Editing Granada (section)

==History==
{{see also|Granada chronology}}

===Pre-Umayyad history===
{{See also|Hispania}}
[[File:Arqueológico 03 (42189174461).jpg|thumb|[[Roman mosaic|Mosaic]] from a [[Roman villa]], dating from 1{{nbsp}}AD, discovered in the district of Los Mondragones in Granada (now kept at the [[Archaeological Museum of Granada|Archaeological Museum]])<ref name=":5" />]]
The region surrounding what today is Granada has been populated since at least 5500{{nbsp}}BC.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=296}} Archeological artifacts found in the city indicate that the site of the city, including the area around the present-day avenue of ''Gran Vía de Colón'', was inhabited since the [[Bronze Age]]. The most ancient ruins found in the area belong to an [[oppidum]] called ''Ilturir'', founded by the [[Iberians|Iberian]] [[Bastetani]] tribe around 650{{nbsp}}BC.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Drayson |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6DvtDwAAQBAJ&dq=ilturir+granada&pg=PT58 |title=Lost Paradise: The Story of Granada |publisher=Head of Zeus Ltd |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-78854-744-4 |language=en }}</ref> The name Elibyrge is also attested in reference to this area.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=296}} This settlement became later known as ''Iliberri'' or ''Iliberis''.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=296}}{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}}<ref name=":5" /> In 44{{nbsp}}BC ''Iliberis'' became a [[Colonia (Roman)|Roman colony]] and in 27{{nbsp}}BC it became a Roman ''[[municipium]]'' named ''Florentia Iliberritana'' ('Flourishing Iliberri').<ref name=":5" />{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}}

The identification of present-day Granada with the Roman-era ''Iliberis'' and the historical continuity between the two settlements has long been debated by scholars.<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book |last=García-Arenal |first=Mercedes |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2014 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter= |issn=1873-9830 |quote=During the Roman period, there was a township named Iliberris on the slopes of the Sierra de Elvira, where archaeological remains of Roman, Visigothic, and Arab origin have been found. The existence of a Roman settlement in the same place as Granada—or rather, the identification of Granada with Iliberis—has been a bone of contention among historians of Granada since the 10th century. In the era of the so-called Christian "reconquest" of southern Spain, the notion of such continuity allowed the conquerors to speak of a “restoration” of Christianity in Granada. Some experts argue strongly for continuity between the Roman city and Granada, as against the possibility (supported by the Arabic sources) that Granada was, in fact, a Muslim foundation: archaeological evidence has not been decisive either way. |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Carvajal López |first=José C. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MureDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Medina+Elvira%22&pg=PT526 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Muslim Iberia |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-317-23354-1 |editor-last=Fierro |editor-first=Maribel |pages=490, 505 (see note 18) |language=en |chapter=Material culture |quote=The location of the town of Ilbīra was a burning issue in Granada since the 16th century. The Catholic propaganda after 1492 pushed the identification of Ilbīra with Granada, and also with the Roman municipium Illiberis, where the first Church Council of Iberia took place in the early 4th century. If Granada was indeed Illiberis, the town was associated with one important early Christian centre and the right of the kings of Spain to take it over was providentially justified. However, there were enough mentions in the written sources, not only in Arabic, and even material evidence that suggested that Ilbīra, the first Islamic capital, was located near the village of Atarfe, about 15 kilometres north-west of Granada. The similarity in names suggested that Illiberis had been in Ilbīra and that Granada was a town founded by Muslims, ideas which implicitly supported the notion that Islam was an integral part of Spain rather than merely an enemy against which the nation had been built. After a debate four centuries long, M. Gómez Moreno compiled cases of the material evidence collected around the area of Atarfe by spoilers and even undertook an excavation in 1872 in which he found the mosque of the town, finally proving without any doubt that Ilbīra was located there. [p. 490] (...) See Gómez Moreno, Medina Elvira for the description of the debate and of the different interventions. It is interesting to note that this solves the question of the location of Ilbīra, but not of Illiberis, at least in the time of the Council. Excavations in Granada have uncovered strong evidence that suggests that the Iberian and Roman towns of the same name were located there (e.g. Sotomayor Muro, “¿Donde estuvo Iliberri?”). It seems that at some point in late Antiquity, possibly before the Islamic conquest, the town of Illiberis was moved to the location where it later became Madīna Ilbīrah (e.g. Adroher et al., “Discusión”, pp. 202–206). To a certain extent, the debate still continues. [p. 505, note 18] }}</ref>{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}} Modern archeological digs on the [[Albaicín]] hill have uncovered finds demonstrating the presence of a significant Roman town on that site.{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}} Little is known, however, about the history of the city in the period between the end of the [[Hispania|Roman era]] and the 11th century.{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}} An important Christian [[synod]] circa 300 AD, the [[Synod of Elvira]], took place near this area (the name ''Elvira'' being derived from the name ''Iliberri''), but there is no concrete archeological or documentary evidence establishing the exact location of the meeting. It may have taken place in the former Roman town or it may have taken place somewhere in the surrounding region, which was known as Elvira.{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}}

