Caliphate of Córdoba

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Caliphate of Córdoba
خلافة قرطبة
Jilāfat Qurṭuba
929–1036
Location of Caliphate of Córdoba
StatusCaliphate
CapitalCórdoba
LanguagesAndalusi Arabic,[lower-alpha 1] Mozarabic,[lower-alpha 2] Hebrew
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentAbsolute monarchy
Caliph 
• 929–961
Abd al-Rahman III
• 961–976
Al-Hakam II
• 976–1013
Hisham II
• 1027–1036
Hisham III
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Establishment
January 16 929
• Reign of Al-Hakam II
961–976
• Death of Almanzor
1002
• Outbreak of the civil war
1009
• Fitna
1031
1036
Area
1000500,000 km2 (190,000 sq mi)
CurrencyDinar
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Emirate of Córdoba
First taifa kingdoms
Almoravids
  1. ↑ Arabic was the main language.
  2. ↑ Mozarabic was the language spoken by the Christian population.
Alcázar of Medina Azahara.
Royal standard used during the rule of Abd al-Rahman III.

The Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic: خلافة قرطبة; transliterated Khilāfat Qurṭuba) or Caliphate of the West, officially the Second Umayyad Caliphate,[1] was an Andalusi Muslim state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, following the self-proclamation of the emir Abd al-Rahman III as caliph in 929, succeeding the independent emirate established by Abd al-Rahman I in 756.

Its territory, which occupied about two thirds of the Iberian Peninsula, bordered the County of Castile and the Christian kingdoms of the Kingdom of León and the Kingdom of Navarre, between the courses of the Douro and the Tagus, and in the eastern lands, north of the Ebro, the County of Barcelona. In North Africa, the influence of the Caliphate came to spread over large areas of what is today Morocco.

The era of the Caliphate of Córdoba was the period of greatest political, cultural and commercial splendor of Al-Andalus. The splendor of the Caliphate was reflected above all in the city of Córdoba, which became the most important city of the West, with at least ten times the number of inhabitants of Paris or London. At that time Córdoba already had street lighting, a sewer network, a university, a school of medicine, another of translators, as well as numerous schools, both fee-paying and free for poor children, and a great number of libraries, both public and private.

The Caliphate had a strong economy, based on trade and fueled by an incipient artisan industry, to which were also added agricultural resources far more advanced than those of the rest of the civilizations of its time. The Cordoban gold coin was fundamental in its commercial relations and became a reference of the era. All of this led the Caliphate to be the first large-scale economy known after the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Caliphate disintegrated at the beginning of the 11th century during the Fitna of al-Andalus, a civil war between the descendants of the caliph Hisham II and the successors of his hajib (court official), Almanzor. In 1031, after years of conflict, the Caliphate broke apart into a multitude of independent Muslim kingdoms known as taifas.[2]


History

Umayyad dynasty

Rise

Abd al-Rahman I became emir of Córdoba in 756 after six years of exile, after the Umayyads lost the office of caliph in Damascus to the Abbasids in 750.[3] Intending to regain power, he defeated the Islamic rulers of the region and united several local fiefs into an emirate.[4] Raids increased the size of the emirate; the first to reach as far as Corsica took place in 806.[5]

The rulers of the emirate used the title of "emir" or "sultan" until the 10th century. At the beginning of the 10th century, Abd al-Rahman III had to face a threat of invasion from North Africa by the Fatimid Caliphate, a rival Shia Islamic empire centered in Ifriqiya. Since the Fatimids also claimed the title of caliphate for themselves, in response Abd al-Rahman III claimed the title of caliph for himself.[6] Before Abd al-Rahman's proclamation as caliph, the Umayyads generally recognized the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad as the legitimate ruler of the Muslim community.[7] Even after repelling the Fatimids, Abd al-Rahman kept the more prestigious title.[8] Although his position as caliph was not accepted outside al-Andalus and its North African affiliates, internally the Spanish Umayyads considered themselves closer to Muhammad, and therefore more legitimate, than the Abbasids.

Height of the Caliphate

The reigns of Abd al-Rahman III (929–961) and his son Al-Hakam II (961–976) constitute the period of the height of the Umayyad Caliphate, during which the Cordoban state apparatus was consolidated.

