Musa Ibn Musa
While Musa had been orphaned at an early age, there are hints of his probable activity in the 820s, probably including participation in the third Battle of Roncevaux. Still, his first explicit mention is in the 840s, when he launched a series of revolts, in collaboration with his maternal half-brother, the Pamplona chieftain Íñigo Arista. These were put down by Abd ar-Rahman II, with Musa's own son Lubb going over to the emir. Musa repeatedly submitted, only to rise again. By the end of this period of repeated rebellion he controlled a region along the Ebro from Borja to Logroño, including Tudela, Tarazona, Arnedo and Calahorra. The 851/2 deaths of Íñigo Arista and Abd er-Rahman II, as well as a victory over Christian forces at Albelda, gave Musa unprecedented status. The changed position was recognized by the new emir, Muhammad I of Córdoba, who named Musa the Wali of Zaragoza and governor of the Upper March. Over the next decade he would expand the family's lands to include Zaragoza, Najera, Viguera and Calatayud, while also having governmental control over Tudela, Huesca and Toledo, leading him to be referred by a Christian chronicler as "The Third King of Spain". This status came to an end when in 859, Ordoño I of Asturias and García Íñiguez of Pamplona joined forces to deal Musa a crushing defeat at Albelda, which passed into Christian legend as the Battle of Clavijo. Emir Muhammad leaped on Musa's weakness, stripping him of his titles and restoring direct Cordoban control over the region. Musa died in 862 of wounds received in a petty squabble with a son-in-law, and the family disappeared from the political scene for a decade.
Read more about this topic: Banu Qasi