History

See also: Granada chronology

Arco/Puerta de Elvira in Granada

Historic map of Granada by Piri Reis

Early history

Main article: Hispania

The region surrounding what today is Granada has been populated since at least 5500 BC and experienced Roman and Visigothic influences. The most ancient ruins found in the city belongs to an Iberian oppidum called Ilturir, in the region known as Bastetania. This oppidum eventually changed its name to Iliberri, and after the Roman conquest of Iberia, to Municipium Florentinum Iliberitanum.^[2]

Founding

Main article: Al-Andalus

The Umayyad conquest of Hispania, starting in AD 711, brought large parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Moorish control and established Al-Andalus. In the early 11th century, after a civil war that ended the Caliphate, the Berber, Zawi ben Ziri, established an independent kingdom for himself, the Taifa of Granada, with Illiberis as its capital. Jewish people were established in another area close to Illiberis, called Gárnata or Gárnata al-Yahūd ("Granada of the Jews"). Granada's historical name in the Arabic language was غرناطة (Ġarnāṭah).^[2][3][4][5]
The word Gárnata (or Karnatah) possibly means "hill of strangers". Because the city was situated on a low plain and, as a result, difficult to protect from attacks, the ruler decided to transfer his residence to the higher situated area of Gárnata. In a short time this town was transformed into one of the most important cities of Al-Andalus.^[2][4] By the end of the 11th century, the city had spread across the Darro to reach the hill of the future Alhambra, and included the Albayzín neighborhood (also called "Albaicín" or "El Albaicín", now a World Heritage site).^[6] The Almoravids ruled Granada from 1090 and the Almohad dynasty from 1166.^[7]

Nasrid dynasty—Emirate of Granada

Main articles: Nasrid dynasty and Emirate of Granada

Coat of arms of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada in the Palacio de Comares room in the Alhambra.

In 1228, with the departure of the Almohad prince, Idris al-Ma'mun, who left Iberia to take the Almohad leadership, the ambitious Ibn al-Ahmar established the longest lasting Muslim dynasty on the Iberian peninsula, the Nasrids. With the Reconquista in full swing after the conquest of Córdoba in 1236, the Nasrids aligned themselves with Fernando III of Castile, officially becoming the Emirate of Granada in 1238.^[7] According to some historians, Granada was a tributary state to the Kingdom of Castile since that year. It provided connections with Muslim and Arab trade centers, particularly for gold from sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, and exported silk and dried fruits produced in the area.^[8] The Nasrids also supplied troops from the Emirate and mercenaries from North Africa for service to Castile.
Ibn Battuta, a famous traveler and an authentic historian, visited the Kingdom of Granada in 1350. He described it as a powerful and self-sufficient kingdom in its own right, although frequently embroiled in skirmishes with the Kingdom of Castile. If it was really a vassal state, it was contrary to the policy of the Reconquista to allow it to flourish for almost two centuries and a half after the fall of Sevilla in 1248.
During the Moor rule, Granada was a city with adherents to many religions and ethnicities (Arabs, Berbers, Christians and Jews) who lived in separate quarters.