Muhammad III of Granada, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetMuhammad III of Granada
third Nasrid Sultan of Granada
Date of Birth: 15-Aug-1257
Place of Birth: Granada, Andalusia, Spain
Date of Death: 07-Apr-1314
Profession: monarch
Zodiac Sign: Leo 
About Muhammad III of Granada
- Muhammad III (16 August 1257 – 21 January 1314) was the ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula from 8 April 1302 until 14 March 1309, and a member of the Nasrid dynasty.
- He ascended the Granadan sultan's throne after the death of his father Muhammad II, which according to rumours was caused by Muhammad III poisoning him.
- He had the reputation of being both cultured and cruel.
- Later in his life, he became visually handicapped, which caused him to be absent from many government activities and rely on high officials, especially the powerful Vizier Ibn al-Hakim al-Rundi. Muhammad III inherited an on-going war against Castile.
- He was able to build upon his father's recent military success and expand Granada's territory further when he captured Bedmar in 1303.
- He negotiated a treaty with Castile the following year, in which Granada's conquests were recognised in return for Muhammad making an oath of fealty to the King of Castille, Ferdinand IV, paying him tribute.
- Muhammad sought to extend his rule to Ceuta, North Africa.
- To achieve this, he first encouraged the city to rebel against its Marinid rulers in 1304, and then, two years later, he invaded and conquered the city himself.
- Consequently, Granada controlled both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar.
- This alarmed Granada's three larger neighbours, Castile, the Marinids, and Aragon, who by the end of 1308 had formed a coalition against Granada.
- The three powers were in the midst of preparing for an all-out war against Granada when Muhammad III was deposed in a palace coup.
- His foreign policy was increasingly unpopular among his nobility, and Vizer al-Hakim—due to Muhammad's near-blindness by now the power behind the throne—was universally distrusted.
- Muhammad was replaced by his half-brother Nasr on 14 March 1309.
- Muhammad was allowed to live in Almuñécar, but—following an attempt by his followers to overthrow Nasr—was executed five years later. In contrast to the long reigns of his father and grandfather, Muhammad I, Muhammad III's reign was notably short; he was later known by the epithet al-Makhlu' ("the Deposed").
- He was responsible for the construction of the Great Mosque of the Alhambra (later destroyed by Philip II in the sixteenth century), a nearby public bathhouse—the income from which paid for the mosque—and the Partal Palace.
- He is known to have had a sense of humour and to have favoured poetry and literature.
- He composed his own poems, two of which survive today in Ibn al-Khatib's work Al-Lamha.
Read more at Wikipedia