#929ce

Abd al-Rahman III

Abd al-Rahman III was an Umayyad prince who reigned as Emir of Cordoba, and later Caliph of Cordoba, from 912 to 961 CE. His reign is remembered as a golden age of Muslim Spain and Umayyad rule, epitomized by his declaration of the second Umayyad Caliphate in 929 CE. He re-established one unified Muslim state in Spain and presided over the expansion of his capital at Cordoba as well as the founding of the impressive caliphal palace at Madinat al-Zahra.

Early Years

Abd al-Rahman was born at the Umayyad royal court in Cordoba on 18 December 890 CE. He was the grandson of both the Umayyad Emir of Cordoba, 'Abd Allah (r. 888-912 CE), and the King of Navarre, Fortún Garcés (r. 882-905 CE). Abd al-Rahman was just days old when his father Muhammad was assassinated by his own brother, Al-Mutarrif. 'Abd Allah had several sons who could follow him on the throne but he showed clear favoritism for his grandson Abd al-Rahman. When the emir died in 912 CE, Abd al-Rahman inherited the Umayyad throne at the age of twenty-one. Despite being Arab, the new emir was fair-skinned, blonde, and had blue eyes due to European concubines' inclusion in the family tree. According to one legend, he even dyed his beard black to match his people's image of him as an Arab Umayyad.

Abd al-Rahman had a mixed inheritance. His namesake, Abd al-Rahman I (r. 756-788 CE), had painstakingly unified Muslim Spain at the end of the 8th century CE, but after his death, the peninsula unraveled once more. Rebels such as Musa ibn Musa and Ibrahim ibn Hajjaj created their own de facto states inside the Emirate of Cordoba, especially in the north and the countryside. The Umayyads maintained their power base in the major cities of southern Spain and managed to put the rebellions down with much effort. However, frequently, these local potentates were too powerful to simply remove entirely. Instead, the Umayyad emirs held the leaders in Cordoba and had them call up their troops to support Umayyad military campaigns against other autonomous rebels. Effective Umayyad control barely extended outside of the region around Cordoba itself. It was this rather shaky political control that Abd al-Rahman III faced when he ascended the throne.

Abd al-Rahman immediately set to work. Before the year was out, rebels' decapitated heads started to dot the walls of Cordoba as fortress after rebellious fortress submitted to Umayyad arms. The greatest change was that Abd al-Rahman took personal command of the Umayyad troops, which 'Abd Allah had not done for nearly 20 years. While 'Abd Allah had to be cautious giving his generals many troops lest they betray him, Abd al-Rahman could lead the bulk of his forces himself. In addition, he began to recruit foreign mercenaries, including Turks from the East and Berbers from North Africa, whose loyalty would be unquestionable without local power bases of their own.

The greatest challenge to Umayyad authority, however, was still at large. Umar ibn Hafsun was a particularly bad thorn in the side of the Umayyads since 880 CE when he was recorded leading his first rebellion. He was brought to heel several times but continued to break out from Umayyad control until Abd al-Rahman led a full-scale campaign against him in 914 CE, besieging several of his forces and massacring the defenders of the fortress of Belda. Following this concentrated attack, ibn Hafsun finally submitted to Umayyad authority in 915 CE, at which point he controlled over 100 fortresses in Al-Andalus.