‘Abd ar-Rahman
From the Yemeni tribe of Ghafiq, 'Abd ar-Rahman relocated to Ifriqiya (now Tunisia), then to the Maghrib (now Morocco), where he became acquainted with Musa ibn Nusair and his son Abdul Aziz, the governors of al-Andalus. After al-Samh ibn Malik was killed at the Battle of Toulouse in 721 by the forces of Odo of Aquitane, 'Abd ar-Rahman took over the command of Eastern Andalus. He was briefly relieved of his command when 'Anbasa ibn Suhaym al-Kalbi was appointed in 721. After 'Anbasa was killed in battle in 726 in Gaul, several successive commanders were put in place, none of whom lasted very long.
In 730, the Caliph Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik appointed 'Abd ar-Rahman as governor/ commander of al-Andalus. He prepared to invade Gaul and called for recruits from Yemen and the Levant. Many arrived, and he crossed the Pyrenees range, with an army of approximately 80,000 cavalry composed primarily of Arabs and Berbers. 'Abd ar-Rahman made his way through Gascony and Aquitaine. His army went through these places like a desolating storm, sacking and capturing the city of Bordeaux, after defeating Odo of Aquitaine in battle outside the city, and then again defeating a second army of Odo of Aquitaine at the Battle of the River Garonne.
Odo, with his remaining nobility, fled to Charles Martel, seeking help. Unlike Toulouse, where Odo had won by achieving complete surprise over the Muslim forces when he relieved the city in 721, this time his forces were forced to face the Muslim cavalry in open battle and were utterly destroyed. Also, the Muslim forces he had faced at the Battle of Toulouse were primarily light infantry, and while good fighters, were not close to the caliber of the Arab and Berber cavalry brought by 'Abd ar-Rahman for this invasion of Gaul.
However, the Frankish Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Charles Martel, had a core of seasoned professional infantry that had campaigned with him for many years, in addition to the levies of militia the Franks normally called up to buttress their forces. Charles Martel formed and army of Gauls and Germans approximately 30,000 strong. The invading forces, having no reasosn to believe the Franks were anything more than one of the various barbarian tribes that had ravaged Europe after Rome's fall, failed to scout their strength in advance. They also misjudged Charles Martel, who was determined to prevent the expansion of the Caliphate over the Pyrenees into the heart of Christian Europe. This was a disastrous mistake which led to the defeat of 'Abd ar-Rahman in 732 at the Battle of Tours, near Poitiers, south of the Loire River.
One reason for the defeat of the Muslim army was its preoccupation with war booty. Another was the squabbles between the various ethnic and tribal factions, which led to the surviving generals being unable to agree on a single commander to take 'Abd ar-Rahman's place. After all, 'Abd ar-Rahman alone had a fatwa from the Caliph and, thus, he alone had the absolute authority over the faithful under arms.
Additional reasons for the defeat were found in the strategy employed by Charles Martel. He trained his men specifically to fight in a large square, similar to the ancient Greek phalanx formation, to withstand the dreaded Muslim heavy cavalry. The Frankish leader chose the battlefield. Moving his army over the mountains and avoiding the old Roman roads, he escaped detection until he had position his men on a high, wooded plain.
For seven days, the two armies skirmished and maneuvered, with the Islamic forces recalling all their raiding parties, so on the seventh day, their army was a full size. Martel also received some reinforcements, though most historians still believe the was badly outnumbered at the onset of the battle. The Franks held their defensive formation all day, and repulsed repeated cavalry charges. The charges of the Arab and Berber cavalry were impeded by the sloping and wooded terrain.
Late on the first day of battle, Martel sent his scouts to slip into 'Abd ar-Rahman's camp and free prisoners held by the Arab forces. Believing that their booty was being stolen, a large contingent of 'Abd ar-Rahman's forces broke away from the battle to save their property. 'Abd ar-Rahman was exposed to the Frankish forces and killed while he attempted to stop his men from leaving the field.
Political factions, racial and ethnic rivalries, and personality clashes arose following 'Abd ar-Rahman's death. The varied nationalities and ethnicities present in the army drawn from all over the Caliphate, and the surviving generals, bickered among themselves, unable to agree on a commander to lead them the following day. The inability to select anyone to lead certainly contributed to the wholesale retreat of an army that possibly could have defeated the Franks.
Arab historians generally praise 'Abd ar-Rahman as a just and able administrator and commander, and bestow upon him the honor of being the best governor of al-Andalus. Also, 'Abd ar-Rahman did not take sides in the ethnic and tribal divisions that plagued al-Andalus under other rulers. Evidence of his fairness and importance as a ruler was demonstrated in the aftermath of his death at the Battle of Tours. Without his leadership and guidance, the other commanders were unable to even agree on a commander to lead them back into battle the following morning. The impact of the death of 'Abd ar-Rahman on both Islamic and world history is, undeniably, quite profound.
Rahman, 'Abd ar- see ‘Abd ar-Rahman
Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi see ‘Abd ar-Rahman
Ghafiqi, Abdul Rahman al- see ‘Abd ar-Rahman
Abdderrahman Abderame see ‘Abd ar-Rahman
Abderame Abdderrahman see ‘Abd ar-Rahman
Abderame see ‘Abd ar-Rahman
‘Abd ar-Rahman I (al-Dakhil) ('Abd al-Rahman I) (Abderraman I) ("Falcon of Andalus") ("Falcon of the Quraish") (731-788). First Umayyad emir of Spain and the founder of the Umayyad emirate of Cordoba (r. 756-788). Having narrowly escaped the massacre in 750 of the Umayyads in Damascus, 'Abd ar-Rahman wandered through North Africa until 755. With the backing of Umayyad sympathizers in Spain and Ceuta, 'Abd ar-Rahman then intervened between feuding Muslims in Spain. He disembarked at Almunecar in August 755; entered Seville in 756; and captured Cordoba in 756 where he was recognized as emir of al-Andalus. Until 769, he suppressed rebellions by the Spanish neo-Muslims, the Berbers and the Arabs. A coalition of Arab chiefs sought the aid of the Frankish king, Charlemagne, who in 778 laid siege to Saragossa (Sarakusta) but had to return to the Rhine. ‘Abd ar-Rahman’s realm was not fully pacified until the defeat of Charlemagne’s army at Roncesvalles (Roncevaux) in 778. This is the famous battle associated with the memory of Roland. In 780, ‘Abd ar-Rahman subdued the Basques, and occupied Saragossa for a short time.
'Abd ar-Rahman I was the grandson of Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik, the tenth Umayyad Caliph. He was a prince and was groomed from an early age to be a caliph. More specifically, he was the son of Mu'awiyah, son of Hisham, grandson of 'Abd al-Malik. The child-prince was said to be tall and slender. His mother was a Christian Berber slave, and from her he inherited red hair.
'Abd ar-Rahman was about eighteen when his family, the ruling Umayyads, were overthrown by a popular revolt known as the 'Abbasid Revolution, occurring in the year 749. 'Abd ar-Rahman and a small selection of his family fled Damascus, where the center of Umayyad power had been. After barely escaping Syria with their lives, 'Abd ar-Rahman and his former Greek slave Bedr continued south through Palestine, the Sinai and into Egypt. It would take several years 'Abd ar-Rahman to slowly make his way into the west. In 755, 'Abd ar-Rahman and Bedr reached modern day Morocco near Ceuta. He then dispatched Bedr to Iberia with a message in which he proclaimed himself the rightful Umayyad heir to the land of al-Andalus.
At the invitation of loyal Umayyad followers, 'Abd ar-Rahman was told to go to al-Andalus. 'Abd ar-Rahman landed at Almunecar to the east of Malaga in August of 755. 'Abd ar-Rahman was greeted by local chieftains upon landing in al-Andalus. During his brief time in Malaga, 'Abd ar-Rahman quickly amassed local support. Waves of people made their way to Malaga to pay respect to the prince they thought was dead, including many of the aforementioned Syrians.
While the ruler of al-Andalus, al-Fihri, and the commander of his army, al-Sumayl, pondered what to do about the arrival of 'Abd ar-Rahman and the threat he posed to their power, trouble broke out in northern al-Andalus. Sarakusta (Zaragoza), an important trade city on al-Andalus' Upper March made a bid for autonomy. Al-Fihri and al-Sumayl rode north to squash the rebellion. This might have been fortunate timing for 'Abd ar-Rahman, as he was still getting a solid foothold in al-Andalus. By March of 756, 'Abd ar-Rahman and his growing following were able to take Sevilla without violence. After putting down the rebellion in Sarakusta, al-Fihri turned his army back south to face 'Abd ar-Rahman. The fight for the right to rule al-Andalus was about to begin. The two contingents met on opposite sides of the River Guadalquivir, just outside the capital of Cordova on the plains of Musarah.
Both armies lined on the same bank of the Guadalquivir. 'Abd ar-Rahman had no banner, so one was improvised by unwinding a green turban and binding it round the head of a spear. Subsequently, the turban and the spear became the banner and symbol of the Andalusian Umayyads. 'Abd ar-Rahman led the charge toward al-Fihri's army. Al-Sumayl in turn advanced his cavalry out to meet the Umayyad threat. After a long and difficult fight, 'Abd ar-Rahman obtained a complete victory, and the field was strewn with the bodies of the enemy. 'Abd ar-Rahman triumphantly marched into the capital, Cordova.
'Abd ar-Rahman had to continuously put down rebellions in al-Andalus. Various Arab and Berber tribes fought each other for varying degrees of power, some cities tried to break away and form their own state, and even members of 'Abd ar-Rahman's family tried to wrest power from him. During a large revolt, dissidents marched on Cordova itself! However, 'Abd ar-Rahman always managed to stay one step ahead, and crushed all opposition. As he always dealt severely with dissidence in al-Andalus.
Sarakusta (Saragossa) proved to be a most difficult city to reign over for not only 'Abd ar-Rahman, but also, his predecessors as well.
In the year 777-778, several notable men including Sulayman ibn Yokdan al-Arabi al-Kelbi, the self-appointed governor of Saragossa, met with delegates of the leader of the Franks, Charlemagne. Charlemagne's army was enlisted to help the Muslim governors of Barcelona and Saragossa against the Umayyad emir in Cordoba. Essentially, Charlemagne was being hired as a mercenary, even though he likely had other plans of acquiring the area for his own empire. However, after Charlemagne's columns arrived at the gates of Saragossa, Sulayman got cold feet and refused to let the Franks into the city. It is possible that he realized that Charlemagne would want to usurp power from him. Charlemagne's force eventually headed back to France via a narrow pass in the Pyrenees named Roncesvalles (Roncevaux), where his rearguard was wiped out by Basque and Gascon rebels. This disaster was noted in the epic Chanson de Roland.
During his reign, 'Abd ar-Rahman strove to improve the infrastructure of al-Andalus. He ensured roadways were begun, aqueducts were constructed or improved, and a new mosque was well funded in his capital at Cordova. Construction on the mosque was started around the year 786. It would in time become world famous and deemed a major holy site for many Muslims, later to be known as the Mezquita de Cordoba. 'Abd ar-Rahman knew that one of his sons would one day inherit the rule of al-Andalus, but that it was a land torn by strife. 'Abd ar-Rahman felt that he could not always rely on the local populace in providing a loyal army. He, therefore, bought a massive standing army consisting mainly of Berbers from North Africa. As was common during the years of Islamic expansion from Arabia, religious tolerance was practiced. 'Abd ar-Rahman continued to allow Jews and Christians to retain and practice their faiths. They did, however, have to pay a tribute tax for this privilege. 'Abd ar-Rahman's policy of taxing non-Muslims, which was often carried out by later rulers, changed the religious dynamic of al-Andalus. Possibly because of excessive tribute taxes, the bulk of the country's population soon became Muslim.