To strengthen the administrative organization of a rather extensive territory with a heterogeneous, mostly non-Arab population, the sovereigns relied on officials loyal to the Umayyad dynasty, which shaped a palatine aristocracy of fata'ls (slaves and freedmen of European origin), who progressively increased their civil and military power, thus supplanting the aristocracy of Arab origin. In this tremendously effective way, the collection of taxes, tithes, tolls, customs duties, and dues on markets and jewels was managed fiscally and in a centralized manner, subjecting even the courtiers to contribution to the Caliphate.[9]

In the army, the presence of Berber contingents increased especially, owing to the intense caliphal policy in the Maghreb. Abd al-Rahman III subdued the feudal lords, who paid tributes or served in the army, contributing to the fiscal control of the Caliphate and successfully carrying out a redistribution of wealth, as noted by the geographer Ibn Hawqal.

The military undertakings consolidated the prestige of the Umayyads outside Al-Andalus and were aimed at guaranteeing the security of the trade routes. Foreign policy was channeled in three directions: the Christian kingdoms of the north of the peninsula, North Africa and the Mediterranean.

The fitna

Main article: Fitna of al-Andalus

The fitna, civil war, began in 1009 with a coup d'état that involved the murder of Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo, son of Almanzor, the deposition of Hisham II and the rise to power of Muhammad ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Jabbar, great-grandson of Abd al-Rahman III. In the background there were also problems such as the oppressive fiscal pressure needed to finance the cost of the war efforts.

Throughout the conflict, the various contenders called on the Christian kingdoms for help. Córdoba and its suburbs were sacked repeatedly, and its monuments, among them the Andalusi Alcázar and Medina Azahara, were destroyed. The capital was even temporarily moved to Málaga. In little more than twenty years, 10 different caliphs succeeded one another (among them a restored Hisham II), three of them belonging to a dynasty other than the Umayyad, the Hammudid.

In the midst of total disorder, the taifas of Almería, Murcia, Alpuente, Arcos, Badajoz, Carmona, Denia, Granada, Huelva, Morón, Silves, Toledo, Tortosa, Valencia, Albarracín and Zaragoza gradually became independent. The last caliph, Hisham III, was deposed in 1031, and a taifa in Córdoba was proclaimed. By then, all the kuras (provinces) of Al-Andalus that had not yet become independent proclaimed themselves independent, under the regency of Arab, Berber or Slavic clans. The fall of the Caliphate meant for Córdoba the definitive loss of hegemony over Al-Andalus and its ruin as a metropolis.

The emir Abd al-Rahman III took the title of caliph in 929, thus affirming the complete independence of the Caliphate of Córdoba from that of the Abbasids. He followed the example of the Fatimids, who had founded an Ismaili Shia caliphate in the Maghreb after the capture of Raqqada (capital of the Aghlabids) in 909, before conquering Egypt in 969 and settling there definitively in 973.

The consequence of this decision was that the Umayyad caliphs of Córdoba suffered a bad reputation in Muslim historiography. Indeed, the caliph, as "Commander of the Faithful," had to be unique; this desire for religious independence was seen as a dissidence that threatened the spiritual unity of the community of believers in the classical Arab-Muslim world, already undermined by the establishment of the Fatimid caliphate. Nevertheless, others followed.

Umayyads of Córdoba

The Umayyads of Spain, the Umayyads of Andalusia or the Umayyads of Córdoba first ruled an emirate in 756 in Al-Andalus and then founded a caliphal dynasty in 929. They are a branch of the Marwanid Umayyads who ruled the Arab empire from Damascus. The last caliph of this dynasty to rule in Córdoba, Hisham III, was deposed in 1031.

Domestic policy

The height of the Cordoban caliphate is evident in its capacity for fiscal centralization, which managed the contributions and revenues of the country: land taxes, tithes, leases, tolls, poll taxes, customs duties on goods, as well as the dues collected in the markets on jewels, ship rigging, pieces of goldsmith work, etc. Likewise, the courtiers were subject to contribution. Administratively, the caliphate divided its territory into administrative and military districts, called kuras, broadly following the earlier administrative division of the Emirate.

