THE ARABS ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

From 711, until 1492 (Conquest of Granada by the Catholic Kings)

SUMMARY:

Al-Andalus political evolution (Elima Benito)

Militar occupation and rivality (Paula Márquez)

Society and economy (Garbiñe Aranguren)

Art and culture (Patricia del Barco)

AL- ANDALUS , POLITICAL EVOLUTION

IN THEIR VICTORY COINCIDED TWO FACTORS

The height of the expansion of the Islam

The decadence of the visigoth kingdom

Muslims began to conquer the iberian peninsula coming from the south.

Two important muslims: Musa and Tarik (his subordinate).

Musa was callen for the witizanos to combat against the visigoth king Rodrigo.

In 711 Musa sent 7000 soldiers with Tarik. Tarik did not obey the instructions that he

had received of Musa , he entered in a new territory invaded and he continued his conquest.

Musa arrived to Algeciras in 712 because he was jealous of his subordinate.

Musa continued to the north and when he was in Lugo he received orders to come to Damasco and he left his government to his son Abd-al-Azz.

Conquested territories by capitulation: the most important with Teodomiro in 713.

Capitulation: when muslims could not conquer a territory they used to sign a pact of capitulation giving visigoths a relative autonomy even they could sometimes govern this territory.

THE POPULATION IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

MUSLIM POPULATION: • Bereberes: Morocco, Argelia, Tunisia and Libya.

They settled in unpopulated areas.• Arabs: in the most populated areas. They were:

-Yemenies: Arabian Peninsula. They arrived with Musa.-Syrians: north of the Arabian Peninsula, Irak and Syria.

MULADIES: hispanogoths who were converted to the Islam.

NON-MUSLIM POPULATION: • Mozarabs: christians who lived in a muslim

territory.• Jews

MILITAR OCCUPATION. DIVERSITY AND

RIVALITY.

AL-ANDALUS, POLITICAL EVOLUTION

Primacy and glory, VIII-X Century

Political Disruption and loss of land, XI-XIII Century

The final withdrawal, XIII- XV Century

PRIMACY AND GLORY

Dependent emirate (‘valiato’) 711-756.

- Initial settlement

- Ib.Peninsula simple province of the Caliphate of Damascus

- Governed by a Emir (depend political, religious and militarily on the Caliph) - Great political instability

- Military campaigns: a) Covadonga Battle, 722 b) Poitiers Battle, 732

The independent emirate of Bagdag, 756- 929

- Revolt led by Persian Groups pushed out the Umayyad - New Caliph Abul-Abbas new dynasty, the Abbasid translate the capital of the Caliph to Bagdag.

- Abd al-Rahman I, Umayyad member Ib.Peninsula establish himself as the Emir of Córdoba ( independent militarily and politically but not religious)Caliph of Cordoba, 929-1031

- Abd-al-Rahman III 929 he proclaimed himself Caliph

- Golden age of al-Andalus, above all during the reign of Al-HakamII

- Most remarkable figure Militarily Almanzor Caliphate under his command became military dictatorship.

- Died Almanzor political turmoil and fighting between rival factions marked the final phase of the caliphate ended up disintegrating into numerous Taifa kingdoms

POLITICAL DISSRUPTION AND LOST OF LANDS

Taifa Kingdoms, 1031.1090

- Beginning of XI century some territories independent

- In 1031 a rebellion in Cordoba overthrew the last Caliph- Hisam III fragment into a multiplicity of Taifa kingdoms

- Stage is characterized by a number of features: 1. Frequent disputes between the different Taifa kingdoms 2. High initial number was reduced the incorporation of smaller with larger ones 3. Depended on the payment of pariahs 4. His political weakness did not translate, however, not in economic nor in cultural decline  

- Military advance and the growing strength of the Christian kingdoms Taifa kingdoms saw the need to agree to make common cause and seek outside help

Almoravid Unification, 1090-1145

⁻ Christian conquer of Toledo –> Kings of Sevilla, Granada and Badajos call Almorávides.⁻Yusuf Ibn Tashfin beat 1086 Alfonso VI –Z battle of Zallaqah.⁻1090 return objetive :incorporate to the Almoravid Empire the Taifa kingdoms⁻However, the power of the Almoravids fails to fully consolidateThe second Taifa kingdoms, The Almohad unification, 1145-1237

- 1145, the decomposition of the Almoravid power had caused in Al-Andalus a return to a political fragmentation second Taifa kingdom- Almohads became to incorporate the new Taifa kingdoms postalmoravids- The complete unification reached in 1172 Seville turned in the capital.- `Battle: Las Navas de Tolosa’ 1212 fall down of the Almohads- Weakening Almohad power the thirdTaifa Kingdoms. - However, Christian advance succumbing all, except of the Granada kingdom.

