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The Alhambra

قصر الحمراء

Granada

The Alhambra of Granada: Ibn al-Ahmar built the fortress as his residence when he took the city in 635, and it became the Nasrids' seat — the elegant palaces raised by Yusuf 'al-Ghani billah' — until the last sultan surrendered it to the Christians on 2 Rabi I 897 after five hundred hostages secured the entry 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
al-Andalus & Europe
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

In space

Granada

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

The Alhambra is a fortress in Granada. Al-Maqqari, relaying Ibn Khaldun, reports that Ibn al-Ahmar built the fortress as his residence when he took control of Granada in 635 AH. 2

The seat of the Nasrid rulers

The Alhambra became the palace and first capital of the Banu Nasr. Yusuf I, al-Ghani bi-llah, built its fine palaces, which al-Maqqari describes as the centre of their rule and the crowning of their buildings. 3

The surrender

Their last king, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad, handed the Alhambra over to the Christians on 2 Rabi al-Awwal 897 AH, after they had taken about five hundred of Granada's notables as security. The Christian king renewed its palaces and visited them by day, sleeping in his camp at night until he was sure of safety, and then he entered. 3

What is not covered here

The data contains no architectural description of the palace and no building dates beyond those given above. An additional source is needed.

Connections

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Located in
Granada
Founded by
أبو عبد الله ابن الأحمر سلطان الأندلس

People and things also explored

نكث شروط غرناطة وثورة البشرات· تسليم غرناطة ودخول النصارى الحمراء· إخراج الموريسكيين من الأندلس· تغلب ابن الأحمر على غرناطة· When the Moors Ruled in Europe· Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain· The Ornament of the World· أبو عبد الله ابن الأحمر سلطان الأندلس

Sources

  1. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari, p. 484, 523-527
  2. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari, p. 484
  3. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari, p. 523-527
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Alhambra”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/building/alhambra/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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Cities, sites and routes on a map that moves through time. Related

نكث شروط غرناطة وثورة البشرات

The treaty of Granada broken clause by clause: in 904 the Muslims were forced to convert — first those once Christian were ordered back 'to unbelief by compulsion', then any Muslim was told his grandfather had been Christian; the Albaicin rose and killed the governors, making death-or-conversion the decree. Whole villages refused — Balfig, Andarax and the mountain of Ballanca whose men killed 'the lord of Cordoba' and were let out on aman to Fez — while the outwardly converted prayed in secret and were burned for it.