emirate · Iberia

Taifa of Alpuente

1009 CE – 1106 CE (approx.) · capital Alpuente

One of the smallest taifas of al-Andalus, a family-ruled mountain lordship in the hills north-west of Valencia that outlasted many larger rivals.

Origins

Around 1009, as caliphal authority collapsed, the Banu Qasim, a family of uncertain origin settled in the Valencian uplands, made the fortress town of Alpuente the centre of their own principality under Abd Allah ibn Qasim, who took the honorific Yumn al-Dawla.

Rule and society

The state covered little more than a cluster of castles and valleys in the Serranía, living from herding, dry farming and control of routes between Valencia and Aragon. Its survival depended on its remoteness and on careful diplomacy with Toledo, Valencia and Zaragoza. Few details of its internal life are recorded.

Decline and legacy

The Almoravids, who unified al-Andalus after 1090, absorbed Alpuente around 1106. The town later passed under Almohad rule and was taken by the Crown of Aragon in the 13th century.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Caliphate of Córdoba 929 CE – 1031 CETaifa of Alpuente

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Taifa of Alpuente. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taifa-of-alpuente
MLA
“Taifa of Alpuente.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taifa-of-alpuente. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Taifa of Alpuente.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taifa-of-alpuente.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Taifa of Alpuente’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taifa-of-alpuente (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