Hisham II
Hisham II (
'ھشام) was the third
Caliph of Cordoba, of the
Umayyad dynasty. He ruled
976-
1009, and
1010-
1013.
Hisham II succeed his father
Al-Hakam II as
Caliph of Cordoba in
976 at the age of 10, with his mother Subh and the first minister Jafar al-Mushafi acting as regents. General Ghalib and
Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir (Almansor) managed to prevent the
eunuchs from placing a brother of al-Hakam II on the throne. Subh advanced Almansor and appointed him to the treasury of the Caliphate. Hisham II himself was kept from government and exercised no political influence, and in
997 he was even forced to officially hand over sole control of the government to Almansor, under whom the Caliphate reached its greatest extent and attained its greatest success over the Christian states.
After Almansor's death in
1002 his son Abd al-Malik (
1002-
1008) came to power and secured his position in the Caliphate with successful campaigns against
Navarre and
Barcelona before being murdered by Abd ur-Rahman Sangul (
1008-
1009). In
1009 a popular uprising led by
Muhammad II al-Mahdi deposed both Sangul and Hisham II, the latter being kept imprisoned in Cordoba under the new regime.
The next few years saw rapid changes of leadership as a result of wars between
Berber and
Arab armies, as well as of Slavic mercenaries, with al-Mahdi losing out to
Sulaiman al-Mustain in
1009 before regaining power in
1010. Finally the Slavic troops of the Caliphate under al-Wahdid restored Hisham II as Caliph (
1010-
1013).
Hisham II was now under the influence of al-Wahdid, who was nevertheless unable to gain control of the
Berber troops - these still supported Sulaiman, and the civil war continued. In
1013 the Berbers took Cordoba with much plundering and destruction. What happened to Hisham after that is uncertain - supposedly he was killed on
19th April 1013 by the Berbers. In any case, Sulaiman al-Mustain (
1013-
1016) became Caliph.
