UNIT 2. AL-ANDALUS.

1. THE EMERGENCE OF ISLAM.

1. 1. Preislamic Arabia.

6th century: the arabian peninsula is predominantly desert. Its inhabitants were:

• nomadic herders (bedouins).
• farmers who lived in oasis.
• group of nomads (caravans, in spanish, caravanas) that used camels to transports goods from the East towards the Mediterranean.

Mecca (in spanish, La Meca), the birthplace of Muhammad was important because was:

• a large city and a crossroads for caravans.
• a pilmigrate center for the polyteistic inhabitants of Arabia due to the Kabba a black stone located in a temple.

1. 2. Muhammad, the prophet.

Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (in spanish, Mahoma) was born in 570 AD. He was raised by his uncle and became a merchant, coming in contact with Christians and Jews (in spanish, Judíos) and later married a rich widow.

Muhammad went to meditate in a cave on Mount Hira. There, according to the Koran, the angel Gabriel announced him that he was the now prophet chosen by Allah (God).

Muhammad was persecuted because of his ideas and 622 fled to the city of Medina, the Hjira (in spanish, la Hegira) (flight in Arabic) .The inhabitants of Medina converted to Islam and with their help Muhammad conquered Mecca in 630. 

By 632, the date of the death of Muhammad, most of the Arabs were muslims and the Arabian Peninsula was unified.

1. 3. What is Islam?

Islam is the religion preached by Muhammad. The muslims (in spanish, musulmanes). are the followers of Muhammad's religion,
The Koran (in spanish, Corán) is the holy book for Muslims:

• it is made up of 114 chapters called surahs.
• it contains the islamic creed and the religious obligations.
• dictates a code of behaviour: allows polygamy, prohibits eating pork and gambling and the duty of spread the islamic faith.

1. 3. 1.The pillars of Islam.

There are five basic, mandatory acts of Islam:

• A declaration of fatih: "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.".
• Praying (in spanish, rezar) five times between sunrise and sunset, facing Mecca.
• Giving to charity to show your gratitude to Allah.
• Fasting (in spanish, ayunar) during the month of Ramadán.
• Pilgrimate (in spanish, peregrinación) to Mecca once in your life.

Worship: a mosque.

The mosque is the muslim place of worship. Its main parts are:

• the quibla, a wall facing Mecca.
• the mihrab, a niche in the quibla wall.
• the mimbar, a pulpit where the imam delivers sermons.
• prayer hall, (in spanish, sala de oración) a hall divided into naves that faces the quibla.
• minarete, tower used for the call to prayer.
• fountain: used to perfom ablutions before prayer. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. THE ISLAMIC EXPANSION.

The followers of Muhammad created a great empire from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic.

1. 2. 1. The expansión of Islam.

After the death of Muhammad, Muslisms started a military expansion:

•       7th century:

1. conquest of the Persian Empire
2. Took Syria and Egypt from the Byzantine empire.

•       8th century:

1. In the east they reached the Indus River.
2. In the west they conquered North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula (718) and attacked the Frankish Kingdom but were defeated Poitiers (732 AD).
3. Besieged Constantinople twice but were defeated.

• 9th century:

1.  Conquered Nubia (southern Egypt).
2. Palermo (831).
3.  Invaded southern Italy (846).

2. 2. The organisation of the caliphate.

The empire was ruled by a caliph (in spanish, califa), that had political and religious powers. We can distinguish several stages in the organisation of the Islamic Empire:

•       The first four caliphs (632-661), were chosen from Muhammad’s family members. This created a divide between the muslims:

1. Shia (in spanish, Chiitas) believed the caliph should be a direct descendent of Muhammad.
2. Sunnis (in spanish, Suníes) believed that caliph should be chosen from the most devout believers and believed in the sunnah (traditional Muslim laws).

•       Umayyad dinasty (in spanish, Omeyas) (661-750):

1. They moved the capital to Damascus (in spanish, Damasco).
2. Led the great expansión of the muslim empire.

•       Abbasid dinasty (in spanish, Abasidas) (750-1258), took over the caliphate after defeat the Umayyads:

1. They moved the capital to Baghdad (in spanish, Bagdad).
2. Some provinces became independent: Al-Andalus, Egypt and Morocco.

•       The turks (in spanish, turcos) took over the caliphate and conquered Constantinople in 1453.

3. 3. Cultural and economic splendor.

