Mohammad Abu Abdallah Ben Hudzail al Sahuir

Who was Mohammad Abu Abdallah Ben Hudzail al Sahuir?

Mohammad Abu Abdallah Ben Hudzäil al Sähuir, popularly known as Al-Azraq الأزرق, was an Arab Moorish commander in the Iberian Peninsula in the south of the Kingdom of Valencia.

He was son of a Muslim father, Hudzäil al Sähuir and of a Christian mother. As a vassal in the Christian kingdom he spent long seasons in the courts of Aragon, Valencia and Granada, on friendly terms with the kings of Aragon and of Castile.

After the conquest of the Kingdom of Valencia by James I of Aragon, Al-Azraq signed the Al-Azraq Treaty of 1245, a pact with the Aragonese king by which the Muslim commander could keep control of a series of fortifications including Polop in the valleys of Alcalá and Gallinera. Despite the treaty, Al-Azraq led uprisings in 1248 and 1258, when he made an attempt on the life of James I but was defeated.

In 1276 he met his death while besieging Alcoy, at the hands of a Christian native from Játiva.