Isabel de Solís

Isabel de Solís ( Thoraya, Soraya, Zoraya) (before 1471 – after 1510) was the slave concubine and later the wife of Abu l-Hasan Ali, Sultan of Granada. Originally a Christian from Castile, she converted to Islam under the name of Zoraya. She exerted a strong influence over her spouse. However, after the fall of Granada, she took up the name of Isabel again and reverted back to Catholicism.

Life De Solís was the daughter of Castilian nobleman Sancho Jiménez de Solís. When Granada's new king refused to continue paying tribute to the crown of Castile, Christian armies began raiding the Kingdom of Granada. In reprisal, Muhammad XII of Granada (El Zagal), the sultan's brother, began conducting raids on Castile.

Granada On a raid toward Aguilar in Castile on 29 September 1471, Isabel was taken prisoner. She was taken to the Alhambra palace in Granada, and sold as a slave to Abu l-Hasan Ali, the sultan of Granada. She worked as a chambermaid in the Nasrid harem of the palace of the sultan. She herself was asked first by her sons and then by the king and queen to reconvert to Catholicism, which she eventually did, taking back her original name Isabel, and becoming known as Isabel de Granada and Queen Isabel. She is last mentioned living in Seville in 1510.

Fiction Isabel de Solís appears as a character in the historical fiction work People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, as does Abu l-Hasan Ali. She also is prominent character in the historical drama series Isabel, along with Abu l-Hasan Ali.