===Founding and early history===
The [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania]], starting in 711{{nbsp}}AD, brought large parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Moorish control and established [[al-Andalus]]. The earliest Arabic historical sources mention that a town named ''Qashtīliya'', later known as ''Madīnat Ilbīra'' (Elvira), was located on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Elvira mountains (near present-day [[Atarfe]]) and became the most important settlement in the area.<ref name=":2" />{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}} A smaller settlement and fortress (''ḥiṣn'') named ''Ġarnāṭa'' (also transliterated as ''Gharnāṭa)'' existed on the south side of the Darro River or on the site of the current Albaicín neighbourhood. The latter had a mainly [[Jews|Jewish]] population and thus was also known as ''Gharnāṭat al-Yahūd'' ("''Gharnāṭa'' of the Jews").<ref name=":05222" />{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|pp=6–10}} The district around the city was known as ''[[Kura (al-Andalus)#Kūra of Elvira|Kūrat Ilbīra]]'' (roughly "Province of Elvira"). After 743 the town of ''Ilbīra'' was settled by soldiers from the region of [[Syria (region)|Syria]] who played a role in supporting [[Abd al-Rahman I]], the founder of the [[Emirate of Córdoba]] and a new [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad]] dynasty.<ref name=":05222" /> In the late 9th century, during the reign of [[Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi|Abdallah]] (r. 844–912), the city and its surrounding district were the site of conflict between ''[[muwallad]]''s (Muslim converts) who were loyal to the central government and Arabs, led by Sawwār ibn Ḥamdūn, who resented them.<ref name=":05222" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marín Guzmán |first=Roberto |date=1993 |title=Social and Ethnic Tensions in al-Andalus: Cases of Ishbīliyah (Sevilla) 276/889–302/914 and Ilbīrah (Elvira) 276/889–284/897: The Role of 'Umar Ibn Ḥafṣūn |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20840132 |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=279–318 |jstor=20840132 |archive-date=2021-11-13 |access-date=2021-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113003119/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20840132 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the beginning of the 11th century, the area became dominated by the Zirids, a [[Sanhaja]] [[Berbers|Berber]] group and offshoot of the [[Zirid dynasty|Zirids]] who ruled parts of [[North Africa]]. This group became an important contingent in the army of [[Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar|ʿAbd al-Malik al-Muẓaffar]], the prime minister of Caliph [[Hisham II]] (r. 976–1009) and successor to [[Almanzor|Ibn Abi ʿAmir al-Mansur]] (Almanzor) as ''de facto'' ruler of the [[Caliphate of Córdoba]]. For their service, the Zirids were granted control of the province of Elvira.<ref name=":05222" /> When the Caliphate collapsed after 1009 and the [[Fitna of al-Andalus|Fitna (civil war)]] began, the Zirid leader [[Zawi ben Ziri]] established an independent kingdom for himself, the [[Taifa of Granada]]. Arab sources such as [[Muhammad al-Idrisi|al-Idrisi]] consider him to be the founder of the city of Granada.