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al-Andalus (Military and The Golden Age)

Intro
The history of the Muslim invasion and occupation of Spain is a long and complicated one. It began with the Berbers army from morocco invading Spain in 711 after a series of continuous raids. During this invasion the Berber General Tariq defeated the Spanish king Roderic. Roderic fought to defend Spain, however it was in vain. The bulk of the Spanish army was destroyed in this massive defeat and within 7 years all of the Iberian Peninsula had been conquered by the Muslims. With this one battle it was a turning point for the conquerors in the Iberian Peninsula. One battle was the turning point of the entire conflict in favor of the Berbers. The Muslim rule in Iberia would last longer than almost every other European nation that the Muslims had taken over. In Sicily and Greece Islamic rule lasted less than three centuries. In Spain it lasted 8. The Iberian Peninsula would be greatly affected by this as would the Muslim people. The Spanish Culture, literature, architecture and the Iberian civilization as a whole changed dramatically due to Moorish heritage. One of the greatest examples of this change is reflected by the mosque of Cordoba. This mosque was built in stages in the late 8th and 10th centuries and is to this day a symbol of the Muslim influence on the Iberian Peninsula. The mosque of Cordoba is a symbol of a change in Religion, architecture and culture all in one. This one building is probably the most easily recognized structure of the time and had a profound effect during the time it was created as well as the centuries to come. However, this building was by no means the most important change that took place during the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The entire culture of the Iberian Peninsula was changed. The language of Spain was greatly affected by Arabic and many Spanish words today are derived from the Arabic language. The language spoken was Arabic throughout Moorish Spain and this was just one of many changes that took place during the time of the Moorish conquest. Although al-Andalus was not considered the heart of Islamic culture, many of the most brilliant ideas, art and architecture came from there. Al-Andalus was on the outskirts of the Muslim Empire and therefor was somewhat ignored and belittled by the rest of the Empire for a long time. This does not diminish its importance to the history and culture of Spain though.



The Conquest
The conquest for Spain began in 711 and the scene of this conquest is not easy to explain. It is portrayed biasedly by both Christians and Muslim of the time. One undisputable fact though was that in the 8th century Spain was the end of the advance of Islam throughout all of Europe. Islamic presence in Spain has been often viewed from a Christian perspective but it needs to be analyzed from a less biased viewpoint. The conquest was started for expansion as well as for political reasons. As the cities of Spain fell to the Moors many of them gave up without armed resistance of any kind. Many cities made treaties with the invading forces to pay tributes in order to not be destroyed. Some parts of Iberia resisted though such as Cordoba, Zaragoza, and Merida; these cities were sacked, all men killed and all women and children sold to slavery. This made the other cities and Royalty more apt to bow to the will of the Berbers.

Cultural Differences
Spain was a melting pot of different cultures and people even before the Berber Invasion. The population was very diverse and it consisted of Hispano-Romans, Basques Sueves, Visigoths, Jews, and Moors. The Islamic people were definitely the great minority during the initial invasion. This remained true throughout the time Muslims controlled Iberia. Although religiously many people converted to Islam, ethnically the Arabs and Berbers remained the minority.

