Alahor in Granata was written while Donizetti was under contract to the Teatro Carolina as their maestro di capella. The story was set by Giacomo Meyerbeer as L'Esule di Granata, and by Luigi Cherubini as Les Abencerages in 1813. The librettos to all of these works were based on an original text by Jean Pierre Clares de Florian, written in 1793, called Gonzalve de Cordove, ou Granade reconquise. The premiere of Donizetti's setting occurred on January 7, 1826, and was greeted with positive reviews and by an enthusastic public. For many years, the score was thought to be lost, but it turned up in the latter half of the twentieth century.

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