• The official language of the islamic empire was arabic. 
• Other religions were tolerated, but muslims had privileges, because of that most of the population became Muslims.
• New cities appeared (Samarkand, Cairo, Kairoun, etc) (in spanish, Samarcanda, El Cairo, Kairouan,etc)  which became religious, ecnomic and religious centres.
• Schools and libraries were created, in order to preserve and develope the knowledge of the Ancient World.

3. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AL-ANDALUS.

3. .1. The weakness of the visigothic kingdom.

At the beginning of the 8th century the Visigothic kingdom was in a Deep crisis:

•       Economic crisis: impoverishment of the population.

•       Discredit of the monarchy.

•       Civil war between:

1. Followers of Achilla, son of the King Witiza, supporters of a hereditary monarchy.
2. Followers of Roderic (in spanish, Rodrigo), supported a elective monarchy.

The supporters of Achilla asked the Muslim governor of Tunisia for help.

3. 2. The military conquest.

In 711 AD an army composed of Berbers (in spanish, bereberes) and a minority of Arabs defeated the Visigothic king in the Battle of Guadalete.
With an army of 25.000 men, led by Tarik y Musa, the Arabs took Toledo, because they found little resistance. By 718 AD, they had occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula except the Cantabrian mountains.

3. 3. The integration of Al-Andalus into the Islamic Empire.

The Visigoth nobles signed pacts of subimision and were allowed to keep their lands and power.
Islam became the official religion, but Muslims tolerated other religions:

• Most of the Hispano-Visigoths converted to Islam. They were called Muladi (in spanish, Muladi).
• Mozarabs (in spanish, Mozarabe), people who remained Christian. Most of them lived in cities.
• Jews (in spanish, judíos), artisans and merchants

 Nevertheless, there were persecutions against Christians and Jews and many Mozarabs emigrated to the Christian Kingdoms. 

3. 4. The evolution of Al-Andalus: the Emirate.

Al-Andalus had several forms of govermenta during its history due to:

• The reduction of its territory as a result of the military campaigns of the Christian Kingdoms.
• The internal conflicts in Al-Andalus and the islamic empire.

We can distinguish several stages in the evolution of Al-Andalus:

• The dependent Emirate (718-756).

 Al-Andalus was an emirate (province of the Ummayad Caliphate of Damascus. The capital was Cordoba and was ruled by an emir appointed by Damascus.

• The independent Emirate (756-929)

In the middle of the 8th century, the Ummayads were deposed by the Abbasids. The last Ummayad, Abd-Al Rahman, fled to Al-Andalus and declared himself independent emir, although Al-Andalus remained under the religious authority of the caliph.

Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (711-718 AD).

Read this two versions of the Battle of Covadonga:

Text 1. 

Pelayo was with his companions on Mount Auseva and the Muslims army arrived and set up camp opposite the entrance to a cave. Pelayo trusted in Jesus' mercy and said: "Lord Jesus Christ will free us from these pagans". Algama, the Muslim general, ordered the battle to commence and the soldiers took up arms. Their swords shone, lances were at the ready, arrows were shot incessantly, stones came flying through the air. But when the stones reached the home of the Virgin St. Mary who was in the cave, they turned around and were sent from where they came and killed the Muslim soldiers.

Text 2.
In the land of Galicia a wild ass appeared called Pelayo. From that moment the Christians in alAndalus began to defend the land that they still held and fought against the Muslims. The Muslims had taken control of their country and only the rock was left where king Pelayo was sheltering with three hundred men. The Muslim soldiers attacked him until all his soldiers were dead from hunger and only thirty men and women were left in his company. In the end, the Muslims scorned them saying "Thirty wild asses. What damage can they do to us?"

QUESTIONS: 
1. Which is the Christian version? What details in the text make you think that? 
2. In the first version, who will free them from the ‘pagans’? Why do you think they included a miraculous episode? 
3. What happened to all the stones and arrows that the Muslims shot? Who won the battle? 
4. According to both texts, the Muslims decided to abandon the place and stop fighting. But, why did they do it? What reasons appear in each text? 
5. Who do the Muslims describe as "wild ass"? Why do you think they say that? 
6. How many men did Pelayo have? 
7. How many people survived the Muslim attack? 
8. What did the Muslims say at the end of the battle? 9. After this example, could you explain why historia

TAKEN FROM THE PAGE: JAIMEGEOGEOFRAFIA E HISTORIA. ORIGINAL ACTIVITY LINK TO THE ORIGINAL ACTIVITY: How to write History: The battle of Covadonga.