During the Caliphate of Córdoba the highest official appointment was that of vizier; access to a high magistracy allowed the promotion and advancement of sons and close relatives, just as dismissal dragged them down with it. The hajib or chancellor exercised all the actions that the caliph delegated to him, led the aceifas (summer campaigns) and organized the administrative policy of the provinces. He was the first of the viziers and responsible for their management. Also very prominent was the post of zalmedina of Córdoba, with the rank of vizier. His mission was the application of the law in matters of extreme gravity, the regency of the kingdom in the absence of the caliph, the headship by delegation of the Royal House, the power to receive the adhesion of the people in the Great Mosque during the coronation of the emirs or caliphs, and the collection of extraordinary taxes. His subordinates were the chief of police and the Market Judge. The importance of this office was reflected in the political trajectory of Almanzor himself.[10]

The administration of justice rested on the qadis, who exercised their functions in accordance with the Quran and the orthodox tradition of the Maliki school. The chief magistrate resided in Córdoba, and each province then had its judge with full jurisdiction. The qadis also administered the property of the community and led prayer in the mosques. In the Caliphate of Córdoba two extraordinary magistracies arose: the comes injustitiarum and the comes redditornum; the first was an appointment by the caliph with special powers to judge cases of particular importance, and the second judged complaints against high officials.[10]

The opulence of the caliphate during these years is reflected in the words of the geographer Ibn Hawqal:

Abundance and ease dominate every aspect of life; the enjoyment of goods and the means of acquiring opulence are common to the great and the small, for these benefits reach even the laborers and the artisans, thanks to the light impositions, the excellent condition of the country and the wealth of the sovereign; moreover, this prince does not make the burden of services and tributes felt.

To enhance his dignity and in imitation of other earlier caliphs, Abd al-Rahman III built his own palatine city: Medina Azahara. This was the stage of greatest splendor of the Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula, although of short duration, since in practice it ended in 1009 with the fitna or civil war that broke out over the throne between the supporters of the last legitimate caliph, Hisham II, and the successors of his prime minister or hajib Almanzor. Nevertheless, the Caliphate continued to exist officially until the year 1031, when it was abolished, giving rise to the fragmentation of the Umayyad State into a multitude of kingdoms known as taifas.

Fall of the Caliphate

In the 11th century, the Caliphate collapsed and fragmented into microstates, the taifas (up to 25), which, weakened, would little by little be reconquered by the Christians. The last Spanish Muslim kingdom, the kingdom of Granada, fell in 1492. The last Muslims, who lived under Christian law, would be forced to convert or emigrate in the 17th century.

Foreign policy

Relations with the Christian kingdoms

Family tree of the Umayyad family. In blue is the caliph Uthman, one of the 4 orthodox caliphs. In green, the Umayyad caliphs of Damascus. In yellow, the Umayyad emirs of Córdoba. In orange, the Umayyad caliphs of Córdoba (note: Abd al-Rahman III was emir until the year 929, when he proclaimed himself caliph). The kinship of the Umayyads with the prophet Muhammad is included, marked in capital letters.

A third objective of the military and diplomatic activity of the Caliphate was directed toward the Mediterranean. During the first years of the Caliphate, the alliance of the Leonese king Ramiro II with Navarre and the count Fernán González caused the disaster of the caliphal army at the Battle of Simancas. But on the death of Ramiro II, Córdoba was able to develop a policy of intervention and arbitration in the internal quarrels of the Leonese, Castilians and Navarrese, frequently sending armed contingents to harass the Christian kingdoms. The influence of the Caliphate over the Christian kingdoms of the north became such that between 951 and 961, the kingdoms of León and Navarre, and the counties of Castile and Barcelona paid it tribute.

Diplomatic relations were intense. Ambassadors arrived in Córdoba from the count of Barcelona Borrell, from Sancho Garcés II of Navarre, from Elvira Ramírez of León, from García Fernández of Castile and the count Fernando Ansúrez, among others. These relations were not free of military clashes, such as the Siege of Gormaz of 975, where an army of Christians faced the general Ghalib.

Relations with the Maghreb

Cordoban policy in the Maghreb was equally intense, particularly during the reign of Al-Hakam II. In Africa, the Umayyads confronted the Fatimids, who controlled cities such as Tahert and Sijilmasa, key points on the trade routes between sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean, although this confrontation was not direct between the two dynasties. The Umayyads relied on the Zenata and the Idrisids, and the Fatimid Caliphate on the Sanhaja Zirids.

