2020-10-19 Mon

Sultan Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf Ibn Ismail was the seventh Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula between 1333 and 1354. The third son of Ismail-I became Sultan after his brother Muhammad IV was assassinated.

He established peace with Alfonso XI of Castile but once the four years of agreed peace were over, he allied with the Marinid dynasty who had entered the Iberian Peninsula via Gibraltar. lost Algeciras in 1344 and Gibraltar in 1349 after having undergone a difficult siege in which Alfonso XI of Castile died due to the plague.

In contrast to the military and territorial losses suffered during his reign, the emirate flourished in the fields of literature, architecture, medicine, and the law. Among other new buildings, he constructed the Madrasa Yusufiyya inside the city of Granada, as well as the Tower of Justice and various additions to the Comares Palace of the Alhambra. Modern historians consider his reign and that of his son Muhammad V as the golden era of the Emirate.

Gold coins bearing Yusuf's name had particularly beautiful designs, many of which are still found today.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org