<ref name=":05222" /> His surviving memoirs – the only ones for the Spanish "Middle Ages" – provide considerable detail for this brief period.<ref name=":3">{{cite book |chapter=No hubo una Edad 'Media' española |title=Propuestas teorico-metodológicas para el estudio de la literatura hispanica medieval |editor-first=Lillian |editor-last=von der Walde Moheno |first=Daniel |last=Eisenberg |publisher=Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana |year=2003 |pages=511–520 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/26025401 |isbn=978-9703207770 }}</ref> Because ''Madīnat Ilbīra'' was situated on a low plain and, as a result, difficult to protect from attacks, the ruler decided to transfer his residence to the higher situated area of ''Ġarnāṭa''. According to Arabic sources ''Ilbīra'' was razed during the Fitna, afterwards it was not restored at its previous place and instead ''Ġarnāṭa'', the former Jewish town, replaced it as the main city. In a short time this town was transformed into one of the most important cities of [[al-Andalus]].{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=296}}{{sfn|Dale|1882}} Until the 11th century it had a mixed population of Christians, Muslims, and Jews.<ref name=":24">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |location= |pages= |chapter=Granada |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila }}</ref>
[[File:PuertaMonaita.JPG|thumb|Puerta Monaita, one of the 11th-century Zirid gates in the [[Albaicín|Albaicin]]]]
The Zirids built their citadel and palace, known as the ''al-Qaṣaba al-Qadīma'' ("Old Citadel"), on the hill now occupied by the Albaicín neighborhood.<ref name=":05222" /><ref name=":24" /> It was connected to two smaller fortresses on the Sabika hill (site of the future Alhambra) and Mauror hill to the south.<ref name=":24" /> The city around it grew during the 11th century to include the Albaicín, the Sabika, the Mauror, and a part of the surrounding plains. The city was fortified with walls encompassing an area of approximately 75 [[hectare]]s.<ref name=":05222" /> The northern part of these walls, near the Albaicin citadel, have survived to the present day, along with two of its gates: ''Bāb al-Unaydar'' (now called ''Puerta Monaita'' in Spanish) and ''Bāb al-Ziyāda'' (now known as ''Arco de las Pesas'' or ''Puerta Nueva'').<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":05222" /> The city and its residences were supplied with water through an extensive network of underground [[cistern]]s and pipes.<ref name=":05222" /><ref name=":052232" /> On the Darro River, along the wall connecting the Zirid citadel with the Sabika hill, was a [[Sluice|sluice gate]] called ''Bāb al-Difāf'' ("Gate of the Tambourines"), which could be closed or opened to control the flow of the river and retain water if necessary.{{efn|The gate is known today as the ''Puente del Cadí'' ("Bridge of the [[Qadi]]") or the ''Puerta de los Tableros'' ("Gate of the Boards"), and all that remains of it is one of its hexagonal towers with fragments of its large [[horseshoe arch]]way.{{Sfn|Rėklaitytė|2021|p=443–445}}<ref name=":24" />}}{{Sfn|Rėklaitytė|2021|p=443–445}}{{Sfn|Rodgers|Cavendish|2021|p=21}} The nearby [[El Bañuelo|Bañuelo]], a former [[hammam]] (bathhouse), also likely dates from this time, as does the former [[minaret]] of a [[mosque]] in the Albaicín, now part of the Church of San José.<ref name=":24" />