Important events were the occupation of Melilla, Tangier and Ceuta, a point from which a Fatimid landing on the peninsula could be prevented. After the capture of Melilla in 927, by the middle of the 10th century, the Umayyads controlled the triangle formed by Algiers, Sijilmasa and the Atlantic Ocean and promoted revolts that came to endanger the stability of the Fatimid caliphate. However, the situation changed after the rise of al-Mu'izz to the Fatimid Caliphate. Almería was sacked and the African territories under Umayyad authority came under Fatimid control, the Cordobans retaining only Tangier and Ceuta. The handing over of the government of Ifriqiya to Ibn Manad provoked the direct confrontation that had previously been avoided, although Ja'far ibn Ali al-Andalusi managed to stop the Zirid Ibn Manad.

In 972 a new war broke out in North Africa, provoked on this occasion by Ibn Guennun, lord of Asilah, who was defeated by the general Ghalib. This war resulted in the sending of large amounts of money and troops to the Maghreb and the continual immigration of Berbers into Al-Andalus.

Mediterranean policy

The Caliphate maintained relations with the Byzantine Empire of Constantine VII, and Cordoban emissaries were present in Constantinople. The power of the Caliphate also extended northward, and around 950 the Holy Roman Empire exchanged ambassadors with Córdoba, of which there is record of the protests over Muslim piracy practiced from Fraxinetum and the Eastern islands of al-Andalus. Likewise, some years earlier, Hugh of Arles requested safe-conducts so that his merchant ships could sail the Mediterranean, which gives an idea of the maritime power held by Córdoba.

From 942 onward, commercial relations were established with the Republic of Amalfi, and in the same year an embassy from Sardinia was received.

Economy and population

Small handled water jugs from the 10th century, of the caliphal period, with painted decoration. Antiquarium Museum, Seville.

The economy of the Caliphate was based on a considerable economic capacity, grounded in very important trade, a highly developed artisan industry and agricultural techniques far more developed than in any other part of Europe. Its economy was based on currency, whose minting played a fundamental role in its financial splendor. The Cordoban gold coin became the most important of the era, and was probably imitated by the Carolingian Empire. Thus, the Caliphate was the first commercial and urban economy of Europe after the disappearance of the Roman Empire.

At the head of the urban network was the capital, Córdoba, the most important city of the Caliphate, which exceeded 250,000 inhabitants in 935 and surpassed 400,000 in 1000, making it during the 10th century one of the largest cities in the world and a financial, cultural, artistic and commercial center of the first order. It was the second city of Europe after Constantinople.

The most important cities which, together with the Cordoban capital, fostered the splendor of the caliphate were Toledo as a strategic and cultural point; Pechina or Seville, as the main commercial ports of Al-Andalus; and Zaragoza, Tudela, Lérida and Calatayud, located in the strategic Ebro valley. Other important cities were Mérida, Málaga, Granada and Valencia.[11]

Culture

Interior of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, transformed into a Christian temple since its conquest in 1236. One of the finest examples of Islamic architecture initiated by the Umayyad dynasty.

Abd al-Rahman III, eighth Umayyad sovereign of Muslim Spain and the first of them to take the title of caliph, not only made Córdoba the nerve center of a new Muslim empire in the West, but turned it into the principal city of Western Europe, rivaling for a century in power, prestige, splendor and culture with Baghdad and Constantinople, the capitals of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire, respectively. According to Arab sources, under his rule the city reached one million inhabitants, who had one thousand six hundred mosques, three hundred thousand dwellings, eighty thousand shops and countless public baths, although various historians point to the physical impossibility of such figures in a city of the dimensions Córdoba had at the time, so they probably referred to a larger territory, extending beyond the limits of the main city.

The Umayyad caliph was also a great promoter of culture: he endowed Córdoba with nearly seventy libraries, founded a university, a school of medicine and another of translators from Greek and Hebrew into Arabic. He had the Mosque of Córdoba enlarged, rebuilding the minaret, and ordered the construction of the extraordinary palatine city of Madinat al-Zahra, which he made his residence until his death.

Salón Rico of the palatine city of Medina Azahara. The extraordinary beauty of its buildings was designed to astonish foreign ambassadors.

The aspects of cultural development are no less relevant after the coming to power of the caliph Al-Hakam II, to whom is attributed the founding of a library that is said to have reached 400,000 volumes. Perhaps this prompted the adoption of postulates of classical philosophy, both Greek and Latin, by intellectuals of the era such as Ibn Masarra, Ibn Tufail, Averroes and the Jew Maimonides, although the thinkers stood out above all in medicine, mathematics and astronomy.