TEXT,

In the name of God, the merciful and the compassionate.This is a document [grants[ by ‘Abd al-’Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusair to Tudmir, son of Ghabdush, establishing a treat of peace and the promise and protection of God and his Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace). We [‘Abd al ‘Aziz] will not set special conditions for him or for any among his men, nor harass him, nor remove him from power. His followers will not be killed or taken prisoner, nor will they be separated from their women and children. They will not be coerced in matters of religion, their churches will not be burned, nor will sacred objects be taken from the realm, [so long as] he [Tudmir] remains sincere and fulfill the [following] conditions that we have set for him. He has reached a settlement concerning seven towns: Orihuela, Valentilla, Alicante, Mula, Bigastro, Ello, and Lorca. He will not give shelter to fugitives, nor to our enemies, nor encourage any protected person to fear us, nor conceal news of our enemies. He and [each of] his men shall [also] pay one dinar every year, together with four measures of wheat, for measures of barley, four liquid measures of concentrated fruit juice, four liquid measures of vinegar, four of honey, and four of olive oil. Slaves must each pay half of this amount.Names of four witnesses follow, and the document is dated from the Muslim month of Rajab, in the year 94 of the Hijrah (April 713).

The dependeny caliphate of Cordoba (750 AD). File:Map_Iberian_Peninsula_750-en.svg User:Little_Professor. BY-SA 4.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. THE EVOLUTION OF AL-ANDALUS (929-1492).

  4. 1. The Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031).

Early 10th century, the Emirate of Cordoba had numerous problems:

1. Internal rebellions.
2. Attacks by the Chritian Kingdoms.
3. Threats to maritime trade.

In 929 AD, the emir Abd al-Rahman III proclaimed himself caliph, establishing the Caliphate of Cordoba, to reinforce his authority.

The Caliphate was the golden age of Al-Andalus with the caliphs Abd-al-Rahman III, Al-Hakam and Hisham II because:

• Military hegemony over the Christian kingdoms due to the succesful military expeditions of Al-Mansur.
• Economic prosperity. Al-Andalus was an intermediary in trade between the Middle East (Byzantium), North Africa and Christian Europe.
• Wealth generated by taxes allowed to maintain a large bureaucracy and army.

  4. 2. Political organization.

The Caliph had absolute powers: political, military and judicial. He ruled aided by the goverment (Diwan) comoposed of:

• a hachib (prime miniter).
• several viziers (ministers).

Al-Andalus was divided in 25 provinces, called coras, ruled by a governor (valis). The borders were ruled by generals (quaid).
There were also cadis (judges) and almotacens who controlled the souks (city markets).

4. 3. The taifa kingdoms (1031-1248).

1008: a civil war started in Al-Andalus. Finally in 1031, the caliphate fell and Al-Andalus was divided in 25 independent kingdoms called taifas characterised by:

• Economic prosperity and urban development.
• Military weakness. New islamic armies arrived from Nort Africa to stop the advance of the Christian kingdoms: Almoravids (in spanish, Almoravides) (11th century) and Almohads (in spanish, Almohades) (12th century), but most of the taifas were conquered in the 13th century.

  4. 4. The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (1248-1492).

The only muslim territory was the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada:

• Was a vast territory and Granada was one of the main economic and cultural centres of Western Europe.
• Economic prosperity allowed the sultans to pay high taxes to Castile, because of that survive until it was conquered by Castille in 1492.

5. AGRICULTURE.

In Al-Andalus, most of the peasants did not own lands, they worked leased (in spanish, arrendadas) lands owned by landowners. Most of the peasants lived in rural setlements called alquerias.
The arabs introduced two important advances in agriculture: new plant species and irrigations systems:

• new plant species:

1. cereals: rice (arroz)
2. vegetables: aubergines (berenjenas), chard (acelgas), garlic (in spanish, ajo) , onions (in spanish, cebollas), carrots (zanahorias), turnips (nabos).
3. fruits: melons (in spanish, melones), watermelons (in spanish, sandías), pommegranates (granadas), lemons (limones), figs (higos), bananas, quinces (membrillos), apricots (albaricoques).
4. spices: saffron (azafrán)
5. commercial plants: sugar cane (in spanish, caña de azúcar), cotton, mulberry trees (in spanish, morera).