Around 788, 'Abd ar-Rahman died in his adopted city of Cordova. He was supposedly buried under the site of the Mezquita. 'Abd ar-Rahman's alleged favorite son was his choice for successor, and would later be known as Hisham I. 'Abd ar-Rahman's progeny would continue to rule al-Andalus in the name of the house of Umayya for several generations, with the zenith of their power coming during the reign of 'Abd ar-Rahman III.
Dakhil, al- see ‘Abd ar-Rahman I
Rahman I, 'Abd ar- see ‘Abd ar-Rahman I
Falcon of Andalus see ‘Abd ar-Rahman I
Falcon of the Quraish see ‘Abd ar-Rahman I
'Abd al-Rahman I see ‘Abd ar-Rahman I
Abderraman I see ‘Abd ar-Rahman I
The son of Emir al-Hakam I, 'Abd ar-Rahman II was born in Toledo. In his youth he took part in the so-called "massacre of the ditch" when at least 700 people who had come to pay homage to the princes were killed by order of Al-Hakam.
In 839 or 840, 'Abd ar-Rahman sent an embassy under al-Ghazal to Constantinople to sign a pact with the Byzantine Empire against the Abbasids.
In 844, 'Abd ar-Rahman repulsed an assault by Vikings who had disembarked in Cadiz, conquered Cadiz, conquered Seville (with the exception of its citadel) and attacked Córdoba itself. In response to the Viking menace, 'Abd ar-Rahman constructed a fleet and naval arsenal at Seville to repel future raids. He may have sent al-Ghazal on a second embassy to the Vikings in Ireland after this.
He responded to William of Septimania's requests for assistance in William's struggle against Charles the Bald's nominations.
'Abd ar-Rahman was famous for his public building program in Córdoba. He made additions to the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts. He was also involved in the execution of the "Martyrs of Cordoba".
'Abd ar-Rahman is also best remembered for his patronage of the great composer and cultural innovator, Ziryab.
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| Abd ar-Rahman al-Awsat عبد الرحمن الأوسط | |
|---|---|
 Silver dirham coined during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II | |
| 4th Emir of Córdoba | |
| Reign | 21 May 822–852 |
| Predecessor | al-Hakam I |
| Successor | Muhammad I |
| Born | 792 Toledo, Emirate of Córdoba |
| Died | 852 (aged 59–60) Córdoba, Emirate of Córdoba |
| Issue | Muhammad I of Córdoba |
| Dynasty | Umayyad (Marwanid) |
| Father | al-Hakam I |
| Mother | Halawah |
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ʿAbd al-Raḥmān II, fourth Umayyad ruler of Muslim Spain who enjoyed a reign (822–852) of brilliance and prosperity, the importance of which has been underestimated by some historians.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān II was the grandson of his namesake, founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Spain. His reign was an administrative watershed. As the influence of the ʿAbbā sid Caliphate, then at the peak of its splendour, grew, Córdoba’s administrative system increasingly came into accord with that of Baghdad, the ʿAbbāsid capital. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān carried out a vigorous policy of public works, made additions to the Great Mosque in Córdoba, and patronized poets, musicians, and men of religion. Although palace intrigues surrounded his death in 852, they did not diminish his accomplishments.
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Abd ar-Rahman II (Arabic: عبد الرحمن الأوسط; 792–852) was the fourth Umayyad Emir of Córdoba in al-Andalus from 822 until his death in 852.[1] A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts.
Abd ar-Rahman was born in Toledo in 792. He was the son of Emir al-Hakam I. In his youth he took part in the so-called "massacre of the ditch", when 72 nobles and hundreds of their attendants were massacred at a banquet by order of al-Hakam.
He succeeded his father as Emir of Córdoba in 822 and for 20 years engaged in nearly continuous warfare against Alfonso II of Asturias, whose southward advance he halted. In 825, he had a new city, Murcia, built, and proceeded to settle it with Arab loyalists to ensure stability. In 835, he confronted rebellious citizens of Mérida by having a large internal fortress built. In 837, he suppressed a revolt of Christians and Jews in Toledo with similar measures.[2] He issued a decree by which the Christians were forbidden to seek martyrdom, and he had a Christian synod held to forbid martyrdom.
In 839 or 840, he sent an embassy under al-Ghazal to Constantinople to sign a pact with the Byzantine Empire against the Abbasids.[3] Another embassy was sent which may have either gone to Ireland or Denmark, likely encouraging trade in fur and slaves.[4]
In 844, Abd ar-Rahman repulsed an assault by Vikings who had disembarked in Cádiz, conquered Seville (with the exception of its citadel) and attacked Córdoba itself. Thereafter he constructed a fleet and naval arsenal at Seville to repel future raids.
He responded to William of Septimania's requests of assistance in his struggle against Charles the Bald who had claimed lands William considered to be his.[5]
Abd ar-Rahman was famous for his public building program in Córdoba. He made additions to the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba.[1] A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts.[6] He was also involved in the execution of the "Martyrs of Córdoba",[7] and was a patron of the great composer Ziryab. He died in 852 in Córdoba.
References
- "'Abd ar-Rahman II". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2010. pp. 17. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
- The Inheritance of Rome, Chris Wickham, Penguin Books Ltd. 2009, ISBN 978-0-670-02098-0. p. 341.
- Huici Miranda, Ambrosio (1965). "al-Ghazāl". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume II: C–G. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 1038. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_2484. OCLC 495469475.
- Graham-Campbell, James (2013). The Viking World. Frances Lincoln Limited Publishers. p. 31.
- El-Hajji, Abderrahman. ""Andalusian Diplomatic Relations with the Franks during the Umayyad period"". Islamic Studies. 6: 27–28.
- Thorne, John (1984). Chambers biographical dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers. ISBN 0-550-18022-2.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 31.
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Abū l-Mutarraf 'Abd ar-Rahmān ibn al-Hakam (Arabic: أبو المطرف عبد الرحمن بن الحكم), better known as Abder-Rahman II (Toledo, October-November 792 - Córdoba, September 22, 852), son and successor of Alhakén I, was the fourth Umayyad emir of Córdoba from May 25, 822 until his death.
Life
Beginning of his reign
He was thirty years old when he ascended the throne and, like his father and grandfather, had to suppress the claims to the throne of his uncle Abd Allah. He gave himself up to the task of administratively reorganizing Al-Andalus. He tried to present an image of moderation to the Mozarabs and Muslims subjected to the rule of the Arab aristocracy. Aware of the power and influence of the alfaquíes, he ordered the demolition of the Saqunda wine market, near the Cordovan capital, contrary to the precepts of the Koran. Then, as a concession to the mob, he crucified his father's tax policy maker, a Christian the sources call Rabbi.
Yemenis, Muradites and later founder of the Mursiyya
The peace restored in Spain by the emir Abuljatar, by quelling the conflict between the Beledi Arabs and Syrians in the previous century, did not last. The said emir, who began his government measuring everyone equally, soon bowed by the Yemenis, to the detriment of their rivals, the muradis, giving rise to the outbreak of the civil war again with as much or more fierceness than before. The former, that is, the Yemenis, had conquered and established their seat in Yemen, the most flourishing part of southern Arabia, many centuries before our era, subjugating the race of uncertain origin that inhabited that country. The muradies or caisíes were descendants of Ishmael and lived in Hechaz, where Mecca and Medina are located. Both peoples or tribes constituted, so to speak, the first material of the Muslim empire.
The emirate of Abderramán II had just opened, a war broke out in the Tudmir Kora, in the southeast of the peninsula, between the Yemeni and Muradid clans. The spark jumped in Lorca, where the famous battle of al-Musara took place. The war between the Yemenis and Muradids had already lasted seven years and the chora was pacified by the Umayyad general ibm Mu'awiya ibn Hisan, and there is talk of 3,000 dead rebels, including their commander, the Yemeni Abu Samaj.
Abderramán's troops then destroyed the city-refuge of the rebels, Eio, and the Emir decided to transfer the capital of the chora from Orihuela to a new city, Madina Mursiya, founded on Sunday, June 25, 825. Murcia stood on a small elevation on the banks of the Segura River, in order to pacify the territory, promote development and strengthen the authority of the Emirate. General Chabir was the first governor of Murcia.
Andalusi splendor
Abderramán II promoted science, the arts, agriculture and industry. During his reign, the Indo-Arabic numbering system, called position, with a decimal base, was introduced in al-Andalus. Before being proclaimed emir, he started a library that became very numerous, for which he commissioned highly qualified people to bring him the most interesting specimens from the East and those with the greatest contribution to knowledge, thus beginning a good collection of books. He attracted the most illustrious scholars of his time to Córdoba and personally cultivated poetry. His brilliant court was dominated by the figures of the musician Ziryab, the alfaquí Yahya (an intolerant and ambitious religious), the concubine Tarub (who wanted to get the throne for her son Abdalá) and the eunuch Nasr (a muladí).
Abderramán II magnified and showered the city of Córdoba with wealth, surpassing previous emirs in the splendor of his court. According to Eulogio's Memorial:
In 850 (...), the twenty-ninth year of the emirate of Abderraman. The people of the Arabs, magnified in wealth and dignity in Hispanic lands, took hold under a cruel tyranny of almost all Iberia. As for Cordoba, once called Patricia and now named after her settlement, she brought her to the highest concussion, she ennobled her with honors, magnified her with her glory, filled her with riches and embellished her with the influx of all the delights of the world beyond what is possible to believe or say, to the point of overturning, overcoming and overcoming in every worldly pomp.Eulogio de Córdoba: Memorialis sanctorumin: Aldana García (1998), p. 116.
These concise reports coincide with those provided by Ibn Hayyan:
The emir Abderramán ibn Alhakén was the first of the Marwanian caliphs to shine to the monarchy in Al-Andalus, clothed it with the pomp of the majesty and conferred on it reverential character, choosing men for the functions, making visires to perfectly capable people and appointing alcaides to proven paladins; in their days He held correspondence with sovereigns from various countries, erected alcazars, made works, built bridges, brought fresh water to his Alcazar from the tops of the mountains.Ibn Hayyan (2001), p. 171
He increased taxation considerably, and led to better control of income. In his days, the taxes (yibayat) accrued in Al-Andalus acquired a large volume, income from real estate income (haray) increased and records were instituted in the chancelleries of which the correct taxes applied to the population of the country depended, which came to serve as a reference between rulers and subjects. The Anonymous Description of al-Andalus says of Abderramán II:
It was the first omeya that coined in Cordoba, recorded the dirhemes with his name and instituted a bait, to which he put alamines. From the conquest until then the inhabitants of al-Andalus used the dinars and dirhemes that brought from the East. During his reign the tax collection increased, the exactions of the jarachAlcazars, cities and workshops were built; the Christian kings and other places submitted to him.An anonymous description of al-Andalus (1983), p. 149.
