Gharb al-Andalus ( ar, غرب الأندلس,
trans. ''gharb al-ʼandalus''; "west of
al-Andalus
Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
"), or just al-Gharb ( ar, الغرب,
trans. ''al-gharb''; "the west"), was the name given by the
Muslims of Iberia to the region of southern modern-day
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and part of West-central modern day
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
during their rule of the territory, from 711 to 1249. This period started with the fall of the
Visigothic kingdom
The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to ...
after
Tariq ibn-Ziyad's invasion of Iberia and the establishment of the
Umayyad control in the territory. The present day
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese).
The region has it ...
derives its name from this Arabic name. The region had a population of about 500,000 people.
Umayyad Conquest
After a small civil war in the already
Christianized
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
Visigothic Kingdom
The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to ...
in
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...
, King
Roderic (''Rodrigo'' in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
) had a strong position in the peninsula. His opponents, exiled in
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
, asked
Musa ibn Nusair
Musa ibn Nusayr ( ar, موسى بن نصير ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) served as a Umayyad governor and an Arab general under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa (Ifriqiya), and direct ...
,
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
Muslim governor and general, for help. The initially skeptical general sent an experimental expedition mainly consisting of Moors from North and West Africa, led by
Tariq ibn Ziyad
Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād ( ar, طارق بن زياد), also known simply as Tarik in English, was a Berber commander who served the Umayyad Caliphate and initiated the Muslim Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Hispania (present-day Spain and Portugal) ...
, thus initiating the Muslim conquest of Iberia. Tariq utterly defeated Roderic's Visigothic army in the
Battle of Guadalete, and soon after captured
Toledo and
Córdoba. With Tariq's success, Musa joined the expedition and established himself as governor of the new territories.
By 714
Évora
Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District.
Due to its well-preserved old ...
,
Santarém and
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
had been conquered, and two years later
Lisbon was in Muslim control. By 718 most of today's Portuguese territory was under Umayyad rule. The Umayyads
eventually stopped between Poitiers and Tours but
Muslim rule in Iberia would last until 1492 with the fall of the
Kingdom of Granada
)
, common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino
, capital = Granada
, religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman ...
.
Emirate and the Caliphate
The Emirate of Córdoba lasted from 756 to 929. The
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خلافة قرطبة; transliterated ''Khilāfat Qurṭuba''), also known as the Cordoban Caliphate was an Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 929 to 1031. Its territory comprised Iberia and parts o ...
lasted from 929 to 1031. It was followed by the
Taifa
The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...
s.
First taifa period
The first
Taifa of Badajoz
The Taifa of Badajoz (from ar, طائفة بطليوس) was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Sp ...
, ruled by the
Aftasid dynasty, existed from 1009 to 1094. The
Taifa of Lisbon
The Taifa of Lisbon (from ar, طائفة الأشبونة ''Taa'ifatu al-Ushbunah'') was a medieval Islamic Arab Taifa kingdom of Gharb Al-Andalus. It was located in '' Ath-Thaghr Al-Adna'' region, the north-western section of the Moorish A ...
lasted from 1022 to 1034, when it as annexed to
Taifa of Badajoz
The Taifa of Badajoz (from ar, طائفة بطليوس) was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Sp ...
. Lisbon was ruled by
Alfonso VI of León and Castile
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsul ...
between 1093 and 1094. The first
Taifa of Mértola
The Taifa of Mértola () was a medieval Islamic Moorish taifa that existed in what is now southeastern Portugal. It existed during three distinct periods: from 1033 to 1044, from 1144 to 1145, and from 1146 to 1151. From 1044 until 1091 it was u ...
lasted from 1033 to 1044, when it became part of the
Taifa of Seville
The Taifa of Seville ( ''Ta'ifat-u Ishbiliyyah'') was an Arab kingdom which was ruled by the Abbadid dynasty. It was established in 1023 and lasted until 1091, in what is today southern Spain and Portugal. It gained independence from the Caliph ...
. The
Taifa of Santa Maria do Algarve
The Taifa of Santa Maria do Algarve ( ar, شنتمرية الغرب) was a medieval Islamic taifa Moorish kingdom or emirate located in what is now southern Portugal, that existed from 1018 to 1051. From 1051 until 1091, it was under the forcible ...
lasted from 1018 to 1051, when it became part of the
Taifa of Seville
The Taifa of Seville ( ''Ta'ifat-u Ishbiliyyah'') was an Arab kingdom which was ruled by the Abbadid dynasty. It was established in 1023 and lasted until 1091, in what is today southern Spain and Portugal. It gained independence from the Caliph ...
. The first
Taifa of Silves
The Taifa of Silves () was an ArabKennedy, Hugh (2014). Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus. Routledge. . taifa kingdom that existed in what is now southern Portugal for two distinct periods: from 1027 to 1063, and agai ...
lasted from 1040 to 1063, when it became part of the
Taifa of Seville
The Taifa of Seville ( ''Ta'ifat-u Ishbiliyyah'') was an Arab kingdom which was ruled by the Abbadid dynasty. It was established in 1023 and lasted until 1091, in what is today southern Spain and Portugal. It gained independence from the Caliph ...
. The
Taifa of Santarém lasted from 1144 to 1145, when it became part of the
Taifa of Badajoz
The Taifa of Badajoz (from ar, طائفة بطليوس) was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Sp ...
.
Almoravid dynasty
The Almoravid dynasty lasted from 1040 to 1147. During some of that time it ruled over what is now Southern Portugal. After a successful
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
, Portugal gained control of
Lisbon in 1147.
Second taifa period
There were three taifas in what is now Portugal after the fall of the Almoravid dynasty: the second
Taifa of Mértola
The Taifa of Mértola () was a medieval Islamic Moorish taifa that existed in what is now southeastern Portugal. It existed during three distinct periods: from 1033 to 1044, from 1144 to 1145, and from 1146 to 1151. From 1044 until 1091 it was u ...
, which lasted from 1144 to 1151, the second
Taifa of Silves
The Taifa of Silves () was an ArabKennedy, Hugh (2014). Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus. Routledge. . taifa kingdom that existed in what is now southern Portugal for two distinct periods: from 1027 to 1063, and agai ...
, which lasted from 1144 to 1151 and the
Taifa of Tavira which lasted from 1146 to 1150. All three taifas became part of the
Almohad Caliphate in 1151.
Almohad Caliphate
The Almohad Caliphate lasted from 1121 to 1269. During much of this time, until 1249, it ruled much of what is now southern Portugal. Eventually, however, a taifa based at
Niebla was founded in the last years of 1230s and controlled the region up to 1249, when the
Kingdom of Portugal conquered
Faro.
References
See also
*
Timeline of Portuguese history
__NOTOC__
This is a timeline of Portuguese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Portugal and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Portugal.
Centuri ...
*
Timeline of the Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula
*
Reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
*
Kingdom of Algarve
The Kingdom of the Algarve (Portuguese: ''Reino do Algarve'', from the Arabic ''Gharb al-Andalus'' ), after 1471 Kingdom of the Algarves (Portuguese: ''Reino dos Algarves''), was a nominal kingdom within the Kingdom of Portugal, located in the sou ...
*
Kingdom of Portugal
*
Silves
{{Authority control
History of the Algarve
Islam in Portugal
States and territories established in the 710s
711 establishments
8th-century establishments in Portugal
States and territories disestablished in 1249
Medieval Portugal
1249 disestablishments in Europe