Issues such as the loss of Andalusia, the emergence of the Moorish cause in Spain after the pursuit of Muslims and their flight from forced repression and Christianization, and their migrations to various cities of the Middle East, were and still are a huge field for many Western and Eastern studies.
We know that the roots of the fall of Andalusia go back to the weakness of the authority of the Almohads in the country during the sixth and seventh centuries AH, and before that the tragedy of the famous kings of the sects, which the Almoravids redressed under the leadership of Yusuf bin Tashfin.
Even the last remaining part in central and southern Andalusia was reached by the kings of Castile and Aragon, including the most important cities of Islam in Spain such as Cordoba, Seville and Zaragoza.
In the meantime, two men appeared who tried to unite the Andalusian division. The first was Muhammad bin Yusuf bin Hood, the leader of Zaragoza, to whom the regions of eastern Andalusia and its cities owed, and the second Muhammad bin Yusuf bin Al-Ahmar, whose authority was recognized by the regions of southern Andalusia (Little Andalusia).
But the death of Ibn Hood made Ibn al-Ahmar the most important leader, and the political leader of the regions of eastern and southern Andalusia, and on his hands the Kingdom of Granada was established, the last spot to which the Muslims fled[1], and they sought refuge in it, and they defended it for two and a half centuries until the last fall at the hands of the Spaniards.
The fall of Granada and the beginning of the tragedy of the Moriscos
For two centuries, the Kingdom of Granada lived in continuous confrontations with the Christian forces in the north, and had it not been for the support of the Marinid state that ruled Morocco at the time, the Andalusians would not have been able to survive, continue, and stand firm.
This is in addition to the Andalusian realization of all their social classes, whether they are scholars, public or military, that they are in their last fortress, and that weakness means fall and death without mercy at the hands of the Spaniards. .
These internal revolutions between the sons and princes of Bani al-Ahmar led the kings of Castile and Aragon to take advantage of the circumstance and progress at the expense of Granada, but rather worked to stoke strife and internal conflicts at the end of the ninth century AH. The throne, especially during the fierce competition between Abu Abdullah al-Saghir and his uncle Muhammad bin Saad Abu Abdullah al-Zaghal, a conflict that ended with the division of Granada, so the King of Aragon “Fernando” and Queen of Castile “Isabella” took advantage of this circumstance, and set out with their armies towards Granada, which they besieged in a tight and tight siege. They prevented her from supplies and supplies for many months, until her family and her king, Abu Abdullah al-Saghir, had to surrender in Muharram 897 AH (November 1491 CE) according to a treaty between the two sides[2].
The extradition treaty included sixty-seven conditions, including securing the young and old in self, family and money, keeping people in their places, homes and real estate, ensuring the establishment of their Sharia and not being judged except by it, and that mosques and endowments remain as such, and that Christians do not enter Muslim homes and do not force anyone, and that no one is to be entrusted with Muslims except a Muslim or Jew, and the release of all Muslim prisoners, and that Muslims not be supported by force, and other conditions, then King Abu Abdullah moved to the province of Andrash, located in the Al-Bishrat Mountains south of Granada, but he was forced to take refuge in Morocco in the following year after the surrender after Fernando ordered him to leave, and he settled there, so that the historian Al-Maqri saw his descendants a century later in the streets of Fez suffering poverty and asking people[3].
Resorting to the Mamluks and the Ottomans
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But how did the Mamluks, Ottomans, Hafsids and Marinids let this Andalusian tragedy occur without extending a helping hand?
Professor Muhammad Abdullah Annan wrote in his encyclopedia "State of Islam in Andalusia" that his friend, the historian, Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Ahwany, found a manuscript in the Madrid library dealing with a political embassy from Granada to Cairo within the year 844 AH / 1440 AD, in which Sultan Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Yusuf sought help. Ibn al-Ahmar, better known as the powerful Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Seif al-Din Jaqmaq, and Annan explains that the reason for this embassy to the distant Mamluk state in Egypt for the first time was after the Andalusians despaired of the nearby Islamic countries in Morocco, such as the Marinid state that began to enter into power struggles after decades of Its defense of Andalusia and its provision of supplies and men, which had the best impact on the continuity and strength of the Kingdom of Granada.
However, when the Sultan of the Mamluks realized the difficulty of supplying Andalusia with military forces due to the distance between Cairo and Granada, the two sides reached compromise solutions, so the Mamluks agreed to help the Granadians financially.
This embassy, which was sent to the Levant half a century before the fall of Granada, is one of the strong signs that indicate the military and political pressures that Andalusia was subjected to in its last decades before the fall [4].
A few years before the fall of Granada, the Granadas resent messages of distress to the Mamluk Sultan in Cairo, Al-Ashraf Qaytbay, and to the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul, Bayezid II.
In the face of these developments, the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Qaitbay threatened to expel Christians from Jerusalem, stop pilgrimage trips, and stop relations with the West if they persisted in attacking the Muslims of Granada.
