AL-ANDALUS 100 - 800 AD
Muslim Spain
GEOGRAPHY
Located on the Iberian peninsula in Western Europe, and also known as Moorish Iberia, al-Andalus spanned modern day Spain, Portugal, and France. The region was named al-Andalus in Arabic, and it refers to the Umayyad Caliphate (711-750), Emirate of Córdoba (c.750-929), and Caliphate of Córdoba (929-1031). The region borders the Bay of Biscay, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Pyrenees Mountains. The area is temperate, with large, flat plateau and rugged hills. Connected to Europe only by the Pyrenees, the region was isolated from Europe and North Africa, and this remoteness provided a special place for it in Islamic and Christian histories while simultaneously secluding it from both communities.
RELIGION
Al-Andalus is a unique meeting point of European Catholicism and Islam. Although the two religions had clashed for centuries, and continue to clash today, the situation was different here. After Arabs and Berbers crossed the Strait of Gibralter, they quickly gained control over the region, establishing Muslim rule. Here, there was a unprecedented harmony between the Muslims rulers and their Christian and Jewish subjects. Unfortunately, this tolerance was shattered in the tenth and eleventh centuries as a more rigid and puritanical form of Islam emerged from North Africa. Suddenly, Christians began to be persecuted for their beliefs and churches were plundered.
When Christians reconquered Spain in the early 13th century, however, many Muslims were forced out and could no longer freely pray, pilgrimage, or practice their faith in Spain. Likewise, many Jewish (about 200,000 people) were displaced by the new Christian ruled.
The Jews of Andalusia were there long before the Arabs. The Visigoths who ruled the Iberian Peninsula before the Muslims oppressed the Jews terribly, and so al-Andalusia was a time of great closeness between the Muslims and Jews. In 1492, most of the Jews were scattered about, and Jews who originate there are known today as Sephardic.
When Christians reconquered Spain in the early 13th century, however, many Muslims were forced out and could no longer freely pray, pilgrimage, or practice their faith in Spain. Likewise, many Jewish (about 200,000 people) were displaced by the new Christian ruled.
The Jews of Andalusia were there long before the Arabs. The Visigoths who ruled the Iberian Peninsula before the Muslims oppressed the Jews terribly, and so al-Andalusia was a time of great closeness between the Muslims and Jews. In 1492, most of the Jews were scattered about, and Jews who originate there are known today as Sephardic.
ARTS
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| Detail - Panel from the Mexuar, the Alhambra. Source. |
In this religious empire, the most profound artifacts of the era exist in the form of mosques. The Alhambra in the southern Spanish city of Granada, for example, is an impressive complex of many groups of monuments. In Arabic, the alhambra means "the red", and it was a palace and fortress for monarchs in the region. You can take a virtual walking tour here (courtesy of Saudi Aramco World)!
One of the most famous mosques is the Great Mosque of Córdoba. The beautiful red-and-white striped structure is a great example of how al-Andalus became more Iranian than Roman culturally. The architecture of the region follows the same design sense and resembles that of Persia. Córdoba's mosque was the result of the second and third caliphs of al-Andalus - Abd al-Rahman al Nasir (912-961) and al-Hakam al-Mustansir (961-976). Al-Andalus is notable because its branch of Islam is holds a heavy Oriental, eastern influence.
This is also evident in icons carved into ivory pendants and artwork. Muslim craftsmen, called mudejares, lived in colonies within cities and carried on Andalusian tradition, even after Christians reconquested the Iberian Peninsula.
One of the most famous mosques is the Great Mosque of Córdoba. The beautiful red-and-white striped structure is a great example of how al-Andalus became more Iranian than Roman culturally. The architecture of the region follows the same design sense and resembles that of Persia. Córdoba's mosque was the result of the second and third caliphs of al-Andalus - Abd al-Rahman al Nasir (912-961) and al-Hakam al-Mustansir (961-976). Al-Andalus is notable because its branch of Islam is holds a heavy Oriental, eastern influence.
This is also evident in icons carved into ivory pendants and artwork. Muslim craftsmen, called mudejares, lived in colonies within cities and carried on Andalusian tradition, even after Christians reconquested the Iberian Peninsula.
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| Detail of the Alhambra. Source. |
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| The Great Mosque of Córdoba. Source. |
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The Alhambra.
The manuscript seen here contains the oldest existing copy of Book of Geography by al-Zuhri, providing a description of the world of the time and trade routes and commodities of the Islamic and Saharan worlds. The manuscript also contains with what is probably the earliest version of the famous A Thousand and One Nights by Harun al-Rashid. Rhyme schemes in poetry were thought to be first introduced by Andalusian poets. Classical Muwashshaha and and more colloquial Zajal poetic forms thrived in al-Andalus. Rhyming became very popular and spread throughout Africa, the Mediterranean, and to the present day. This was also a golden age of Hebrew poetry for Jews in the region.
An incredible legacy of music was left behind by the Andalusians. Different instruments, like the rebab, violin, lute, guitar, and oud, and musical styles like Flamenco, Troubadors, and the Cantigas of Santa Maria, were traded back and forth from the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe to North Africa to Damascus and Baghdad. You can find out SO MUCH about the music of Al-Andalus and its influence on the rest of the world here (but be warned, the website seems to be having technical problems)! Also check out Muslim World Music Day to listen to traditional Berber music and more.
