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Arabic word Al-Andalus
- The name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus (الأندلس), which in turn may be derived from the Vandals, the Goths or pre-Roman Iberian tribes.
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The name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus (الأندلس), which in turn may be derived from the Vandals, the Goths or pre-Roman Iberian tribes. The toponym al-Andalus is first attested by inscriptions on coins minted in 716 by the new Muslim government of Iberia.
- 28 February 1980 / 18 February 2007 (current version)
- Overview
- History of Andalusia
Andalusia has a long history. Agriculture and complex society had developed in the region by 4000 bce. During the 9th century bce the Phoenicians founded the coastal colony of Gadir (now Cádiz), and by the 5th century bce Carthaginians and Greeks had colonized the coast, while the indigenous Iberian peoples of the interior developed a rich urban culture. The Romans, led by Scipio Africanus, conquered Andalusia between 210 and 206 bce, and the region eventually became the Roman province of Baetica. Flourishing under Roman rule, it was the birthplace of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian and the writers Lucan and Seneca. Roman rule lasted until the Vandals and then the Visigoths overran the region in the 5th century ce. In 711 ce Muslims under the leadership of Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier (now in Morocco) and invaded southern Spain, ending Visigothic rule. Henceforth, Andalusia’s history was closely linked with that of the North African coast until the end of the 15th century.
The Arabic name Al-Andalus was originally applied by the Muslims (Moors) to the entire Iberian Peninsula. It probably means “Country of the Vandals.” In the 11th century, when the Christians began to reconquer the peninsula, Al-Andalus, or Andalusia, came to mean only the area still under Muslim control and thus became permanently attached to the modern-day region.
After the Muslim conquest, Andalusia became part of the independent Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba, which was founded by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III in 929. After the breakup of this unified Spanish Muslim state in the early 11th century, Andalusia was divided into a number of small kingdoms, or taifas, the largest of which were Málaga, Sevilla, and Córdoba. These principalities, which warred incessantly among themselves, had begun falling to Christian forces based in León and Castile in the 11th century when they were reinvigorated by a new Muslim invasion from North Africa, that of the Berber Almoravids, who were able to establish centralized rule over Muslim Spain from about 1086 to 1147. The Almoravids were in turn succeeded by another force of Muslim invaders from North Africa, the Almohads, who ruled over Andalusia from about 1147 to 1212.
Despite its political instability, scholars have seen the Moorish period as the golden age of Andalusia because of its economic prosperity and its brilliant cultural flowering. Agriculture, mining, and industry flourished as never before, and the region carried on a rich commerce with North Africa and the Levant. Some of the crops grown in Andalusia today, such as sugarcane, almonds, and apricots, were introduced by the Arabs, and much of the region’s elaborate irrigation system dates from the Muslim period. In the realm of culture, a vibrant civilization arose out of the intermingling of Spanish Christians, Berber and Arab Muslims, and Jews under the relatively tolerant rule of the Muslim emirs. The cities of Córdoba, Sevilla, and Granada became celebrated centres of Muslim architecture, science, and learning at a time when the rest of Europe was still emerging from the Dark Ages. The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba and the fortress-palace of the Alhambra in Granada were built during this period, and the great Spanish Muslim philosopher Averroës was perhaps its leading intellectual figure.
The Almohads’ power in southern Spain disintegrated after their defeat by Christian armies led by King Alfonso VIII of Castile at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. The petty Muslim states that reemerged in this power vacuum were unable to mount a unified resistance to Christian reconquest, and by 1251 Ferdinand III of Castile had reconquered all of Andalusia except the Muslim kingdom of Granada, which survived until its capture by the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. All of Andalusia was incorporated into the Christian kingdom of Castile.
Andalusia continued to prosper after the Reconquest, in part because the ports of Cádiz and Sevilla were the gateways through which the wealth of the New World flowed into Spain. The expulsion of the Moriscos (Christianized Muslims) from Spain in 1609, however, helped trigger an economic decline that accelerated when Sevilla and Cádiz lost their trading monopolies with the New World in the 18th century. Gibraltar was formally ceded to the British in 1713, and Andalusia was divided into its eight present-day provinces in 1833.
