At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
Al-Mustansir billah al-Hakam ibn al-Nasir li-Din Allah, the Umayyad caliph of Cordoba from 350 to 366 AH. He died in 366 AH and was succeeded by his son al-Mu'ayyad billah Hisham. 2
Collecting books
Al-Maqqari describes him as a lover of the sciences who honoured their people, and who collected more books than any king before him. The indexes of the library of the house of the Banu Marwan reached forty-four indexes, each of twenty leaves, containing only the names of the registers. 3
He used to send merchants to the lands to buy books. He sent a thousand dinars to Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani for the book "al-Aghani", and he received a copy of it before it was taken out to Iraq. He gathered in his house skilled copyists and binders. Most of these libraries were sold during the siege by the Berbers. 3
Conquests
In his days Qal'ara and Shantah al-Shatayn were conquered, and his commanders raided the lands of the Bashkans, Barcelona and Galicia. 4
Connections
- Participated in
- Al-Hakam II's expansion and mihrab
People and things also explored
Sources
- Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari , pp. 421–422
- Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.628
- Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari , pp.421-422
- Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari , p.420
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “al-Mustansir bi'llah al-Hakam ibn al-Nasir al-Umawi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/al-mustansir-hakam/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.