The collection reached a million dinars, but the plunder inflicted on the middle and lower classes by forced labor was squandered on courtly luxuries and other extravagances. He built splendid buildings taking advantage of the materials from the Roman period that he plundered everywhere, with the intention of enhancing his government:
He was the first one to make fast buildings and compliments to the bar, using advanced machinery andrevolving all the regions in search of columns, looking for all the instruments of al-Andalus and
taking them to the caliphal residence of Cordoba, so that all famous factory there was construction and design of his.Ibn Hayyan (2001), p. 182.
Abd al-Rahman ordered the expansion of the aljama mosque in Córdoba, placing Nasr and Masrur, the main eunuchs, in charge of the work, and the work was supervised by Muhammad ibn Ziyad, the qadi of Córdoba. Abder-Rahman's wives and concubines also built mosques which bear their names and are known by them, such as the Tarub Mosque, the Fahr Mosque, the Achchifa Mosque, the Mut'ah Mosque, and many other similar ones, and they competed in good works and alms in Córdoba and in their district. Abderramán surrounded himself with scholars, alfaquíes, scholars and courtly poets, whom he splendidly entertained, especially the alfaquíes and muftíes. To Ziryab, a famous musician whom he sent to come from Baghdad, he made great concessions and assigned him generous emoluments, since he received two hundred cash dinars a month, and his name came on the payroll immediately after the viziers. The emir extended to his sons successively desirable allowances, giving them fixed salaries and magnificent territorial concessions, so that they would not burden their father in his emoluments in the slightest, paying each of the three, Ubaydallah, Ja'far and Yahya., twenty dinars per month, in addition to the regular bonuses.
Foreign Policy
In order to maintain the luxurious lifestyle of his court and suppress the discontent caused by the despotic regime, the emir maintained his father's militaristic policy, increasing the number of foreign armed forces, loyal only to him, who They did not mix with the population. Likewise, skillful work was carried out to build fortresses (ribat) that would give rise to towns such as Calatrava (Qala'at ar-Ríbat).
Almost every year there were attacks against the Christians and in some cases three were even unleashed. The majority was directed against Álava and, especially, Galicia, which was the most vulnerable region of the Kingdom of Asturias. Despite this, there were also attacks against Osona (Vich), Barcelona, Gerona and even Narbona in the expeditions of the years 828, 840 and 850.
In May 843, Musa ibn Musa, head of the Banu Qasi family, led an insurrection against them, being helped in it by García I Íñiguez, king of Pamplona, with whom he was related. After the uprising was crushed, he attacked the lands of Pamplona, defeating García Íñiguez and Musa.
On November 11, 844, he prepared a contingent to face the Vikings who had conquered and sacked Seville a month earlier. The pitched battle took place on the grounds of Tablada, with catastrophic results for the invaders, who suffered a thousand casualties; another four hundred were taken prisoner and executed and some thirty ships were destroyed, the hostages being released. Over time, the small number of survivors converted to Islam, settling as farmers in the area of Coria del Río, Carmona and Morón de la Frontera. New Norman raids were given in the years 859, 966 and 971, the latter being frustrated and the Viking fleet totally annihilated.
The martyrs of Córdoba
Regarding the Hispanic population, they continued to regard their Muslim masters as invading despots, a feeling accentuated by reasons such as schizophrenia derived from the rapidity of conversions to Islam, mixed marriages, economic causes such as the new tax system (the loss of productive base), and the loss of power of the Christian religion before the Muslims. The pressures to abandon Latin and Romance in favor of Arabic became unbearable for this small group of followers of Eulogio de Córdoba. The Mozarabic problem broke out again when, in the course of a conversation, a Cordovan priest named Perfecto declared that Muhammad was a false prophet, in addition to insulting him. Perfecto was brought before the qadi, sentenced to death, and beheaded on April 18, 850 before a rousing mob. The bloody event, although it had several precedents, on this occasion produced a whole chain reaction in the jaded Mozarabic people: the famous episode of the Martyrs of Córdoba, in which 48 prominent Christians deliberately defied the laws against blasphemy, apostasy and Christian proselytism, knowing that death awaited them. Despite this, the pressures and cruel persecution in this period led to numerous conversions to Islam.
Shortly before dying in 852, Abderramán managed to get a council of Mozarabic bishops, chaired by Metropolitan Recafredo of Seville, to forbid from the pulpits that his faithful perform similar acts in the future, without condemning the conduct of the martyrs who had challenged to Islamic power. By not formally repudiating such acts, martyrdoms continued for a few years, until the movement died out in 859.
Portrait of the emir
Ibn Idhari left us this portrait of Abderramán II:
...was very dark and eagle nose. He had his eyes big and black and sharp eyes. It was tall and corpulent and had very accented the nasogenian groove of the upper lip, where the mustaches were separated. His beard was very long, and much use of henneand ketem.
Ramón Menéndez Pidal says of him:
...This prince, except his descendant al-Hakam II, was, of course, the most cult of all the Hispanic-Omeya emirs. It was very given to literature, philosophy, science, music and, above all, poetry, because it had great ease to compose verses. He was interested in the hidden sciences, astrology and interpretation of dreams. He wrote a book entitled Al-Andalus anals. After consolidating his power, he devoted himself to his pleasures without any brake.
Family and children
The Emir Abderramán was madly a womanizer, and never took anyone who was not a virgin, even though she surpassed the women of his time in beauty and excellence, his taste, inclination and dedication to them being excessive, as well as the number in which he had them and the passion of which he made them the object. He had several favorites among his concubines, who dominated his heart and conquered his passion. Among all of them, he ended up with his love called Tarub, mother of his son Abdallah.
To keep them happy, he gave them splendid gifts. To his concubine al-Shifá (Salud) he gave a very valuable pearl necklace called the Dragon, formerly the property of Zobeida, the wife of Harun al-Rashid, which he had bought for ten thousand dinars, which seemed excessive to one of his closest viziers.
The almost proverbial amatory capacity of Abderramán II resulted in a large offspring, which the sources estimate with admiration at the extraordinary number of 87 children, 45 of them male. He was succeeded by Mohamed I.
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‘Abd ar-Rahman III ('Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah) (January 11, 889 - October 15, 961). The eighth (and arguably the greatest) Umayyad emir of Spain. He ruled from 912 to 961. He ascended to the throne when he was twenty-two years of age and reigned for half a century as the most powerful prince of the Umayyad dynasty in Iberia.
Called al-Nasir, or the Defender (of the Faith), he was born at Cordoba, and was the son of Prince Muhammad. Succeeding to an emirate diminished by provincial governors who acted like independent rulers, ‘Abd ar-Rahman at once set out to assert Umayyad authority over all his territories. Initially, he had to suppress the dangerous revolt led by 'Umar ibn Hafsun. In 913, he attacked Seville, a city that had allied with Hafsun, conquering it on December 20. The following year, he campaigned in the Rayya mountains near Malaga, where his mild treatment gained him the surrender of most of the Christian castles. In 917, Hafsun died, but the struggle was continued by his son, who surrendered only after the fall of Malaga on January 21, 928.
Seville and Cremona submitted in 917, Bobastro was captured in 928 and Toledo, the last of the wayward cities, surrendered in 932. The emir checked the advance of the Christian prince Ordono II of Leon (d. 951) in 920.
Once having al-Andalus firmly under his rule, 'Abd ar-Rahman restarted his war against King Ordono II of Leon, who had taken advantage of the previous troublesome situation to capture some bondary areas and to menace the Umayyad territory. In 920, the emir's troops gained a first victory at Junquera (Valdejunquera). This was one of several defeats ‘Abd ar-Rahman inflicted on the Christian kingdoms of Leon and Navarre, checking their expansion.
In 924, Abd 'ar Rahman sacked the Basque capital of Pamplona of King Sancho I. An attempt by Ramiro, the son of Ordono II, to help Toledo was repulsed in 932.
During this time, ‘Abd ar-Rahman built up a navy unmatched anywhere in the world. With this navy, ‘Abd ar-Rahman proceeded to seize part of Morocco from the Fatimids. In 923, Ceuta was captured and the whole of the central Maghrib subdued, with the exception of the region of Tahert. This period also saw the formation of parties which were in the end to cause the greatest disorder: the Slav party and the Berber party. The Slavs were prisoners from eastern Europe, Italy and northern Spain and soon formed a large class in Cordoban society. The Berber party was to play a part in the early tenth century (of the Christian calendar).
By 929, ‘Abd ar-Rahman felt confident enough to assume the title of amir al-mu'minin (“Commander of the Believers”). On January 16, 929, he declared himself as the Caliph of Cordoba, effectively breaking all ties with the Fatimid and 'Abbasid caliphs, thereby restoring in Spain the Umayyad caliphate of Cordoba. His ancestors in Iberia had been content with the title of emir. The caliphate was thought only to belong to the prince who ruled over the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. However, the force of this tradition had been so weakened that 'Abd ar-Rahman could proclaim himself caliph, and the assumption of the title gave him increased prestige with his subjects, both in Iberia and Africa. 'Abd ar-Rahman based his claim to the caliphate on his Ummayyad ancestry. The Umayyads had held undisputed control of the caliphate until they were overthrown by the 'Abbasids.
In 930, Ibn Marwan surrendered, and in 932, Toledo was captured. At this point all Arabs, Iberians and Berbers submitted to 'Abd ar-Rahman. In 931, in order to counter the increasing Fatimid power in North Africa, the caliph had helped Berbers to conquer Ceuta and other territories, which accepted his suzerainty. This was, however, lost a few years later.
In 934, after reassuring his supremacy over Pamplona and Alava, 'Abd ar-Rahman forced Ramiro, the son of Ordono of Leon, to retreat up to Burgos. In 937, he conquered some thirthy castles in Leon and then compelled again the Navarese queen, Toda, to submit to him as a vassal. Then came the time for Muhammad ibn Hashim at-Tugib, governor of Zaragoza, who had allied with Ramiro but was pardoned after the captured of his city.
Despite their early defeats, Ramiro II and Toda were able to crush the caliphate army in 939 at the Battle of Simancas, most likely due to treason from Arabic elements in the caliph's army. After this defeat, 'Abd ar-Rahman stopped taking part in person in the military campaigns. His cause was however helped by Fernan Gonzalez of Castile, one of the Christian leaders at Simancas, who declared war against Ramiro, only to be defeated after a while. Ramiro's victory at Simancas enabled the advance of the Leonine border from the Duero to the Tormes.
In 951, he signed a peace with the new king of Leon, Ordono III, in order to have free hand against the Fatimids in North Africa. He was, however, able only to launch an expedition against Ifriqiya, in the area of Tunis.
In 954, the Fatimids made a raid on the Spanish shore near Almeria. As a reprisal, ‘Abd ar-Rahman burned Marsa ‘l-Kharaz on the North African coast. About 955, ‘Abd ar-Rahman’s help was invoked by King Sancho and Queen Tota of Navarre against Ordono IV, an event without precedent in the annals of Muslim Spain. Ordono III's son and successor, Sancho I, had been deposed by his cousin Ordono IV. Sancho, together with Toda of Navarre, sued for an alliance with Cordoba. In exchange for some castles, 'Abd ar-Rahman helped them to take back Zamora in 959 and Oviedo in 960 and to overthrow Ordono IV.
'Abd ar-Rahman spent the rest of his years in his new palace outside Cordoba. He died in October 961 and was succeeded by his son al-Hakam II.
