[1] After being decisively defeated by a Christian coalition at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, Almohad control over al-Andalus entered terminal decline.

Ibn Hud began a rebellion in May 1228, quickly winning popular support and defeating the governors of Murcia and Valencia.

Meanwhile, the Almohad caliph Idris al-Ma'mun was forced to depart Seville with his remaining soldiers to defeat his nephew and rival Yahya in Marrakesh, allowing Ibn Hud to seize most of al-Andalus relatively unopposed,[2] except Valencia, where he was opposed by Zayyan ibn Mardanish.

Seeking to legitimise his rule, Ibn Hud pledged allegiance to the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad and took the titles of Amir al-Mu'minin and al-Mutawwakil ('he who relies [on God]').

Ibn Hud was assassinated in January 1238 at the gates of Almería and was buried in Murcia.