Berbers and Arab Tension
The words Islamic and Arab have been used interchangeably, defining the people invading Spain, but in truth they were Berbers. These people came from Africa and had were somewhat recent converts to Islam. They were a people who had a social structure of tribes, then clans and families and were not a very advanced civilization by any means really. The Berbers were conquered by the Arabs before the attack on the Iberian Peninsula in 711. The Arab conquest, specifically the North African one was a very long and bloody struggle. It began with the conquest of the old Roman Empires lands such as Egypt. They fell quickly in the mid to late 600’s; however, the conquest of the Berber people proved to be much more of a challenge. They resisted furiously mostly due to their social structure and the fact that they were not as use to being conquered as frequently as other people were. The problems with the conquest of the Berbers were longs lasting and even up until the 740’s and 750’s many rebellions still were occurring against the Arab rulers. To quell these rebellions the Arab leaders used the military to help instill discipline and gain loyalty among the conquered tribes. By giving the Berbers a new enemy in Spain they gained more control among the Berbers, but there problems by no means were ended with the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. The Moorish conquest of Spain was very quick and lasted no more than seven years. Because of the governing system it was possible to win a decisive victory against the large army of Roderick and then go on to take the rest of the country. Because they had been ruled by the Roman Empires central authority, so it is easier to topple a central authority and fill the power vacuum. This was why it was easy for the Islamic people to take over these nations. The Berbers did not just take over by force though. Another way that the Moors were able to secure territory was by making deals with local authorities in order to avoid conflict. It is also believed that the Jews in Spain played a role in welcoming these invaders. King Egica (687-702) passed laws restricting Jews from trade and other actions. The Moors in contrast treated the Jews much better and did not have these kinds of restrictions.

More Tensions
The Arabs were by far the minority in the Iberian Peninsula, but they also had the best lands. The Berbers were given less desirable lands and in also treated as second class citizens in comparison with their Arab masters. This caused resentment which would lead to even more problems later. In 739 there was a Berber rebellion in Maghrib against the Arabs due to their poor treatment of the Berbers. By this point in History the Berbers had accepted the Islamic faith and most all of them were Muslims. However they were still treated as unequal’s to the Arabs which led to several revolts. This revolt caused a time of problems through Moorish Spain and it marked a dark period in the history of Spain in General. Many people who had the ability to leave the country did. The biggest problem during this time was not only the revolts, but the adaptation to the new rulers for the Spanish people. The Muslim people were not united and there were still many Christians who were unhappy with the fact that the Iberian Peninsula was under Muslim control.

Time of Conversion
Under Islamic law all Christians and Jews were allowed to exercise their own religion. This did not come without a price though, and they were forced to pay a tax in order to openly practice their religion. After the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula there was a time of many conversions to Islam. This can be seen as an adaptation of the society and not necessarily a total conversion of the Ideals of the native Iberians. In the 9th century the Arab conquerors were not trying to convert people and as we can see the Berbers were somewhat new converts themselves. Muslims did not need to pay taxes so the Arab’s did not even encourage conversion because that would lessen their income from the tax. The Islamic law guaranteed freedom of religion for Jews and Christians, so when the Berbers first took over the Jews and Christians had no real incentive to convert to a new religion that was not their own. However, people later began to convert in huge numbers. Many did this to gain power politically and also avoid the taxes. Marriage into Muslim families and opportunity in government were also some reasons why people converted. The desire to convert to a religion that people felt a greater connection with was also a reason for conversion and it would be wrong not to mention this. The power of this conversion is generally overlooked, but as the Muslim influence in Iberia continued, people began to convert more for either religious or political reasons. By the year 800 eight percent of indigenous people converted, by the mid-9th century the number was 12.5 percent, by 900 it was 25 percent, by 950 it was 50 percent and by 1000 approximately 75 percent of the population had converted to Islam. When looking at the trend of Islamic architecture being built during these centuries it can be seen that it supports this statistic of conversion. During this time Christians began to worry about the decline in Christian culture due to so many conversions. Some Christians had a problem with the growth of Islam and there were several who inspired dissent throughout Moorish Spain. These instances were put down violently as was any attack on the Islamic faith. Muslims however didn’t actually outnumber the other religions will the late 10th century Some responded by speaking out against Islam while others emigrated. Those who spoke out were silenced brutally, but since it was a great time of economic prosperity there really were not a large number of people speaking out against the Muslim rulers. Due to this wealth there were many advances in technology, culture and military.

