After the start in 399H of the fitna, or civil war, the mint of Fas continues to strike coins in the name of the various rulers attempting to rule what was left of the caliphate of Cordoba. The recognition of the ruler of turn isWith name Mansur (?) obviously nominal as the caliphate as an institution was never to be re-established in al-Andalus, let alone in North Africa. The easy benefit of historical hindsight we now have was not available to those in al-Andalus contemporary to these dramatic events. Many in al-Andalus, at least in the first decades, thought quite possible the reestablishment of the caliphate and hedged their political bets accordingly. Some of the rulers of the Maghrib must have thought the same and in particular the ruler of in Fas al-Mu’izz ibn Ziri (396- 417 H.). Just about all the early rulers of Cordoba were at one point nominally recognized by him, as can be seen in Prieto (n. 128-133) and in the Taifa Supplement ( n. 72-76). So close was the watch over the events in Cordoba that even the very brief rebellion in 399H of Hisham ibn Sulayman, al-Rashid bi-Allah, has a singular coin struck in Fas (Taifa Supplement n.72). This particular Hisham would be rapidly assassinated by Muhammad al- Mahdi and just never got the chance or time to strike his own coins.

This perception of a possible restoration of the Cordoba Caliphate must have drastically changed by the time of the accession in 417H to the rule of Fas of Mu’izz’s cousin Hamama ibn al- Mu’izz ibn ‘Atiya (417-424 & 429- 431 H.) Hamama’s few known coins make no mention of any nominal overlord, Umayyad or otherwise.

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