We've talked about Al-Andalus in the past, but...
It's been observed that Al-Andalus was the most "European" of the Islamic states; usually this is observed in the context of its primitive nature (the lack of an adequate tax base, the small size of its cities, the decision to reward grants of lands as opposed to revenues to the initial conquerors, etc.) But there are a few times which seem to be more analogous.
Al-Andalus, in some ways, reminds me of northern Italy or the low countries, where you saw urban militias able to defeat traditional European armies, and there were several attempts at forming urban militias in OTL. You have a couple of oddities (a short lived mercantile city-state run by sailors at Penchina; the public debate of the citizens of Seville in 1229 over who to appoint as their leader; at
In the early 11th century, the Umayyad Caliphate was dependent on Berber mercenaries and Slavs (Saqaliba) who were imported as slave-soldiers. It was also run by a lien of chancellors who used the Umayyads as a cover for their control of the state, ruling in fact if not in name. In 1008 the current chancellor, Abd Al-Rahman, became chancellor and decided to dispense with the Caliphate entirely[1]. He pressured the Caliph Hisham to name him heir apparent, and adopted Berber clothing to show he aligned with their interests. To show he was a good Calph, he led an expedition against the Christians in 1009, and as soon as they crossed the border, an Umayyad by the name of Mohammed, who took on the name al-Mahdi.
The Mahdi then broke with Umayyad tadition by raising an army from Cordoba's inhabitants, referred to in the source as the suq or sufla, meaning the mob or people of the markets, but he had a great deal of support from merchants and tradesman in Cordoba.
Abd Al-Rahman's position actually did collapse, but many of the saqaliba decamped from Cordoba to withdraw to the east coast ,and the Berbers in Cordoba rallied to an Umayyad of their own, Suleiman. With the support of Sancho of Castille, they were able to seize Cordoba after a battle outside the town and proclaimed Suleiman caliph.
But.
There are no shortage of battles in OTL's medieval Europe where armies have been defeated by chance. So let's give Suleiman his own Battle of the Spurs; and as of mid-November, the Mahdi, with an army of the mob, is firmly ensconced in Cordoba...
[1] To be fair, this doesn't seem that crazy to me; it's how the Carolingian gained power, after all...
It's been observed that Al-Andalus was the most "European" of the Islamic states; usually this is observed in the context of its primitive nature (the lack of an adequate tax base, the small size of its cities, the decision to reward grants of lands as opposed to revenues to the initial conquerors, etc.) But there are a few times which seem to be more analogous.
Al-Andalus, in some ways, reminds me of northern Italy or the low countries, where you saw urban militias able to defeat traditional European armies, and there were several attempts at forming urban militias in OTL. You have a couple of oddities (a short lived mercantile city-state run by sailors at Penchina; the public debate of the citizens of Seville in 1229 over who to appoint as their leader; at
In the early 11th century, the Umayyad Caliphate was dependent on Berber mercenaries and Slavs (Saqaliba) who were imported as slave-soldiers. It was also run by a lien of chancellors who used the Umayyads as a cover for their control of the state, ruling in fact if not in name. In 1008 the current chancellor, Abd Al-Rahman, became chancellor and decided to dispense with the Caliphate entirely[1]. He pressured the Caliph Hisham to name him heir apparent, and adopted Berber clothing to show he aligned with their interests. To show he was a good Calph, he led an expedition against the Christians in 1009, and as soon as they crossed the border, an Umayyad by the name of Mohammed, who took on the name al-Mahdi.
The Mahdi then broke with Umayyad tadition by raising an army from Cordoba's inhabitants, referred to in the source as the suq or sufla, meaning the mob or people of the markets, but he had a great deal of support from merchants and tradesman in Cordoba.
Abd Al-Rahman's position actually did collapse, but many of the saqaliba decamped from Cordoba to withdraw to the east coast ,and the Berbers in Cordoba rallied to an Umayyad of their own, Suleiman. With the support of Sancho of Castille, they were able to seize Cordoba after a battle outside the town and proclaimed Suleiman caliph.
But.
There are no shortage of battles in OTL's medieval Europe where armies have been defeated by chance. So let's give Suleiman his own Battle of the Spurs; and as of mid-November, the Mahdi, with an army of the mob, is firmly ensconced in Cordoba...
[1] To be fair, this doesn't seem that crazy to me; it's how the Carolingian gained power, after all...