Andalusia (Born in the Purple)

Caliphate of Andalusia سَلِفَتُ دا َندَلُسَِ   (Andalusian) خلافة الأندلس   (Andalusi Arabic) שאַליפֿאַטאָ דע אַנדאַלושיאַ   (Ladino) Timeline: Born in the Purple OTL equivalent: Andalusia, Region of Murcia, Extremadura, Valencian Community, Gibraltar, much of Castilla–La Mancha, Southern Portugal
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  نُ عَي مَش بانسادُر ﻙا دُِش (translit. "No hay más vencedor que Dios" "There is no victor but God")
Anthem:  ﻙا دُِش دافِاندَ ندَلُسَِ (translit. "Que Dios defienda a Andalucía" "May God defend Andalusia") Royal anthem:  َدجُنتُش دا دُِش (translit. "Adjuntos de Dios" "Deputies of God")
Location of Andalusia Andalusia on a map of Europe.
Capital (and largest city)		Córdoba
Official languages		Andalusian Andalusi Arabic Ladino
Regional languages		Extremaduran Murcian Valencian Alentejan Catharic Albigensian
Liturgical languages		Classical Arabic Biblical Hebrew Ecclesiastical Latin Sacerdotal Occitan
Ethnic groups		Muladí (and subgroups) Iberian Arabs Sephardic Jews Iberian Berbers Provencials
Religion		83% Islam (state religion) 8% Judaism 6% Christianity 2% Gnosticism
Demonym		Andalusi
Government		Unitary theocratic and caesaropapist feudal semi-constitutional monarchy
-	Caliph	Qarlo IV
-	Royal house	Marzuqui
-	Chancellor	Manrique Alhareto
-	Vizier	Ordoño Alasiri
Legislature		Righteous Congress
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Establishment
-	Arabian conquest of Iberia	711–722
-	Abderremán I establishes the Emirate of Córdoba	15 May 756
-	Abderramán III is proclaimed caliph	16 January 929
-	Sulaimán I is deposed by Jiméno I (First Muladí dynasty)	8 April 1034
-	Abdalmalíco II declares the Caliphate of Andalusia	18 September 1167
Population
-	2023 estimate	64,500,000
Currency		Dírham (AND)
Time zone		UTC + 0 (WET) and UTC + 1 (CET)
Date formats		dd-mm-yyyy (AD/AH)
Drives on the		right
Internet TLD		.aa
Calling code		+350
Membership international or regional organizations		Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Iberian Security Pact

Andalusia (Andalusi: ندَلُسَِ, translit. Andaluzia; Andalusi Arabic: الأندلس, translit. al'andalus; Ladino: אַנדאַלושיאַ, translit. Andalucía), also referred to as Al-Andalus and officially the Caliphate of Andalusia (Andalusi: سَلِفَتُ دا َندَلُسَِ, translit. Califato de Andaluzia; Andalusi Arabic: خلافة الأندلس, translit. khilafat al'andalus; Ladino: שאַליפֿאַטאָ דע אַנדאַלושיאַ, translit. Califato de Andalucía), is a country in Southern Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula. It borders Portugal, Castile, and Aragon to the north, and is separated by Morocco and Algeria through the Strait of Gibraltar. It is a theocratic and caesaropapist monarchy headed by a Caliph (currently Qarlo IV Marzuqui), who has extensive power over both secular and religious affairs. As one of only three Muslim-majority countries in Europe (alongside Ukraine and Dagestan), and the only one outside of Eastern Europe, Andalusia's culture is a unique blend of Western and Islamic civilization, with its very nature having pit the country against its Christian neighbours for much of its existence.

The country's origins lie in the early 8th century, when an Arab-Berber force of the Umayyad Caliphate invaded Iberia from present-day Morocco. At the time, Iberia was controlled by the Visigothic Kingdom, which quickly collapsed during the invasion as the Visigoths were assimilated into the rest of the population. Originally a province of the caliphate, the Abbasid Revolution put an end to Umayyad rule of the Muslim world. After six years of travel, Umayyad prince Abderremán I arrived in Iberia, and there established the Emirate of Córdoba. An Abbasid invasion to restore authority over Iberia proved fruitless, though Abderremán recognized the Abbasids as caliph as a sign of goodwill. This situation would last until 929, when Abderramán III declared himself caliph, independent from the Abbasids in Baghdad. Shortly after, a mass conversion took place among the caliphate's indigenous Christians. The caliphate become a cultural and intellectual bastion in Europe, Córdoba easily rivaling Constantinople in prestige and population, but its political situation became increasingly untenable after the early death of Alhaquén II in 976. His son, Hixém II, was a teenage boy, and his chancellor, Almanzor, was the real power behind the throne. Following Almanzor's death, his son, Abdalmálico Saifadála "Almuzafáro", succeeded him, and continued to control the caliph like a puppet. After his death in 1031, a succession struggle broke out: Hixém II attempted to regain his political power, while Almuzafáro's younger brother, Abderramán Sanchuelo, attempted to continue dominating the caliphate's politics. The clash descended into open war in 1032, culminating in Hixém's death during the Battle of Badajoz. The civil war raged on as Sanchuelo quickly incurred the anger of the populace. This ended only when Jiméno Albarazi, a Muladí (Of indigenous Iberian descent) government official, overthrew Sanchuelo and the by-then unpopular Umayyad dynasty, placing the Albazari dynasty on the throne.