Golden age of Military and Prosperity
Amir Al-Hakem I (796-822) was the first to establish the first professional army in Moorish Spain. A standing army was created and by not having to rely on the Berber’s this gave the Arabs many more freedoms in the Iberian Peninsula, and Cordoba in particular. It was an enormous army of about 60,000 soldiers. These men were mostly foreigners who were not Arabic and did not even speak the language. It was at this time that the government of al-Andalus was comparable to the center of Islamic rule in Bagdad. Moorish Spain followed the same basic structure as Bagdad and by the time of its greatest economic prosperity Moorish Spain was better recognized as a center of knowledge by both Muslims and Christians alike. Abd al-Rahman was a great example of the Muslim influence on Spain as well as a force in creating a more educated and well known nation. He was both a poet and an intellectual and he supported the arts and music. Abd al-Rahman also created new cuisine in al-Andalus structured off of Bagdad’s own. He was almost an intermediary between Spain and the rest of the Islamic word and this made him extremely important to the transfer and sharing of culture; however, he died in the year 857 and after his death there was another period of unrest throughout Moorish Spain. There were other military leaders during his time responsible for defense of the Muslim borders that did not even distantly embody the same qualities that he did. These men were rulers of their own portions of Moorish Spain and some of them were not even of Berber or Arab descent. They were adopted families or converts. These rulers could be considered blocks to the advancement of Moorish Spain. There were a series of revolts from the converts who were being discriminated against due to their ethnicity even though they had converted to Islam. There were many among these men trying to obtain power through military means. For a time Cordoba had lost its power due to all of these power struggles, but by 927 power was returned. Under the leadership of Adb al-Rahman III (912-961) Moorish Spain reached its peak of greatness. The Islamic rulers in Cordoba were actively defending their borders against the Christians in the North at this point. These Christian forces were eventually beaten at the battle of Valdejunquera. There were thousands dead at the site of the battle, and this victory for the Muslims dealt a huge blow to the Christians North of Moorish Spain. During the tenth century the Muslim military forces were by far better equipped and trained than the Christians and in general just a better military force.

More Achievements of the Golden Age
One of the many amazing example of Islamic achievement and architecture is the castle of Gormaz. It was enormous and the quality was comparable to the best of anywhere else in the world. This just shows how Moorish Spain really was an amazing and thriving place for architecture. Al-Andalus also controlled Cordoba which was one the greatest cites in the entire world as well as a renowned city of study. Architecture was not the only great achievement that Moorish Spain was known for though. An agricultural revolution for the Islamic people was also occurring at this time. They brought rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, bananas pomegranates, watermelon, spinach, artichokes, figs and several citrus fruits with them to the Iberian Peninsula when they invaded. The Muslims also brought a better system of irrigation to the Iberian Peninsula which made farms more profitable and efficient. Irrigation that had been built during the Roman Empire still had existed in Spain, but the Arabs simply brought a more advanced system there. People’s health improved due to these advances as did nutrition, which led to more economic prosperity and stability throughout the country. Other Industries such as mining also thrived and crafts people were able to profit as well. Moorish Spain became a center for art and architecture as mentioned before. They exported many ideas and imported a great amount of artwork from the Byzantine Empire. The caliphal patronage could be held responsibility for these advances and the movement to support the art. Scientific Advances were also widespread throughout Moorish Spain in the 10th century. Islamic scholars translated Greek books into Arabic wrote on new technology such as the caravel and astrolabe. These were all amazing advances in the fields of science, architecture and culture.

Problems at the End of The Golden Age of al-Andalus
Although the 10th century was a time of great prosperity for Moorish Spain it was also the beginning of its downturn. Moorish Spain faced many different problems in this time even with all of the advancements made. Racism was still very prevalent in Moorish Spain especially against the Berbers. In the 10th century Berbers were still not equals with Arabs and they could not participate in civil service and other jobs. This was a problem that was somewhat taken care of, but would always be a source of conflict. Unrest between Islam and Christianity also was a problem that would crop up throughout the next few centuries as al-Andalus fell off its pedestal and slowly began to fall to the Christian forces. At the start of the 11th century there were a lot of problems that Moorish Spain was facing financial, religious, political and militarily, but the 10th century was definitely the epitome of greatness for Moorish Spain.