The history of al-Andalus is somewhat patchy. At some periods there is a great deal of information about the political events and government operations, yet in other periods there is almost no written history and only a bare outline can be pieced together. For example, one can find the entire history of the reign on al-Razi’s court (961-976) because of the survival of his court records; however the years from 1184-1210 are almost completely blank. There is one chronically, however, that has the most thorough history of al-Andalus on the market- “Muslim Spain and Portugal” by Hugh Kennedy. A professor at St. Andrews in London, Kennedy has taught generations of students about Christian and Muslim Spain and has written the authoritative history of al-Andalus. Therefore, a great deal of information f

The Kingdom of Granada was able to survive another two and a half centuries after the fall of the major Muslim territories to the Christians. It is, in the words of Professor Kennedy, “frustratingly difficult” to discuss this time period in any depth (273). It is almost impossible to discover who the rulers were individually, and the only real record of history is a timeline of the battles between Muslims and Christians. It also makes it difficult to discover why civil wars broke out amongst governors, the cause of Granada’s downfall. What is clear is that for at least two hundred years, a series of minor wars broke out all over the country side, not just religious wars, but wars between Muslims fighting for land. The Taifa kingdoms returned for a brief while and caused a great deal of Muslim disunity, which Kennedy estimates is responsible for much of Granada’s weakness (306). There was also a large, non-military civilian population of Muslims that was ill equipped to defend their homes. This is in contrast to the Christians civilians who were extremely well trained in army maneuvers and defense (307).

The next many years are lacking the significant detail of al-Andalus’s early years. The weakness of the Almoravids regime meant that the communities were forced to look elsewhere for political and military leadership. Between 1144 and 1147, leadership was found in a second reign of Taifa’s, which was short lived and rather unsuccessful. During the entire time of the second Taifa, the Christians, who had previously been a moderate threat became a large scale problem who began recapturing land from the Muslims (191).

While al-Andalus had varying degrees of success over its reign, one should not allow ultimate failure and disappearance of the empire to overshadow its entire 800-year history. The supremacy of al-Andalus brought culture to the world in a time of cultural downturn- poetry, art, writing were all part of the society of al-Andalus. While al-Andalus faded, its can still be seen today in the art, architecture and even music of Spain, leaving a lasting mark on the country forever.

ound herein comes from his sources.

Some topics in this essay:
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