Although the Christian kingdoms of the north were able to take a large portion of land from the caliphate due to the civil war, Jiméno's accession would prove to be beneficial for the nation as a whole. The country became more stable and granted equal rights to all of its different ethnic groups and minorities (Arabs, Berbers, Muladís, Jews and Christians alike). The Muladí in particular became increasingly more prominent in the country's culture and politics, and their local, Arabic-influenced Romance dialects eventually developed into the modern Andalusian language, which displaced Arabic as the caliphate's primary language and pushed it to a secondary role. In 1167, the country was renamed from Córdoba to Andalusia. The caliphate's prestige, its cultural, economic and intellectual development, and its tolerance to religions persecuted elsewhere in the world contributed to a massive population increase over the coming few centuries, especially after the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in the early 13th century, the expulsion of the Jews from Castile, Aragon and Portugal around the turn of the 16th century, and the subsequent Protestant Reformation, which led to a lot of persecuted Cathars, Jews, and Protestant Christians fleeing to the caliphate. Following the Roman reconquest of Egypt and Mesopotamia in the 13th century, the Romans taxed and sabotaged Muslim trade with the east, forcing the Andalusis to find a different route. They traveled down the coast of Africa and circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope to reach India, but kept this information top secret from their opponents; as a security measure, only merchants who had been Muslims since birth were allowed access to this information.

Despite their best efforts to maintain the secrecy, the Portuguese eventually acquired this information in the late 15th century, and subsequently discovered this route to India. The Portuguese, however, were blown off-course, landing in modern-day Brazil and discovering the Americas for Europe for the first time since Leif Erikson explored Newfoundland in the 990's. This led to the colonial race between the Andalusis and the rest of Europe, during which both worlds competed for supremacy in trade, proselytization, and influence across the globe. Andalusia in particular became the primary colonial power and cultural force in Mexico and several neighbouring regions in the Americas, as well as in Japan, Mainland Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea, and West and Central Africa, and eventually in the Philippines following the Seven Years' War. Around the same time, the country began vassalizing much of the Maghreb, butting heads with the Roman Empire in the process due to their conflicting interests in the region. The Andalusis eventually crafted a cross-faith alliance with the Portuguese and British against the Spaniards, their main enemy, and, depending on the context, either against the French or Habsburgs as well. They fought Castile with the Allies in both World War I and World War II, eventually leading to the country's complete collapse.

The country is a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and of the anti-Castilian coalition known as the Iberian Security Pact, but has been barred from both EU and NATO membership due to its strained relationship with several European countries and its undemocratic and non-secular policies. The country is a theocratic monarchy, with the Caliph leading the country in cooperation with his Righteous Congress. The Chancellor (hadgib) leads the government as a whole and regularly meets with the Caliph, whereas the Vizier (visir) is the deputy chief of government and oversees all meetings of the Congress. The country is split mainly into several non-sovereign, hereditary sultanates with their own royal families and into autonomous provinces that accomodate ethnic and religious minorities, along with the royal domain where the Caliph holds all power. One would believe that this makes the country a federation, but the Caliph's ability to revoke the units' privileges and depose sultans from their land makes this impossible; the state is not just unitary, but functions more like a modern feudal state.

The country is home to a large Muslim majority of 85%, which is traditionally very religious and conservative for Western standards due to their will to maintain their identity in the Western world; the overwhelming majority of Andalusi Muslims continue to follow Islamic law, pray consistently and attend mosques, and the majority of Muslim women cover their head with hijabs, though a large proprtion of them combines this with Western clothing like jeans, pullovers and cardigans. 8% of the population is Jewish, and 6% is Christian. Of the Christians, 3.5% is Protestant and 2.5% is Catholic. The final 2% of the population in Andalusia is Gnostic, primarily adhering to Catharism. Atheism is virtually nonexistent in the country, and along with agnosticism and apatheism, is illegal under the country's constitution, as well as socially shunned. Apostasy and proselytization of Muslims is also illegal and actively punished, but efforts to convert non-Muslims to Islam are not only permitted, but outright encouraged and rewarded by the government. All this has led to consistent criticism from other countries and the EU, and is one of the reasons why the country is consistently rejected membership of the EU and of NATO. Religious observance remains high among Christians, Jews, and Gnosts as well. The capital and largest country of the caliphate is Córdoba, considered a global city and major capital of culture, art, and commerce; it boasts a population of 7 million as of 2023.

The country's culture is considered a mixture of Western, Mediterranean, and Islamic civilization. Its lingua franca is Andalusian, a Romance language that straddles the boundaries of the West Iberian language family and the Occitano-Romance group, and has absorbed heavy influence from Arabic and Berber languages, as well as, to a lesser extent, Persian. Andalusi Arabic continues to be in use by the proportion of the population that still identifies as Arab, and is often used as a cultural and commercial language of its own right. Ladino is protected by law as the official languages of the country's Jews, and several languages are reserved for use in liturgy. Other languages enjoy regional protection, and are taught in the schools of the country's political units. The country is a recognized nuclear power, as it has produced its own nuclear stockpile to dissuade potential attacks from its many perceived enemies, currently owning roughly 600 warheads. It is a major regional power, and its influence continues to be felt across the globe thanks to the Andalusi language, which is one of the world's most spoken languages.