‘Abd ar-Rahman constructed near Cordoba the town of Madinat al-Zahra’ (Medina Azahara) for his own residence. Ultimately, ‘Abd ar-Rahman’s greatest legacy was the transformation of Cordoba into the greatest cultural center in the Western world, a distinction Cordoba would hold for over two centuries. 'Abd ar-Rahman expanded the city's library, which would help make Cordoba the intellectual center of Western Europe.
By the end of ‘Abd ar-Rahman’s reign, the splendor of Cordoba rivaled that of Baghdad and Constantinople, the great cultural centers of the East. Under 'Abd ar-Rahman, Islamic Cordoba became a city of beauty and enlightenment.
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| Abd al-Rahman III عبد الرحمن الناصر لدين الله | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
 Silver dirham of Abd al-Rahman III, minted in 946 AD | |||||
| 1st Caliph of Córdoba | |||||
| Reign | 17 January 929 – 15 October 961 | ||||
| Proclamation | 17 January 929 (aged 39)[2] | ||||
| Successor | Al-Hakam II | ||||
| 8th Emir of Córdoba | |||||
| Reign | 16 October 912 – 17 January 929 | ||||
| Bay'ah | 17 October 912 (aged 22)[3] | ||||
| Predecessor | Abdullah | ||||
| Born | 18 December 890 Córdoba[5] | ||||
| Died | 15 October 961 (aged 70)[4] Córdoba[6] | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Consort | Fatima bint Al-Mundhir[8] Marjan[9] or Murjan[10] | ||||
| Issue | Sons in order of birth according to Ibn Hazm:[8] Al-Hakam II (son of Murjan)[10] Abd al-Aziz Al-Asbagh Ubayd Allah Abd al-Jabbar Abd al-Malik Sulayman Abdullah Marwan Al-Mundhir Al-Mugira | ||||
| |||||
| House | Marwanids | ||||
| Dynasty | Umayyad | ||||
| Father | Muhammad ibn Abdullah | ||||
| Mother | Muzna (originally Maria?)[1] | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam (Maliki school)[13] | ||||
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The Umayyads ruled the Muslim world from 661 to 750, but when the Abbasids came to power they put most of the Umayyad princes to death. Only a handful of Umayyad princes escaped the ensuing massacre. Abd al-Rahman, the grandson of Umayyad ruler Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, was one of them. He fled Damascus and travelled on foot and by ship for many years before he finally reached North Africa, where he received a warm welcome from the Berber tribe of Banu Nafisa (in present day Morocco). During his stay there he received news of the political chaos and disorder which prevailed across the sea in al-andalus (Islamic Spain) at the time. When he was informed that the Muslims in Spain had become bitterly divided into two factions -- one faction supported the reigning governor, Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, while the other group opposed him -- Prince Abd al-Rahman immediately contacted the governor's opponents and enlisted their help in order to overthrow him. In 756, he led an army into battle and defeated the governor's forces before proceeding to Cordova, the capital of al-andalus, and in so doing inaugurated Umayyad rule in Spain. Known also as al-dhakil (or 'the Immigrant') and sahib al-andalus (or 'the Lord of Islamic Spain') on account of his outstanding political leadership and organizational ability, Abd al-Rahman and his descendants went on to rule Muslim Spain for nearly three centuries. During this period, Muslim Spain produced a number of influential rulers, but the most outstanding of them all was Caliph Abd al-Rahman III.
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ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III (born January 891—died October 15, 961, Córdoba) was the first caliph and greatest ruler of the Umayyad Arab Muslim dynasty of Spain. He reigned as hereditary emir (“prince”) of Córdoba from October 912 and took the title of caliph in 929.
Accession as emir
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān succeeded his grandfather ʿAbd Allāh as emir of Córdoba in October 912 at the age of 21. Because of his intelligence and character he had been the obvious favourite of his grandfather, who had designated him heir presumptive in preference to the other royal princes. In appearance he is described as having been light-skinned, handsome, thickset, and short-legged. He appeared to be very short when he walked but was imposing on horseback.
Public homage was paid to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān in Córdoba immediately after his accession. He set about at once and with great energy to restore the authority of Córdoba in Spain—an authority that had been curtailed during the latter years of the reign of his grandfather by a host of rebels entrenched in mountain forts throughout the land. Ten days after his accession he had the head of the first rebel exhibited in Córdoba. Thereafter, for a score or so of years, he led almost annual expeditions against the rebels, first in southern and later in central and eastern Spain.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s greatest enemy was a crypto-Christian rebel, ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣūn, lord of Bobastro. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s strategy was one of continuous harassment of Ibn Ḥafṣūn’s forts. Beginning with the campaign of Monteleón, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān captured 70 forts in the provinces of Elvira, Granada, and Jaén—all of which had been directly or indirectly controlled by Ibn Ḥafṣūn. In 913 Sevilla (Seville) was captured, followed by Algeciras, Rayyu, Sidonia, and Carmona. When Ibn Ḥafṣūn died in 917, the rebellion collapsed. His children were captured or killed, and the centre of the rebellion, Bobastro, was finally stormed in 928. In 933 Toledo fell after a bitter siege, and, with its fall, the last Muslim centre of resistance to Córdoban hegemony disappeared.
Campaigns against the Christians
Meanwhile, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān also had to check threats from the Christian north. The main danger came from the kingdom of Leon. An expedition commanded by Ordoño II, then vassal king of Galicia and later king of Leon, into Muslim territory in the summer of 913, especially his sack of Evora (Talavera) and the massacre of its Muslim population, produced widespread resentment in Muslim Spain. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān decided to counterattack, which he began in earnest in 920, leading the campaign of Muez in person. He captured the forts of Osma and San Esteban de Gormaz and then inflicted a crushing defeat on the combined armies of Leon and Navarre at Valdejunquera on July 26, 920. Four years later, in the spring of 924, he led another campaign into Navarre and sacked the capital, Pamplona. With these two campaigns, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was able to secure his frontiers with Christian Spain for the next seven years. But the next king of Leon, Ramiro II, who ascended the throne in 932, proved a formidable adversary and began immediately to mount attacks against Muslim territory. The encounter between the two rulers finally took place in 939, when, at the so-called ditch of Simancas (Shānt Mānkus), Ramiro severely defeated the Muslims, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrowly escaped with his life. After that defeat ʿAbd al-Raḥmān resolved never to take personal charge of another expedition. The Christian victory, however, was not followed up. When Ramiro died in 950 and civil war broke out in the Christian territories, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān made good his earlier losses so thoroughly that in 958 Sancho, exiled king of Leon, Garcia Sánchez, king of Navarre, and his mother, Queen Toda, all paid personal homage to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān in Córdoba.
In North Africa the policy of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was directed against the Fāṭimids in al-Qayrawān (now in Kairouan, Tunisia). In order to check their control over North Africa he financed rebellions against them and sent naval expeditions to sack the coastal cities. The city of Ceuta was fortified in 931 as a base of operations in North Africa. Toward the end of his reign, however, Fāṭimid power increased, and the Fāṭimid general Jawhar was able to repulse the allies of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. The struggle with the Fāṭimids, however, was inconclusive and was to continue throughout the 10th century.
As a result of his early successes, and probably at his own suggestion, some of his court poets urged ʿAbd al-Raḥmān to adopt the title of caliph. He assumed that dignity in 929, shortly after the fall of Bobastro, and chose the honorific title Al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh (“Victor for the Religion of God”). His reasons were, internally, to enhance his prestige and, externally, to counter the Fāṭimid claim to this honour.
Significance
The consolidation of power brought great prosperity to Muslim Spain—one indication of which was his building of a mint where pure gold and silver coins were struck. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was also a great builder; he renovated and added considerably to the Great Mosque at Córdoba and to the royal palace. At vast expense he built a new royal city, Madīnat al-Zahrāʾ, to house his household and government. He kept a very strict control over the affairs of state and his civil service, changing his governors frequently to avoid the growth of local dynasties. In 949 he executed his own son for conspiring against him.
Christian and Jewish communities flourished during ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s tolerant reign. His fame spread so far beyond his domains that Córdoba by the end of his reign enjoyed almost as much fame as Constantinople in the Mediterranean world. In Córdoba he received emissaries from such distant rulers as Otto I of Germany and the Byzantine emperor. Córdoba was said to have contained 3,000 mosques and more than 100,000 shops and houses. His reign, the second longest of any Muslim caliph, afforded his wise and courageous policies the fullest chance of development.
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ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil al-Marwānī al-Umawī al-Qurashī (Arabic: عبدالرحمن بن محمد بن عبداللہ بن محمد بن عبدالرحمن بن الحكم بن هشام بن عبد الرحمن الداخل المرواني الأموي القرشي;[6] 890–961), or simply ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III, was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 929, at which point he founded the Caliphate of Córdoba, serving as its first caliph until his death. Abd al-Rahman won the laqab (sobriquet) al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh (lit. 'the Defender of God's Faith') in his early 20s when he supported the Maghrawa Berbers in North Africa against Fatimid expansion and later claimed the title of Caliph for himself.[14] His half-century reign was known for its religious tolerance.
Life
Early years
Lineage and appearance
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Abd al-Rahman was born in Córdoba, on 18 December 890.[5][15] His year of birth is also given as 889 and 891. He was the grandson of Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi, seventh independent Umayyad emir of al-Andalus. His parents were Abdullah's son Muhammad and Muzna (or Muzayna), a Christian concubine.[16] His paternal grandmother was also a Christian, the royal infanta Onneca Fortúnez, daughter of the captive king Fortún Garcés of Pamplona. Abd al-Rahman was thus nephew in the half-blood of queen Toda of Pamplona. He is described as having "white skin, blue eyes and attractive face; good looking, although somewhat sturdy and stout. His legs were short, to the point that the stirrups of his saddle were mounted just one palm under it. When mounted, he looked tall, but on his feet he was quite short. He dyed his beard black."[17] He had reddish-blond hair,[18] which he reportedly dyed black to appear more "Arab".[19]
Harem youth
Muhammad was assassinated by his brother Al-Mutarrif, who had allegedly grown jealous of the favour Muhammad had gained in the eyes of their father Abdallah. Al-Mutarrif had accused Muhammad of plotting with the rebel Umar ibn Hafsun, and Muhammad had been imprisoned. According to some sources, the emir himself was behind Muhammad's fall, as well as Al-Mutarrif's death in 895. Abd al-Rahman spent his youth in his mother's harem. Al-Mutarrif's sister, known as al-Sayyida ("the Lady"), was entrusted with his education. She made sure that Abd al-Rahman's education was conducted with some rigour.[20] It was claimed that he had learned and known the local Mozarabic language.[21]
Accession to throne
Emir Abdallah died at the age of 72. Despite four of his sons (Aban, Abd al Rahman, Muhammad and Ahmad) being alive at the time of his death, all of them were passed over for succession. Abdallah instead chose as his successor his grandson, Abd al-Rahman III (the son of his first son). This came as no surprise, since Abdallah had already demonstrated his affection for his grandson in many ways, namely by allowing him to live in his own tower (something he did not allow for any of his sons), and allowing him to sit on the throne on some festive occasions. Most importantly, Abdallah gave Abd al-Rahman his ring, the symbol of power, when Abdallah fell ill prior to his death.
