The Alhambra a series of tales and sketches of the Moors and Spaniards |
MAHAMAD ABEN ALAHMAR;
THE
FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. |
 | MAHAMAD ABEN ALAHMAR;
THE
FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. The Alhambra |  |
MAHAMAD ABEN ALAHMAR;
THE
FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA.
Having dealt so freely in the marvellous legends
of the Alhambra, I feel as if bound to give
the reader a few facts concerning its sober history,
or rather the history of those magnificent
princes, its founder and finisher, to whom Europe
is indebted for so beautiful and romantic an oriental
monument. To attain these facts, I descended
from this region of fancy and fiction, where every
thing is liable to take an imaginative tint, and
carried my researches among the dusty tomes of
once boasted repository of erudition is now a
mere shadow of its former self, having been stripped
of its manuscripts and rarest works by the
French, while masters of Granada. Still it contains,
among many ponderous tomes of polemics
of the Jesuit fathers, several curious tracts of
Spanish literature, and above all, a number of
those antiquated, dusty, parchment-bound chronicles,
for which I have a peculiar veneration.
In this old library I have passed many delightful
hours of quiet, undisturbed, literary foraging,
for the keys of the doors and bookcases were
kindly entrusted to me, and I was left alone to
rummage at my leisure—a rare indulgence in
those sanctuaries of learning, which too often tantalize
the thirsty student with the sight of sealed
fountains of knowledge.
In the course of these visits I gleaned the following
particulars concerning the historical characters
in question.
The Moors of Granada regarded the Alhambra
as a miracle of art, and had a tradition that the
king who founded it dealt in magic, or at least
was deeply versed in alchymy, by means of
expended in its erection. A brief view of his
reign will show the real secret of his wealth.
The name of this monarch, as inscribed on
the walls of some of the apartments, was Aben
Abd'allah, (i. e. the father of Abdallah,) but he
is commonly known in Moorish history as Mahamad
Aben Alahmar, (or Mahamad son of Alahmar,)
or simply Aben Alahmar, for the sake of
brevity.
He was born in Arjona, in the year of the Hegira,
591, of the Christian era, 1195, of the
noble family of the Beni Nasar, or children
of Nasar, and no expense was spared by his parents
to fit him for the high station to which the
opulence and dignity of his family entitled him.
The Saracens of Spain were greatly advanced in
civilization. Every principal city was a seat of
learning and the arts, so that it was easy to command
the most enlightened instructors for a youth
of rank and fortune. Aben Alahmar, when he
arrived at manly years, was appointed Alcayde
or governor of Arjona and Jaen, and gained great
popularity by his benignity and justice. Some
years afterwards, on the death of Aben Hud, the
Moorish power of Spain was broken into factions,
Alahmar. Being of a sanguine spirit and lofty
ambition, he seized upon the occasion, made a circuit
through the country, and was every where
received with acclamation. It was in the year
1238 that he entered Granada amidst the enthusiastic
shouts of the multitude. He was proclaimed
king with every demonstration of joy, and
soon became the head of the Moslems in Spain,
being the first of the illustrious line of Beni Nasar
that had sat upon the throne.
His reign was such as to render him a blessing
to his subjects. He gave the command of his various
cities to such as had distinguished themselves
by valour and prudence, and who seemed
most acceptable to the people. He organized
a vigilant police, and established rigid rules for
the administration of justice. The poor and the
distressed always found ready admission to his
presence, and he attended personally to their assistance
and redress. He erected hospitals for the
blind, the aged, and infirm, and all those incapable
of labour, and visited them frequently, not
on set days, with pomp and form, so as to give
time for every thing to be put in order and every
abuse concealed, but suddenly and unexpectedly,
inquiry of the treatment of the sick, and the
conduct of those appointed to administer to their
relief.
He founded schools and colleges, which he visited
in the same manner, inspecting personally
the instruction of the youth. He established butcheries
and public ovens, that the people might
be furnished with wholesome provisions at just
and regular prices. He introduced abundant
streams of water into the city, erecting baths and
fountains, and constructing aqueducts and canals
to irrigate and fertilize the Vega. By these
means, prosperity and abundance prevailed in
this beautiful city, its gates were thronged with
commerce, and its warehouses filled with the luxuries
and merchandize of every clime and country.
While Mahamad Aben Alahmar was ruling his
fair domains thus wisely and prosperously, he
was suddenly menaced by the horrors of war.
The Christians at that time, profiting by the dismemberment
of the Moslem power, were rapidly
regaining their ancient territories. James the
Conqueror had subjected all Valentia, and Ferdinand
the Saint was carrying his victorious armies
city of Jaen, and swore not to raise his camp until
he had gained possession of the place. Mahamad
Aben Alahmar was conscious of the insufficiency
of his means to carry on a war with the
potent sovereign of Castile. Taking a sudden
resolution, therefore, he repaired privately to the
Christian camp, and made his unexpected appearance
in the presence of king Ferdinand. “In
me,” said he, “you behold Mahamad, king of
Granada. I confide in your good faith, and put
myself under your protection. Take all I possess,
and receive me as your vassal.” So saying,
he knelt and kissed the king's hand in token of
submission.
King Ferdinand was touched by this instance
of confiding faith, and determined not to be out-done
in generosity. He raised his late rival from
the earth and embraced him as a friend, nor
would he accept the wealth he offered, but received
him as a vassal, leaving him sovereign of
his dominions, on condition of paying a yearly
tribute, attending the cortes as one of the nobles
of the empire, and serving him in war with a
certain number of horsemen.