Under the Zirid kings [[Habbus al-Muzaffar|Habbus ibn Maksan]] and [[Badis ibn Habus|Badis]], the most powerful figure was the Jewish administrator known as [[Samuel ibn Naghrillah|Samuel ha-Nagid]] (in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]) or Isma'il ibn Nagrilla (in Arabic). Samuel was a highly educated member of the former elites of Cordoba, who fled that city after the outbreak of the Fitna. He eventually found his way to Granada, where Habbus ibn Maksan appointed him his secretary in 1020 and entrusted him with many important responsibilities, including tax collection. Under Badis, he even took charge of the army.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Catlos |first=Brian A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKBfDwAAQBAJ&dq=kingdoms+of+faith&pg=PP1 |title=Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain |publisher=Basic Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-0465055876 |location=New York |pages=216–220 }}</ref> During this period, the Muslim king was looked upon as a mainly symbolic figurehead. Granada was the center of Jewish Sephardi culture and scholarship. According to Daniel Eisenberg:

{{blockquote|Granada was in the eleventh century the center of Sephardic civilization at its peak, and from 1027 until 1066 Granada was a powerful Jewish state. Jews did not hold the foreigner ([[dhimmi]]) status typical of Islamic rule. Samuel ibn Nagrilla, recognized by Sephardic Jews everywhere as the quasi-political ha-Nagid ('The Prince'), was king in all but name. As vizier he made policy and—much more unusual—led the army. [...] It is said that Samuel's strengthening and fortification of Granada was what permitted it, later, to survive as the last Islamic state in the Iberian peninsula. All of the greatest figures of eleventh-century Hispano-Jewish culture are associated with Granada. [[Moses Ibn Ezra]] was from Granada; on his invitation [[Judah ha-Levi]] spent several years there as his guest. [[Ibn Gabirol]]’s patrons and hosts were the Jewish [[vizier]]s of Granada, Samuel ha-Nagid and his son Joseph.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/31065236 |first=Daniel |last=Eisenberg |chapter=Judaism, Sephardic |publisher=Garland |year=1990 |title=Encyclopedia of Homosexuality |editor-first=Wayne R. |pages=644–648 |isbn=0824065441 |editor-last=Dynes |archive-date=2023-01-29 |access-date=2018-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129203929/https://www.academia.edu/31065236 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

After Samuel's death, his son Joseph took over after his position but proved to lack his father's diplomacy, bringing on the [[1066 Granada massacre]],<ref name=":4" /> which ended the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2021|reason=Please add citations to support the last part of this sentence. Do most scholars agree that 1066 is the end of this period? If not, please rephrase.}}

From the late 11th century to the early 13th century, Al-Andalus was dominated by two successive North African Berber empires. The [[Almoravids]] ruled Granada from 1090 and the [[Almohad dynasty|Almohads]] from 1166.{{sfn|Hourihane|2012}} Granada also served as an administrative capital of Almoravid rule in al-Andalus.{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=172}} Evidence from the artistic and archeological remains of this period suggest that the city thrived under the Almoravids but declined under the Almohads.<ref name=":24" /> Remnants of the Almohad period in the city include the [[Alcázar Genil]], built in 1218–1219 (but later redecorated under the Nasrids),{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=240–241}} and possibly the former minaret attached to the present-day Church of San Juan de los Reyes in the Albaicin.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Orihuela |first1=Antonio |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsOwCQAAQBAJ&dq=San+Juan+de+los+Reyes+Granada+almohad&pg=PA189 |title=Revisiting al-Andalus: Perspectives on the Material Culture of Islamic Iberia and Beyond |last2=Rosser-Owen |first2=Mariam |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-474-2206-8 |editor-last=Anderson |editor-first=Glaire D. |pages=189 |language=en |chapter=The Andalusi House in Granada: Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries |editor-last2=Rosser-Owen |editor-first2=Mariam }}</ref>{{Efn|This minaret is attributed to the 13th century by most sources,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Barrucand |first1=Marianne |title=Moorish architecture in Andalusia |last2=Bednorz |first2=Achim |publisher=Taschen |year=1992 |isbn=3822876348 |pages=112 }}</ref><ref name=":24" /> but at least some sources, such as the ''Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture'', attribute it to the Nasrid period of this century.<ref name=":24" />}}

===Nasrid Emirate of Granada===
{{Main|Emirate of Granada}}
[[File:CoA Nasrid kings Alhambra Granada Spain.jpg|thumb|Sigil of the [[Nasrid dynasty]] located in the Palacio de Comares]]
In 1228 [[Idris al-Ma'mun]], the last effective [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]] ruler in al-Andalus, left the Iberian Peninsula. As Almohad rule collapsed local leaders and factions emerged across the region. With the ''[[Reconquista]]'' in full swing, the Christian kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] and [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]] – under kings [[Ferdinand III of Castile|Ferdinand III]] and [[James I of Aragon|James I]], respectively – made major conquests across al-Andalus. Castile captured [[Siege of Córdoba (1236)|Cordoba in 1236]] and [[Siege of Seville|Seville in 1248]]. Meanwhile, the ambitious [[Muhammad I of Granada|Ibn al-Ahmar]] (Muhammad I) established what became the last and longest reigning [[Muslim]] dynasty in the Iberian peninsula, the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrids]], who ruled the [[Emirate of Granada]]. On multiple occasions Ibn al-Ahmar aligned himself with Ferdinand III, eventually agreeing to become his vassal in 1246.{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=276}} Granada thereafter became a [[tributary state]] to the Kingdom of Castile, although this was often interrupted by wars between the two states.{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996}}<ref name=":05222" /> The political history of the emirate was turbulent and intertwined with that of its neighbours. The Nasrids sometimes provided refuge or military aid to Castilian kings and noblemen, even against other Muslim states, while in turn the Castilians provided refuge and aid to some Nasrid emirs against other Nasrid rivals. On other occasions the Nasrids attempted to leverage the aid of the North African [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]] to ward off Castile, although Marinid interventions in the Peninsula ended after [[Battle of Río Salado|Battle of Rio Salado]] (1340).{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996}}<ref name=":8">{{cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKpz_2CkoWEC&q=new+islamic+dynasties |title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0748696482 |location= |pages= |chapter=The Nasrids or Banu 'l-Ahmar }}</ref><ref name=":05222" />

