Abd ar-Rahman I

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Abd ar-Rahman I (Arabic: عبد الرحمن الداخل) (born 731; ruled 756-788) was the founder of a Muslim dynasty that ruled Andalusia al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia) for nearly three centuries.

1 Origins
2 Exile
3 Conquering Iberia
4 Rule

[edit] Origins

Abd al-Rahman claimed to be a grandson of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the tenth Umayyad Caliph. He was 20 when the ruling Umayyads were overthrown in the East by their rivals the Abbasids. He and his brother Yahya fled the court and took refuge with Bedouin tribes in the desert. The Abbasids however hunted their enemies down without mercy. Their soldiers overtook the brothers and in the subsequent fight Yahya was slain. However Abd-al-Rahman saved himself by fleeing from Syria Palestine and then northern Africa. This beyond the reach of the Abbasids.

[edit] Exile

In the general confusion created in the Caliphate by the change of dynasty, local rulers had taken control of the provinces in Africa. These former emirs or lieutenants of the Umayyad caliphs, now sought independence. Abd ar-Rahman continued to fear for his life and he fled farther west, taking refuge among the Berber tribes of Mauritania. Chronicolers claim, Abd-ar-Rahman took strength from a prophecy by his great-uncle Maslama that he would restore the fortune of the family. He was accompanied in his travels by the few remaining followers of the Umayyads.

In 755 he had reached modern day Morocco near Ceuta. He sent an agent to Iberia to ask for the support of other former leaders loyal to the family and descendants of the conquerors of Iberia. There were many based in the province of Elvira, modern Granada. The province however was in a state of confusion caused by the weak rule of the current Emir Yusef. He was a puppet ruler controlled by a tribal faction. The community was torn by tribal dissensions between the Arabs and racial tensions between the Arabs and Berbers. Abd ar-Rahman saw an opportunity he had failed to find in Africa. At the invitation of former loyal followers he landed at Almuñécar, to the east of Málaga, in September 755.

[edit] Conquering Iberia

In the beginning Abd ar-Rahman took the advice of his supporters, who were cautious due to the risks involved. Emir Yusef opened negotiations offering Abd-ar-Rahman land and one of his daughters in to marriage. However Abd hoped for far more, but he probably would have been forced to accept the offer. However one of Yusef's Andalusian messengers offended Obeidullah one of Abd's supporters and promoter of the Umayyad cause. After being taunted for his ability to write Arabic well, Obeidullah attacked the messenger and conflict with Yusef became inevitable.

In 756 the two parties fought a campaign in the Guadalquivir valley, which ended, on May 16, in the defeat of Yusef outside Córdoba. However Abd ar-Rahman's army was so poorly equipped that he was mounted on one of the few war-horses; he had no banner, and one was improvised by unwinding a green turban and binding it round the head of a spear. Subsequently the turban and the spear became the banner and symbol of the Andalusian Umayyads.

[edit] Rule

The long reign of Abd ar-Rahman was spent in a struggle to bring his Arab and Berber subjects to order. Many had sought independence rather than to create a new master. As he sought to impose greater control unrest grew. In 763 Abd was compelled to fight at the very gate of his capital against rebels supporting the Abbasids. He won a decisive victory. He then ordered the heads be cut off the rebel leaders, filled them salt and camphor and sent them as an act of defiance to the rulers of the eastern caliph.

During his final years, Abd ar-Rahman had to contend with a succession of palace conspiracies, which he brutally put down. However the dynasty he founded remained in control of Iberia until 1031.

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Abd-ar-Rahman I

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Banu Umayyad Cadet Branch of the Banu Quraish
Preceded by: Marwan II	Umayyad Leader	Succeeded by: Hisham I
Preceded by: Marwan II	Emir of Cordoba 756–788	Succeeded by: Hisham I