Al-Andalus

Al-ʾAndalus (Arabic ???????) is the Arabic name given to the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula by its Muslim conquerors; it refers to both the Emirate (ca 750-929) and Caliphate of Córdoba (929-1031) and its taifa successor kingdoms specifically, and in general to territories under Muslim rule (711-1492). As Iberia was slowly regained by Christians fighting from northern enclaves, in the long process known as the Reconquista, the name "al-Andalus" came to refer the Muslim-dominated lands of the former Roman Hispania Baetica, Hispania Lusitania and Hispania Tarraconensis, within an ever-southward-moving frontier. See also Andalusia and Andalusia (disambiguation)

History

:see also Timeline of the Muslim Occupation of Spain

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Conquest and early years

In 711 CE, a Moorish Islamic army from North Africa invaded Visigoth Hispania. Under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, a small force landed at Gibraltar on April 30, 711. After a decisive victory at the Battle of Guadalete on July 19, 711, Tariq ibn-Ziyad brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Islamic rule in a seven-year campaign. They moved northeast across the Pyrenees but were defeated by the Frank Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732. The Iberian peninsula, except for small areas in the northwest and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees, became part of the expanding Umayyad empire, under the name of Al-Andalus. In the Archaeological Museum in Madrid, a dinar dating from five years after the conquest (716), has the Arabic "Al-Andalus" on one side and the Iberian Latin "Span(ica)" on the other — apparently the first mention known.

Related Topics:
Moorish - Invaded - Visigoth - Hispania - Tariq ibn-Ziyad - Gibraltar - April 30 - Battle of Guadalete - July 19 - Pyrenees - Frank - Charles Martel - Battle of Tours - 732 - Basque - Umayyad empire - Madrid - Dinar - 716

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At first, Al-Andalus was ruled by governors appointed by the Caliph, most ruling for three years or less. However, from 740, a series of civil wars between various Muslim groups in Spain resulted in the breakdown of Caliphal control, with Yusuf al-Fihri, who emerged as the main winner, being effectively an independent ruler.

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The Emirate and Caliphate of Córdoba

When the Umayyad dynasty gave way to the Abbasid in 750, Abd-ar-Rahman I (later titled Al-D?akhil), an Umayyad exile, established himself as the Emir of Córdoba in 756, ousting Yusuf al-Fihri. Over a thirty-year reign, he established his rule over the whole of al-Andalus, overcoming partisans both of the al-Fihri family and of the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, whose title he refused to acknowledge. For the next century and a half, his descendants continued as Emirs of Córdoba, with nominal control over the rest of al-Andalus (and sometimes parts of western North Africa) but with real control, particularly over the marches along the Christian border, varying greatly depending on the competence of the individual Emir. Indeed, Abdallah ibn Muhammad, who was Emir around 900, had very little control beyond the area immediately around Córdoba.

Related Topics:
Abbasid - 750 - Abd-ar-Rahman I - Emir - 756 - Baghdad - North Africa - Abdallah ibn Muhammad - 900

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However, Abdallah's grandson Abd-ar-Rahman III, who succeeded him in 912, not only rapidly restored Ummayad power throughout al-Andalus but extended it into western North Africa as well. In 929 he proclaimed himself Caliph, elevating the emirate to a position competing in prestige not only with the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad but also the Shi'ite Caliph in Tunis — with whom he was competing for control of North Africa.

Related Topics:
Abd-ar-Rahman III - 912 - Caliph - Abbasid - Baghdad - Shi'ite - Tunis

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The period of the Caliphate can reasonably be regarded as the golden age of al-Andalus. Irrigation techniques and crops – for instance, rice, oranges and a variety of other citrus fruits – imported from the Middle East provided the area around Córdoba and some other Andalusi cities with an agricultural infrastructure well in advance of that of any other part of western Europe. Córdoba under the Caliphate, with a population of perhaps 100,000, was far larger and more prosperous than any other city of the time in Europe, with the exception of Constantinople, and competed on at least equal terms as a cultural centre with anywhere else in the Islamic world. The work of its philosophers and scientists would be a significant formative influence on the intellectual life of medieval western Europe.