Abd al-Rahman succeeded Abdallah the day after his death, 16 October 912.[6] Historiographers of the time, such as Al-Bayan al-Mughrib and the Crónica anónima de Abd al-Rahman III, state that his succession was "without incident". At the time, Abd al-Rahman was about 21 or 22 years old. He inherited an emirate on the verge of dissolution, his power extending not far beyond the vicinity of Córdoba.[6] To the north, the Christian Kingdom of Asturias was continuing its program of Reconquista in the Douro valley. To the south in Ifriqiya, the Fatimids had created an independent caliphate that threatened to attract the allegiance of the Muslim population, who had suffered under the harsh rule of Abdullah. On the internal front the discontented Muwallad families (Muslims of Iberian origin) represented a constant danger for the Córdoban emir. The most powerful of the latter was Umar ibn Hafsun, who, from his impregnable fortress of Bobastro, controlled much of eastern Al-Andalus.
From the very early stages of his reign, Abd al-Rahman showed a firm resolve to quash the rebels of al-Andalus, consolidate and centralise power, and re-establish internal order within the emirate. Within 10 days of taking the throne, he exhibited the head of a rebel leader in Cordoba.[6] From this point on he led annual expeditions against the northern and southern tribes to maintain control over them. To accomplish his aims he introduced into the court the saqalibah, slaves of East European origin. The saqalibah represented a third ethnic group that could neutralise the endless strife between his subjects of Muslim Arab heritage, and those of Muslim Berber heritage.
Hasdai ibn Shaprut, a Jewish courtier in the king's court who served as financier to the king, wrote of the king's revenues:
Early rule
He first had to suppress the rebel Umar ibn Hafsun. On 1 January 913 an army, led by the eunuch Badr, conquered the fortress of Écija, at some 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the capital. All the city's fortifications were destroyed, aside from the citadel, which was left as the residence of the governor and a garrison for the emirati troops.
In the following spring, after sixty-five days of meticulous preparations, Abd al-Rahman personally led an expedition to the south of his realm. His troops were able to recover the Kūras (provinces) of Jaén and Granada, while a cavalry detachment was sent to free Málaga from ibn Hafsun's siege. He also obtained the capitulation of Fiñana (in the modern province of Almería), after setting fire to its suburbs. Subsequently, he moved against the castle of Juviles in the Alpujarras. After devastating the surrounding countryside to deprive the castle of any resources, he encircled it. Finding it difficult to bombard with catapults, he ordered the construction of a platform where his siege engines could be mounted to greater effect, and cut the water supply. The Muwallad defenders surrendered after a few days: their lives, apart from fifty-five die-hards who were beheaded, were spared in exchange for their allegiance to the emir. The campaign continued in a similar vein, lasting for a total of ninety days. Abd al-Rahman forced the defeated Muwallad to send hostages and treasures to Córdoba, in order to secure their continued submission.
During the first year of his reign, Abd al-Rahman took advantage of the rivalries between the Banu Hajjaj lords of Seville and Carmona to force them to submit. He initially sent a special corps (hasam) under Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hudayr, governor of Écija, to Seville, to obtain their submission. This attempt failed, but gained him the support of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Hayyay, lord of Carmona, and a cousin of the Sevillan lord, Ahmad ibn Maslama. When the latter was surrounded by Umayyad troops, he sued for help to Ibn Hafsun, but the latter was defeated by the besiegers and returned to Bobastro. Abd al-Rahman next went after the forts in the provinces of Elvira, Granada, and Jaén, all of which were either directly or indirectly controlled by Hafsun.[6] Seville finally capitulated on 20 December 913. Ibn al-Mundhir al-Qurays, a member of the royal family, was named governor of the city, while the Lord of Carmona obtained the title of vizier. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim enjoyed his office for only a single day, for Abd al-Rahman soon discovered his collusion with the rebel governor of Carmona. Muhammad was sent to prison, where he later met his death.
The region of Valencia submitted peacefully in 915.
Ibn Hafsun and other rebels
Abd al-Rahman's next objective was to quash the long-standing rebellion of Umar ibn Hafsun.
His troops left Córdoba on 7 May 914 and, after a few days, encamped before the walls of Balda (identified with today's Cuevas de San Marcos). His cavalry ravaged the nearby woods and the countryside, while the rest of the troops moved to Turrus, a castle located in the present municipality of Algarinejo, which was surrounded within five days, while its environs were also devastated.
The Umayyad army then moved to the citadel of ʿUmar ibn Hafsun, while the cavalry was sent to the castle of Sant Batir, which was abandoned by the defenders, allowing Abd al-Rahman's troops to secure a large booty. Then it was the turn of the castles of Olías and Reina. The latter fell after a violent fight, leaving the road open to the major city and provincial capital of Málaga, which he captured after one day. Abd al-Rahman then turned and followed the coast by Montemayor, near Benahavís, Suhayl (Fuengirola) and another castle called Turrus or Turrus Jusayn (identified by Évariste Lévi-Provençal as Ojén). He finally arrived at Algeciras on 1 June 914. He ordered a patrol of the coast to destroy the boats that supplied the citadel of Umar ibn Hafsun from the Maghreb. Many of them were captured and set afire in front of the emir. The rebellious castles near Algeciras surrendered as soon as the Cordoban army appeared.
Abd al-Rahman launched three different campaigns against Ibn Hafsun (who died in 917) and his sons. One of Ibn Hafsun's sons, Jaʿfar ibn Hafsun, held the stronghold of Toledo. Abd al-Rahman ravaged the countryside around the city. Ja'far, after two years of siege, escaped from the city to ask for help in the northern Christian kingdoms. In the meantime Abd al-Rahman obtained the surrender of the city from its population, after promising them immunity, although 4,000 rebels escaped in a night sally. The city surrendered on 2 August 932, after a siege of two years.
In 921 the Banu Muhallab of Guadix submitted, followed by those of Jerez de la Frontera and Cádiz, as well as the trading republic of Pechina a year later. In 927, Abd al-Rahman also launched a campaign against the rebel Banu Qasi, but was forced to break it off following the intervention of Jimeno Garcés of Pamplona.
The last of the sons of Ibn Hafsun to fall was Hafs, who commanded his powerful fortress of Umar ibn Hafsun. Surrounded by troops commanded by Abd al-Rahman's vizier, Said ibn al-Mundhir, who had ordered the construction of bastions around the city, he resisted the siege for six months,[6] until he surrendered in 928 and had his life spared.[24]
The Levente and Algarve rebels
The continued expeditions against the Hafsunids did not distract Abd al-Rahman III from the situation in other regions in al-Andalus, which recognized him only nominally, if not being in open revolt. Most of the loyal governors of the cities were in a weak position, such as the governor of Évora, who could not prevent an attack by the king of Galicia (and future king of León), Ordoño II, who captured the city in the summer of 913, taking back a sizable booty and 4,000 prisoners and massacring many Muslims.[6] In most of the eastern and western provinces, Abd al-Rahman's authority was not recognized. The lord of Badajoz, Abd Allah ibn Muhammad, grandson of Abd al-Rahman ibn Marwan al-Yilliqi, not only fortified his city against a possible attack from Ordoño, but also acted in complete independence from Córdoba.
To avoid the fall of Évora into the hands of the Berber groups of the region, the governor ordered the destruction of its defensive towers and lowered the walls, though a year later he decided to reconstruct it, giving its control to his ally Masud ibn Sa' dun al-Surunbaqi. The Algarve was dominated completely by a muladí coalition led by Saʿid ibn Mal, who had expelled the Arabs from Beja, and the lords of Ocsónoba, Yahya ibn Bakr, and of Niebla, Ibn Ufayr. Alcácer do Sal and Lisbon were under the control of the Banu Dānis.
The absence of royal authority enabled Ordoño II to easily campaign in this area, his main objective being the city of Mérida, in the summer of 915. Abd al-Rahman III did not send an army and only several local Berber jefes offered some resistance which was ineffective.
Assumption of the Caliphate
Despite having defeated only some of the rebels, Abd al-Rahman III considered himself powerful enough to declare himself Caliph of Córdoba on 16 January 929, effectively breaking his allegiance to, and ties with, the Fatimid and Abbasid caliphs.[25] The caliphate was thought only to belong to the Emperor who ruled over the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, and his ancestors had until then been content with the title of emir. But the force of this tradition had weakened over time; and the title increased Abd al-Rahman's prestige with his subjects, both in Iberia and Africa.[23] He based his claim to the caliphate on his Umayyad ancestors who had held undisputed control of the caliphate until they were overthrown by the Abbasids.
Abd al-Rahman's move made him both the political and the religious leader of all the Muslims in al-Andalus, as well as the protector of his Christian and Jewish subjects. The symbols of his new caliphal power were a sceptre (jayzuran) and the throne (sarir). In the mint he had founded in November 928, Abd al-Rahman started to mint gold dinars[26] and silver dirhams, replacing the "al-Andalus" title with his name.
In his new role as caliph, he achieved the surrender of Ibn Marwan of Badajoz in 930 as well as the surrender of the Banu Dānis of Alcácer do Sal. On the southern front, to counter the increasing Fatimid power in North Africa, abd al-Rahmad ordered the construction of a fleet based in Almeria. The caliph helped the Maghrawa Berbers conquer Melilla (927), Ceuta (931)[6] and Tangiers (951), who, in return, accepted his suzerainty. However, he was unable to defeat Jawhar al-Siqilli of the Fatimids.[6] In 951 he signed a peace with the new king of León, Ordoño III, in order to have a free hand against the Fatimids whose ships were harassing caliphal shipping in the Mediterranean and had even launched an assault against Almeria. Abd al-Rahman's force, led by prime minister Ahmad ibn Said, besieged the Fatimid port of Tunis, which bought its safety by paying a huge sum.[27]
In the end he was able to create a protectorate covering the northern and central Maghreb, supporting the Idrisid dynasty; the Caliphate's influence in the area disappeared after a Fatimid offensive in 958, after which abd al-Rahman kept only the strongholds of Ceuta and Tangiers.
War with the Christian kingdoms of the north
Even before al-Andalus was firmly under his rule, he had restarted the war against King Ordoño II of León, who had taken advantage of the previous troublesome situation to capture some boundary areas and menace the Umayyad territory. In 917 the then emir had sent a large army under his general Ahmad ibn Abi Abda against León, but this force was destroyed at the Battle of San Esteban de Gormaz in September of that year.
Recognizing he had underestimated the power of Ordoño II, in 920 Abd al-Rahman mustered another powerful army to reclaim the territories lost after the previous campaign. He captured the forts of Osma and San Esteban de Gormaz.[6] After defeating King Sancho Garcés I of Navarre and the king of León at Valdejunquera on 26 July,[6] he penetrated into Navarre, overcoming Aragon by the classic route of the invasions from the south. Abd al-Rahman reached the Basque city of Pamplona, which was sacked and its cathedral church demolished.
In 924 Abd al-Rahman felt obliged to avenge the massacre of Viguera castle perpetrated by King Sancho Ordóñez of Navarre one year earlier. He launched a counter offensive against Sancho in which Abd al-Rahman devastated a large area of Basque territory.[28]
The succession crisis which struck León after Ordoño II's death in the same year caused hostilities to cease until Ramiro II gained the throne in 932; a first attempt by him to assist the besieged rebels in Toledo was repelled in 932, despite the Christian king capturing Madrid.
