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Lost Empire

March 5th, 2010 admin No comments

Lost Empire
How exactly did the Moors lose their empire?

I know they lost land in spain but what happen after that?
Can you please put it in your own terms without refering me to a huge wikipedia article.

The moors conquered Iberia & remained there for nearly 800 years. It’s a long history & it went through 6 major eras before they were forced out:

1- The empire: When the moors conquered Iberia in 711AD the Muslim world was united in one empire ruled by the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus.
2- The Umayyad kingdom: in the 9th century the Abbasids were up in arms against the Umayyad. The killed all of the Umayyad princes except one, who fled to Andalusia & took it over. He became known as Abdurrahman the 1st. & he established the Umayyad kingdom in Andalusia
3- The Taifa kings: The Umayyad kingdom had fallen due to a split between the Muslims. Governors in Andalusia (Taifa) insisted on ruling their cities independently. During that time Alfonso the 6th began to gain more lands from the moors
4- Almoravidas: Public opinion in Muslim Spain demanded unity to resist Alfonso. Since the Taifa kings couldn’t agree among themselves, people demanded the assistance of the Almoravidas. Those were a Muslim dynasty ruling Morocco & most of North Africa. The Almoravidas (although out numbered) succeeded in defeating Alfonso in the battle of Zalaka, & saved Muslim Spain for some years.
5- Almohads: The Almohads were another Muslim dynasty who revolted against the Almoravidas. This helped Christians in Spain gaining more lands from the moors. The Almohads kept ruling Andalusia for a while, but in the end they yielded some lands to the Christians & Bani Alahmar, a Muslim dynasty who ruled Granada for the following years.
6- Kingdom of Granada: The kingdom of Granada lasted for about 150 years. They used to get support from the Marinids, who ruled Morocco. But when the Marinids had fallen the new dynasty didn’t have the same good relation with the moors in Spain. By that time Portugal was already a kingdom, & Spain was newly united because of the marriage of king Ferdinand & Queen Isabella. Eventually they took over Granada in 1492.

Post Granada:

Muslims were guaranteed leave safely to Morocco, or stay in Granada. But that only lasted until 1499 when the Cardinal grew frustrated of the slow conversion. So he used violence “the inquisition”, which resulted a revolt. The Muslims who remained in Spain kept their faith secret, & tried to hide from the inquisition. They had another revolt in the late 16th century. & by the late 18th century they were granted safe deportation if they revealed themselves. So many Muslims decided to do so.

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