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Capital | (several polities)
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Largest city | Qurṭubah (Cordoba)
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Other cities | Ishbiliya (Sevilla), Tulaytulah (Toledo), Ġarnāṭah (Granada) and Mursiyah (Murcia) | ||
Language official |
Arabic | ||
others | Berber, Mozarabic, Castilian, and Ladino | ||
Religion | Islam | ||
Population | App. Five million | ||
Currency | Andalusian Dinar |
Al-Andalus ( (Arabic: الأندلس) also known as Muslim Spain, Islamic Iberia or Andalucia, is the Muslim territory and cultural domain occupying the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. For the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula see Spain.
The name also generally describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims (given the generic name of Moors) at various times after 711 (92–93 AH), though the boundaries changed constantly as the Christian Reconquista progressed. After the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212 AD / 609 AH) the frontier between Christian north and Muslim south permanently settled along the Tagus River and Toledo. To the south of Aragon and along the Júcar River the boundary is less settled and has changed sides several times during the Reconquista.
As a political domain, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms. Later the invasion of Berber dynasty, the Almoravids (1040–1147). Briefly in the 12th century before the Almohad consolidation, there was a second taifa period of Arabic, Berber and Muladi polities. The Almoravids were overthrown by the Berber Almohad (1121–...) that made Al-Andalus part of their territory.
Historical polities of Al-Andalus:
- Almohad Caliphate. Besides Al-Andalus it also includes the territories of Maghreb (Morocco) and Ifriqiya.
- Emirate of Granada, a tributary of the Almohad.
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