In 934, after reasserting supremacy over Pamplona and Álava, Abd al-Rahman forced Ramiro to retreat to Burgos, and forced the Navarrese queen Toda, his aunt, to submit to him as a vassal and withdraw from direct rule as regent for her son García Sánchez I. In 937 Abd al-Rahman conquered some thirty castles in León. Next he turned to Muhammad ibn Hashim al-Tugib, governor of Zaragoza, who had allied with Ramiro but was pardoned after the capture of his city.
Despite early defeats, Ramiro and García were able to crush the caliphal army in 939 at the Battle of Simancas, and almost kill Abd al-Rahman,[6] due to treason by Arab elements in the caliph's army. After this defeat, Abd al-Rahman stopped taking personal command of his military campaigns. His cause was helped, however, by Fernán González of Castile, one of the Christian leaders at Simancas, who subsequently launched a sustained rebellion against Ramiro. The victory of Simancas enabled the Christian kingdom to maintain the military initiative in the peninsula until the defeat of Ramiro's successor, Ordoño III of León, in 956. However, they did not press this advantage as civil war broke out in the Christian territories.
In 950 Abd al-Rahman received in Córdoba an embassy from count Borrell II of Barcelona, by which the northern county recognized caliphal supremacy in exchange for peace and mutual support. In 958, Sancho, the exiled king of León, King García Sánchez of Pamplona, and his mother Queen Toda all paid homage to Abd al-Rahman in Córdoba.[6]
Until 961, the caliphate played an active role in the dynastic strife characterising the Christian kingdoms during the period. Ordoño III's half-brother and successor, Sancho the Fat, had been deposed by his cousin Ordoño IV. Together with his grandmother Toda of Pamplona, Sancho sought an alliance with Córdoba. In exchange for some castles, Abd al-Rahman helped them to take back Zamora (959) and Oviedo (960) and to overthrow Ordoño IV.
Later years
Abd al-Rahman was accused of retreating in his later years into the "self-indulgent" comforts of his harem.[23] Indeed, he is known to have openly kept a male as well as a female harem (in common with a few other rulers such as Hisham II and Al-Mu'tamid).[29] A 13-year-old Christian was martyred after rejecting both the Caliph's sexual advances and conversion to Islam. Abd al-Rahman had the boy tortured and dismembered. The martyr was later canonised as Saint Pelagius of Córdoba). [30]
Abd al-Rahman spent the rest of his years in his new palace outside Córdoba. He died on 15 October 961 and was succeeded by his son al-Hakam II.
Legacy
Abd al-Rahman was a great humanist and patron of arts, especially architecture. A third of his revenue sufficed for the ordinary expenses of government, a third was hoarded, and a third was spent on buildings.[23] After declaring the caliphate, he had a massive palace complex, known as the Medina Azahara, built some five kilometres north of Córdoba. The Medina Azahara was modelled after the old Umayyad palace in Damascus and served as a symbolic tie between the new caliph and his ancestors. It was said that Córdoba contained 3000 mosques and 100,000 shops and homes during his reign.[6]
Under his reign, Córdoba became the most important intellectual centre of Western Europe. He expanded the city's library, which would be further enriched by his successors.
He also reinforced the Iberian fleet, which became the most powerful in Mediterranean Europe. Iberian raiders moved up to Galicia, Asturias, and North Africa. The colonisers of Fraxinetum came from al-Andalus as well.
Due to his consolidation of power, Muslim Iberia became a power for a few centuries. It also brought prosperity, and with this he created mints where pure gold and silver coins were created. He renovated and added to the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba.[6]
He was very wary of losing control and kept tight reins on his family. In 949, he executed one of his sons for conspiring against him. He was tolerant of non-Muslims, and Jews and Christians were treated fairly provided they were not one of his caliphate's slaves, sexual or otherwise.[31] European kingdoms sent emissaries, including from Otto I of Germany and the Byzantine emperor.[6]
Ancestry
Abd al-Rahman III's mother Muzna was a Christian captive, possibly from the Pyrenean region. His paternal grandmother Onneca Fortúnez was a Christian princess from the Kingdom of Pamplona. In his immediate ancestry, Abd al-Rahman III was Arab and Hispano–Basque.[1]
| Ancestors of Abd al-Rahman III |
|---|
Notes and references
- Fletcher, Richard (2006) [1992]. "Chapter 4: The Caliphate of Córdoba". Moorish Spain (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-0-520-24840-3.
- Catlos, Brian (2018). Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 129. ISBN 9780465055876.
- Azizur Rahman, Syed (2001). The Story of Islamic Spain (snippet view). New Delhi: Goodword Books. p. 129. ISBN 978-81-87570-57-8.
[Emir Abdullah died on] 16 Oct., 912 after 26 years of writing an intro to the first caliph and leaving his fragmented and bankrupt kingdom to his grandson 'Abd al-Rahman. The following day, the new sultan received the oath of allegiance at a ceremony held in the "Perfect salon" (al-majils al-kamil) of the Alcazar.
- Gordon, Matthew (2005). "Document 15: Abd al-Rahman III of al-Andalus". The Rise of Islam. Greenwood guides to historic events of the medieval world. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-313-32522-9.
- "Abd al-Rahman III". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- "'Abd al-Rahman III". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A–Ak – Bayes (15th ed.). 2010. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
- Kennedy, Hugh N. (1996). Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus (snippet view). London: Longman. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-582-49515-9. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
The Caliph died on 15 October 961 and was buried with his predecessors in the Alcazar at Cordoba.
- Vallvé Bermejo, Joaquín (1999). Al-Andalus: sociedad e instituciones [Al-Andalus: Society and Institutions]. Volume 20 of Clave historial (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia. pp. 48–50. ISBN 978-84-89512-16-0.
- Marín, Manuela (2002). "Marriage and Sexuality in Al-Andalus". In Lacarra Lanz, Eukene (ed.). Marriage and Sexuality in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia. Volume 26 of Hispanic issues. New York: Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-415-93634-7.
- Kassis, Hanna (1999). "A glimpse of openness in medieval society: Al-Ḥakam II of Córdoba and his non-Muslim collaborators" (Festschrift in Honor of János M. Bak). In Nagy, Balázs; Sebők, Marcell (eds.). The Man of Many Devices, Who Wandered Full Many Ways. Budapest: Central European University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-963-9116-67-2.
- Lane-Poole 1894, p. 11
- Lane-Poole 1894, p. 22
- Daftary, Farhad (1992). The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines. Cambridge University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-521-42974-0.
... the Umayyad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III, who was a Mālikī Sunnī.
- "The Golden Caliphate". Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
- His year of birth is given as 891 in the Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, p. 2
- Abd al-Rahman, III Biography.
- Ibn Idhari, Kitab al-Bayan
- Flood, Timothy M. (2018). Rulers and Realms in Medieval Iberia, 711-1492. McFarland & Company. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-4766-7471-1.
- Heng, Geraldine (2018). The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-108-42278-9.
- Ibn Hazm
- Byfield, Ted; Project, Christian History; Stanway, Paul (2004). The Quest for the City : A.D. 740 to 1100 : Pursuing the Next World, They Founded this One. Christian History Project. ISBN 978-0-9689873-6-0.
- Mahberet Menahem (ed. Herschell Filipowski), London & Edinburgh 1854 (reprinted: Jerusalem 1987), in: Biography of the Author (the Celebrated Rabbi Menahem ben Saruk), p. 7; cf. Elkan Nathan Adler, Jewish Travellers, Routledge: London 1931, pp. 22–36 [vide Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schecter Collection (T-S Misc. 35.38)].
- One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abd-al-Rahman s.v Abd-al-Rahman III". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 31–32.
- Schreiber, Hermann (1984). Gli Arabi in Spagna. Garzanti. p. 142.
- Abd-al-Rahman III [dead link]
- No gold Islamic coins had been found in Spain preceding Abd al-Rahman III's reign. See Schreiber, Gli Arabi in Spagna, p. 143.
- Schreiber, Gli Arabi in Spagna, p. 154
- Hareir, Idris El; Mbaye, Ravane (2011). Al Maqqari, Nafh at-Tih, I. UNESCO. p. 363. ISBN 978-9231041532.
- Encyclopedia of Medieval Iberia, ed. Michael Gerli (New York: Routledge, 2003), 398–399.
- Walter Andrews and Mehmet Kalpaklı, The Age of Beloveds, Duke University Press, 2005; p. 2
- Mendes, Ana Cristina; Baptista, Cristina (2014). Reviewing Imperial Conflicts. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 24.
- Salas Merino, Vicente (2008). "La Dinastía Íñiga (820–905)". La Genealogía de Los Reyes de España [The Genealogy of the Kings of Spain] (in Spanish) (4th ed.). Madrid: Editorial Visión Libros. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-84-9821-767-4.
- Ibn Idhari, p. 233
Bibliography
- Coope, Jessica (1995). Martyrs of Córdoba: Community and Family Conflict in an Age of Mass Conversion. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1471-5.
- Fierro, Maribel (2005). Abd-al-Rahman III of Córdoba. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-384-4.
- Ibn Idhari (1860) [Composed c. 1312]. Al-Bayan al-Mughrib [History of Al-Andalus from Spanish] (in Spanish). Vol. 1. translated by Francisco Fernández y González. Granada: Francisco Ventura y Sabatel. OCLC 557028856.
- Lane-Poole, Stanley (1894). The Mohammedan Dynasties: Chronological and Genealogical Tables with Historical Introductions. Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company. OCLC 1199708.
- Lévi-Provençal, Évariste; García Gómez, Emilio, eds. (1950). Una crónica anónima de 'Abd al-Rahman III al-Nasir (in Spanish). Madrid-Granada: Instituto Miguel Asin.
- Scales, Peter (1994). Fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba. New York: EJ Brill. ISBN 90-04-09868-2.
- Wolf, Kenneth (1988). Christian Martyrs in Muslim Spain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-34416-6.
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Although other Spanish Muslim rulers like Abd al-Rahman II, Muhammad I and al-Hakam II had also achieved a tremendous amount and contributed greatly to the prosperity and progress of al-andalus, it was during the glorious reign of Abd al-Rahman III that Islamic Spain reached its political, social, cultural and intellectual zenith. His reign of forty-nine years was therefore a truly remarkable period in the history of Islamic Spain and Europe as a whole. In less than half a century, he transformed a politically disunited and economically ruined country into one of medieval Europe's most dazzling and prosperous nations. As an enlightened, tolerant and generous ruler, he showered his subjects with wealth and gifts and they, in turn, revered him more than anyone else. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III died in Cordova at the age of seventy-one. Al-andalus began to decline after his death and the Umayyads of Spain were eventually ousted from power in 1031.
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Rahman, 'Abd ar- see ‘Abd ar-Rahman III
'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah see ‘Abd ar-Rahman III
Nasir, al- see ‘Abd ar-Rahman III
Defender of the Faith see ‘Abd ar-Rahman III
'Abdel Kader. See ‘Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhyi al-Din.
Kader, 'Abdel see 'Abdel Kader.
‘Abd el-Krim ('Abdul Karim) (Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi) (Mulay Abdelkrim) (c.1882 - February 6, 1963). Leader of the Riffians, an Arab tribe of Morocco. He became the leader of a wide scale armed resistance movement against French and Spanish colonial rule in North Africa. His guerrilla tactics are known to have inspired Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, and Che Guevara.
