Ismail II of Granada

Abu al-Walid Ismail II ibn Yusuf (أبو الوليد إسماعيل بن يوسف, 4 October 1339 – 24 June or 13 July 1360) was the ninth Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula.

[1] Through a combination of diplomatic and military manoeuvres, the emirate succeeded in maintaining its independence, despite being located between two larger neighbours: the Christian Crown of Castile to the north and the Muslim Marinid Sultanate in Morocco.

[4] Muhammad IV allied himself with the Marinid Sultanate against Castile, and Ismail's father, Yusuf I, continued this diplomatic policy early in his reign.

[10] The Nasrid dynasty did not have a predetermined order of succession;[11] initially, Yusuf designated Ismail as his heir, but, a few days before his death, he named Muhammad instead.

[14][8] Muhammad continued the policy of peace with all neighbours, and had good relations with both Abu Salim of the Marinids (r. 1359–1361) and Peter I of Castile.

[13] Ismail came to the throne on 23 August 1359 (28 Ramadan 760) in a coup masterminded and financed by his mother Maryam and supported by his father's cousin Abu Abdullah Muhammad—called el Bermejo, "the Red-haired"[16][13]—who was also his brother-in-law, as he had married one of his full sisters several years before.

[8] Under cover of the night in the holy month of Ramadan, one hundred men scaled the Alhambra's walls and overwhelmed the guards.

[8] However, soon much actual power was held by his brother-in-law el Bermejo,[14] who as high-ranking royalty was customarily titled al-rais (arráez).

However, the dethroned sultan failed to gain the loyalty of the eastern port of Almería or to secure help from his ally Peter I of Castile.

In response, Peter IV of Aragon sent Granadan knights in his service to Granada in an attempt to destabilise Ismail's reign.

[8] Ibn al-Khatib, one of the main historical sources on Granada in this period, wrote in his al-Lamha al-Badriyya that Ismail—whom he nicknamed al-Mutawattib ("the Usurper")[23]—was a weak, lazy, and effeminate ruler, who braided his hair with silk to below his waist and lacked any personal quality.

[18][24] Historian L. P. Harvey commented that this negative portrayal might have been biased by Ibn al-Khatib's allegiance to Muhammad V.[18] In any event, el Bermejo increasingly held the real power, to the extent that Ismail began to oppose his brother-in-law.

The next day, the bodies of Ismail and Qays were recovered and they were buried in the rawda (royal cemetery) of the Alhambra, next to their father Yusuf I.