Formation and Society of al-Andalus

The History of Spain Podcast

This is episode 21 called Formation and Society of al-Andalus and in this episode you will learn:
SHOW NOTES
- Why Musa ibn Nusayr and Tariq, the conquerors of the Visigothic Kingdom, fell into disgrace
- How Musa's son Abd al-Aziz, wali (governor) of al-Andalus, pretended to establish his own dynasty in al-Andalus, and how he failed in attempting so
- The objectives of wali al-Hurr, among them develop the administration of the Umayyad Caliphate in al-Andalus
- How were lands distributed among the Muslim conquerors and settlers, and the different treatment that Arab and Berber settlers received
- The mission of governor al-Sahm to develop the fiscal system of al-Andalus and how he finished the conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, that was still present in Septimania
- How realpolitik made religious divisions and identities vague
- The key Battle of Toulouse, which proved that the Umayyad Caliphate was overestreched and why the Umayyad Caliphate didn't have the short-term aim to conquer Europe
- What do dar al-Islam and dar al-harb mean and how it affected Muslim expansionism
- The interim government of Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, future Arab leader in the Battle of Tours/Poitiers, and the appointment of wali Anbasa
- Key concepts and vocabulary of the society of al-Andalus, such as the religious or ethnic division, or combination of both while differentiating Hispano-Goths who converted (Muladi) and those who didn't (Mozarabs)
- The dhimmi status that the Peoples of the Book (Christians and Jews) received in Muslim states, and how that affected taxation with taxes such as jizya
- The discrimination that the Peoples of the Book faced in Muslim Spain
- The different legal and economic status that the nobility, middle classes, common people, slaves, and women received in al-Andalus
- Long discussion on the origins and truth behind the convivencia, the theory that claims that Muslims, Christians and Jews coexisted peacefully in Islamic Spain