PART ONE:
In which are contained Chronicles of the First Ventures, the Long Rebellion (wherein is reported the Deeds of the Deplorable Umar ibn Hafsun), of How the Idrisids Schemed; and in which an Emir Passes
From the
Kitab Qadim W'alealam Aljadid W'tarikhiha
(The Book of the Old World and the New, and Their Histories) by al-Umari (AH 699-785)
Edited and translated by Muhammad ibn Alric, al-Eiaar Press, 1390 printing:
(Editor's Note: The
Kitab Qadim is one of the best documents of the settling of Algharbia, but it can prove confusing to the modern reader. In addition, al-Umari (PBUH), its author, was not exactly allowed to write exactly the truth of history, and so, in an effort to give a more nuanced view to the reader, I have used brackets to elucidate passages that might not be altogether clear, and to provide historical context.)
The world is a very different place since the First Great Voyage. I write this book here in al-Aswadya, and the great western sun shines on me, and I write with the glorious benefit of the basima [printing press] beside me, which I can use to spread these words and others. Our world is one of peace, plenty, knowledge, and faith, but the Dar al-Islam was not always thus. When ibn Aswad discovered this most holy of lands, the future of al-Andalus was not certain. The emir of that day and age, Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi was, truth be told, an incompetent, fond of little more than meditation and hunting. He could also be brutal; he ordered his son to slay his brother. While his piety is commendable, this wrathful sort was not the man that one would want to rule an empire on two continents. Thankfully, he was convinced into seeing ibn Aswad, and he allowed the navigator to begin the Second Great Voyage, the beginning of the Muslim foothold in al-Anawaq, the greater of the two western lands. But in the land of Cordoba, all was not well...
As I have said before, the emir was weak. Indeed, it is said that he ruled naught save Cordoba itself. He was constantly attacked by Umar ibn Hafsun (fie upon him and his descendants, seven and sevenfold!) a local warlord who had a substantial holding in the south of the country. He and al-Umawi (PBUH) often warred, as did the emir with other insurgents...
Now, it came to pass that each of the early Great Voyages took approximately two years. Thus, the effects of each took two years to influence events back home. So it was that during the Second Great Voyage, [in the year 277] the emir of Cordoba and Umar ibn Hafsun warred. By the grace of Allah, Hafsun was defeated in the Battle of Polei, which repelled the rebel from a number of cities. However, he retook them shortly thereafter.
Soon after this victory, ibn Aswad returned to Cordoba. At that time, the discoveries were kept a secret, so as not to attract competition, and to prevent panic. He brought with him more fabulous wealth, a number of slaves from the new world, and an ornate map of previously unexplored parts of Ard Majoohla, which he since discovered to be two connected landmasses, which he had since renamed to the Alaradi Algharbia [the two Western lands; often referred to as Algharbia in the text, and in the modern day], the upper of which he named al-Anawaq (for that was what the native peoples called it) and the lower Al-eazima [the bent]...
[Unfortunately, the original map made is lost.
This is the closest version we have to the original, which, oddly enough, includes almost none of al-Anawaq.]
The slaves that ibn Aswad brought with him were of a sort that none in Cordoba had ever seen. They are (for they are, by no means, gone) of a middling height, very warlike, and dark in complexion, but not as dark as those of Sudan; more as those of Egypt are. They have very straight, dark hair, and when they were discovered, they had no metal tools, only stone and wood. But they were still the children of Allah. One of them was even a convert to the faith. He was called Lut, for he said that he had lived in iniquity, as Lot had, and he spoke Arabic, as well as you would please. It is said that he later came to be a favorite of the next emir, and the Caliph, Abd-ar-Rahman III...
The final bounty of the Second Great Voyage was more of a tactical one: a foothold had been established in al-Anawaq. It was not much; a city, and very little else. The men that ibn Aswad had taken with him had named the possession al-Aswadya, in his honor. To govern the city, the emir sent two of sons, al-Mutarrif and al-Asi (peace be upon them both) who the emir suspected of traitorousness. His eldest son, Muhammed ibn Abd Allah, had fallen tragically ill and perished earlier that year. [In light of fact, Abd Allah had been murdered, and with his father's consent, by his own brother, al-Mutarrif. He is best known as the father of Abd-ar-Rahman III, the "Magnificent."] With 150 soldiers, armed to the teeth, Lut, the translator and guide, and a historian, by name al-Masudi, the Third Great Voyage began...
In Cordoba, meanwhile, it was mostly a blur of fighting and dying, in equal measure, for both the emir and Hafsun. Two more Great Voyages came and went, each time a bit more knowledge about Algharbia, gold and silver, and territory. By the embarkation of the Third, the discovery of the new lands was no longer secret. Maps of Algharbia could be found in Cordoba's bookshops. There was not, though, exactly a ready stream of colonists. Ultimately, the policy of sending prisoners and the dhimmi to Algharbia was agreed upon. However, this policy was not really fulfilled in the reign of al-Umawi.
The silver came to good use for hiring mercenaries to fight and die for the emir in the war against Umar ibn Hafsun. In 285, he converted to Christianity; a major tactical mistake, for it lost him much of his constituency. He remained a threat to the emirate, but his attempted alliance with the king of Léon fell through. However, despite Hafsun's failings, the realm was still in a state of chaos. The Muladi, the Iberian Muslims, had rebelled, forming their own emirates. There was Ubayd'Allah ibn Umayya ibn Shaliya (fie upon him!) in Shumantan, and Daysam ibn Ishaq in Murcia and Lurqa, and all kind of traitorous wretches...
By 288, much of lower al-Anawaq was subjugated. By this time, it mostly a military land, but still a well developed one, with mosques, and shops, and temples of any kind. However, the news of Algharbia had spread, to the neighboring realm of the insidious Idrisids. They began their first expedition this year. Their ship was ill-prepared, to say the least, and they washed up somewhere they knew not. It was an island, they found, and they named it al-Iyiti, after the name the natives gave it, but their expedition failed; the last known record of them is in 293.
In 298, al-Umawi was again at war with Hafsun. Having allied with the traitorous Banu Qasi clan, rulers of the upper Ebro valley, he forced a humiliating peace on the emir. The year afterwards, another war broke out, only this one sadly took the emir's life. His chosen successor was Abd ar-Rahman III. His coronation was planned without incident.