Parias

In medieval Spain, parias (from medieval Latin pariāre, "to make equal [an account]", i.e. pay)^[1] were a form of tribute paid by the taifas of al-Andalus to the Christian kingdoms of the north.^[2] Parias dominated relations between the Islamic and the Christian states in the years following the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba (1031) until the reunification of Islamic Spain under the Almoravid dynasty (beginning in 1086).^[3] The parias were a form of protection money established by treaty. The payee owed the tributary military protection against foes both Islamic and Christian. Usually the original exaction was forced, either by a large razzia or the threat of one, or as the cost of supporting one Islamic party against another.^[4] (The word "taifa" means "party [kingdom]" and refers to the prevalence of factionalism in Islamic Spain during the taifas era.)^[5]