Statue of Maimonides in his native city, Córdoba, made in 1964 by Amadeo Ruiz Olmos.

Dynastic foundation of the Umayyads of Spain

  • 750: Battle of the Zab. The Abbasids pursue and massacre the Umayyads of the Caliphate of Damascus (661–750) and establish a new Caliphate with Kufa as its capital.
  • August 14, 755: Abd al-Rahman, the only survivor of the massacre of the Umayyad family, landed at Al-Munakkab, in the south of Al-Andalus (the territories of the Iberian Peninsula and Gaul then under Muslim rule), with the firm intention of founding an independent state.
  • 756: With the support of the Syrian Jund (military district, army), he prevailed at the battle of Al-Musara and proclaimed himself emir, thus breaking the political unity of the Umma, while continuing to recognize the religious authority of Al-Mansur, the Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad. To pacify the country and secure his power and his independence from the conspiracies of his enemies backed by the Abbasids, Abd al-Rahman I, nicknamed "the emigrant," entrusted political responsibilities to members of his family and his clientele. He relied on the army, whose numbers he increased, and established a mercenary guard, which forced him to raise taxes to pay the salaries.
  • 766–776: His policy met with the opposition of the Yemenis and the Muslim Berbers living in Spain, who rebelled on several occasions.
  • September 30, 788: Abd al-Rahman I, founder of the dynasty and the one who transformed Al-Andalus into an independent and structured state, died in Córdoba.

According to the historian Pierre Guichard, all the Umayyad princes who came to power in Córdoba were sons of slave concubines, most of them of indigenous "Galician" origin, coming from the remaining Christian areas of the north and northwest of Spain. Thus, according to the author, "with each generation, the proportion of Arab blood flowing through the veins of the reigning sovereign was halved, so that the last of the line, Hisham II (976–1013), who according to the sole male-line genealogy is of pure Arab stock, in reality has only 0.09% Arab blood."

Caliphs of Córdoba

Main article: List of caliphs of Córdoba

Caliphate of Córdoba in art

  • Entering the Mosque (1885), Edwin Lord Weeks.
    Entering the Mosque (1885), Edwin Lord Weeks.
  • Interior of a Mosque at Cordova (circa 1880), Edwin Lord Weeks, The Walters Art Museum.
    Interior of a Mosque at Cordova (circa 1880), Edwin Lord Weeks, The Walters Art Museum.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Changing Cordoba: An Essay on the first Cordoban Caliph". E-International Relations. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  2. ↑ Chejne 1974, pp. 43–49.
  3. ↑ Hughes, Aaron W. (2013). Muslim identities : an introduction to Islam. New York. p. 108. ISBN 9780231531924. OCLC 833763900.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ Barton 2004, p. 37.
  5. ↑ Stanton, Charles D. (2015-06-30). Medieval maritime warfare. Barnsley, South Yorkshire. p. 111. ISBN 9781473856431. OCLC 905696269.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ Barton 2004, p. 38.
  7. ↑ O'Callaghan, J. F. (1983). A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 119.
  8. ↑ Reilly 1993, p. 84.
  9. ↑ Historia de Córdoba en el califato omeya. Antonio Arjona Castro. Pages: 272. Binding: hardcover. ISBN 978-84-92924-17-2
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 VALLVÉ, Joaquín (1992). "La organización político-administrativa". El Califato de Córdoba (in español). Madrid: Mapfre. pp. 69–96. ISBN 84-7100-405-4.
  11. ↑ J.A. García de Cortázar (1974); Historia de España Alfaguara II. La época medieval, p. 79

Bibliography

  • Levi-Provençal, E., España musulmana hasta la caída del califato de Córdoba (711-1031), Madrid 1957.
  • Sánchez Albornoz, C., La España musulmana según los autores islamitas y cristianos medievales, Barcelona 1946.
  • Torres Balbás, L., Ciudades hispanomusulmanas, Madrid.
  • Vernet, J., La cultura hispanoárabe en Oriente y Occidente, Barcelona 1978.
  • Guichard, Pierre: La España musulmana, Al-Andalus Omeya (siglos VIII - XI) in Historia de España de Historia 16, Vol. VII, Madrid, Temas de Hoy, 1995.
  • Vallvé, Joaquín: El califato de Córdoba, Madrid, Mapfre, 1991.
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