al-Dalfa’ and the Political Role of the umm al-walad in the Late Umayyad Caliphate of al-Andalus

Abstract

IN EARLY ELEVENTHǧ CENTURY al- Andalus, al- Dalfa’, one of the concubines of the hajib 1 and de facto ruler Ibn Abi ‘Amir, known as al- Mansur, was involved in the events that led to the civil war— ϔitna — that preceded the downfall of the Umayyad Caliphate in Iberia. As a slave, al- Dalfa’ had borne her master a child, ‘Abd al- Malik, granting her the status of umm al- walad — literally, the “mother of a child”— which legally improved her condition from the common form of concubinage. In 1002 al- Mansur died and ‘Abd al- Malik, who would be later known as al- Muzaffar, followed his father’s footsteps in the hijaba , whereas Caliph Hisham II was left with a merely symbolic role as ϐigurehead of the caliphate. During ‘Abd al- Malik’s rule al- Dalfa’ inϐluenced some of his decisions, and after his death, in controversial circumstances, she plotted to overthrow and kill ‘Abd al- Rahman Sanchuelo, al- Muzaffar’s half- brother, who had taken ‘Abd al- Malik’s position, as Sanchuelo was suspected of having orchestrated ‘Abd al- Malik’s death.