Age of al-Andalus
Prologue: The Yemeni and the Berber.
Art depiction of the Arab conquest of Iberia Circa.500AH
It was the days of legends, the Umayyad Caliphate was near its peak. The Age of Antiquity was over, a new one had taken its place. For Centuries the forces of the Orient and Occident were at battle, never a true victor. These forces were embodied, in the 6th century, by two great powers, the Byzantines and the Sassanids. Both were the reincarnation of ancient empires, and both thought of themselves as rightful lords of the Mashriq*. But as both forces grew weary, a new force came into the play.
They were the Arabians (Or Arabs), a formerly divided and fractured society. They came from the desert, conquering everything in sight, in the name of their new religion, Islam. Sassanid Persia would be the first to fall, following the lands of the levant. After these conquests it looked like Islam was going to fizzle out, only being a temporary nuisance. However this was not to be the case, the four 'Rightly Guided' caliphs were to be followed by the Umayyad dynasty, that would conquer the Turkic plains and the Maghreb.
But now we come to our story, this is the story of Musa ibn Nusayr and Tariq ibn Ziyad, If Emir Abd al-Aziz I is known as the father of the nation, these two must be the granfathers. Musa was son of a freed slave, he had gone through the ranks of the Caliphate and had become governer of Ifriqiya. Tariq, meawhile, was a freed slave himself, a berber. The two together had already conquered the Maghreb in the name of Dar es-Salam**, and now the two would go on to their greatest feat, conquering Iberia.
Many legends surround the conquest, from the lure of Count Julians treasure, to the Rape of a young princess, whatever the true story it was a time of legends. The story goes that Ibn Ziyad led a force of 10 - 15,000 pass the straits, and the Iberians did not attempt to flee or fight back, believing the ships were trading ships. The Iberians were helpless, once again another nation was to fall under the abode of Islam.
The land was ruled by the Visigoths, also known as the Vandals. The Visigothic king, Roderic had prepared an army to face off against the Umayyads (Or Moors, a later slur for Ishbylians). The two armies met near the Guadelete river, where the decisive battle would take place.
Roderic's army were completely routed, loss was certain. The certainty then became fact when Musa ibn Nusair came with re-inforcements. Roderic was killed at the battle. The Vsigothic kingdom was gone, what replaced it was the province of the Caliphate, al-Andalus.
This was only the beginning, the beginning of a new age, The Age of al-Andalus.
*Meaning East in Arabic refering to the Levant
**Meaning the Islamic world.
Prologue: The Yemeni and the Berber.
Art depiction of the Arab conquest of Iberia Circa.500AH
It was the days of legends, the Umayyad Caliphate was near its peak. The Age of Antiquity was over, a new one had taken its place. For Centuries the forces of the Orient and Occident were at battle, never a true victor. These forces were embodied, in the 6th century, by two great powers, the Byzantines and the Sassanids. Both were the reincarnation of ancient empires, and both thought of themselves as rightful lords of the Mashriq*. But as both forces grew weary, a new force came into the play.
They were the Arabians (Or Arabs), a formerly divided and fractured society. They came from the desert, conquering everything in sight, in the name of their new religion, Islam. Sassanid Persia would be the first to fall, following the lands of the levant. After these conquests it looked like Islam was going to fizzle out, only being a temporary nuisance. However this was not to be the case, the four 'Rightly Guided' caliphs were to be followed by the Umayyad dynasty, that would conquer the Turkic plains and the Maghreb.
But now we come to our story, this is the story of Musa ibn Nusayr and Tariq ibn Ziyad, If Emir Abd al-Aziz I is known as the father of the nation, these two must be the granfathers. Musa was son of a freed slave, he had gone through the ranks of the Caliphate and had become governer of Ifriqiya. Tariq, meawhile, was a freed slave himself, a berber. The two together had already conquered the Maghreb in the name of Dar es-Salam**, and now the two would go on to their greatest feat, conquering Iberia.
Many legends surround the conquest, from the lure of Count Julians treasure, to the Rape of a young princess, whatever the true story it was a time of legends. The story goes that Ibn Ziyad led a force of 10 - 15,000 pass the straits, and the Iberians did not attempt to flee or fight back, believing the ships were trading ships. The Iberians were helpless, once again another nation was to fall under the abode of Islam.
The land was ruled by the Visigoths, also known as the Vandals. The Visigothic king, Roderic had prepared an army to face off against the Umayyads (Or Moors, a later slur for Ishbylians). The two armies met near the Guadelete river, where the decisive battle would take place.
Roderic's army were completely routed, loss was certain. The certainty then became fact when Musa ibn Nusair came with re-inforcements. Roderic was killed at the battle. The Vsigothic kingdom was gone, what replaced it was the province of the Caliphate, al-Andalus.
This was only the beginning, the beginning of a new age, The Age of al-Andalus.
*Meaning East in Arabic refering to the Levant
**Meaning the Islamic world.
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