1) The Umayyad Caliphate conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th century, establishing the state of Al-Andalus. 2) Al-Andalus flourished under the Caliphate of Córdoba in the 10th century but later fractured into multiple taifa kingdoms in the 11th century. 3) The Almoravids and Almohads temporarily unified the taifa kingdoms in the 11th-12th centuries before the last Muslim kingdom, Granada, fell to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492.

1. Unit 2 Al-Andalus
By Ángel Ramos

2. The expansion of the Islam

3. The organisation of the Caliphate
• Name of the Caliphate:
- The First four caliphs. Chosen from Muhammad’s
family.
• Dates: 632 - 661
• Capital: Mecca.
• Main events:
– Division in the Islam between:
• The Shia: For them the caliph should be descendent of
Muhammad.
• The Sunnis: For them the Caliph should be chosen from
most devote belivers.

4. • Name of the Caliphate: Umayyad (Omeyas)
• Dates: 661 - 750
• Capital: Damascus
• Main events: Conquered Iberian Peninsula
Great expansion.

5. • Name of the Caliphate: Abbasid (Abasí)
• Dates: 750 - 1258
• Capital: Bagdag
• Main events: Al-Andalus, Egypt, Morocco
separated from the central power.

6. Madraza of Samarcanda

7. Mosque of Córdoba

9. The establishment of Al-Andalus
• The weakness of the Visigothic monarchy.
– Economical crisis.
– Visigothic nobility fought for the throne.
– Civil war between Achila (Agila) and Roderic
(Rodrigo)
– Supporters of Achila ask for help to the muslims.

10. The military conquest
• Battle of Guadalete: 711. Berbers army led by
Arabs, crossed the strait of Gibraltar ans
defeated Visigoths. King Rodrigo died

11. The military conquest
• The muslim army led by Tariq
and Musa occopied almost the
southern Peninsula and took
Toledo.
• Rapid advance: little resistence
from the population.
• By 718, almost the whole
territory was under Islamic
control
• The visigothic nobility and a
small part of population took
refuge in the cantabrian
mountains.

12. “El Romance de la Cava”
(…) cumplió el rey su voluntad más por fuerza
que por grado,
por lo cual se perdió España por aquel tan gran
pecado.
La malvada de la Cava a su padre lo ha
contado.
Don Julián, que es traidor, con los moros se ha
concertado
que destruyesen a España por le haber así
injuriado.

13. The evolution of Al-Andalus
Dependent emirate: 718 - 756
– Province dependent on Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus.
– Capital: Córdoba
– Scarce and limited power in the territories north of Sistema
Central

14. Independent emirate: 756 – 929
• Prince Abd al-Rahman (Umayyad family) created an
independent territory.
• Abd al-Rahman I has the political authority in Al-Andalus.
• Religious Authority remained in the Caliph of Baghdad.
Tower of “Los Lodones” a muslim
fortress of the 9th – 10th Century.
Built to control the Sistema
Central.

15. Caliphate of Córdoba
• Dates: 929 – 1031
• Emir Abd al Rahman III proclaimed the political and religious independence from Baghdad.
• Christian kingdoms started to gain territory over Al-Andalus.

16. The Taifa kingdoms
• Dates: (1031 – 1248)
• Aristocracy, senior civil servants and the army fought for power
• By 1031 Al-Andalus was divided into more than 25 independent
kingdoms called taifas.
• The Taifas were advanced economically, but military weak.
• The Christian Kingdoms of the North took advantage of this
weakness and gain territory over the muslims.

17. Almoravids and Almohads
• Dates: 11th and 12th Century
• Muslim armies arrived form the North of Africa (Almoravids in the
11th and Almohads in the 12th)
• They settled in Al-Andalus and stoped temporarily the christian
advance.
• After the battle of “Navas de Tolosa” in 1212 the Almohades were
defeated and Christian advance was unstoppable.

18. The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada
• Dates: 1248 – 1492
• The only Islamic kingdom that survived the Christian advance.
• Their economical prosperity allowed them to pay high taxes to the
Christian kingdoms to avoid the invasion.
• The Catholic Monarchs eventually conquered the Kingdom of
Granada in 1492.
• King Boabdil was the last Muslim king in the Iberian peninsula.

19. Andalusí art

20. Souk in Marrakech

21. Tiles with interlacing
decoration
Plaster with arabesque
Ataurique:
Plant motifs

22. Plaster with calligraphic
decoration. “Allah wa lâ galibun
Îlâ“ (Only Allah is victorious)
Plaster with “Cufic”
calligraphy”

23. Agriculture in Al-Andalus

24. Cities in Al-Andalus
• An urban society:
• Large cities such as Cordoba: over 300.000
inhabitants.
• Other important cities: Seville, Toledo,
Granada, Badajoz, Zaragoza and Valencia.

26. • The majority were surrounded by walls.
• Did not follow a neat layout, were a labyrinth
of narrow streets.
• Were political, cultural and economic centers.

27. Different social groups
• Make a pyramid with the different social
groups of the Al-Andalus society.

28. Artisanship and trade
• Artisans were grouped into neigbourhoods according to their “guild”
• Trade was very active and all the cities had souks were products were
exchanged.
• Long distance trade was also very important.
• Economic Prosperity was estimulated by the existence of a single currency
that circulated in all islamic lands:
– Dirham: Gold coin
– Dinar: Silver coin.