The population of the emirate was also swollen by Muslim refugees from the territories newly conquered by Castile and Aragon, resulting in a small yet densely-populated territory which was more uniformly Muslim and Arabic-speaking than before.{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=277}}{{Sfn|Harvey|1990|pp=14–15}} The city itself expanded and new neighbourhoods grew around the Albaicín (named after refugees from [[Baeza, Spain|Baeza]]) and in Antequeruela (named after refugees from [[Antequera]] after 1410).{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=277}} A new set of walls was constructed further north during the 13th–14th centuries, with ''Bab Ilbirah'' (present-day ''Puerta de Elvira'') as its western entrance.<ref name=":05222" /><ref name=":24" /> A major Muslim cemetery existed outside this gate.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=A. Katie |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0ElDwAAQBAJ&dq=albaicin+mosque+church+san+salvador+granada&pg=PA34 |title=Layered Landscapes: Early Modern Religious Space Across Faiths and Cultures |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-317-10720-0 |editor-last=Nelson |editor-first=Eric |pages=34 |language=en |chapter=Sacred landscape in early modern Granada |editor-last2=Wright |editor-first2=Jonathan }}</ref> The city's heart was its Great Mosque (on the site of the present-day [[Granada Cathedral]]) and the commercial district known as the ''qaysariyya'' (the [[Alcaicería of Granada|Alcaicería]]).<ref name=":05222" /><ref name=":24" /> Next to this was the only major [[madrasa]] built in al-Andalus, the ''Madrasa al-Yusufiyya'' (known today as the [[Madrasa of Granada|Palacio de la Madraza]]), founded in 1349.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|pp=151–173}}<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |last=Franco |first=Ángela |title=Madrasa Palace |url=http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;es;Mon01;16;en |access-date=26 November 2020 |website=Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers }}</ref> Other monuments from this era include the ''al-Funduq al-Jadida'' ("New Inn" or [[caravanserai]], now known as the [[Corral del Carbón]]), built in the early 14th century,<ref name="Capt2">{{Cite journal |last1=Capitan-Vallvey |first1=L.F. |last2=Manzano |first2=E. |last3=Medina Florez |first3=V.J. |date=1994 |title=A Study of the Materials in the Mural Paintings at the 'Corral del Carbon' in Granada, Spain |journal=Studies in Conservation |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=87–99 }}</ref> the [[Maristan of Granada|Maristan]] (hospital), built in 1365–1367 and demolished in 1843,<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Qantara – Maristan of Granada/ Foundation Stone/ Fountain heads in the shape of lions |url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1326&lang=en |access-date=13 November 2021 |website=www.qantara-med.org |archive-date=11 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011112622/https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1326&lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> and the main mosque of the Albaicín, dating from the 13th century.{{Efn|This mosque was converted in 1499 into the Church of San Salvador. Only the mosque's ''[[sahn]]'' (courtyard) is preserved in the present-day building.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last1=Dickie |first1=James |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbfORLWv1HkC&dq=albaicin%20mosque%20church%20san%20salvador%20granada&pg=PA101 |title=The Legacy of Muslim Spain |last2=Marín |first2=Manuela |publisher=Brill |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-04-09599-1 |pages=101 |language=en |editor-last=Jayyushi |editor-first=Salma Khadra |chapter=Granada: A Case Study of Arab Urbanism in Muslim Spain }}</ref>}}

