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Uthman ibn Naissa


Uthman ibn Naissa, better known as Munuza, was a Berber governor depicted in different contradictory chronicles during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania.

One account says that he was the governor of Gijón (or possibly León) after Musa ibn Nusayr raided northwestern Iberia (including the region of Asturias but not Cantabria in modern Spain) during the first decade of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the early 8th century. He was subject to the Wāli of Al-Andalus, Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi. According to late 9th century Asturian chronicles, he was defeated after the Battle of Covadonga and killed by Pelayo of Asturias at the beginning of the Reconquista.

Tradition (late Asturian chronicles) has it that he fell in love with Pelayo's sister, Ormesinda, and that, together with Kazim, kidnapped and married her. The chronicle of Alfonso III speaks of a "compulsory marriage", the failure of which compelled Pelayo into rebellion. The historical context can only be speculated, but Pelayo may have tried to secure alliances and a preferential status among the local nobles through the marriage of his sister to the new power in the area, as the Asturian kings would later do with Basques in Pamplona and all of the Christian families did with the Caliphate in Córdoba. It may also have served as a counterweight to Peter of Cantabria and represented nominal submission.

After the loss of a Muslim garrison out on a punitive expedition, Munuza may have taken undisputed control of the Asturian coastal region, but kept court in the western districts closer to dominated and occupied Galicia. Having been defeated in his bid to secure the region of León, he may have fled from Gijón, but Christian chronicles reported he was killed with all his soldiers in Trubia or La Felguera.


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