Some thirty to fifty independent Muslim principalities (taifas) that emerged in Iberia from the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba between 1009 and 1031, ruled by hajibs who avoided the title of caliph while their courts flourished as centers of poetry and scholarship.
Progressively conquered by the Almoravid dynasty from 1086 following the taifas' appeal for help against Alfonso VI of Castile-León; a second wave of taifas re-emerged after the Almoravid collapse and were absorbed in turn by the Almohads, with the last, the Emirate of Granada, surviving to 1492.
Accessible cultural history of Islamic Iberia including the taifa era's celebrated courts of poetry and scholarship.
Scholarly account of the Christian-Muslim military and political dynamic in Iberia, including the taifas' tribute payments to and wars with Alfonso VI.