Empire · 756–1031 · Europe
Umayyad Emirate and Caliphate of Córdoba
Also known as Emirate of Córdoba, Caliphate of Córdoba
When the Abbasids massacred the Umayyad family in 750, the young prince Abd al-Rahman escaped to Spain and seized Córdoba in 756, founding an independent emirate in al-Andalus. His successors governed a diverse society of Arabs, Berbers, Muslim converts, Christians and Jews, and Córdoba grew into western Europe's largest and most sophisticated city, with its Great Mosque, libraries and paved, lit streets.
In 929 Abd al-Rahman III declared himself caliph, rivalling the Fatimids and Abbasids. Under him and the powerful chamberlain al-Mansur, who raided the Christian north and sacked Santiago de Compostela, the caliphate dominated Iberia. After al-Mansur's sons died, civil war broke out in 1009, and the caliphate was abolished in 1031, splitting into small rival kingdoms called taifas.
- Years
- 756–1031
- Capital
- Córdoba (with the palace-city of Madinat al-Zahra)
- Greatest extent
- 1000, about 600,000 km²
- Region
- Europe
Most of the Iberian Peninsula plus parts of North Africa under al-Mansur; c. 0.6M km² c. 1000 (Taagepera 1997)
Legacy
Umayyad Córdoba was a beacon of learning, poetry and architecture whose Great Mosque still stands, and through al-Andalus much classical and Arabic knowledge reached Christian Europe.
Rulers
- Abd al-Rahman I 756 – 788
Umayyad refugee who founded the emirate
- Abd al-Rahman II 822 – 852
Patron of culture and builder
- Abd al-Rahman III 912 – 961
Declared himself caliph in 929
- al-Hakam II 961 – 976
Scholar-caliph with a famous library
- al-Mansur (Almanzor) chamberlain 978 – 1002
Real ruler who raided the Christian north
- Hisham III 1027 – 1031
Last caliph
Realms on the map
- Emirate of Córdoba 756–935
- Caliphate of Córdoba 936–1071