Muhammad XII of Granada

Abu Abdallah Muhammad XII (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد الثاني عشر, romanized: Abū ʿAbdi-llāh Muḥammad ath-thānī ʿashar; c. 1460–1533), known in Europe as Boabdil, was the 22nd and last Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Iberia.

Muhammad XII was the son of Abu l-Hasan Ali, Sultan of the Emirate of Granada whom he succeeded in 1482, as a result of both court intrigue and unrest amongst the population at large.

Muhammad XII soon sought to gain prestige by invading Castile, but was taken prisoner at Lucena in 1483. Muhammad's father was then restored as ruler of Granada, to be replaced in 1485 by his uncle Muhammad XIII, also known as Abdullah ez Zagal.

Muhammad obtained his freedom and Christian support to recover his throne in 1487, by consenting to hold Granada as a tributary kingdom under the Catholic monarchs. He further undertook not to intervene in the Siege of Málaga, in which Málaga was taken by the Christians.

Following the fall of Málaga and Baza in 1487, Almuñécar, Salobreña and Almería were taken by the Christians the following year. By the beginning of 1491, Granada was the only Muslim-governed city in Iberia.

In 1491, Muhammad XII was summoned by Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon to surrender the city of Granada, which was besieged by the Castilians. Eventually, on 2 January 1492, Granada was surrendered. The royal procession moved from Santa Fe to a place a little more than a mile from Granada, where Ferdinand took up his position by the banks of the Genil. A later account of the capitulation is recorded by Gabriel Rodríguez de Ardila, saying:

The Moorish King arrived where King Ferdinand was, and approaching him, he removed his turban and dismounted his horse as was agreed. He told King Ferdinand not to dismount. He approached him and kissed his arm, giving him two keys to the main gates of the Alhambra, and said to him in his own language: "God loves you very much; these, my lord, are the keys to this Paradise." Moving aside a little, he asked to whom the King and Queen had given the charge of the Alcazaba of the Alhambra, and telling him that it was the Count of Tendilla, he asked him to be summoned. Taking a gold ring from his finger with a turquoise stone on which were written these letters: Lei Lehe Ille Ali Lchu, Alan Tabilu Aben Abi Abdilchi; which translated into our Castilian read: There is no other God but the true God: and this is the seal of Aben Abi Abdilchi; he gave it to him, and said: With this ring Granada has been governed since it was ruled by the Moors, take it so that you may govern it with it: and may God make you happier than me...

Christopher Columbus seems to have been present; he refers to the surrender: