The Mercenary Mediterranean_ Sovereignty, Religion, and Violence in the Medieval Crown of Aragon - Hussein Fancy

122 chapter six

instance, with renewed prestige, Mūsā b. Raḥḥū was able to reconcile with

the powers in Fez. He arranged for the marriage of his daughter to the

Marīnid sultan Abū Ya‘qūb.^16 Rather differently, ‘Uthmān b. Abī al- ‘Ulā,

who first commanded the Ghuzāh at Málaga in 1302 , took advantage of

a dispute between the Naṣrids and Marīnids over the port of Ceuta to

declare his candidacy for the Marīnid throne. With Naṣrid support, he

returned to North Africa, gathered a large following among his tribes-

men, and besieged the Marīnids.^17 Significantly, after his defeat in 1308 ,

‘Uthmān was welcomed back to Granada, where he would eventually

become the most famous commander of the Ghuzāh, conducting some

732 raids into Christian territory.^18

As the cases of ‘Abd al- Ḥaqq and ‘Uthmān demonstrate, from the per-

spective of the Naṣrids, the Ghuzāh provided a useful counterweight to

the Marīnids, who were the most powerful Islamic force in the western

Mediterranean. Although they had withdrawn many of their own forces

after 1285 , the Marīnids maintained a handful of fortresses on the Iberian

Peninsula, the most prominent of which was the fortress at Algeciras, al-

Binya, which served as a beachhead for troops arriving from their lands.^19

Thus, while the Naṣrids relied upon Marīnid military assistance, they also

worried that these North Africa sultans secretly planned to overrun them.

In this sense, the Ghuzāh were ideal. They not only protected the Naṣrids

but also chastened the Marīnids. Indeed, ‘Abd al- Ḥaqq and ‘Uthmān were

not the only princes whom the Naṣrids supported in rebellion against the

Marīnids. Fifty years later, ‘Uthmān’s son, Idrīs b. ‘Uthmān Abī al- ‘Ulā

also attempted and failed to seize the Marīnid throne. Idrīs sought refuge

in Barcelona for a period of two years and then was recalled to Granada,

where he took command of the Ghuzāh from 1359 to 1362.^20

These Marīnid scions also proved beneficial to the Naṣrids in other,

familiar ways. They served in the Naṣrid court as members of the sultan’s

entourage, as his protectors, advisors, and ambassadors.^21 By taking com-

mand of the salaried troops and volunteer warriors from North Africa

along the weakened frontiers with the Crown of Aragon and Castile, they

helped to secure the fragile kingdom of Granada. In addition to combat-

ting external threats, the Ghuzāh also suppressed internal rebellions, a fact

that occasionally drove a wedge between local Muslims and these North

African arrivistes.^22 In return, the Naṣrids compensated the leaders of the

Ghuzāh handsomely, granting them a share of tax revenues and permit-

ting them to retain all spoils and lands that they seized in battle.^23 In short,

the Naṣrids employed and compensated the Ghuzāh in almost precisely the

same fashion as Crown of Aragon did its jenets.