Who ruled in Pamplona? When Arab chroniclers say that the Emir marched against Pamplona, they do not specify who was the leader of the city and the mountains. The only figure that is glimpsed, until nothing else is known, is an Enneko, father of Enneko Ennekez, the first king of the Pamplona Basques. Ibn Hayyan and Ibn Hazm describe him as being alive until the year 820. The historian Levy Provenal places him in his genealogy as the father of King Eneko Enekez (Iigo Iiguez) and husband of the woman who, upon becoming a widow, would later become the wife of Musa Ibn Fort n Ibn Kasi, who died in 788. Relations with the Banu Kasi must have begun Eneko Sr. and Musa Ibn Fort n, who at that time dominated the Aragonese lands towards Huesca. According to the Arab Chronicle in Nuwairi the Banu Kasi took over Tudela 802 and 803 with the help of the Franks (Basques). Therefore, the information from Archbishop Don Rodrigo, that Eneko came from the Basque region of Bigorre, appears very much in context. Relations with the Banu Kasi must have taken place in the east of the Pamplona lands, in the Salazar, Roncal and Hecho valleys. When the widow of Eneko (father) married a Banu Kasi Musa Ibn Fort n, it indicates that there was a very close relationship both families, Muslim and Christian. The Chronicle of the Val de Ilzarbe traces news from this period when it says that this first chief or king was established in the town of Isaba, which it says he ennobled. The same chronicle notes that the towns of Aibar, Cedada, Gallipienzo, San Martín de Unx and Uju had been fortified. The problem lies in the dubious value of this chronicle. Of course, the fortifications of these towns close off access to the upper basin of the Aragón River, towards Jaca, and also towards Pamplona. The Burgui, Arbay and Irati gorges are still difficult gates to force for a subsequent penetration into the interior of the valleys. As Lacarra points out, from being the head of a district, Pamplona has come to depend on the indigenous chief who rules the territory, to whom the city has just given its name - Arba Pampilonense - and its people will be known as Pamploneses. But there's something else to add: it's the region of the monasteries, above all, of two large and influential ones: Leire and San Juan de la Peña. This Enneko, de facto king of a small territory, could well have been at some point the master of Pamplona as a city of the mountains, of the Pyrenean valleys from Zubiri to Jaca. The city of Pamplona was disputed by Franks, Basques, and Muslims, passing from one hand to another, as had happened with the Goths and Franks. Only when both families established ties of kinship and political alliances, Banu Kasi-Eneko, did Pamplona become the capital of a Basque kingdom. The city of Pamplona, Irúa, is presented to us by Arab chroniclers as a city of the Vascones (Baskunis) and dominating a Basque-speaking territory (Baskiya). Since the war with the Goths and Franks, Pamplona had acquired a reputation as a dangerous Basque fortress. Every time the Goths and, later, the Muslims occupied it, the mountaineers were responsible for recovering it. The most rugged valleys, from Bazt to Jaca, passing through Roncesvalles, always served as a refuge and fortress for the Basques. Eneko's nickname, Arista (also known as Aritza), which means both "the Oak" and "the Strong", would lead one to consider him a relative of the Basque chief Ximen the Strong, whose lands apparently ran through Deyerri, around Estella. And perhaps he was also a relative of the enigmatic Ibn Belaskot, whose name we do not know, and whose lands must have been located near Estella, towards Alava, and perhaps bordering Belaskoain on the far eastern side.
This does not rule out the certainty that the Alavese Belasca house may have had its roots and origin in the High Aragon region, but according to that same tradition, it was linked to the Franks. The Banu Qasi were gaining territory, moving up the Ebro River, until the time of Enneko (the son), when we already see them ruling in Tudela and the plains of La Rioja. It seems that Enneko’s expansion westward runs parallel to that of the Banu Qasi. In any case, conjectures cannot be taken as irrefutable facts, as some of our current historians of the Pidal school do.
There was an Eneko, father of Enneko Enekez (the son), the first king of the Basques (in 824), who dealt with the Banu Qasi from his lands. And that leader, whose widow later married Musa, was not just any leader. According to Rada, he came from Bigorre. We translate: “... a man from the County of Bigorre, accustomed to wars and raids from childhood, named Enecho, to whom, due to his fierceness in battle, the name Arista was given...” He also says: “... he lived in the region of the Pyrenees and, later descending to the plains of Navarre, waged many wars there, for which he earned the Principality among the inhabitants...”
But which Eneko is the archbishop referring to here? It seems to be Eneko the father. Why did he come from Bigorre? The dismemberment of Vasconia by Charlemagne occurred the years 768 and 769. Those were years of exile for many independentist leaders. He could have been one of them, escaping Frankish persecution. And, “it is to be thought – as Lacarra says – that, as in previous centuries, there was not a single chief, but several, moving within the boundaries of valleys or small regions, often rivals among themselves. They undoubtedly maintained contact and alliances with the chiefs on the northern side of the Pyrenees.” (Hist. R. Nav., I, p. 30).
In any case – Lacarra concludes – the lack of a single leader and of a central city governing a district would make it very difficult for both the Muslims and the Franks to establish their domination. Another new fact to be observed in the chronicles, as they move further away from the date of the events, is the increasing insertion of the Muslims, either as holders of Pamplona or as besiegers of it. Thus, Regino of Prüm, writing already in 908 in Germany, does not hesitate to record in his annals that Charlemagne expelled the Muslims from Pamplona.