It was not long after this that Mahamad was
Ferdinand in his famous siege of Seville. The
Moorish king sallied forth with five hundred chosen
horsemen of Granada, than whom none in
the world knew better how to manage the steed,
or wield the lance. It was a melancholy and humiliating
service, however, for they had to draw the
sword against their brethren of the faith. Mahamad
gained a melancholy distinction by his
prowess in this renowned conquest, but more true
honour by the humanity which he prevailed
upon Ferdinand to introduce into the usages of
war. When in 1248, the famous city of Seville
surrendered to the Castilian monarch, Mahamad
returned sad and full of care to his dominions.
He saw the gathering ills that menaced the Moslem
cause, and uttered an ejaculation often used
by him in moments of anxiety and trouble:
“How straitened and wretched would be our
life, if our hope were not so spacious and extensive.”
[1]
When the melancholy conqueror approached
his beloved Granada, the people thronged forth
him as a benefactor. They had erected arches of
triumph in honour of his martial exploits, and
wherever he passed he was hailed with acclamations,
as El Galib, or the conqueror; Mahamad
shook his head when he heard the appellation,
“Wa le Galib ilé Alć,” exclaimed he: (there is
no conqueror but God!) From that time forward,
he adopted this exclamation as a motto. He inscribed
it on an oblique band across his escutcheon,
and it continued to be the motto of his descendants.
Mahamad had purchased peace by submission to
the Christian yoke, but he knew that where the
elements were so discordant, and the motives for
hostility so deep and ancient, it could not be secure
or permanent. Acting therefore upon an
old maxim, “arm thyself in peace, and clothe thyself
in summer,” he improved the present interval
of tranquillity by fortifying his dominions and
replenishing his arsenals, and by promoting
those useful arts which give wealth and real
power to an empire. He gave premiums and
privileges to the best artizans; improved the
breed of horses and other domestic animals; encouraged
fertility of the soil twofold by his protection,
making the lonely valleys of his kingdom to
bloom like gardens. He fostered also the growth
and fabrication of silk, until the looms of Granada
surpassed even those of Syria in the fineness
and beauty of their productions. He, moreover,
caused the mines of gold and silver, and other
metals found in the mountainous regions of his
dominions, to be diligently worked, and was the
first king of Granada who struck money of gold
and silver with his name, taking great care that
the coins should be skilfully executed.
It was about this time, towards the middle of
the thirteenth century, and just after his return
from the siege of Seville, that he commenced
the splendid palace of the Alhambra: superintending
the building of it in person, mingling
frequently among the artists and workmen, and
directing their labours.
Though thus magnificent in his works, and
great in his enterprises, he was simple in his person,
and moderate in his enjoyments. His dress
was not merely void of splendour, but so plain
as not to distinguish him from his subjects. His
visited but seldom, though they were entertained
with great magnificence. His wives were daughters
of the principal nobles, and were treated by
him as friends and rational companions; what is
more, he managed to make them live as friends
with one another.
He passed much of his time in his gardens;
especially in those of the Alhambra, which he
had stored with the rarest plants, and the most
beautiful and aromatic flowers. Here he delighted
himself in reading histories, or in causing
them to be read and related to him; and sometimes,
in intervals of leisure, employed himself
in the instruction of his three sons, for whom he
had provided the most learned and virtuous masters.
As he had frankly and voluntarily offered himself
a tributary vassal to Ferdinand, so he always
remained loyal to his word, giving him repeated
proofs of fidelity and attachment. When that
renowned monarch died in Seville, in 1254,
Mahamad Aben Alahmar, sent ambassadors to
condole with his successor, Alonzo X. and with
them a gallant train of a hundred Moorish cavaliers
each bearing a lighted taper round the royal
bier, during the funeral ceremonies. This grand
testimonial of respect, was repeated by the Moslem
monarch during the remainder of his life, on
each anniversary of the death of King Fernando
el Santo, when the hundred Moorish knights
repaired from Granada to Seville, and took their
stations with lighted tapers in the centre of the
sumptuous cathedral round the cenotaph of the
illustrious deceased.
Mahamad Aben Alahmar, retained his faculties
and vigour to an advanced age. In his
seventy-ninth year, he took the field on horse-back,
accompanied by the flower of his chivalry,
to resist an invasion of his territories. As the
army sallied forth from Granada, one of the principal
adalides or guides, who rode in the advance,
accidentally broke his lance against the arch
of the gate. The counsellors of the king, alarmed
by this circumstance, which was considered
an evil omen, entreated him to return. Their
supplications were in vain. The king persisted,
and at noon-tide the omen, say the Moorish chroniclers,
was fatally fulfilled. Mahamad was suddenly
from his horse. He was placed on a litter, and
borne back towards Granada, but his illness increased
to such degree, that they were obliged to
pitch his tent in the Vega. His physicians were
filled with consternation, not knowing what remedy
to prescribe. In a few hours he died vomiting
blood, and in violent convulsions. The Castilian
prince, Don Philip, brother of Alonzo X. was by
his side when he expired. His body was embalmed,
enclosed in a silver coffin, and buried in
the Alhambra, in a sepulchre of precious marble,
amidst the unfeigned lamentations of his subjects,
who bewailed him as a parent.
Such was the enlightened patriot prince, who
founded the Alhambra, whose name remains emblazoned
among its most delicate and graceful
ornaments, and whose memory is calculated to
inspire the loftiest associations in those who tread
these fading scenes of his magnificence and
glory. Though his undertakings were vast, and
his expenditures immense, yet his treasury
was always full; and this seeming contradiction
gave rise to the story that he was versed
baser metals into gold.
Those who have attended to his domestic
policy, as here set forth, will easily understand
the natural magic and simple alchymy
which made his ample treasury to overflow.
| MAHAMAD ABEN ALAHMAR;
THE
FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA. The Alhambra | |