But it seems that the threats did not materialize on the ground for many reasons, including the importance of pilgrimages and European trade for the Mamluk state in light of its wars against the Ottoman Empire at the time, and the draining of the treasury of the Mamluk state and its economic need for relations with the West.
Al-Ashraf Qaitbay (social networking sites)
For his part, Sultan Bayezid II gathered the Humayun’s Diwan (equivalent to the cabinet in our time) and tickets with them about the situation, and at the end of the meeting it was decided to send a naval force to the Mediterranean under the command of the famous captain Kamal Rais and his nephew “Peri Rais”, the author of the book “Navy famous for his meticulously detailed map of the Americas.
This naval campaign, which was launched from Gallipoli, the seat of the Ottoman navy, in 892 AH / 1487 AD, was the first serious Islamic oriental attempt to rescue the Andalusians.
But with this attempt, the Ottoman Empire declared naval war on Castile, Aragon, Naples and Sicily, and despite that, "Kamal Rais" was able to restore Málaga for a few months, but under the betrayal of the Hafsids in Tunisia, and the Ottomans' preoccupation with their struggle against the Mamluks, and the brutality of the power of the Castilians and Aragon in the land, this naval force was forced to withdrawal [5].
With the final fall of Granada in 897 AH / 1492 AD, the Ottomans sent organized naval campaigns led by Kemal and Berry Rais to save what could be saved. This force was able to transfer approximately 300,000 Muslims to Morocco and Algeria.
To the horror of what happened to the Moriscos and the seriousness of the Spanish and Portuguese challenge in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, as well as the Arabian Gulf, the Ottoman Empire saw the importance of its union with “Khayr al-Din Barbarossa” and his brother from the independent and victorious sea leaders, as well as the need to include Algeria and Tunisia after the successive appeals of its people that condemned the crimes of the Spaniards and their occupation.
Thus, Khair al-Din, the governor of Algeria and the commander of the Ottoman navy later became the cornerstone of the Ottoman Empire in this region of the western Mediterranean, and the upper hand through which Istanbul would intervene in the crisis of the Andalusians, many of whom began to seek refuge in Istanbul since that date.
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Dr. Abdul Jalil Al-Tamimi stood on the important role played by the Moorish community in the lands of the Ottoman Empire, especially in Algeria and Istanbul, to be of assistance to the Ottomans in introducing them to the weaknesses and movements of the Spanish enemy, thanks to their mastery of his language.
And when Khair al-Din killed the Spanish fortress of Al-Benun at sea in front of the city of Algiers in 1529 AD, he responded to the distress of the Moriscos of Andalusia, sending them in the same year 36 ships that were able to rescue the “poor brothers of religion. Ten thousand of them sailed each time until he rescued seventy thousand of the people of Andalusia in seven trips, as mentioned by Shalabi’s writer in his book “Tuhfat al-Kubr fi Asfar al-Bahar” [6].
On the political and logistical level, the Ottomans took several decisions, including building 61 units of the fleet in Istanbul's Golden Horn.
In 1541 AD, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sent a letter to the Andalusians promising them help and assistance and not to abandon them, and this was one of the reasons that led to the Ottomans’ support for the French King François I against the German-Spanish alliance, and the entry of the Ottoman fleets to the French coasts and even attacking some naval bases in Spanish water.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent’s letter to the “people of Andalusia” indicated that he had ordered his governor over Algeria to send weapons and ammunition to them, and that he tightened their hands, and rejoiced at the news of their victories over their Spanish enemies in the many battles that took place between the two sides, and their glorious defense of their religion, their sanctities and their women, but it clarifies To them, the reason for the delay of the great Ottoman fleet in their victory is due to “that in this particular circumstance and near the kingdoms of the island of Cyprus... the infidels of the island broke the covenant by attacking all the people of Islam, and all the merchants’ sects when they cleared their intention to travel and circumambulate the Sacred House of God and visit the grave of God.” Hazrat the Messenger, the master of the worlds, the best of prayers and peace be upon him, acknowledging that disobedience and tyranny.. In the happy spring as a result of these effects, a sultan decided to seize and open the mentioned island.. and we are now in a state of readiness and preparation”[7].
The Ottomans and their role in saving the Moriscos
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Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent died while preparing to conquer the island of Cyprus, then completed the process of conquest and elimination of the Venetians, Spaniards and other Latins on this island, his son Sultan Selim II, and because of securing the eastern Mediterranean and the absolute Ottoman control over it, the Ottoman intervention and interest in Andalusia increased in the following decades.
During the reign of "Kilij Ali" Pasha in Algeria in 1569 AD, the Grand Vizier in Istanbul ordered him to provide weapons, ammunition and supplies, and even move himself and his fleet to the aid of the Andalusians.
In light of this, Kılıç Pasha hastened to bring six ships that had docked near Almeria loaded with ammunition, weapons and supplies, in addition to 32 other ships that were carrying soldiers and were scattered due to a violent storm.