•  irrigation system were improved due to the translation of many agricultural texts from the Middle East and the introduction of new irrigation systems:
  

1. the noria, to lift water from a well.
2. the water wheel (in spanish, molino de agua) that extract water from rivers.
3. Ditches (in spanish, acequía: canal) to carry water to the fields.
4. They drained (in spanish, desecar) wetlands (in spanish, pantanos)

The irrigation increased the agricultural productivity and allowed a growth of the population, the trade and the cities.

Irrigation system in Al-Andalus. File: Ejemplo del sistema de riego árabe medieval. Author: José Alberto Bermudez License: BY-NC-SA 3.0

Noria, using a donkey to lift water from a weel.

6. CITIES IN AL-ANDALUS.

The Islamic world was an urban society. Cities were:

• Economic centres for manufacturing and trade where agricultural and artisan products were exchanged.
• Connected international trade routes.
•  Were surrounded by walls and had several gates.
• City centres were a labyrinth of narrow streets.

We can distinguish several parts inside an islamic city:

• alcabaza, a fortress that protects the city.
• medina, the center of the city that housed the most important buildings:

1. the mosque (in spanish, mezquita)
2. the alcazar or govervment residence.
3. the souk (in spanish, zoco) (market) were goods were exchanged.
4.  the public baths (hamman).

• poor quarters (in spanish, arrabales), the part of the city located outside the walls. In there lived the non-Muslims (Christians and Jews) in separated neighbourhoods.

In Al-Andalus the largest city was Cordoba with 300.000 inhabitants, other major cities were Seville, Toledo, Granada, Zaragoza, Valencia and Badajoz.

6. 2. Artisans and trade.

 Cities were conomic centres for manufacturing and trade where agricultural and artisan products were exchanged. Artisans were grouped into neighbourhoods according to their guild (textile, paper, leather, etc).
Long-distance trade was very important:

• Al-Andalus imported metals and wood from Europe; slaves, gold an ivory from Africa, silk and spices (in spanish, especias) from Asia.
• Exported artisan and agricultural goods.

The economic prosperty was stimulated by the existence of a single currency in the islamic empire: the gold dinar and silver dirham.

6. 3. Al-Andalus society.

The andalusi society was divided in several groups according to the religion:

• Muslism, the privileged group, icluded:

1. arabs (in spanish, árabes), a minority who monopolised goverment positions and land.
2. berbers (in spanish, bereberes), muslims from North Africa, peasants and live stock farmers.
3. muladis (in spanish, muladíes), hispano-Visigothic converted to Islam. Were the majority of the population.

• Non-muslims, paid more taxes and with limited rights.

1. Mozarabs (in spanish, mozarabes), lived mostly in cities.
2. Jews (in spanish, judíos), work artisanship, trade medicine and science.

 

SOCIAL PYRAMID OF AL-ANDALUS. File:La_societat_d'Al-Àndalus.jpg Author:Oscar1losada License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Translated to English from the original.

 

7. Culture.

7. 1. Literature and science in Al-Andalus.

The emirs and caliphs of Al-Andalus surrounded themselves with great thinkers and artist. Furthermore:

• The main works from antiquity were translated and reached feudal Europe.
• Many libraries and schools were built. The most important library of medieval Europe was founded by Al-Hakam in Cordoba.

  Al-Andalus scientifics were recognised for their work in several fields:

• Mathematics: Al Majriti.
• Medicine: Abu al-Qasim and Avenzoar.
• Agronomy: Ibn Bassal.
• History: Al-Idrisi and Ibn Hayyan.
• Philosophy: Averroes and Maimonides

 Poetry and prose were highly valued in Al-Andalus. The main poets were:

• Ibn Hazem, author of The Ring of the Dove.
• Princess Wallada.

  There were also, popular forms of poetry sucha as zajal.

7. 2. Scienific and technical advances.

Arab scientifics perfected the knowledge of past cultures, but also created new techiques and inventions:

• Handcarts (in spanish, carretilla), brought from China, to move heavy objects.
• Paper (in spanish, papel), from China, cheaper and lighter than parchment.
• Glazed ceramics (cerámica vidriada), using mixtures of acids and salts.
• Decimal numbers (números árabes), brought from Persia.
• Chess (ajedrez), from Persia.
• Windmills (molinos de viento).

 Medicine:

• Surgery (in spanish, cirujía), using instruments that are still used today.
• Discection of corpses to understad how the human body works.
• New medicines and anaesthecis (in spanish, anestésicos) (belladona).