Andalusia has a long history. Agriculture and complex society had developed in the region by 4000 bce. During the 9th century bce the Phoenicians founded the coastal colony of Gadir (now Cádiz), and by the 5th century bce Carthaginians and Greeks had colonized the coast, while the indigenous Iberian peoples of the interior developed a rich urban culture. The Romans, led by Scipio Africanus, conquered Andalusia between 210 and 206 bce, and the region eventually became the Roman province of Baetica. Flourishing under Roman rule, it was the birthplace of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian and the writers Lucan and Seneca. Roman rule lasted until the Vandals and then the Visigoths overran the region in the 5th century ce. In 711 ce Muslims under the leadership of Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier (now in Morocco) and invaded southern Spain, ending Visigothic rule. Henceforth, Andalusia’s history was closely linked with that of the North African coast until the end of the 15th century.
The Arabic name Al-Andalus was originally applied by the Muslims (Moors) to the entire Iberian Peninsula. It probably means “Country of the Vandals.” In the 11th century, when the Christians began to reconquer the peninsula, Al-Andalus, or Andalusia, came to mean only the area still under Muslim control and thus became permanently attached to the modern-day region.
After the Muslim conquest, Andalusia became part of the independent Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba, which was founded by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III in 929. After the breakup of this unified Spanish Muslim state in the early 11th century, Andalusia was divided into a number of small kingdoms, or taifas, the largest of which were Málaga, Sevilla, and Córdoba. These principalities, which warred incessantly among themselves, had begun falling to Christian forces based in León and Castile in the 11th century when they were reinvigorated by a new Muslim invasion from North Africa, that of the Berber Almoravids, who were able to establish centralized rule over Muslim Spain from about 1086 to 1147. The Almoravids were in turn succeeded by another force of Muslim invaders from North Africa, the Almohads, who ruled over Andalusia from about 1147 to 1212.
Despite its political instability, scholars have seen the Moorish period as the golden age of Andalusia because of its economic prosperity and its brilliant cultural flowering. Agriculture, mining, and industry flourished as never before, and the region carried on a rich commerce with North Africa and the Levant. Some of the crops grown in Andalusia today, such as sugarcane, almonds, and apricots, were introduced by the Arabs, and much of the region’s elaborate irrigation system dates from the Muslim period. In the realm of culture, a vibrant civilization arose out of the intermingling of Spanish Christians, Berber and Arab Muslims, and Jews under the relatively tolerant rule of the Muslim emirs. The cities of Córdoba, Sevilla, and Granada became celebrated centres of Muslim architecture, science, and learning at a time when the rest of Europe was still emerging from the Dark Ages. The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba and the fortress-palace of the Alhambra in Granada were built during this period, and the great Spanish Muslim philosopher Averroës was perhaps its leading intellectual figure.
The Almohads’ power in southern Spain disintegrated after their defeat by Christian armies led by King Alfonso VIII of Castile at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. The petty Muslim states that reemerged in this power vacuum were unable to mount a unified resistance to Christian reconquest, and by 1251 Ferdinand III of Castile had reconquered all of Andalusia except the Muslim kingdom of Granada, which survived until its capture by the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. All of Andalusia was incorporated into the Christian kingdom of Castile.
Andalusia continued to prosper after the Reconquest, in part because the ports of Cádiz and Sevilla were the gateways through which the wealth of the New World flowed into Spain. The expulsion of the Moriscos (Christianized Muslims) from Spain in 1609, however, helped trigger an economic decline that accelerated when Sevilla and Cádiz lost their trading monopolies with the New World in the 18th century. Gibraltar was formally ceded to the British in 1713, and Andalusia was divided into its eight present-day provinces in 1833.
History of Andalusia. Horseman, Iberians reliefs from Osuna, in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain. The geostrategic position of Andalusia at the southernmost tip of Europe, between Europe and Africa, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as its mineral and agricultural riches and its large surface area of 87 ...
The oldest theory has it that Andalusia derives from the name of the Vandals, the Germanic tribe which colonized parts of Iberia from 409 to 429. That derivation goes back to the 13th-century De rebus Hispaniae. In the 14th century, Ibn Khaldun derived the name from al-Fandalus, the Vandals.
Mar 10, 2024 · The autonomous community of Andalusia was established by the statute of autonomy of December 30, 1981. Its government consists of an executive council, headed by a president, and a unicameral parliament. The capital is Sevilla. Area 33,819 square miles (87,590 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) 8,059,461.
History. The name Andalusia is the modern version of the Arabic language Al-Andalus (الأندلس), name used by the Muslim Moors for all of the territory of the Iberian Peninsula under their control. During that period, northern Iberian Peninsula was controlled by Christian kings and the southern Iberian Peninsula was controlled by Moors .
Mar 30, 2020 · Andalusia has its name from the Arabic word al-Andalus. Due to its position, the fact that it’s very close to Morocco, and the agricultural and mineral gems it owns, made Andalusia a tempting prize for thousands of years.
