uz-Ziman, was entrusted with the security and protection of non-Moslems. The supervision of the public accounts was in the charge of an officer called Sahib ul-ashgal. He was practically the Finance Minister, for his department received the revenues, imposed taxes, made disbursements, and "checked extortions." In the kingdom of Granada the functionary entrusted with the keeping of accounts, the private expenses of the Sultan and other pecuniary concerns, was called the Vakil. There being no Secretary of State in Granada, the Board of Correspondence was in the charge of the Vizier, whilst the sovereign himself sealed the diplomas and despatches. Under the Banu Ahmar and the Banu Marin of Africa the sahib ul-Ashgal became a mere collector of revenue.
In Spain the position of Kazi was one of great dignity, and the Chief Kazi was often designated Kazi ul-Jamaat (Kazi of the People) instead of Kazi ul-Kuzzat. The head of the police was, as in the East, called Sahib ush-Shurta, and under the Caliphs of Cordova was vested with very large powers. Under the later dynasties he became a mere Commissary of Police. The town magistrates were called Sahib ul-Medina and sometimes Sahib ul-Lail and were subject to the Kazis' control and supervision. The Muhtasib exercised the same functions as in the cities of Asia and Africa. He examined the weights and measures used by traders, inspected the markets, prevented nuisances, and took summary cognisance of attempts at cheating by shopkeepers. The night-watchmen were called ad-darabun or gate-keepers to whom was entrusted the duty of closing the interior gates of the cities after the last evening prayers. They were always well-armed, and carried lanterns, besides being accompanied by a huge watch-dog.
In early times the naval commander was called Ameer ul-Ma’a which was corrupted by the Franks and Spaniards into Almirant. This was again re-imported to the Arabs in the form of al-miland. Under Abdur Rahman an-Nasir and his successors this high officer was styled Kaid ul-Asatil or Commander of the Fleet. The Ommeyades and the Almohades maintained the navy in a high state of efficiency, and their maritime force was superior to that of all the Christian nations combined. It was the loss of this superiority, as Ibn Khaldun points out, which materially contributed to the decay of Moslem power.
No country in the world ever enjoyed a higher degree of agricultural prosperity than Spain under the Arabs. They raised agriculture into a science, and by an extra ordinary application of industry, skill, and knowledge developed the resources of the country in a wonderful manner. Thoroughly acquainted with the adaptability of certain crops to the nature of certain kinds of soil, and the application of various kinds of manure to particular species of trees, plants, etc., they made the most sterile tracts bloom into luxuriance. The Spaniards are indebted to the Arabs for the introduction of rice, sugar-cane, the cotton-tree, saffron, spinach, and that infinite variety of fine fruits which have now become almost indigenous to the peninsula, whence the use and culture of many of them have gradually been introduced into various parts of Europe.
Every kind of soil was appropriated to that species of culture which was best adapted for it. At Elchar in the province of Valencia they have left vast groves of palm trees. Rice was cultivated in enormous quantities near Albufera. Sugar-cane and cotton were grown at Oliva condition and Gandia. Xeres, Granada, and Malaga were covered with vines; while the country around Seville and the greater part of Andalusia were planted with olives. They levelled the earth by means of an instrument called the marhifal, and the science of irrigation was carried to high perfection. The whole country was covered with aqueducts and canals for the fertilisation of the soil. They manufactured iron and steel in large quantities, and their steel was so excellent, that the swords of Granada were preferred to all others in Spain.
The manufacture of silk and cotton was introduced by the Arabs into Spain; and woollen cloths were made of very fine quality. They excelled specially in dyeing, and the art of dyeing black with indigo is said to be their invention. The superb vases still preserved in the palace of the Alhambra, and the glazed tiles which form a distinguished ornament of that magnificentedifice, show their progress in the manufacture of porcelain. Their exports consisted of gold, silver, copper, raw and wrought silk, sugar, cochineal, quicksilver, pig and cast iron, olives, woollen manufactures, ambergris, yellow amber, loadstone, antimony, talc, marcasites, rock crystal, oil, sugar, sulphur, saffron, ginger, myrrh, and various other drugs; corals fished on the coast of Andalusia, pearls obtained from that of Catalonia, rubies from the mines of Malaga and Beja, and amethysts procured from near Carthagena. They were specially renowned in the art of tanning, currying, and dyeing and embossing leather, which has almost completely died out in Spain since the expulsion of the Moors. Carried from Spain to Fez, it was brought from there to England, where it is now known under the name of Morocco and Cordovan. They also introduced into Spain the manufacture of gun-powder, sugar, and paper.
The fine arts were not neglected, and the Spanish Arabs excelled their Christian neighbours both in sculpture and painting. We know how the palaces of the Caliphs in Cordova, especially az-Zahra, were decorated with statuary and paintings, whilst the sculptured lions and historical paintings still preserved in the Alhambra show the development of both the arts in Granada. No town, however small, was without colleges and schools; whilst each principal city possessed a separate university. Those of Cordova, Seville (Ishbilia), Malaga, Saragossa, Lisbon (Alishbuna), Jaen, Salamanca, among others, occupied the most distinguished position.
