This marked the last straw for the remaining Umayyad members who proceeded to launch a full scale coup d'état and revolt against the state. Civil war Taking advantage of the absence of Sanchuelo, who had left to fight against the forces of Alfonso V of León, the Córdoba Caliphate leader Muhammad II of Córdoba in 1009 dethroned his cousin, the Caliph Hisham II al-Hakam. Sanchuelo returned quickly to Córdoba but the morale of his Berber army was low due to the lengthy campaign, and a majority of his army deserted him. As a result, he fell prisoner to Muhammad II and was executed a short while later. Following this episode, Muhammad II's power and influence rose quickly, giving rise to a new opposition block and pitting him against another Umayyad group, led by Sulayman ibn al-Hakam. Supported by the Berbers, Sulayman was able to capture Muhammad II and became the Caliph in 1009. This chain of events, in turn, incited the Hammudid Dynasty, a powerful family from Ceuta and Algeciras, to proclaim themselves the rightful Caliphs and march on the city of Córdoba. They dethroned Sulaiman and ruled until the year 1023. In that year a new Umayyad claimant, Abd ar-Rahman V, became Caliph. Unfortunately for him, the discontent generated by the new tax caused a new revolution and his eventual fall, as the measure devastated the population. Three more Caliphs, two Umayyad and one Hammudi, reigned until the year 1031, when the Cordoban elite abolished the caliphate and established an independent state (taifa). However, various pretenders from different taifas claimed to be the caliph. Consequences This period of chaos, initiated by the Hammudid Dynasty, led to the fragmentation of the caliphate and the establishment of the first independent Taifa kingdoms. It is important to note that the Christian kingdoms to the north were generally supportive of the havoc that wracked the Andalusi world, often lending soldiers to both sides and helping to aid an air of instability. The period that followed was not a peaceful one. After the fragmentation of the caliphate, the individual taifas fought amongst each other. The Christian kingdoms, seeing this fragmentation and opportunity to grab land, intensified the ongoing Reconquista. It was not until this direct threat to Muslim control in the Iberian Peninsula that the Almoravid dynasty finally came to Iberia to reunify Al-Andalus. See also Caliphate of Córdoba Almoravid dynasty Hammudid dynasty Reconquista