Al-Andalus: Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

We explain what Al-Andalus was and what its history was like. We also explain the characteristics of its society and its cultural legacy.

The Muslim expansion led to the almost total domination of the Iberian Peninsula.

What was Al-Andalus?

Al-Andalus is called The territories of the Iberian Peninsula that were under Muslim rule from 711 until the fall of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada in 1492This period began with the arrival of Arab and Berber populations to the peninsula and their military victory over the Visigoth kingdom.

The progressive Muslim expansion led to almost total domination of the peninsula, with the exception of some northern territories. Over the centuries, Muslim domination went through various stages.while the Christian kingdoms formed in the north expanded their areas of influence.

This historical period, which from the Christian perspective was called Reconquista, alternated wars and alliances between Muslims and Christians, as well as internal conflictsand culminated after two particularly relevant events: the Muslim defeat in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), which triggered the reduction of Islamic rule to the small Nasrid kingdom of Granada, and the final capitulation of this kingdom to the forces of the Catholic Monarchs (1492).

The history of Al-Andalus

The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

In the 8th century, the Muslims came to dominate most of the Iberian Peninsula.

Muslim Arabs, originating from the Arabian Peninsula and inspired by the idea of ​​“holy war” (the mandate to subject the infidels to Islamic sovereignty), began In the 7th century, a rapid expansion through the Middle East and North Africaand they reached the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

Muslim troops composed of Arabs and Berbers (the latter originating from North Africa) crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in 711. and they took advantage of the internal crisis of the Visigoth kingdom, involved in constant struggles for monarchical power, to begin the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Led by the Berber Tariq, lieutenant of Musa ibn Nusayr (governor of North Africa), the Muslims They defeated the last Visigoth king, Rodrigo, in the battle of Guadalete (711).who lost his life in combat. Encouraged by this success, the invaders continued their advance through Spanish lands, first towards Toledo, then towards Zaragoza.

In just three yearsThe Muslims conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula without encountering much resistance. Only the mountainous regions of the Cantabrian and Pyrenean areas escaped their control..

Several Visigoth nobles decided to make a pact with the invaders, as was the case of Teodomiro in the Murcia region. The few historical sources available suggest that The conquest was carried out mainly through capitulations and surrenders agreed between the Visigoth nobles and the Muslim conquerors.Violence may have been more the exception than the rule, which would explain the speed of the conquest.

On the other hand, during the first half of the 8th century, There were clashes between different Arab clans (especially between the Qaysid and Kalbid tribes), whose enmity became apparent when the lands occupied in the Iberian Peninsula were being divided up. Added to this were the inconveniences arising from the refusal of the Islamised Berbers of North Africa to submit to a central authority.

The Emirate of Cordoba (756-929)

Abd-al-Rahman I established the capital in Córdoba and began construction of the great mosque.

After the Muslim invasion, Most of the Iberian Peninsula became a new province of the Islamic Caliphate (Muslim Empire), and was named Al-Andalus.. At the head of this territory was placed a emir or governor who acted as a delegate of the Muslim caliph, then belonging to the Umayyad dynasty, with its capital in the city of Damascus (in present-day Syria).

The Muslims made some incursions into the north of the Peninsula, but were defeated by the Asturians at Covadonga (722). They also penetrated into Frankish soil, where they occupied cities such as Narbonne, but They suffered a severe blow from the Frankish army near Poitiers (732). This battle marked the end of Muslim Arab expansion in Europe.

A key event took place in the mid-8th century. The Umayyad dynasty was a victim of the Abbasid revolution, through which this family took over the caliphate and then established his headquarters in the city of Baghdad (in present-day Iraq). A member of the defeated family managed to escape and took refuge in Al-Andalus where, thanks to the support he found, he proclaimed himself emir.

It was Abd-al-Rahman I (756-788), also known as Abderramán I, with whom the period known as the “independent emirate” began in Al-Andalus because ended the political dependence of the Abbasid caliphsalthough he recognized the Abbasid Caliph as the spiritual leader of the Muslim world.

Abd-al-Rahman I established his capital in the city of Córdoba and began the task of building an independent state in Al-Andalus.. To achieve this, he needed to organize an army, secure economic income and suppress the revolts of his enemies. The challenge to the central power of Córdoba was constant among the great Muslim noble families settled in the regions of Al-Andalus.

The Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031)

An important step in the strengthening of Al-Andalus was taken in the year 929, when Emir Abd-al-Rahman III (912-961) decided to proclaim himself caliph, a position in which political and religious power converged..

The caliph resided in the Alcázar of Córdoba, located next to the great mosque.A few years after his self-proclamation, Abd-al-Rahman III ordered the construction of the palace-city of Madinat al-Zahra to the west of the capital, which became the caliphal residence and the centre of political power in Al-Andalus.

In the last decades of the 10th century, Almanzor, who held the position of hachib, a kind of prime minister, He took effective power in Al-AndalusMeanwhile, the caliph of the time, Hisham II (976-1009), lived in seclusion in the palace of Madinat al-Zahra, without exercising political power.

Almanzor based his power on the army, made up mainly of Berber soldiers, and organized terrifying campaigns against the Christians in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. His death in 1002, after suffering a defeat at Calatañazor, began the process of political decomposition and disputes (called in Arabic fitna) which led to the end of the caliphate in the year 1031.

The Taifa Kingdoms

After Almanzor’s death in 1002, the decomposition that led to the end of the caliphate in 1031 began.

After the dissolution of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031, arose in Al-Andalus a mosaic of small kingdoms, called taifas (expression meaning “flags”), such as Almería, Murcia, Granada, Toledo, Zaragoza, among others.

Initially, the caliphate was fragmented into twenty-seven taifa kingdoms, which gradually became independent from the central power of Córdoba. Later, the weaker ones began to disappear and were annexed by the more powerful ones.

These small kingdoms, much weaker than the caliphate, They were submissive to the Christian leaders, to whom they paid tributes called pariahsThe Christian threat became more evident after the conquest of Toledo by troops serving Alfonso VI of León in 1085.

Plagued by internal conflicts, Al-Andalus was at the mercy of the Christians from the north, who advanced in the occupation of territoriesbut were stopped on some occasions by the reorganization of Muslim forces, especially those arriving from North Africa in the 11th and 12th centuries.

The North African Empires

The advance of the Christian troops was interrupted by two North African invasions that allowed Al-Andalus to be unified once again. The first was a reaction to the Muslim loss of Toledo in 1085, which led the king of the Taifa of Seville to request the help of the Almoravid Empire that had been formed from Berber tribes in North Africa.

The Almoravids, known for their rigorous interpretation of Islam, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in 1086.they put an end to the taifas and unified political power in Al-Andalus. In this way, they contained the Christian advance towards the south.

However, Almoravid rule was ephemeral and, In the mid-12th century, a new period of political fragmentation began in Al-Andalus, known as the second taifa kingdoms. Later, the Almohads, a Berber dynasty that had established its own empire in the Maghreb, arrived in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Almohads They unified Al-Andalus again and achieved important successes against the Christian kingdoms, such as the Battle of Alarcos (1195) against Alfonso VIII of Castile. During this period, some emblematic buildings of Muslim Spain were built, such as the Giralda in Seville.

However, the Almohad attempt to reunify Al-Andalus also failed. After the defeat by the Christians at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), The collapse of the Almohad Empire led again to the fitna. The new taifas could not resist the Christian advance, and Muslim Spain was reduced to the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, which finally surrendered to the troops of the Catholic Monarchs in 1492.

Al-Andalus: the economic and social organization

The economy of Al-Andalus

Trade was favored by the…