The Hammudid dynasty () was an Arab Muslim family that briefly ruled the Caliphate of Córdoba[Lane-Poole (1894), p.21]
The dynasty
The dynasty is named after their ancestor, Hammud, a descendant of Idris ibn Abdallah, founder of the
Idrisid dynasty and great-grandchild of Hasan, son of
Fatimah and
Ali and grandson of the Islamic prophet,
Muhammad.
[ Hammudids, A. Huici Miranda, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. III, ed. B. Lewis, V.L. Menage, C. Pellat and J. Schacht, (Brill, 1986), 147;" HAMMUDIDS, dynasty which reigned over various towns in Muslim Spain from 407/1016 till 450/1058. Sulayman al-Musta'm q.v., on his second succession to the caliphal throne in Shawwal 4O3/ May 1013, had to distribute large fiefs among the Berbers who had raised him to power. He allotted to 'Ali b. Hammud the governorship of Ceuta and to his brother al-Kasim that of Algeciras, Tangier, and Arzila. The two were genuine Idrisids q.v., their great-grandfather Hammud being the great-grandson of Idris II."] When Sulayman ibn al-Hakam carved out Andalusian land for his Berber allies, two members of the Hammudid family were given the governorship of
Algeciras,
Ceuta and
Tangier. The Hammudids thus gained control of the traffic across the Straits of Gibraltar, suddenly becoming a powerful force. Claiming to act on behalf of the dethroned
Hisham II, the Hammudid governor of Ceuta Ali ibn Hammud al-Nasir marched upon Córdoba in the year 1016, where he was crowned Caliph.
In 1056, the last Hammudid Caliph was dethroned, losing Málaga to the Zirids of Granada, who had previously been the Hammudids' most important supporters. The Hammudi family was then forced to settle in Ceuta.
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