Abderhraman II

Abū l-Mutarraf 'Abd ar-Rahmān ibn al-Hakam (Arabic: أبو المطرف عبد الرحمن بن الحكم), better known as Abder-Rahman II (Toledo, October-November 792 - Córdoba, September 22, 852), son and successor of Alhakén I, was the fourth Umayyad emir of Córdoba from May 25, 822 until his death.

Life

Beginning of his reign

He was thirty years old when he ascended the throne and, like his father and grandfather, had to suppress the claims to the throne of his uncle Abd Allah. He gave himself up to the task of administratively reorganizing Al-Andalus. He tried to present an image of moderation to the Mozarabs and Muslims subjected to the rule of the Arab aristocracy. Aware of the power and influence of the alfaquíes, he ordered the demolition of the Saqunda wine market, near the Cordovan capital, contrary to the precepts of the Koran. Then, as a concession to the mob, he crucified his father's tax policy maker, a Christian the sources call Rabbi.

Yemenis, Muradites and later founder of the Mursiyya

The peace restored in Spain by the emir Abuljatar, by quelling the conflict between the Beledi Arabs and Syrians in the previous century, did not last. The said emir, who began his government measuring everyone equally, soon bowed by the Yemenis, to the detriment of their rivals, the muradis, giving rise to the outbreak of the civil war again with as much or more fierceness than before. The former, that is, the Yemenis, had conquered and established their seat in Yemen, the most flourishing part of southern Arabia, many centuries before our era, subjugating the race of uncertain origin that inhabited that country. The muradies or caisíes were descendants of Ishmael and lived in Hechaz, where Mecca and Medina are located. Both peoples or tribes constituted, so to speak, the first material of the Muslim empire.

The emirate of Abderramán II had just opened, a war broke out in the Tudmir Kora, in the southeast of the peninsula, between the Yemeni and Muradid clans. The spark jumped in Lorca, where the famous battle of al-Musara took place. The war between the Yemenis and Muradids had already lasted seven years and the chora was pacified by the Umayyad general ibm Mu'awiya ibn Hisan, and there is talk of 3,000 dead rebels, including their commander, the Yemeni Abu Samaj.

Abderramán's troops then destroyed the city-refuge of the rebels, Eio, and the Emir decided to transfer the capital of the chora from Orihuela to a new city, Madina Mursiya, founded on Sunday, June 25, 825. Murcia stood on a small elevation on the banks of the Segura River, in order to pacify the territory, promote development and strengthen the authority of the Emirate. General Chabir was the first governor of Murcia.

Andalusi splendor

Abderramán II promoted science, the arts, agriculture and industry. During his reign, the Indo-Arabic numbering system, called position, with a decimal base, was introduced in al-Andalus. Before being proclaimed emir, he started a library that became very numerous, for which he commissioned highly qualified people to bring him the most interesting specimens from the East and those with the greatest contribution to knowledge, thus beginning a good collection of books. He attracted the most illustrious scholars of his time to Córdoba and personally cultivated poetry. His brilliant court was dominated by the figures of the musician Ziryab, the alfaquí Yahya (an intolerant and ambitious religious), the concubine Tarub (who wanted to get the throne for her son Abdalá) and the eunuch Nasr (a muladí).

Abderramán II magnified and showered the city of Córdoba with wealth, surpassing previous emirs in the splendor of his court. According to Eulogio's Memorial:

In 850 (...), the twenty-ninth year of the emirate of Abderraman. The people of the Arabs, magnified in wealth and dignity in Hispanic lands, took hold under a cruel tyranny of almost all Iberia. As for Cordoba, once called Patricia and now named after her settlement, she brought her to the highest concussion, she ennobled her with honors, magnified her with her glory, filled her with riches and embellished her with the influx of all the delights of the world beyond what is possible to believe or say, to the point of overturning, overcoming and overcoming in every worldly pomp.

Eulogio de Córdoba: Memorialis sanctorumin: Aldana García (1998), p. 116.

Abderramán II was the founder of the city of Murcia.

These concise reports coincide with those provided by Ibn Hayyan:

The emir Abderramán ibn Alhakén was the first of the Marwanian caliphs to shine to the monarchy in Al-Andalus, clothed it with the pomp of the majesty and conferred on it reverential character, choosing men for the functions, making visires to perfectly capable people and appointing alcaides to proven paladins; in their days He held correspondence with sovereigns from various countries, erected alcazars, made works, built bridges, brought fresh water to his Alcazar from the tops of the mountains.

Ibn Hayyan (2001), p. 171

He increased taxation considerably, and led to better control of income. In his days, the taxes (yibayat) accrued in Al-Andalus acquired a large volume, income from real estate income (haray) increased and records were instituted in the chancelleries of which the correct taxes applied to the population of the country depended, which came to serve as a reference between rulers and subjects. The Anonymous Description of al-Andalus says of Abderramán II:

It was the first omeya that coined in Cordoba, recorded the dirhemes with his name and instituted a bait, to which he put alamines. From the conquest until then the inhabitants of al-Andalus used the dinars and dirhemes that brought from the East. During his reign the tax collection increased, the exactions of the jarachAlcazars, cities and workshops were built; the Christian kings and other places submitted to him.

An anonymous description of al-Andalus (1983), p. 149.

The collection reached a million dinars, but the plunder inflicted on the middle and lower classes by forced labor was squandered on courtly luxuries and other extravagances. He built splendid buildings taking advantage of the materials from the Roman period that he plundered everywhere, with the intention of enhancing his government:

He was the first one to make fast buildings and compliments to the bar, using advanced machinery and

revolving all the regions in search of columns, looking for all the instruments of al-Andalus and

taking them to the caliphal residence of Cordoba, so that all famous factory there was construction and design of his.