When Ibn Al-Ahmar established himself in the city he moved the royal palace from the old Zirid citadel on the Albaicín hill to the Sabika hill, beginning construction on what became the present Alhambra.<ref name=":05222" />{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=151}} The Alhambra acted as a self-contained palace-city, with its own mosque, hammams, fortress, and residential quarters for workers and servants. The most celebrated palaces that survive today, such as the [[Court of the Myrtles|Comares Palace]] and the [[Court of the Lions|Palace of the Lions]], generally date from the reigns of Yusuf{{nbsp}}I (r. 1333–1354) and his son Muhammad{{nbsp}}V (r. 1354–1391, with interruptions).{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|pp=151–173}} Some smaller examples of Nasrid palace architecture in the city have survived in the [[Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo]] (late 13th century) and the [[Dar al-Horra]] (15th century).{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=242–244, 290}}[[File:Granada by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|Map showing the Emirate of Granada by Ottoman cartographer [[Piri Reis]]]]Partly due to the heavy tributary payments to Castile, Granada's economy specialized in the trade of high-value goods.<ref name=":05222" /> Integrated within the European mercantile network, the ports of the kingdom fostered intense trading relations with the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]], but also with the Catalans, and to a lesser extent, with the Venetians, the Florentines, and the Portuguese.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fábregas García |first=Adela |year=2006 |title=La integración del reino nazarí de Granada en el espacio comercial europeo (siglos XIII–XV) |journal=Investigaciones de Historia Económica |language=es |volume=2 |issue=6 |pages=16–17 |doi=10.1016/S1698-6989(06)70266-1 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It provided connections with Muslim and Arab trade centers, particularly for [[gold]] from [[sub-Saharan Africa]] and the [[Maghreb]], and exported [[silk]] and [[dried fruit]]s produced in the area.{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=277}}

Despite its frontier position, Granada was also an important Islamic intellectual and cultural center, especially in the time of Muhammad{{nbsp}}V, with figures such as [[Ibn Khaldun]] and [[Ibn al-Khatib]] serving in the Nasrid court.<ref name=":1" />{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=291}} [[Ibn Battuta]], a famous traveller and historian, visited the Emirate of Granada in 1350. He described it as a powerful and self-sufficient kingdom in its own right, although frequently embroiled in skirmishes with the Kingdom of Castile. In his journal, Ibn Battuta called Granada the "metropolis of Andalusia and the bride of its cities."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/travels-ibn-battuta/journey/al-andalus-and-morocco-1349-1350 |title=On to al-Andalus and Morocco: 1349–1350 {{!}} ORIAS |website=orias.berkeley.edu |language=en |access-date=27 April 2018 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415184020/https://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/travels-ibn-battuta/journey/al-andalus-and-morocco-1349-1350 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== End of Muslim rule and 16th-century changes ===
[[File:La Rendición de Granada - Pradilla.jpg|thumb|''[[The Surrender of Granada]]'' by F. Padilla: [[Muhammad XII of Granada|Muhammad{{nbsp}}XII]] before [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand II]] and [[Isabella I of Castile|Isabella I]] (circa 1882)]]
On 2 January 1492, the last Muslim ruler in Iberia, Emir [[Muhammad XII of Granada|Muhammad XII]], known as "Boabdil" to the Spanish, surrendered complete control of the [[Emirate of Granada]] to the [[Catholic Monarchs]] ([[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and [[Isabella I of Castile]]), after the last episode of the [[Granada War]].

The 1492 capitulation of the Kingdom of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs is one of the most significant events in Granada's history. It brought the demise of the last Muslim-controlled polity in the Iberian Peninsula. The terms of the surrender, outlined in the [[Treaty of Granada (1491)|Treaty of Granada]] at the end of 1491, explicitly allowed the Muslim inhabitants, known as ''[[mudéjar]]es'', to continue unmolested in the practice of their faith and customs. This had been a traditional practice during Castilian (and [[Crown of Aragon|Aragonese]]) conquests of Muslim cities since the takeover of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in the 11th century.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=36}} The terms of the surrender pressured Jewish inhabitants to convert or leave within three years,{{Sfn|Harvey|1990|p=321}} but this provision was quickly superseded by the [[Alhambra Decree]], issued only a few months later on 31 March, which instead forced all Jews in Spain to convert or be expelled within four months.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=38}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Callaghan |first=Joseph F. |title=The Last Crusade in the West: Castile and the Conquest of Granada |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0812245875 |pages=244 }}</ref> Those who converted became known as ''[[converso]]s'' (converts). This move, along with the progressive erosion of other guarantees provided by the surrender treaty, raised tensions and fears within the remaining Muslim community during the 1490s.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|pp=37–38}} Many of the city's affluent Muslims and its traditional ruling classes emigrated to North Africa in the early years after the conquest, but these early emigrants numbered only a few thousand, with the rest of the population unable to afford leaving.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=38}}{{efn|Boabdil, for example, exiled from [[Adra, Spain|Adra]] to [[Cazaza]] to establish in [[Fes]].}}

