Taifa of Badajoz

The Taifa of Badajoz was a medieval Islamic kingdom in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain, centred on the city of Badajoz in Extremadura. It arose like the other taifa kingdoms after the fragmentation of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century and was founded by Sabur al-Saqlabi, a former slave of perhaps Slavic or Persian origin. Its territory extended over much of ancient Lusitania, including Mérida and Lisbon; Sabur's sons fled to Lisbon and created a short-lived taifa there, which Badajoz soon reconquered. In 1022 Sabur was succeeded by his vizier Abdallah ibn al-Aftas, who founded the Aftasid dynasty. In 1055 Badajoz became a tributary of León-Castile and lost significant territory south of the Mondego, while the Abbadids of Seville took other districts. After a civil war, Yahya al-Mansur fought alongside the Almoravids at Sagrajas in 1086, but then allied with Alfonso VI out of fear of Almoravid power. The Almoravids occupied Badajoz in 1094 and killed Yahya. A second independent taifa existed briefly from 1144 to 1150, until the Almohads took the city.