Timeline (Saracen Jihad)

The following page details the events of the Sacaren Jihad timeline. For a full timeline please see the following pages, organized by century.

Full Timeline

 * Eighth Century

Background

 * ’’’711’’’ - Tariq ibn-Ziyad crosses the Straits of Gibraltar. Most of the Iberian peninsula is conquered by Arab and Berber Muslims, creating Al-Andalus and ending Visigothic rule.
 * ’’’712’’’ - Liutprand, King of the Lombards begins his reign.
 * 716 - Pressured by the Muslims to the south, the Kingdom of the Visigoths has been reduced to the province of Septimania.
 * 717 - The Umayyads under al-Hurr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Thaqafi cross the eastern Pyrenees into Aquitanian territory and Septimania as a continuation to their Iberian conquest, but fail to advance further.
 * ’’’718’’’ Bulgarians and Byzantines decisively defeat the invading Arabs and break the Siege of Constantinople.
 * 719 - Islamic forces come under the command of al-Samh, who seizes Barcelona and the Septimanian city of Narbonne (Arbouna for the Arabs) despite local resistance.
 * 720 - Narbonne becomes the capital city of Muslim Septimania, and is used as a base for razzias. A mosque is established in Narbonne, inside the church of Sainte-Rustique.
 * 721 - Muslim invaders are halted at the Battle of Toulouse, when Emir al-Samh (the "Zama" of Christian chronicles) is killed by Odo of Aquitaine. The Gothic Septimania surrenders to the Muslims in favorable conditions for them, allowing the Umayyads to rule the region with the conditioned support of the local population and the Gothic nobles.
 * 725 Emir al-Samh's successor, Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi, besieges the city of Carcassonne, which is forced to give half of its territory, pay tribute, and make an offensive and defensive alliance with Muslim forces. Nimes and all the other main Septimanian cities fell too under the sway of the Umayyads.
 * The savage fighting, massacres, and destruction particularly affecting the Ebro valley and Septimania cause a flow of refugees who mainly find shelter in southern Aquitaine across the Pyrenees, and Provence.
 * Munuza becomes governor of the Cerdanya, but rebels against Cordovan central rule. The Berber leader allies with the Aquitanian duke Odo, who is eager to stabilize his borders, and marries his daughter.
 * 731 - all of Septimania becomes under Islamic rule. Munuza, the Pyrenean Berber lord ruling on the eastern Pyrenees, is killed by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who goes on to attack Odo.
 * 732 - Odo is vanquished by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi in the Battle of the River Garonne. The Muslim force then moves north to invade Poitou in order to plunder the Basilica of Saint-Martin-de-Tours.

POD

 * Main:

Muslim forces defeat the combined forces of Charles and Odo at the Battle of Tours. Charles is killed and his forces routed.

Eighth Century

 * 732 - Muslim invaders under Abd al-Rahman loot Tours and plunder the Basilica of Saint-Martin-de-Tours. Carrying large amounts of stolen treasure and riches, they withdraw south.
 * The land of Charles is divided between Pepin and his elder brother, Carloman, his surviving sons by his first wife. Carloman becomes Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, while Pepin becomes Mayor of the Palace of Neustria. Grifo, Charles's son by his second wife, Swanahild (also known as Swanhilde), demands a share in the inheritance, but is imprisoned in a monastery by his two half-brothers.
 * Boniface travels to Rome where Pope Gregory III conferred upon him the pallium as archbishop with jurisdiction over Germany. Boniface again set out for Germany, baptizing thousands, and dealt with the problems of many other Christians who had fallen out of contact with the regular hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.
 * 733 - Abd al-Rahman receives without a fight the submission of the cities of Avignon, Arles, and Marseille, ruled by count Maurontus. The patrician of Provence call Islamic forces in to protect his strongholds from a potential Carolingian invasion, estimating his own garrisons too weak to fend off a well-organised, strong army made up of infantry enriched with Church lands.
 * 734 - Carloman, to secure the unity of the Franks, raised the Merovingian Childeric to the throne.
 * Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab is appointed Umayyad governor in Kairouan. He resumes the extraordinary taxation and slave-tribute.
 * ’’’735’’’ - Odo, Duke of Aquitaine dies, leaving his son Hunald as duke.
 * Hunald refuses to recognize the authority of the Franks, declaring war upon the Frankish rulers.
 * 738 - Carloman either resolved to or is pressured into entering a monastery. This leaves Francia in the hands of Pepin as sole mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum.
 * Grifo escapes imprisonment and flees to Bavaria, under the rule of Duke Odilo.
 * ’’’739’’’ - The powerful general Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri departs the Sous valley of southern Morocco for al-Andalus. This grants the Berbers an opening in the west, and they openly rise up in revolt, beginning the Berber Revolt.
 * Berber forces under Maysara take the city of Tangiers and execute Omar al-Moradi. Maysara takes up the title of amir al-mu'minin ("Commander of the Faithful", or "Caliph") and begins a campaign in Morocco overwhelming the Ummayad garrisons from the straits to the Sous.
 * ’’’740’’’ - Peace is declared between Odilo, Duke of Bavaria and Pepin, with the Bavarians conceding defeat. Pepin however fails to capture Grifo, who will continue to live in Bavaria.
 * An army of Arab cavalry from Kairouan under the command of Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri is dispatched to Tangiers. Despite losing almost all of his forces, Khalid ibn Abi Habib is saved by the returning army from al-Andalus.
 * ’’’January 741’’’ - Obeid Allah's deputy in al-Andalus, Oqba ibn al-Hajjaj al-Saluli, is deposed and replaced by Abd al-Malik ibn Qatan al-Fihri.