Moslem Mining in the Iberian Peninsula (Part I)

Abstract

In 711 AD, Muslims from North Africa crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and conquered most of Christian Visigothic Spain. Confrontations between Muslims and Berbers allowed Abd Al-Rahman I to come to the throne of the Ommiad dynasty in 756 and gain political independence of Al-Andalus from Baghdad. In 929, religious independence was also achieved when Abd Al-Rahman III proclaimed himself the Caliph of Cordova. With this victory, the Ommiads sought to consolidate the commercial routes in the western Mediterranean, thus securing the gold supply from North Africa. Cordova, the capital city of Caliphate, reached 100,000 inhabitants and became the most important metropolis at that time. It became a great cultural, industrial, and mining centre, especially when Caliph Al- Hakam II ascended the throne in 961