By 1499, Cardinal [[Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros]] grew frustrated with the slow pace of the efforts of the first [[Archbishopric of Granada|archbishop of Granada]], [[Hernando de Talavera]], to convert non-Christians and undertook a program of forced [[baptism]]s, creating the ''converso'' class for Muslims and Jews. Cisneros's new strategy, which was a direct violation of the terms of the treaty, provoked the [[Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1499–1501)|Rebellion of the Alpujarras]] (1499–1501) centered in the rural [[Alpujarras]] region southeast of the city. The rebellion lasted until 1500 in Granada and continued until 1501 in the Alpujarras.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=43}} Responding to the rebellion of 1501, the [[Crown of Castile]] rescinded the Treaty of Granada,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Henry Charles |title=The Moriscos of Spain; their conversion and expulsion |date=1901 |publisher=Lea Brothers and Company |location=Philadelphia |page=35 |url=https://archive.org/details/moriscosspainth01leagoog/page/n54/mode/2up }}</ref> and mandated that Granada's Muslims convert or emigrate. Many of the remaining Muslim elites subsequently emigrated to North Africa. The majority of the Granada's ''mudéjares'' converted (becoming the so-called ''[[morisco]]s'' or Moorish) so that they could stay. Both populations of converts were subject to persecution, execution, or exile, and each had cells that practiced their original religion in secrecy (the so-called ''[[marranos]]'' in the case of the ''conversos'' accused of the charge of [[crypto-Judaism]]).

[[File:Braun Granada HAAB.jpg|thumb|right|16th-century view of the city, as depicted in [[Georg Braun]]'s ''Civitates orbis terrarum'']]
Over the course of the 16th century, Granada took on an ever more Catholic and Castilian character, as immigrants arrived from other regions of Castile, lured by the promise of economic opportunities in the newly conquered city.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=15}} At the time of the city's surrender in 1492 it had a population of 50,000 which included only a handful of Christians (mostly captives), but by 1561 (the year of the first royal [[census]] of the city) the population was composed of over 30,000 Christian immigrants and approximately 15,000 ''moriscos''.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=15}} After 1492 the city's first churches had been installed in some converted mosques.{{Efn|One early example is the conversion of the "Almoravid Mosque" (''Masjid al-Murabitun'') into the Church of San José in 1494, with the mosque's former minaret preserved today as the church's bell tower.<ref name=":6" />}} The vast majority of the city's remaining mosques were subsequently converted into churches during and after the mass conversions of 1500.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=96-97}} In 1531, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] founded the [[University of Granada]] on the site of the former madrasa built by Yusuf I.<ref name=":5" />

Granada's Town Council did not fully establish until almost nine years after the Castilian conquest,{{Sfn|Peinado Santaella|2013|p=213}} upon the concession of the so-called 'Constitutive Charter' of the Ayuntamiento of Granada on 23 September 1500.{{Sfn|Peinado Santaella|2013|p=221}} From then on, the municipal institution became a crucible for the "[[Old Christian]]" and the converted ''morisco'' elites, resulting in strong factionalism, particularly after 1508.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=La oligarquía municipal de Granada en los albores del dominio castellano |first=Rafael Gerardo |last=Peinado Santaella |journal=Edad Media: Revista de Historia |issn=1138-9621 |issue=14 |year=2013 |pages=213–214 |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/4203903.pdf }}</ref> The new period also saw the creation of a number of other new institutions such as the Cathedral Cabildo, the {{ill|Captaincy–General of Granada|es|Capitanía General de Granada|lt=Captaincy–General}}, the Royal Chapel and the [[Royal Chancellery of Granada|Royal Chancellery]].{{Sfn|Peinado Santaella|2013|p=214}} For the rest of the 16th century the Granadan ruling oligarchy featured roughly a 40% of (Jewish) ''conversos'' and about a 31% of ''[[Hidalgo (nobility)|hidalgo]]s''.{{Sfn|Peinado Santaella|2013|p=215}} From the 1520s onward, the mosque structures themselves began to be replaced with new church buildings, a process which continued for most of the century.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|pp=96–97}} In December 1568, during a period of renewed persecution against ''moriscos'', the [[Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–1571)|Second Morisco Rebellion]] broke out in the Alpujarras.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|p=7-8}} Although the city's ''morisco'' population played little role in the rebellion, King [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] ordered the expulsion of the vast majority of the ''morisco'' population from the [[Kingdom of Granada (Crown of Castile)|Kingdom of Granada]], with the exception of those artisans and professionals judged essential to the economy. The expelled population was redistributed to other cities throughout the Crown of Castile. The [[Expulsion of the Moriscos|final expulsion]] of all ''moriscos'' from Castile and Aragon was carried out between 1609 and 1614.{{Sfn|Coleman|2013|pp=7–8}}

