Provokasi dan tindak balas

The truce of 1478 was still theoretically in effect when Granada launched a surprise attack against Zahara in December 1481, as part of a reprisal for a Christian raid.[5] The town fell, and the population was enslaved. This attack proved to be a great provocation, and factions in favor of war in Andalusia used it to rally support for a counterstrike, quickly moving to take credit for it, and backed a wider war. The seizure of Alhama and its subsequent royal endorsement is usually said to be the formal beginning of the Granada War.[5] Abu Hasan attempted to retake Alhama by siege in March, but was unsuccessful. Reinforcements from the rest of Castile and Aragon averted the possibility of retaking Alhama in April 1482; King Ferdinand himself formally took command at Alhama on May 14, 1482.

The Christians next tried to besiege Loja, but failed to take the town. This setback was balanced by a twist that would prove to aid them greatly: on the same day as Loja was relieved, Abu Hasan's son, Abu Abdallah or Boabdil, rebelled and styled himself Emir Muhammad XII.[6] The war continued into 1483. Abu Hasan's brother, al-Zagal, defeated a large Christian raiding force in the hills of the Axarquia east of Málaga. However, at Lucena the Christians were able to defeat and capture King Boabdil. Ferdinand II and Isabella I had previously not been intent on conquering all of Granada. With the capture of King Boabdil, however, Ferdinand decided to use him to conquer Granada entirely. In a letter of August 1483, Ferdinand wrote "To put Granada in division and destroy it We have decided to free him.... He [Boabdil] has to make war on his father."[6] With Boabdil's release, now as a pseudo-Christian ally, the Granadan civil war would continue. A Granadan chronicler commented that Boabdil's capture was "the cause of the fatherland's destruction."[6]

In 1485, the fortunes of the Granadan internal conflict shifted yet again. Boabdil was expelled from the Albayzín, his base of power, by Hasan's brother al-Zagal. Al-Zagal also took command of the nation itself, dethroning his aging brother, who died shortly thereafter.[7] Boabdil was obliged to flee to Ferdinand and Isabella's protection. The continuing division within the Muslim ranks and the cunning of the Marquis of Cádiz allowed the western reaches of Granada to be seized with unusual speed in 1485. Ronda fell to him after a mere fifteen days, thanks to his negotiations with the city's leaders. Ronda's fall allowed Marbella, a base of the Granadan fleet, to come into Christian hands next.[7]

Tidak lama kemudian Boabdil dibebaskan daripada perlindungan Kristian untuk menyambung tugas beliau memerintah Granada. Untuk tiga tahun seterusnya, beliau bertindak sebagai de facto vassal di bawahh Ferdinand dan Isabella.[7] Beliau dijanjikan kemerdekaan terhad untuk Granada dan perdamaian dengan penduduk Kristian; daripada Monarki Katolik, beliau memegang gelaran Duke untuk mana-mana kota yang beliau boleh mengawal.[8]

Pengepungan Málaga

Málaga, merupakan pelabuhan utama bagi Granada, dan merupakan objektif utama bagi tentera Castile pada tahun 1487. Tindakan perlahan Emir al-Zagal dalam mengerakkan cubaan untuk melepaskan kepungan dan tidak mampu untuk menyerang tentera Kristian kerana perang saudara yang masih berlangsung; meskipun selepas beliau meninggalkan kota bagi membantu Málaga, beliau dipaksa meninggalkan tentera beliau di Alhambra untuk menentang Boabdil dan pengikut beliau.[8]

Kota utama yang pertama diserang, Vélez-Málaga, ditawan pada 27 April 1487, dengan sokongan pasukan Boabdil yang secara terus membantu tentera pengepung Kristian.[8] Málaga bertahan semasa pengepungan yang berlangsung daripada 7 Mei 1487 sehingga 18 Ogos 1487; komandernya lebih mati daripada menyerad diri, tentera Afrika dan tentera upahan Kristian (yang telah memeluk agama Islam) memberi tentangan hebat, gusar akan akibat sekiranya kalah. Menjelang penghujungnya, para bangsawan di Málaga akhirnya menawarkan penyerahan diri, tetapi tidak diterima oleh Ferdindad, di sebabkan terma-terma yang baik telah ditawarkan sebanyak dua kali.[9] Apabila kota ini ditawan, Ferdinand menghukum hampir kesemua penduduknya di sebabkan kedegilan mereka dengan menjadikan mereka sebagai hamba, sementara askar-askar upahan dibakar hidup-hidup atau ditikam. Walaubagaimanapun, Yahudi MAlaga terselamat kerana Yahudi Castile telah membayar tebusan bagi menyelamatkan mereka daripada perhambaan.[8]

