Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar

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Yahya IV or Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar (Template:Langx) was an Idrisid ruler, ruling in Fes from 905 to 922. For the last three years of his reign, he acknowledged the overlordship of the Fatimid Caliphate, until he was deposed by the Fatimid general Masala ibn Habus. He died in exile at the Fatimid capital of al-Mahdiya in 946.

Life

Yahya IV was the great-grandson of the second Idrisid emir, Idris II, (Template:Reign) by a junior line of the Idrisid dynasty.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His uncle Ali ibn Umar had already briefly ruled from the Idrisid capital of Fes in the late 860s, before being driven off by a Kharijite rebellion.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Yahya IV made Meknes, to the southwest of Fes, his base.Template:Sfn

In traditional accounts, Ali is held to have been succeeded by his cousin Yahya III ibn al-Qasim, who in turn was killed in battle in 905 against Yahya IV's forces.Template:Sfn In reality, Yahya III likely did not long rule in Fes and southern Morocco, where members of a third branch of the dynasty, the descendants of Isa ibn Idris II, held sway until c. Template:Trim. Yahya IV's family apparently supplanted them, and from 905, according to much later sources, Yahya IV ruled in Fes.Template:Sfn The northern parts of Morocco remained under the rule of Yahya III's descendants.Template:Sfn

It was during Yahya IV's reign that the Fatimid Caliphate appeared in Morocco, soon after its establishment in 909. The Berber Fatimid general Masala ibn Habus invaded Morocco, defeated Yahya IV in 919 (or 917), and forced the latter to accept Fatimid suzerainty.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Three years later (922 or 919/20, accordingly), Masala returned and deposed Yahya IV outright, taking him prisoner and installing a Berber governor under the overall rule of Masala's cousin, Musa ibn Abi'l-Afiya.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Musa had Yahya tortured to make him reveal the location of is treasures, before sending him to exile in Asilah.Template:Sfn There he remained until 943, when he was sent to the Fatimid capital, al-Mahdiya. Yahya died there three years later.Template:Sfn

Fes remained in Fatimid hands until 922 or 928 (the medieval sources differ), when al-Hasan al-Hajjam, a nephew of Yahya III , led a revolt and briefly drove the Fatimids out.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Sources

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