 Navigation.

• Larger ships with lateen sail (in spanish, vela latina) and new ruders.
• Quadrants (in spanish, cuadrante)
• Compass (in spanish, brujula) from China.

8. Andalusi art.

The main characteristics of the islamic art were:

• Close link between art and religion.
• Architecture was the predominant art form.The most representative buildings were mosques, but palaces, souks, public baths and schools (madrassas) were also built.
• Decoration with abstract and geometric motifs, because the Koran prohibited the depicition of human figures.
• Important development of decorative arts such as marquetry an pottery, using metal, glass or ivory.

 8. 1. Architecture.

The main characteristics of the islamic architecture were:

• Use of poor building materials: brick and wood.
• Use of vaults and domes.
• Use of pillars and columns as support and a profussion of arches: horsehoe, buttres (in spanish, contrafuerte), trilobed (in spanish, trilobulado), interlaced (entrelazados) .
• Rich and varied decoration of interiors based on marble, tiles, plaster and wood.
• Palaces with beatiful gardens, integrating architecture and nature.
• Ornamental decoration: paint, mosaics and stucco were used to cover walls:
  
  1. Interlacing: geometric.
  2. Ataurique: plant motifs.
  3. Arabesque (in spanish, arabesco): intertwined plant and geometric motifs.
  4. Caligraphy (in spanish, caligrafía): written texts from the Koran.

8. 2. Arhictecture in Al-Andalus.

The main characteristics of the architecture in Al-Andalus were the horsehoe arch (in spanish, arco de herradura), the lobed arch and a variety of vaults.
We can distinguish seeral stages in the Al-Andalus architecture:

• Emirate and caliphate period:

1. Most richly ornamental buildings.
2. The Great Mosque of Codroba and the Palace of Medina Al-Zahara.

•  Taifa and Almohad period:

1. Auster architecture with less decoration.
2. Alcazaba in Malaga, Aljaferia in Zaragoza, Giralda.

• Nasrid period.

1. Poor materials and highly decorated interiors.
2. La Alhambra. 

Use of poor materials. Wooden roof with interlacing decoration.

Use of domes and vaults. Cordoba's mosque mihrab. File:Cordoba_Mosque_02.jpg Author: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Manuel_de_Corselas License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Use of columns and pillars. Interior of Cordoba's mosque. File:Cordoba_Mosque_2.jpg Author: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Meho29 CC BY-SA 3.0

Variety of arches. Interlaced arches in the Aljaferia of Zaragoza.

Rich and varied decorations.

Palaces with beatiful gardens. The Alhambra palace.

Generalife's garden, Alhambra.

Cordoba's mosque interior.

Cordoba's mosque.

Ruins of Medina Azahara.

Alfajeria, Zaragoza.

Aljaferia, Zaragoza.

Giralda tower. Seville.

Courtyard of the lions (Patio de los leones), Alhambra.

Court of the myrtles, Alhambra. File:Alhambra-Patio_de_los_Arrayanes.jpg Author: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kadellar License: Carlos Delgado; CC-BY-SA

Hall of the Abecerranjes' vault. File:Abencerrajes.jpg Author: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jvwpc/ License: CC BY-2.0

Generalife, Alhambra. File:Spain_Andalusia_Granada_BW_2015-10-25_15-39-55.jpg Author: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Berthold_Werner License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Medina Al Zahara, 3d reconstruction.

CHRONOLOGY:

Islamic empire.

570 AD BIRTH OF MUHAMMAD.

622 AD HIJRA FLED OF MUHAMMAD FROM MECCA TO MEDINA.

630 AD CONQUEST OF MECCA BY MUHAMMAD.

632 AD DEATH OF MUHAMMAD.

632-661 AD FIRST FOUR CALIPHS.

661-750 AD UMMAYAD CALIPHATE.

750-1258 AD ABBASID CALIPHATE.

1453 AD CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE BY THE TURKS.

Al-Andalus.

711 AD BATTLE OF GUADALETE. FALL OF THE VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM.

718 AD END OF THE CONQUEST.

718-756 AD DEPENDENT EMIRATE

756-929 AD INDEPENDENT UMMAYAD CALIPHAT.

929-1031 AD CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA.

1031-1248 AD TAIFA KINGDOMS.

1248-1492 AD NASRID KINGDOM OF GRANADA.