Ibn Hafsun was born around 850 in the mountains near Parauta, in what is now Málaga province.
A wild youth, he had a very violent temper and was involved in a number of disputes, even a homicide around the year 879.
He had joined a group of brigands and was captured by the wali (governor) of Málaga, who had merely imposed a fine (having not been informed of the homicide).
The governor had subsequently lost his post.
Ibn Hafsun had fled, possibly to the Maghreb, but had soon returned to Andalusia, albeit as an outlaw, and joined the bandits who are in rebellion against the caliphate, wherein he had soon risen to a leadership position.
Originally he had settled in the ruins of the old Bobastro castle, rebuilding it and fortifying the nearby town of Ardales, Malaga.
He has allied disaffected muwallads and mozárabs to the cause, playing off resentment at the unfair, heavy taxation and humiliating treatment they have received at the hands of Abd ar-Rahman and his successors.
He has acquired castles and lands in a wide area, not only in Malaga, but including portions of the provinces of Cádiz, Granada known then as Elvira, Jaén, and Seville.
By 883, he had become the leader of the rebels in the provinces to the south and west of the Emirate of Cordoba.
The year before, in 882, he is said to have fought the Emir in a battle in which ally García Íñiguez of Pamplona was killed.
About 885, in order to be more centrally located and quicker to respond to external threats, ibn Hafsun moves his headquarters to the town of Poley, which is now known as Aguilar de la Frontera.