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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
As you can probably tell, Andalusia was an incredible civilization that prospered culturally because it fostered tolerance between its people. The elite formed relationships with people of different faiths easily and often, and many Christians converted to Islam. Some even became Mozarabs - "would-be Arabs" - and completely assimilated Arabic culture. They adopted the language, music, and poetry, veiled their women, stopped eating pork, and sometimes married Muslims.
Sadly, this tolerance dissipated as war began with other Christian states in northern Spain in the tenth and eleventh centuries. As mentioned in the Religion section, Christians were discriminated against. Muslims avoided coming in contact with Christians and required Christian homes to be built lower than theirs. It was forbidden for priests to carry or wear a cross or Bible. The Mozarabs were assigned to specific neighborhoods.
Sadly, this tolerance dissipated as war began with other Christian states in northern Spain in the tenth and eleventh centuries. As mentioned in the Religion section, Christians were discriminated against. Muslims avoided coming in contact with Christians and required Christian homes to be built lower than theirs. It was forbidden for priests to carry or wear a cross or Bible. The Mozarabs were assigned to specific neighborhoods.
POLITICS
In 711 CE, a force of Moorish (including Arabs, Egyptians, Syrians, and Berbers) Muslims invaded modern day Spain and Portugal, led by the general Tariq ibn Ziyad. The Muslim armies came mostly from a north western region of Africa called Maghreb, and they moved north rapidly as they met little opposition. Although there were a few attempts at defiance in urban areas, eventually a peaceful agreement was made between the Muslim conquerers and the conquered Visigoths. By 714, Muslims controlled almost all of Hispania and into southern Gaul (France).
There were three stages of Muslim Spain:
- CÓRDOBA (about 756-1031) - The capital of al-Andalus. The city grew to have great importance and an enormous population, estimated from 90,000 to 1 million people, making it the largest city in Europe at the time. The Great Mosque was built along with 700 others. The era ended with the political fragmentation of al-Andalus into many minor states known as taifa.
- SEVILLE - Called Ishbiliya by the Muslims, Seville was established as the most powerful state of al-Andalus in 1031. Seville controlled a vast portion of the Iberian Peninsula. When al-Andalus was conquered and reunited by the Almoravids, a Moroccan fundamentalist sect of Berbers, they made Seville their center city. Later, another Moroccan fundamentalist group, the Almohads, replaced the Almoravids but again chose Seville as their capital, alongside Marrakesh.
- GRANADA - After Córdoba's political power disintegrated in 1031CE, Granada became the capital of a small state, also named Granada. After the Christian re-conquest of Spain in the 13th century, the kingdom of Granada was the only remaining Muslim territory on the Iberian Peninsula. For more than 200 years, Granada remained an independent refuge for those driven away by the Christians.
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| Al-Andalus in 1035. The main taifa states are shown shortly after break-up of Caliphate of Córdoba. Source. |
ECONOMICS
The ninth and tenth centuries were prosperous for Spain's agricultural economy. The capital, Córdoba, was large and splendid, overflowing with a wonderful mixture of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish contributions to all fields, from astronomy and medicine to the architecture and literature. Córdoba was one of the most prominent economic and cultural centers in the Mediterranean and the world at large.
DEMOGRAPHICS
al-Andalus is estimated to have had a population of about 500,000 people at its height, though this number varies. Most people – about eight percent – were Muslims, divided into Arab and Berber groups. Five percent of Andalusians were Jewish.
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTS
al-Andalus was a place of learning. Libraries, universities, and scholars were common, especially in the Córdoba, which had as many as 70 libraries and was an international center for medicine and philosophy. The libraries hosted researchers, illuminators, and bookbinders along with hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. During the 10th and 11th centuries, however, the strict and religious rule of al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir frowned upon astronomy, logic, and astrology, even burning many books on the subjects. After he died, the empire revived its philosophical talents, like the prominent Abu Uthman Ibn Fathun, the writer of the philosophical work Tree of Wisdom. al-Andalus was also an incredibly important center of Jewish intellectual work. Greek and Roman knowledge was carried on in al-Andalus, with Arab scholars producing work in medicine, astronomy, chemistry, zoology, psychology, biology, botany, astrology, physics, mathematics, algebra, trigonometry and more – much of which was acquired and translated by later Christian scholars. al-Andalus nurtured many other scholars and artists in its hay day, and the proof is in work like the triangular ceiling panel below, a beautiful marriage of geometry and art.
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| Three triangular ceiling panels with interlacing geometric designs, Spain, al-Andalus, Nasrid, 14th –15th century, Wood, carved and painted, each panel 151 cm. Source. |
TECHNOLOGY
WORKS CITED
Muslim Spain produced a huge variety of technology: Córdoba had Europe's first street lights. Andalusians produced cotton, paper, silk, satin, salt, pepper, stamps, clocks, soap, rulers, maps, globes, furs, and velvets. They created elaborate astrolabes to make astronomical measurements and represent the celestial system, like this one shown below. On the ring at the top there is anArabic inscription reading "Its owner is the poor Masud confident in Him who should be adored", and on the back is compass that points to Mecca.
Silver-inlaid brass planispheric astrolabe Spain, probably Toledo, 14th century. Engraved copper alloy inlaid with silver. Source.
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WORKS CITED
