Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Mughīth[a] (Arabic:العلاء بن مغيث), called variouslyal-Yaḥṣubī,al-Ḥaḍramī oral-Judhāmī,[1] was theʿAbbāsid-appointed governor ofal-Andalus (Spain) in opposition to theUmayyads inAD 763 (AH 146).[b]
The chronicles disagree about al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Mughīth's origins. TheFatḥ al-Andalus,Ibn al-Athīr,al-Nuwayrī andal-Maḳḳarī claim that he was a native ofIfrīḳiya (Tunisia) sent to Spain by the ʿAbbāsid caliphal-Manṣūr (r. 754–775). On the other hand, theAkhbār majmūʿa,Ibn al-Ḳūṭiyya andIbn ʿIdhārī claim that he was fromBeja in southwestern al-Andalus, where he held the local office ofriyāsa (political and military headship).[1] The historianRoger Collins inclines to the view that he was a foreigner sent by the caliph.[2]Maribel Fierro is of the opinion that later chronicles confused Ibn Mughīth with his successor, thereby concocting an African origin for him.[1]
Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Mughīth set up his government in 763 in Beja, where he had the support of the local Egyptianjund (Arab army division).[1] Although Islamic historiography and much modern historiography treats this event as an internal rebellion against the Umayyads, it is better viewed as conflict over legitimate authority between two rival caliphal lines. The temporary success of Ibn Mughīth is evidence that there existed support for the ʿAbbāsid claim in al-Andalus.[2]
The Umayyad emir[c]ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I (r. 756–788) avoided a pitched battle with his rival and even abandoned his capital,Córdoba, for the fortress ofCarmona. Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Mughīthbesieged Carmona for two months, which suggests that the forces available to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I were not large. Many Andalusī leaders must have been awaiting the result of the conflict before deciding which side to support.[2] The Syrianjund ofSeville, which had Yaḥṣubī members, may have gone over to Ibn Mughīth. According to theAkhbār majmūʿa, thePalestinianjund under Ghiyāth ibn ʿAlḳama al-Lakhmī marched fromSidonia to join the siege but was intercepted by an army under Badr, a freedman of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who negotiated its withdrawal.[1]
The siege was ended when a well-timed sortie by the defenders caught the besiegers unprepared. Ibn Mughīth and the other ʿAbbāsid leaders were killed in the fighting. His head was secretly sent toKairouan as a warning to other would-be ʿAbbāsid governors. Some sources have it sent, less plausibly, toMecca.[2]
The next ʿAbbāsid governor,ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥabīb al-Ṣiqlābī, was sent from Ifrīḳiya in 777.[2]