'Abd el-Krim was born in Ajdir, Morocco, around 1882, to 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, a qadi (Islamic judge) of the Ait Yusuf clan of the Aith Uriaghel (or Warayaghar) tribe. ‘Abd el-Krim was the eldest son of ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Muhammad al-Khattabi, a notable of the Ait Warayaghar, a Tamazight speaking Berber tribe of the Rif Mountains in northeastern Morocco.
'Abd el-Krim was educated both in traditional zaouias and in Spanish schools, continuing his education at the ancient University of Qarawiyin in Fez. After his studies, in 1906, 'Abd el-Krim was sent to Mellila by his father. He worked there as a teacher and translator (until 1913) and became journalist for the Spanish newspaper Telegrama del Rif (1906-1915). Working for the newspaper 'Abd el-Krim, following the ideas of his father, pleaded for intervention by Spain in the Rif. He insisted that this intervention would not be a colonization or submission to the Christians. He made a distinction between two kinds of Moroccans, those who understood that intervention was necessary and those who opposed it. He praised the many benefits Spain would bring to the region.
'Abd el-Krim entered Spanish governmental service and was appointed chief qadi for Melilla in 1914. During the World War I, 'Abd el-Krim was punished by the Spanish government for pro-German activities and imprisoned for a short period. At the end of the war, he briefly resumed his duties at the newspaper, but soon, fearful of extradition to the French for punishment, he returned to his home at Ajdir in January 1919. He was alarmed by the appearance of Spanish agents in Beni Waryaghil territory and was determined to fight for tribal independence. A more immediate provocation was the loss of his pension and his exclusion by the Spanish from an informal mining consortium. The following year, 'Abd el-Krim, together with his father and brother, began a war of rebellion against the Spanish. His goal was now to unite the tribes of the Rif into an independent Republic of the Rif. He made it clear that this Republic was strictly provisional, confirming his allegiance to the Moroccan throne and the royal family.
In 1921, as a by-product of their efforts to destroy the power of a local brigand, Raisuli, Spanish troops approached the unoccupied areas of the Rif. 'Abd el-Krim sent their General, Manuel Fernandez Silvestre, a warning that if they crossed the Amekran River he would consider it an act of war. Silvestre ignored the warning, and shortly afterwards set up a military post across the river to establish an outpost at the hills of Abaran. In June 1921, a sizable Riffian force attacked this post killing 179 Spanish troops of the estimated 250. Soon afterwards, 'Abd el-Krim directed his forces to attack the Spanish lines an Anual (Morocco). ‘Abd el-Krim achieved great success. In three weeks, 8,000 Spanish troops were killed, and the Spanish Army of 13,000 was forced to retreat to the coast by only 3,000 Riffians. During the attack on Anual, General Silvestre either committed suicide or was killed while defending his post. All told, the Spanish losses at the Battle of Anual may have numbered as many as nineteen thousand killed, making this battle the greatest defeat suffered by a European force in one battle in the colonial history of North Africa. This seminal victory established 'Abd el-Krim as a genius of guerrilla warfare, and thus began the Rif Rebellion, a major insurrection against the Spanish and French protectorate authorities in Morocco.
The embarrassing defeat of Spanish forces at Anual created a political crisis in Spain that subsequently led to General Miguel Primo de Rivera's coup d'etat of September 13, 1923, the installation of a military dictatorship (1923-1930), and the eventual collapse of the Spanish Monarchy in April 1931.
By 1924, the Spanish were forced to retreat to their holdings along the coast of Morocco. Meanwhile, France laid claim to territory in southern Er Rif. The French realized that allowing another North African colonial power to be defeated by indigenous forces would set a dangerous precedent for their own territories, and after 'Abd el-Krim invaded French Morocco in April 1925, the French entered the fray. A French force under Marshal Henri Philippe Petain and a Spanish army began operations against the Riffians. Hard fighting continued for a year, but finally the combined European armies totalling 250,000 soldiers, and using such weapons as mustard gas, defeated the forces of ‘Abd el-Krim. On May 26, 1926, 'Abd el-Krim surrendered to the French at his then headquarters of Targuist.
'Abd el-Krim was exiled to the French island of Reunion (an island in the Indian Ocean) from 1926 to 1947. In 1947, he was granted permission to live in southern France. He left the ship carrying him to France and, accepting an offer of protection from the king of Egypt, became a resident of that country. In Egypt, 'Abd el-Krim came to preside over the Liberation Committee for the Arab Maghreb, a North African nationalist opposition to European rule. He died in 1963 in Cairo, just after seeing his hopes of a Maghreb independent of colonial powers fulfilled by the independence of Algeria.
The Rif Rebellion was the most important anti-colonial uprising in Morocco until the emergence of the Istiqlal party and modern mass nationalism in 1943. In retrospect, it can be seen as a transitional political phenomenon, at once the last jihad and the first modern political movement. The Rif Rebellion and the ripublik established by 'Abd el-Krim were a major political and strategic challenge to colonial rule. To understand its significance, the history of the family of 'Abd el-Krim and of Morocco from 1900 to 1925 must be examined.
Between 1900 and 1912, when the French and Spanish protectorates were established, large areas of Morocco, including the Rif Mountains, escaped the rule of the makhzan (the central government). In the early twentieth century, makhzan control of northern Morocco was shaken by a series of rebellions, culminating in the uprising of Abu Himarah (1902-1909) in northern Morocco. In 1907 and 1908, a popular insurgency overthrew ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, the French supported sultan, and brought to power his brother, ‘Abd al-Hafiz. From 1909, until the establishment of the French and Spanish protectorates in 1912, Morocco was in many respects already a colonized territory. This was especially the case in the Moroccan Rif area around the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which became the center for ambitious mining schemes by Spanish and German capitalists. By 1912, the Spanish presidio of Melilla had become one of the largest port cities in Morocco. For Riffians, these changes created enormous risks as well as opportunities.
The family of 'Abd el-Krim was well placed to take advantage of this rapidly changing situation. 'Abd el-Krim himself was the scion of a successful a‘yan (notable) family based in Ajdir, a community on the Mediterranean near the Spanish base at Alhuecemas. Around 1902, both 'Abd el-Krim and his brother studied for several years at the Qarawiyin mosque university in Fez, where they received a thorough grounding in Islamic law. After his return to the Rif around 1906, Abd el-Krim was employed by the Spanish government in Melilla as a teacher and subsequently as editor of the Arabic language page in the Spanish newspaper, El Telegrama del Rif. While his father served as a Moroccan government appointed amin (customs agent) and (after 1912) as representative of the Spanish protectorate authorities in the district around Melilla, 'Abd el-Krim held an appointment from the Moroccan sultan as qadi (religious judge) for the same district, and his brother was studying to be a mining engineer in Spain. By playing off the makhzan, the local tribes, and the Spanish and French imperialists in the preceding decade, 'Abd el-Krim and his family were well positioned by 1912 to gain from the gradual collapse of the Moroccan state.
'Abd el-Krim was able to increase his power and influence after 1912, following the simultaneous establishment of Spanish and French protectorates in northern Morocco. After the outbreak of World War I, his balancing act became more difficult to sustain. Although 'Abd el-Krim secretly supported the efforts of the Ottomans to foment a rebellion, he was denounced by some Moroccans as a collaborator because of his public role as a Spanish functionary. By 1921, in response to the increasing harshness of Spanish policy, 'Abd el-Krim launched his rebellion.
The Rif Rebellion was accompanied by the proclamation of a ripublik in 1923 by 'Abd el-Krim. It sought a far-reaching transformation of Riffian society based on the suppression of the feud, which was endemic, and the application of shari‘a in place of Berber customary law. Religiously, 'Abd el-krim sought to present his rebellion as a modern state, a Dawlat al-Jumhuriyah al-Rifiyah, or Rifian Republic. The ripublik invoked the language of national self-determination and human rights in an effort to win support among European liberals. Headed by 'Abd el-Krim as president, it had a national assembly composed of the heads of the Berber tribal councils.
At its height, the Riffian state embraced most of the Spanish protectorate zone, excluding the cities of Melilla, Alhuecemas, and Tetouan, and a portion of the French protectorate zone north of Fez. New methods of military organization, added to exceptional fighting qualities, made the Ait Warayaghar a formidable opponent even to modern European armies. Only in 1926, after the full military might of France and Spain was brought to bear (including massive artillery and aerial bombardments), was 'Abd el-Krim defeated.
The legacy of 'Abd el Krim is an ambiguous one. His brave and resourceful struggle served as an inspiration to Moroccan contemporaries, notably the young nationalists, but the idea of a Riffian republic has also been seen as a potentially divisive one in independent Morocco. Perhaps because of this, 'Abd el-Krim played no direct role in the nationalist movement that overthrew the Spanish and French protectorates in 1956.
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi see ‘Abd el-Krim
'Abdul Karim see ‘Abd el-Krim
Krim, 'Abd el- see ‘Abd el-Krim
Karim, 'Abdul see ‘Abd el-Krim
Khattabi, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Karim al- see ‘Abd el-Krim
Mulay Abdelkrim see ‘Abd el-Krim
Ahmed Asmat Abdel-Meguid (Arabic: أحمد عصمت عبد المجيد) (b. March 1924) is an Egyptian diplomat. He served as the Foreign Minister of Egypt between 1984 and 1991, and as the Secretary-General of the Arab League from 1991 until 2001.
Born in Alexandria in March 1924, Abdel Meguid received a law degree from Alexandria University in 1944 before going on to obtain a doctorate of international law from the University of Paris in 1947. He joined the Egyptian foreign ministry in 1950 and worked in several departments, notably the British and French sections. He became ambassador to France in 1970, deputy foreign minister in 1970, and Egypt's high representative to the United Nations in 1972. He served in that position until 1983, and was then foreign minister from 1984 to 1991, when he was elected secretary-general of the Arab League.
'Abdel Rahman, Omar (Omar 'Abdel Rahman) (Omar Ahmed 'Ali 'Abdel Rahman) ('Umar 'Abd al-Rahman) (b. May 3, 1938, Al Gammaliyyah, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt - d. February 18, 2017, Granville County, North Carolina). An Egyptian religious scholar and an Islamic fundamentalist leader. Born to a poor rural family in the village of al-Jamaliyah in Lower Egypt, Omar Ahmed 'Ali 'Abdel Rahman was accidentally blinded at ten months of age. He studied a Braille version of the Qur'an as a child and developed an interest in the works of the Islamic purists. He received a traditional religious education in regional urban centers, memorizing the Qur’an. In 1960, he entered the faculty of Fundamentals of Religion at al-Azhar University in Cairo, where he graduated first in his class in 1965. Although he had hoped to become a teaching assistant at the university, he was appointed by the state as a mosque preacher in a poor rural village in the Fayyum, Upper Egypt. He soon returned to al-Azhar, however, obtaining a master’s degree in 1967 and a faculty appointment in 1968. He continued both his graduate studies and occasional preaching in the Fayyum.
'Abdel Rahman made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1968 and there met Sa‘id Ramadan, an expatriate leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood who opposed the government of Gamal 'Abdel Nasser. Ramadan persuaded him to transport funds back to Egypt for the families of jailed brotherhood members. 'Abdel Rahman was arrested in the process and, although he was soon released, he lost his faculty position. He was appointed to a bureaucratic post later in 1969, but he saw this as a shameful demotion.
'Abdel Rahman continued to preach in the Fayyum. At a public ceremony after Nasser’s death on September 28, 1970, he condemned Nasser as an infidel and prohibited prayers for him. As a consequence, he was detained by the government for eight months.
