Taifa of Silves

The Taifa of Silves was a small Islamic kingdom in the Algarve, in the far south of modern Portugal, centred on the fortified town of Silves. It arose around 1027, when the Banu Muzayn family took power during the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba. Silves was then one of the richest towns in the west, famous for its irrigated gardens, its textile workshops and its position on the road between the Atlantic coast and the interior. Copper, figs, olives and dried fruit from the hinterland were shipped from its river port, and its mint struck coins that circulated along the Atlantic coast. In 1063 the taifa was annexed by Seville, and it later passed under Almoravid rule. A second taifa existed from 1145, under Abu'l-Walid Muhammad, in the disturbed period before the Almohad advance, but it was short-lived. The Almohads took Silves in 1150, and the town remained a Muslim stronghold until the Portuguese conquest of 1249. The castle and the great cistern of Silves still reflect the prosperity of the taifa period.