THE FINAL WITHDRAWAL, XIII- XV CENTURY

The Nasrid kingdom of Granada ,1237-1492

- Founded by Muhammad I- Arab lineage of Narsi or Nasrid

- He rebelled against the Almohads and proclaimed his-self sultan in 1232 in his hometown, Arjona .

- Recognized his authority went into Granada in 1237.

- Two and a half centuries of existence constant internal fighting, payment of pariahs and vassalage

- Catholic Monarchs war of conquest of ten-year 1482-1492

- Final incorporation of the kingdom of Granada to the Castilian crown.

SOCIETY AND ECONOMY

SOCIETY

Al-Ándalus was made up for 3 religious groups: Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The unification of the religious level, had several ethnic divisions.

Distinction between the Berbers and the Arabs

Treatment of non-Muslims

non-Muslims : ahl al-dhimma (people under protection)

Adults pay a tax("Jizya " )except old people, women, children and the disabled.

Al-Ándalus :a key center of Jewish life.

Jewish were allowed to practice their religion.

These regulations served to define the relationship between the two communities, and not to oppress the Jewish population.

Social Interaction

Umayyad conquest the Iberian Peninsula and signaled a period known as the ”Convivencia”(culture of tolerance)

But discrimination by Muslims did occur at the local level.

The Muslim elite respected Christians and Jews under Islamic law .

Social Mobility and Conversion Conversion to Islam :higher rate of social

scale for Christians and Jews.

Many wished to be at higher ranking government positions.

Half of the Christians in Al-Andalus have converted to Islam by the 10th century, more than 80% by the 11th century.

These Christians(Mozarabs )adopted the Arabic language and customs.

Economy

Revitalization of the economy and cities

-Improvements in agriculture:

• Economical base :agriculture.• Irrigation techniques and the use of water-

wheels.• New crops :rice, citrus, sugar cane, saffron

or cotton.• Big landowners live in the cities and have a

luxury life thank to the benefits received from the exploitation of the land.

• No more ruralization.

The economic importance of the cities. Cities had an important economic

role:industrial production and trade.

Islamic city: were not a base of political

organization, were a simple human concentration around the mosque and the market (“zoco”)

This double function, religious and above all commercial, determinate the Islamic structure of the city.

CITIES DURING THE AL-ÁNDALUS PERIOD

The center :”medina”.Where mayor mosque was.

First belt :”alcaceria”. Streets dedicated to the luxury trade, (silks, jewelry…) which served as accommodation for the merchants.

Second belt: residential neighborhoods.

the suburbs(arrabales/ar-rabad) neighborhood located outside the city along the wall(muralla)

At last :”zoco”. Was a huge free space dedicated to the permanent market, whose location varied from one city to another.

THE CRAFT. The craft, and luxury products: developed a

demand because of the demands for refined urban population on the power.

The most important industry :textile.

Arabs introduced silk industry ,fabrics of wool, cotton and linen.

The paper: Chinese invention introduced in Europe by the Arabs.

Whose manufacture was cheaper than parchment (“pergamino”), so books were cheaper and had a market in the Islamic world.

Promoted foreign trade and monetary circulation.

Al-Ándalus kept commercial relationships with the Christian territories.

The Muslim control of the south and east parts of the Peninsula ,so developed the Mediterranean trade.

Major export :oil.

Control of Sudan gold: rich monetary circulation and revitalized commercial exchanges.

Muslims imposed a change: urban renaissance, active trade and abundant money supply.

ART AND CULTURE

GENERAL INFORMATION:

It started with Mahoma’s preaching (VIIth century).

It has been spread along many centuries over a huge territorie.

It had a great influence on Spanish culture.

Because of their religion, painting and sculpture were not developed at all.

ARCHITECTURE

Not really tall buildings. Mozarabic, islamic or “gallonadas”

vaults. Alfiz. Poor materials. Care of indoor decoration. Use of horseshoe arches. Most representative: the mosque Examples: “Córdoba mosque”, “Torre

del oro”, “La alhambra”.

LANGUAGE

Arabic elements, are after Latin ones the most important on Spanish.

Particle “al-”: almohada (pillow)

Ending “-í”: Iraní (Iranian)

Prefix “a-”: Ablandar (to soften).

THE END

Garbiñe Aranguren

Patricia del Barco

Elima Benito

Paula Márquez.