The new regime of Anwar el-Sadat declared an amnesty for jailed Islamic fundamentalists with the aim of enlisting them as a counterweight to leftist forces. 'Abdel Rahman was re-appointed as a teaching assistant at the Azhari Institute in Fayyum, but he was still the subject of controversy among university administrators. After completing his doctorate in 1972, he briefly held a professorship at al-Azhar before being transferred to the religious faculty in Asyut, a center of Islamic fundamentalist activity. Both the regional and national governments supported the establishment there of the Jama‘ah (Jama'at) al-Islamiyah ("The Islamic Group"), the Muslim Brotherhood’s student organization, to which 'Abdel Rahman was strongly sympathetic.
In 1977, 'Abdel Rahman married ‘Isha’ Hasan Judah, the daughter of a brotherhood member, and left Egypt to spend four years in Saudi Arabia as a professor of Qur’anic interpretation at Saud University. Soon after his return, he was arrested for his involvement in the fundamentalist Jihad Organization accused of assassinating President Sadat. He was accused of leading the organization and of participating in the assassination but was acquitted on both counts and released in 1984.
While he was imprisoned in the Egyptian jails, 'Abdel Rahman was severely tortured as he awaited trial on charges of issuing a fatwa resulting in Sadat's assassination by Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Although 'Abdel Rahman was not convicted of conspiracy in the Sadat assassination, he was expelled from Egypt following his acquittal.
During this protracted trial (1981-1984), three factors led to 'Abdel Rahman’s emergence as the leading figure in his Islamist movement. The first was his book Mithaq al-‘amil al-Islami (“Charter of Islamic Action”), an explanation of his view of correct Islamic life. It marked his departure from the more moderate wing of the brotherhood and affiliation with the radical forces informed by the concept of jihad and the necessity to overthrow the secular state in order to restore the principles of the Qur’an. Second, he married again, this time to Fatin Shu‘ayb, a kinswoman of several important activists, affirming his solidarity with the Jama‘ah al-Islamiyah in Upper Egypt and lending weight to his religious status as mufti al-jihad. Third, most of the major leaders of the jihad organization were executed or imprisoned for life, leaving a power vacuum that 'Abdel Rahman readily filled.
During the decade that followed, 'Abdel Rahman came to be portrayed by his political opponents and the media as the high priest of radical fundamentalism both in and outside Egypt. After leaving Egypt, he made his way to Afghanistan in the mid-1980s where he contacted his former professor, 'Abdullah Azzam, co-founder of Maktab al-Khadamat (MAK) along with Osama bin Laden. 'Abdel Rahman built a strong rapport with bin Laden during the Afghan war against the Soviets, and following Azzam's murder in 1989, 'Abdel Rahman assumed control of the international jihadists arm of MAK/Al Qaeda.
In July 1990, 'Abdel Rahman emigrated to New York City in the United States to gain control of MAK's financial and organizational infrastructure in the United States. He was issued a tourist visa to visit the United States despite his name being listed on a United States State Department terrorist watch list. Rahman entered the United States via Saudi Arabia, Peshawar, and Sudan.
'Abdel Rahman traveled widely in the United States and Canada. Despite the United States support for the mujahideen in Afghanistan, 'Abdel Rahman was deeply anti-American and spoke out against America, safe in the knowledge that he was speaking Arabic and was unmonitored by any law enforcement agency. He issued a fatwa in the United States that declared lawful the robbing of banks and killing of Jews in America. His sermons condemned Americans and called on Muslims to assail the West.
In March 1992, 'Abdel Rahman was stripped of his green card and was subsequently summoned to a federal hearing on charges that he lied on his visa application. An INS administrative judge ordered that 'Abdel Rahman be deported from the United States, but 'Abdel Rahman successfully fought the deportation ruling.
Preaching at three mosques in the New York City area, 'Abdel-Rahman was soon surrounded by a core group of devoted followers that included persons who became responsible for the World Trade Center bombings in 1993. The 1993 bombing utilized a powerful car bomb and was detonated at New York's World Trade Center. Six people were killed and more than a thousand were wounded. 'Abdel Rahman had intended to cause the bombed tower to fall onto its twin, causing both towers to collapse and killing tens of thousands.
After the first World Trade Center bombing in February 1993, the FBI began to investigate 'Abdel Rahman and his followers more closely. With the assistance of an Egyptian informant wearing a listening device, the FBI managed to record Rahman issuing a fatwa encouraging acts of violence against United States civilian targets, particularly in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area.
The most startling plan, the government charged, was to set off five bombs in ten minutes, blowing up the United Nations, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George Washington Bridge and a federal building housing the FBI. Government prosecutors showed videotapes of defendants mixing bomb ingredients in a garage before their arrest in 1993. 'Abdel Rahman was arrested on June 24, 1993, along with nine of his followers. On October 1, 1995, he was convicted of seditious conspiracy, and in 1996 was sentenced to life in prison. Abdel-Rahman began serving his life sentence at the FMC Rochester in Minnesota. After the September 11 attacks, he was transferred to the FMC Butner in North Carolina. He died there on February 18, 2017 at the age of 78 due to complications from diabetes and coronary arterial disease.
One of Rahman's followers, El Sayyid Nosair, was also linked to the 1990 assassination of Israeli nationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the militant Jewish Defense League. Nosair was subsequently acquitted of murder but was convicted on gun possession charges. Nosair later stood trial as a co-conspirator of Rahman. Both men received life sentences for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
After 1993, 'Abdel Rahman became, in fact, the acknowledged spiritual guide of the Jama‘ah al-Islamiyah, and he assumed great importance to radical Islamists in much of the Muslim world. His imprisonment became a rallying point for Islamic militants around the world, including Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. In 1997, members of his group Jama'ah al-Islamiyah conducted two attacks against European visitors to Egypt, including the massacre of 58 tourists at Deir el-Bahri in Luxor. In addition to killing women and children, the attackers mutilated a number of bodies and distributed leaflets throughout the scene demanding the release of 'Abdel Rahman.
In 2005, members of Rahman's legal team were convicted of facilitating communication between the imprisoned 'Abdel Rahman and members of Jama'ah al-Islamiyah in Egypt. As for 'Abdel Rahman, he was incarcerated at the Butner Medical Center which is part of the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, United States.
‘Umar ‘Abd al-Rahman see 'Abdel Rahman, Omar
Omar Ahmed 'Ali 'Abdel Rahman see 'Abdel Rahman, Omar
Omar 'Abdel Rahman see 'Abdel Rahman, Omar
'Abd el-Wahaab, Mohamed (Mohamed 'Abd el-Wahaab) (Mohammed Abdel Wahab) (Muhammad 'Abdul Wahaab) (1907 - May 3, 1991). Egyptian singer and composer. Known as the "artist of generations," 'Abd el-Wahaab was the last remaining figure from the old guard and the most controversial and respected member of the musicial fraternity. His achievements span a long career from the 1920s as a singer, to film star and eventually composer, a talent crowned when Umm Kalthum agreed to sing his "Enta Omri", a 1964 song which featured an electric guitar for the first time.
Born in the Bab El-Sheriyah area of Cairo, Egypt, 'Abd el-Wahaab played oud before the Prince of Poets, Ahmed Shawqi.
As a composer, 'Abd el-Wahaab is remembered as the modernizer of Arabic music, liberating it, as his supporters see it, from the limitations of the takht ensemble and allowing it to embrace western-style tangos, waltzes and instrumentation. Others criticize his music for overt plagiarism. He stood by his vision for modernization of the music all his life, demanding that "the artist is the creator and has the full right to introduce new elements into his music as he sees fit. We must always be open to new ideas and not resist change. Change is inevitable in everything."
It is ironic that in his later years 'Abd el-Wahaab became so contemptuous of other modernizers that he took his initiative a step further. In 1990, he released a classical song into a market awash with the synthesizers of the new Egyptian pop. This was the first occasion in 32 years that he sang his own composition. "Minrear Ley" ("Without Why") set out to test popular loyalty, but was viewed by many as the final gasp of a wounded musical genre. Its immediate success, however, went a long way to proving that, despite ending his life in the knowledge that he had failed to pass on his musical tradition to a new generation, his vision for Arab music still lives on.
'Abd el-Wahaab died on May 3, 1991. He is still considered one of the five greats of Arabic music, along with Umm Kalthoum, Farid Al Attrach, Fayrouz, and Abdel Halim Hafez.
Mohamed 'Abd el-Wahaab see 'Abd el-Wahaab, Mohamed
Muhammad Abdul Wahaab see 'Abd el-Wahaab, Mohamed
Artist of Generations see 'Abd el-Wahaab, Mohamed
Wahaab, Mohamed 'Abd el- see 'Abd el-Wahaab, Mohamed
Mohammed Abdel Wahab see 'Abd el-Wahaab, Mohamed
Wahab, Mohammed Abdel see 'Abd el-Wahaab, Mohamed
Abderrahmane Taleb (b. March 5, 1930, Casbah of Algiers, Algiers - d. April 24, 1958, Barberousse Prison [now Serkadji Prison], Algiers) also known by his wartime pseudonym Mohand Akli, was the artificer (a service member skilled in working on artillery devices in the field) of the Autonomous Zone of Algiers during the Battle of Algiers. He was guillotined on April 24, 1958, at the Barberousse Prison (now Serkadji Prison) in Algiers.
Born in Sidi Ramdane in the Casbah of Algiers of a family originating from Azeffoun in Kabylie, Taleb Abderrahmane attended the Fateh school, then the Sarrouy school in Soustara where he had Mohand Lechani as a teacher, among others, before joining the Guillemin college, currently the Okba high school, in Bab El Oued, where the prevailing racial discrimination forced him to leave the school and continue his studies in private institutions.
Taleb applied as a free candidate to the University of Algiers. He was accepted and enrolled in the Faculty of Sciences in order to pursue studies in chemistry.
At the call of the FLN (National Liberation Front (Arabic: Jabhatu l-Taḥrīri l-Waṭanī; French: Front de libération nationale, FLN), Taleb left the faculty benches to devote himself to the national cause and joined the maquis in 1956, in the wilaya III.
Following the attack of August 10, 1956, in the street of Thèbes in the Casbah of Algiers perpetrated by ultras of the French Algeria against the Algerian civil populations, the chemistry student was assigned to the Autonomous zone of Algiers to manufacture explosives in makeshift laboratories.
In the company of Taleb's friend, Rachid Kaouche, Taleb set up a clandestine workshop at the impasse de la grenade in the Casbah, then another at the Villa des Roses in El Biar. However, on October 11, 1956, a spark caused an explosion that killed his friend and drew the attention of the French military to their activities.
Taleb Abderrahmane found refuge with his combat brothers in the mountains of Chrea.
Actively sought, Taleb was apprehended in June 1957 south of Blida by the 3rd Regiment of Marine Infantry Parachutists. Considered as the artificer of the Bombing network of Yacef Saadi during the Battle of Algiers, he was sentenced to death by the Permanent Court of the Armed Forces of Algiers on December 7, 1957, at the same time as Djamila Bouhired, Djamila Bouazza and Abdelghani Marsali.
Taleb Abderrahmane was executed on April 24, 1958, at dawn. On the day of his execution, he told the imam appointed by the colonial administration to read the Fatiha: "Take a weapon and join the maquis!"
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