The Ottomans also supported Andalusia in the wake of the Second Human Revolution, which lasted between 1568-1571 AD, in which the Granadans and Andalusians defended their abilities and their religion for the last moment against the oppression of the Spaniards.
With the increase of Ottoman influence in the Mediterranean from the Eyale of Algeria, Spain embarked on the implementation of the final expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609 AD, and here the Ottoman role was again evident despite the internal difficulties it experienced during the time of Sultan Ahmed I, who faced the Austrians and the Safavids.
The Sultan took advantage of his good relations with France, England and the Republic of Venice, sending them letters urging them to help the Moriscos and facilitate their delivery to the lands of the Ottoman Empire.
Abd al-Jalil al-Tamimi came across one of these Ottoman letters sent by Ahmed I to the Duke of Venice in Italy and investigated it in some of his studies.
In total, the Syrian Leila Al-Sabbagh, the Tunisian Abdel-Jalil Al-Tamimi and the Turkish Ismael Ozun Jarishli dealt with the role of the Ottoman state in the Moorish issue in the western Mediterranean through military supplies and the necessary logistical and war aid, as well as by sending military trainers and harnessing the ships of the Ottoman Empire of Algeria to rescue Andalusians before the expulsion decision Final and after, receiving them with all available possibilities.
At this point, we will see the Spanish researcher and Arabist Miguel de Ibalza in his book "The Morsicans in Spain and in Exile."
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French, Dutch and Venetian diplomats mentioned separate reports about the Moriscos in Istanbul, and said that the Andalusians formed a large and influential community in the city, and over time they had a mosque in the Galata neighborhood on the Bosphorus shore.
It seems that the integration of Moorish merchants and craftsmen among the population of the capital Istanbul was easy. Robert Mantrand carefully studied in his book "The History of the Ottoman Empire" the relationship between jobs and minorities, and mentioned Andalusians as a minority that has its own weight in the ceramics industry and Istanbul's foreign trade.
The Moorish merchant and Andalusian Sheikh in Tunisia and Tripoli, "Mustafa de Cardenas", took refuge in Istanbul when the Bey "Wali" of Tunisia was angry with him, then traveled to Egypt and finally settled in Annaba, Algeria.
This is evidence of the ability of many Moriscos to move between the parts of the Ottoman Empire easily and safely, says Michael de Ibaltha[9].
A number of other historians traced the Moorish presence in Anatolia, and found Moorish Muslim communities that varied in number in Adana near the Mediterranean, Bursa, and some areas of the Balkans, unlike the influential Istanbul community.
The Jews of Andalusia, who were persecuted by the Spanish Catholics, chose to seek refuge in the lands of the Ottoman Empire, which inhabited them in several regions in present-day Greece, the most important of which is the city of Thessaloniki / Thessaloniki, where they formed 26 groups known in the Ottoman archive documents by names such as the Spanish Jews group and the Portuguese Jews group The Aragonese Jews, and the Castilian Jews.
Some of these groups continued to bear only Hebrew Jewish names, and through the book of liberating the properties of the city of Thessaloniki for the year 1613 AD/1022 AH, we found that the number of Jewish places in the city amounted to 1,388 places out of 2,918 places for all residents of the city, which means that the proportion of Andalusian Jews in Thessaloniki reached approximately 49% according to the Ottoman census in that year, as tracked by the Turkish historian.
From the above, we find a great Ottoman involvement and effort in solidarity that no other Islamic country did during the Moorish crisis, in terms of money and effort.
The Ottomans saved hundreds of thousands of Andalusians fleeing themselves from the yoke of murder, racism, extermination and expulsion, and allowed them not only to live and settle in the Maghreb, but also in Egypt, Anatolia and Istanbul, a history that a few Arab, Ottoman and Spanish historians dealt with, and to this day needs to be revealed. And searching in the Ottoman, Spanish and European archives for documents showing new pages of Ottoman assistance to the Moriscos, which was based on Islamic solidarity that was superior to nationalities, languages and homelands at that time among Muslims.
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Sources
[1] Ibn al-Khatib: Acts of the Flags 2/279, 280.
[2] Summary of the era in the news of the kings of Bani Nasr pp. 39-42.
[3] Al-Maqri: The fragrance of perfume from the fresh branch of Andalusia 4/527.
[4] Muhammad Abdullah Annan: The State of Islam in Andalusia 5/162, 163.
[5] The unknown Ottoman Empire, p. 204.
[6] Kateb Shalabi: Tuhfat al-Kabir fi Asfar al-Bahar, pg.40.
[7] Abdul Jalil Al-Tamimi: The Ottoman Empire and the Morisco Case, p. 24, 25.
[8] Abdul Jalil Al-Tamimi: The Ottoman Empire and the Morisco Case, p. 19, 20.
[9] Miquel de Ibalza: Moriscos in Spain and in Exile, pp. 338-340.
[10] Lütfi Şeban, Mudejares & Sefarades, s.
353-355.