=== Later history and present day ===
{{Expand section|date=February 2022}}[[File:Plataforma de Vico grabada por Francisco Heylan unida.jpg|thumb|right|Early 17th-century map of Granada]]
During the 17th century, despite the importance of immigration,<ref>{{Cite journal |title=El reino de Granada en el siglo XVII. Repoblación e inmigración |first=Juan |last=García Latorre |journal=Chronica Nova: Revista de Historia Moderna de la Universidad de Granada |issn=0210-9611 |issue=19 |year=1991 |page=154 |url=https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/cnova/article/view/2761/2879 |archive-date=2020-08-20 |access-date=2020-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820072356/https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/cnova/article/view/2761/2879 |url-status=live }}</ref> the population of the city stagnated at about 55,000, contrary to the trend of population increase experienced in the rural areas of the [[Kingdom of Granada (Crown of Castile)|Kingdom of Granada]],<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.cepedrosuarez.es/docs/boletines/B19_2006_02_GARRIDO.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630195217/http://cepedrosuarez.es/docs/boletines/B19_2006_02_GARRIDO.pdf |archive-date=30 June 2016 |url-status=live |page=61 |title=Evolución sociodemográfica del Reino de Granada en el siglo XVII: el caso de la parroquia de Santa Ana de Guadix |first=Carlos Javier |last=Garrido García |journal=Boletín del Centro de Estudios Pedro Suárez: Estudios Sobre las Comarcas de Guadix, Baza y Huéscar |issn=1887-1747 |issue=19 |year=2006 }}</ref> where the hammer of depopulation caused by the expulsion of the ''moriscos'' had taken a far greater toll in the previous century. The 17th-century demographic stagnation in the city and overall steady population increase in the wider kingdom went in line with the demographic disaster experienced throughout the century in the rest of the Crown of Castile.{{Sfn|Garrido García|2006|pp=60–61}} The city was overshadowed in importance by other cities including [[Seville]] and the capital, [[Madrid]].{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=298}}

Between 1810 and 1812 Granada was occupied by [[Napoleon]]'s army during the [[Peninsular War]].{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=298}} The French troops occupied the Alhambra as a fortified position and caused significant damage to the monument. Upon evacuating the city, they attempted to dynamite the whole complex, successfully blowing up eight towers before the remaining fuses were disabled by Spanish soldier José Garcia, thus saving what remains today.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=301}} In 1830 [[Washington Irving]] lived in Granada and wrote his ''[[Tales of the Alhambra]]'', which revived some international interest in southern Spain and in its Islamic-era monuments.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=299}}

In the 1930s the tensions that eventually divided Spain were evident in Granada, with frequent riots and friction between landowners and peasants. When the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out in 1936, Granada was one of the cities that joined the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] uprising.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=298–299}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spanish Civil War {{!}} Definition, Causes, Summary, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-Civil-War |access-date=14 November 2021 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=14 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114223227/https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-Civil-War |url-status=live }}</ref> There was local resistance against the Nationalists, particularly from the working classes in the Albaicín, which was violently repressed.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=299}} During the 1950s and 1960s, under the [[Francoist Spain|Franco regime]], the province of Granada was one of the poorest areas in Spain.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=299}} In recent decades tourism has become a major industry in the city.{{sfn|RingSalkinLa Boda|1995|p=299}}