Among the host of historians produced by Moslem Spain the following are the most prominent: — Ibn Hayyan, Ibn ul-Abbar, Abu Obaidullah al-Bakri, Ibn Bushkuwal (Abu'l Kasim Khalf bin Abdul Malik bin Masud bin Musa), Ibn us-Said (Abu'l Hassan Ali), Ash-Shakandi (Abu'l Walid Ismail, a native of Shakunda), Ibn ul-Khatib (Lisan ud-din). We have mentioned in preceding pages the names of a few of the literary women of Granada. It will be interesting to add here the distinguished poetesses and cultured ladies who flourished in earlier times in Cordova and other places. Hassana at-Tamimiyeh, daughter of Abu'l Hussain the poet, and Umm ul-Ula, both natives of Guadalaxara, flourished in the sixth century of the Hegira. Ammat ul-Aziz, a descendant of the Prophet, and therefore styled ash-Sharifa, and al-Ghusanieh, a native of Bejenah in the province of Almeria, flourished in the fifth century. These ladies held high rank among the scholars of the time.
Al-Aaruzzieh, who lived at Valencia, was a distinguished grammarian and rhetorician. She died at Denia in 450 A.H. Hafsah ar-Rakunieh, "renowned for her beauty, her talents, her nobility and her wealth," flourished under the Almohades. Hafsa, the daughter of Hamdun, also a native of Guadalaxara, was one of the most illustrious poetesses and scholars of the fourth century of the Hegira. Zainab al-Murabiyyeh, a native of Wadi Ash (Guadix), lived in the time of Hajib al-Muzaffar, with whose family she was on terms of intimacy. Mariam, daughter of Abu Yakub al-Ansari, was a native of Seville; she was a learned and accomplished woman, and taught rhetoric, poetry, and literature, "which, joined to her piety, her good morals, her virtues, and amiable disposition, gained her the affection of her sex, and gave her many pupils." She died towards the end of the fourth century of the Hegira. Asma al-Aamariyeh, also a native of Seville, was a distinguished scholar. Umm ul-Hina, daughter of the Kazi Abu Mohammed Abdul Hakk ibn Aatiyyeh, was both a poetess and a jurisconsult. Bahja, a native of Cordova, a friend of Walladeh, the daughter of al-Mustakfi, was equally renowned for her beauty and her verses. Itimad ar-Ramikkiyeh and Busina, the wife and daughter of Mutamid, the last king of Seville, also held high rank among the scholars of the day.
A sketch of the Spanish Moslems can hardly be complete without some further account of the distinguished physicians and philosophers who have shed such lustre on the country of their birth.
Abu Bakr Mohammed bin Yahya, surnamed Ibn us-Saigh ("son of the goldsmith"), commonly known as Ibn Baja (Avempace or Avenpace), was a native of Saragossa, and a Tajibite by descent. He was eminent as a physician, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. To his learning and scientific attainments he joined the highest proficiency in music. He died at Fez in
533 A.H. (1138 A.c).
Ibn Tufail (Abu Bakr Mohammed bin Abdul Malik ibn Tufail) was one of the most remarkable philosophers of the Arabs in Spain. He was born at Wadi Ash (Guadix), and was celebrated as a physician, mathematician, philosopher, and poet. He was held in the highest estimation by Abu Yakub Yusuf, the second sovereign of the Almohade dynasty. Ibn Tufail died in Morocco in 581 a.h. (1185 A.c), and Yakub al-Mansur, the son and successor of Yusuf, personally assisted at his funeral. Probably Ibn Tufail's famous work, Hai ibn Yukzkan is one of the first works on natural religion.
Ibn Zuhr (Abu Bakr al-Iyazi) was a native of Seville, and belonged to a remarkably gifted family, of which all the members were scholars, physicians, or viziers. Ibn Zuhr was chief physician to Abu Yusuf Yakub al-Mansur and died in 595 a.h. (1199 A.C). His father was the Chief Physician to Abdul Momin, founder of the Almohade dynasty. His grandfather was "the vizier of that epoch and its grandee, the philosopher of that age and its physician."
Ibn Rushd, the great Averroes (Abu'l Walid Mohammed bin Ahmed ibn Rushd), was born in 520 a.h. (1126 A.C). His grandfather and father were Chief Kazis of Andalusia under the Almoravides. Ibn Rushd enjoyed the friendship of Ibn Zuhr, and of Ibn Tufail, who introduced him to Abu Yakub Yusuf. Ibn Rushd was Kazi of Seville. In 1182 he was appointed to the same office at Cordova. He died on the 9th of Safar 595 a.h. (December 1198 a.c).
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