Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Jawlani

Al-Samh ibn Málik al-Jawlani, al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani or al-Samh (in Arabic, < b>السمح بن مالك الخولاني) was the fifth vali of al-Andalus from 719 to 721, sent directly by Caliph Sulaiman.

In mid-719, al-Samh belatedly began the annual military campaign and crossed the Pyrenees for the first time. He attacked Narbonne which resisted. The vali spent that winter in the province. The following year, al-Samh continued the attack and finally conquered Narbonne, where the defenders were put to the sword. The vali established a garrison of elected soldiers in the city. The neighboring towns of Besiers, Lodève, Agde and Magalona submitted or were taken in the following weeks although Nimes resisted.

In 721, al-Samh left Narbonne bound for Carcassonne. The walls of this city offered the prospect of a long resistance and the vali sought conquests or good loot. The truth is that he left Carcassonne and advanced towards Toulouse, which belonged to the kingdom of the Franks. After a siege of at least two months, he assaulted the city in the month of June, but it is believed that just at that moment the forces gathered by Odo arrived and defeated him. Al-Samh died in combat on June 10, 721.

The soldiers proclaimed Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Gafiqi as the new vali of Hispania on the spot.

Talia

The main "waves" successive (talia) arrival of Muslim soldiers to al-Andalus took place with the army of Musa, the contingents arriving with al-Samh and the Syrian soldiers of Balŷ, the latter divided into yunds.