Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo

Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi (983 – 4 March 1009), nicknamed Sanchol ('little Sancho', Sanchuelo to later historians), was the ʿĀmirid hajib (chief minister) of the Caliphate of Córdoba under Caliph Hisham II from October 1008, at a time when actual power in the caliphate was vested in the hajib. The Caliph nominated him as heir a month later, but he was deposed by a coup the following February. He was killed some weeks later during a vain attempt to regain power. Though an unpopular and highly flawed leader, his deposition led to the disintegration of the caliphate.

Youth

Sanchuelo was born in Córdoba, the son of the hajib Almanzor and a converted Christian named Abda. She was a daughter of Sancho II of Pamplona, likely originally named Urraca or Sancha. He was nicknamed Sanchol (Arabic: شنجول, romanized: šanjūl), the diminutive of Sancho, after his Christian grandfather. His father had elevated the role of hajib, once an advisory role, to become the de facto leader of the Córdoba caliphate, setting up his own court, taking charge of the armies and sequestering Caliph Hisham II from the public in near-captivity. Sanchuelo would have been raised at his father's residence of az-Zahira on the outskirts of Córdoba. At the age of about nine in September 992 he rode out to receive the visit of his grandfather Sancho II, and escort him along the troop-lined road to his father at the az-Zahira court.