Al Walid the Sixth, of Umeyyah, 705 to 715,
who through his generals, Tarik Ibn Zeyyad and Musa Ibn
Nosseyr and their armies invaded, conquered and occupied Spain,
is the earliest ruler we read of as a chess player after its first
great friend and patron Chosroes, but it is pretty certain that
Justinian, who died in 565, and was contemporary with Chosroes,
was also an exponent and supporter of the game.
Of the one hundred and sixty monarchs who ruled the East
Africa and Spain from the days of Bekr, Omar, and the Prophet to
the downfall of Moorish ascendancy in the middle of the
Thirteenth century, we read of several who emulated the tastes
of their most famous predecessors, and the Rahmans, Mansur and
An Nassirs vied with Harun and Al Mamum in their patronage
and encouragement of all sorts of learning arts and sciences.
Of the powerful Abbasside dynasty which lasted from 749 to 1258,
there were 37 Caliphs whose chess doings and sayings alone
would, it is said fill a good-sized volume.
NOTE. In addition to the 37 of Abbas and 14 of Umeyyah 664 to 749,
there were 17 of Beni Umeyyah 755 to 1030, there were 14 Fatimites,
893 to 1169, 5 Almmoravides (exclusive of Abdullah, the founder),
the Mahdi, 1059 to 1145, 13 Almohades, 1130 to 1269, and 8 Sultans
of Almowat, 1095 to 1256.
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