Ibn Hayyan (2001), p. 182.

Abd al-Rahman ordered the expansion of the aljama mosque in Córdoba, placing Nasr and Masrur, the main eunuchs, in charge of the work, and the work was supervised by Muhammad ibn Ziyad, the qadi of Córdoba. Abder-Rahman's wives and concubines also built mosques which bear their names and are known by them, such as the Tarub Mosque, the Fahr Mosque, the Achchifa Mosque, the Mut'ah Mosque, and many other similar ones, and they competed in good works and alms in Córdoba and in their district. Abderramán surrounded himself with scholars, alfaquíes, scholars and courtly poets, whom he splendidly entertained, especially the alfaquíes and muftíes. To Ziryab, a famous musician whom he sent to come from Baghdad, he made great concessions and assigned him generous emoluments, since he received two hundred cash dinars a month, and his name came on the payroll immediately after the viziers. The emir extended to his sons successively desirable allowances, giving them fixed salaries and magnificent territorial concessions, so that they would not burden their father in his emoluments in the slightest, paying each of the three, Ubaydallah, Ja'far and Yahya., twenty dinars per month, in addition to the regular bonuses.

Dirham of silver coined during the reign of Abderraman II.

Foreign Policy

In order to maintain the luxurious lifestyle of his court and suppress the discontent caused by the despotic regime, the emir maintained his father's militaristic policy, increasing the number of foreign armed forces, loyal only to him, who They did not mix with the population. Likewise, skillful work was carried out to build fortresses (ribat) that would give rise to towns such as Calatrava (Qala'at ar-Ríbat).

Almost every year there were attacks against the Christians and in some cases three were even unleashed. The majority was directed against Álava and, especially, Galicia, which was the most vulnerable region of the Kingdom of Asturias. Despite this, there were also attacks against Osona (Vich), Barcelona, Gerona and even Narbona in the expeditions of the years 828, 840 and 850.

In May 843, Musa ibn Musa, head of the Banu Qasi family, led an insurrection against them, being helped in it by García I Íñiguez, king of Pamplona, with whom he was related. After the uprising was crushed, he attacked the lands of Pamplona, defeating García Íñiguez and Musa.

On November 11, 844, he prepared a contingent to face the Vikings who had conquered and sacked Seville a month earlier. The pitched battle took place on the grounds of Tablada, with catastrophic results for the invaders, who suffered a thousand casualties; another four hundred were taken prisoner and executed and some thirty ships were destroyed, the hostages being released. Over time, the small number of survivors converted to Islam, settling as farmers in the area of Coria del Río, Carmona and Morón de la Frontera. New Norman raids were given in the years 859, 966 and 971, the latter being frustrated and the Viking fleet totally annihilated.

The martyrs of Córdoba

"Allah" (God) in Arabic calligraphy.

Regarding the Hispanic population, they continued to regard their Muslim masters as invading despots, a feeling accentuated by reasons such as schizophrenia derived from the rapidity of conversions to Islam, mixed marriages, economic causes such as the new tax system (the loss of productive base), and the loss of power of the Christian religion before the Muslims. The pressures to abandon Latin and Romance in favor of Arabic became unbearable for this small group of followers of Eulogio de Córdoba. The Mozarabic problem broke out again when, in the course of a conversation, a Cordovan priest named Perfecto declared that Muhammad was a false prophet, in addition to insulting him. Perfecto was brought before the qadi, sentenced to death, and beheaded on April 18, 850 before a rousing mob. The bloody event, although it had several precedents, on this occasion produced a whole chain reaction in the jaded Mozarabic people: the famous episode of the Martyrs of Córdoba, in which 48 prominent Christians deliberately defied the laws against blasphemy, apostasy and Christian proselytism, knowing that death awaited them. Despite this, the pressures and cruel persecution in this period led to numerous conversions to Islam.

Shortly before dying in 852, Abderramán managed to get a council of Mozarabic bishops, chaired by Metropolitan Recafredo of Seville, to forbid from the pulpits that his faithful perform similar acts in the future, without condemning the conduct of the martyrs who had challenged to Islamic power. By not formally repudiating such acts, martyrdoms continued for a few years, until the movement died out in 859.

Portrait of the emir

Ibn Idhari left us this portrait of Abderramán II:

...was very dark and eagle nose. He had his eyes big and black and sharp eyes. It was tall and corpulent and had very accented the nasogenian groove of the upper lip, where the mustaches were separated. His beard was very long, and much use of henneand ketem.

Ramón Menéndez Pidal says of him:

...This prince, except his descendant al-Hakam II, was, of course, the most cult of all the Hispanic-Omeya emirs. It was very given to literature, philosophy, science, music and, above all, poetry, because it had great ease to compose verses. He was interested in the hidden sciences, astrology and interpretation of dreams. He wrote a book entitled Al-Andalus anals. After consolidating his power, he devoted himself to his pleasures without any brake.

Family and children

The Emir Abderramán was madly a womanizer, and never took anyone who was not a virgin, even though she surpassed the women of his time in beauty and excellence, his taste, inclination and dedication to them being excessive, as well as the number in which he had them and the passion of which he made them the object. He had several favorites among his concubines, who dominated his heart and conquered his passion. Among all of them, he ended up with his love called Tarub, mother of his son Abdallah.

To keep them happy, he gave them splendid gifts. To his concubine al-Shifá (Salud) he gave a very valuable pearl necklace called the Dragon, formerly the property of Zobeida, the wife of Harun al-Rashid, which he had bought for ten thousand dinars, which seemed excessive to one of his closest viziers.

The almost proverbial amatory capacity of Abderramán II resulted in a large offspring, which the sources estimate with admiration at the extraordinary number of 87 children, 45 of them male. He was succeeded by Mohamed I.