Sejarawan William Prescott menganggap kejatuhan Málaga merupakan peristiwa terpenting dalam perang ini; sebagai pelabuhan utama Granada, Granada tidak mampu terus berdiri sebagai sebuah negeri berdaulat tanpanya.[10]

Pengepungan Baza

Al-Zagal kehilangan prestijnya ekoran kejatuhan Málaga, dan Boabdil mengambil alih keseluruhan kota Granada pada tahun 1487; beliau juga mengawal kawasan timur laut negara iaitu Vélez-Rubio, Vélez-Blanco, dan Vera. Al-Zagal masih lagi menguasai Baza, Guadix, dan Almería. Boabdil tidak mengambil tindakan meskipun tentera Kristian merampas beberapa tanah jajahan beliau, mungkin menganggap ia akan dipulangkan semula kepada beliau tidak lama kemudian.[8]

Pada tahun 1489, tentera Kristian mula membuat kepungan panjang yang menyakitkan ke atas Baza, kubu paling penting yang masih dikuasai oleh al-Zagal. Baza memiliki pertahanan yang kukuh yang mana menyebabkan tentera Kristian memecahkan pasukan tentera mereka, dan artileri tidak banyak digunakan ke atasnya. Penyediaan bekalan kepada tentera ini menyebabkan kekurangan dana yang besar kepada Castile. Ancaman sekali sekala perlu bagi memastikan kehadiran tentera di medan tempur, dan Isabella datang sendiri ke kawasan pengepungan bagi mengekalkan moral kepada bangsawan dan tentera. Selepas enam bulan, al-Zagal menyerah diri, meskipun perbatasan beliau masih kukuh dan tidak diancam; beliau percaya bahawa tentera Kristian serius untuk mengekalkan kepungan selama yang mungkin, dan tentangan lanjut adalah sia-sia tanpa bantuan, yang mana tiada tanda-tanda akan tiba.[8][11] Baza telah diberi terma-terma penyerahan yang sangat baik, tidak seperti Málaga.

Tentengan terakhir di Granada

With the fall of Baza and the capture of al-Zagal in 1490, it seemed as if the war was over. Ferdinand and Isabella certainly thought this was the case. However, Boabdil was unhappy with the rewards for his alliance with Ferdinand and Isabella, possibly because lands that had been promised to him were being administered by Castile. He broke off his vassalage and rebelled against the Catholic Monarchs, despite holding only the city of Granada and the Alpujarras Mountains.[12] It was clear that such a position was untenable in the long term, so Boabdil sent out desperate requests for external aid. The Sultan of Egypt mildly rebuked Ferdinand for the Granada War, but the Mamluks that ruled Egypt were in a near constant war with the Ottoman Turks. As Castile and Aragon were fellow enemies of the Turks, the Sultan had no desire to break their alliance against the Turks. Boabdil also requested aid from the Kingdom of Fez (modern Morocco), but no reply is recorded by history.[13] North Africa continued to sell Castile wheat throughout the war and valued maintaining good trade relations. In any case, the Granadans no longer controlled any coastline from where to receive overseas aid. No help would be forthcoming for Granada.[13]

An eight-month siege of Granada began in April 1491. The situation for the defenders grew progressively dire, as their forces for interfering with the siege dwindled and advisers schemed against each other. Bribery of important officials was rampant, and at least one of the chief advisers to Boabdil seems to have been working for Castile the entire time.[13] After the Battle of Granada a provisional surrender, the Treaty of Granada, was signed on November 25, 1491, which granted two months to the city.[14] The reason for the long delay was not so much intransigence on either side, but rather the inability of the Granadan government to coordinate amongst itself in the midst of the disorder and tumult that gripped the city. After the terms, which proved rather generous to the Muslims, were negotiated, the city capitulated on January 2, 1492. The besieging Christians sneaked troops into the Alhambra that day in case resistance materialized, which it did not.[15] Granada's resistance had come to its end.