Related Topics:
Golden age - Irrigation - Rice - Oranges - Citrus - Constantinople

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Muslims and Non-Muslims often came from abroad to study in the famous libraries and universities of Al-Andalus. The most noted of these was Michael Scot, who took Ibn Rushds (Averroes') works, and his commentaries on many of Aristotle's works as well as the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) to Italy. This event was to have a significant impact on the formation of the European Renaissance.

Related Topics:
Michael Scot - Ibn Rushd - Aristotle - Ibn Sina - Italy - Renaissance

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The First Taifa Period

The Córdoba Caliphate effectively collapsed during a ruinous civil war between 1009 and 1013, although it was not finally abolished until 1031. Al-Andalus now broke up into a number of mostly independent Islamic states called taifas. These were however militarily too weak to defend themselves against repeated raids and demands for tribute from the Christian states based in the north and west, which had already spread from their initial strongholds in Galicia, Asturias, the Basque country and the Carolingian Marca Hispanica to become the Kingdoms of Navarre, León, Castile and Aragon and the County of Barcelona. Eventually, raids turned into conquest; and in response, the taifa kings requested help from the Almoravids, the puritanical rulers of the Maghrib. However, the Almoravids conquered the taifa kingdoms after defeating the Castilian King Alfonso VI at the battles of Zall?qah and Uclés.

Related Topics:
1009 - 1013 - 1031 - Taifa - Galicia - Asturias - Carolingian - Marca Hispanica - Navarre - León - Castile - Aragon - County of Barcelona - Almoravid - Maghrib - Alfonso VI - Zall?qah - Uclés

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Almoravids, Almohads and Mar?nids

The Almoravids were substantially less tolerant of Christians and Jews than the earlier Umayyads, and were succeeded in the 12th century by the even more fanatical Almohads, another Berber dynasty, after the defeat of the Castilian Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos. In 1212 a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of the Castilian Alfonso VIII defeated the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The Muslims were driven from Central Spain in the next few decades (from 1212 to 1269) until only the kingdom of Granada remained. Finally, the Mar?nids, the last Berber dynasty that attempted to retake control of Al-Andalus, were defeated by the Castilian Alfonso XI at the Battle of Salado in 1340.

Related Topics:
12th century - Almohad - Alfonso VIII - Battle of Alarcos - 1212 - Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa - Spain - 1269 - Granada - Alfonso XI - Battle of Salado

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The Emirate of Granada

Granada survived for three more centuries as a vassal state of Castile, and is is known in modern time for architectural gems such as the Alhambra. On January 2, 1492, Boabdil, the leader of the Emirate of Gharnatah (Granada), the last Muslim stronghold in Iberia surrendered, in the "Capitulation of Granada," to armies of Christian Spain, recently united under the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile (Isabel La Católica) and Ferdinand II of Aragon (Fernando el Católico or Ferran el Catòlic). Al-Andalus ceased to exist.

Related Topics:
Vassal state - Alhambra - January 2 - 1492 - Boabdil - Isabella I - Ferdinand II of Aragon

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Aftermath

In 1502, the Capitulation's extension of tolerance was rescinded, and the remaining Muslims were forced to leave Spain or convert to Christianity, as moriscos. They were an important portion of the peasants in some territories, like Aragon, Valencia or Andalusia, until their systematic expulsion in the years from 1609 to 1614. Henri Lapeyre has estimated that this affected 300,000 out of a total of 8 million inhabitants at the time.

Related Topics:
1502 - Spain - Morisco - Aragon - Valencia - Andalusia - 1609 - 1614

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The Moorish domination of the peninsula had a profound effect on language, art and culture, especially in the south. Examples include the many Arabic or Arabic-influenced words in Spanish, and architecture such as Granada's Alhambra.

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The name of today's Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucía) comes from "Al-Andalus", as this southern province was among the last territories to pass from Moorish to Spanish Christian hands.

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