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<p>[QUOTE="ValiantKnight, post: 3686566, member: 44210"]A long-term goal of mine is to collect coins from all of Spain's history up until 1500. Still missing pre-Roman Iberian, and high medieval, but I can happily announce that I achieved a milestone very recently by acquiring, not one, not two, but three coins of Muslim Spain, or in Arabic, <i>al-Andalus </i>(<font size="6">الأندلس</font>). I was not too confident in being able to identify whether a coin advertised as from al-Andalus really was the real deal, but after some research recently into Andalusian coins I decided to take the plunge.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Al-Hakam I</u>, Emirate of Cordoba</b></p><p>AR dirham</p><p><b>Obv</b>: (center, in Arabic) "There is no God but Allah. He has no equal"</p><p>(in margins, in Arabic) “In the name of Allah. this Dirham was struck in al-Andalus in the year six and ninety and one-hundred ” (AH 196)</p><p><b>Rev</b>: (center, in Arabic) "Allah is One God. The eternal and indivisible, who has not begotten, and has not been begotten and never is there His equal"</p><p>(in margins, in Arabic) “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it”</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Cordoba (al-Andalus)</p><p><b>Date</b>: 811-812 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: Album 340</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]988645[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Abd-al-Rahman III</u>, Caliphate of Cordoba</b></p><p>AR dirham</p><p><b>Obv</b>: (center, in Arabic) "There is no God but Allah. He has no equal"</p><p>(in margins, in Arabic) “In the name of Allah. this Dirham was struck in al-Andalus in the year two and thirty and three-hundred ” (AH 332)</p><p><b>Rev</b>: (center, in Arabic) "The Imam / al-Nasir Li-Din / Allah Abd al-Rahman / Commander of the Faithful / Qasim"</p><p>(in margins, in Arabic) “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it”</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Cordoba (al-Andalus)</p><p><b>Date</b>: 943-944 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: Album 350</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]988654[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Abd-al-Rahman III</u>, Caliphate of Cordoba</b></p><p>AR dirham</p><p><b>Obv</b>: (center, in Arabic) "There is no God but Allah. He has no equal"</p><p>(in margins, in Arabic) “In the name of Allah. this Dirham was struck in al-Andalus in the year five and thirty and three-hundred ” (AH 335)</p><p><b>Rev</b>: (center, in Arabic) "The Imam / al-Nasir Li-Din / Allah Abd al-Rahman / Commander of the Faithful / Qasim"</p><p>(in margins, in Arabic) “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it”</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Cordoba (al-Andalus)</p><p><b>Date</b>: 946-947 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: Album 350.5</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]988656[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>History</u></b></p><p><br /></p><p>The story of al-Andalus begins with the Visigoths, the last and longest lasting of the Germanic conquerors of Roman Hispania. Their rule over the country was relatively prosperous compared to elsewhere in early medieval Europe, but the Visigoths were not without problems; civil wars, conflicts with other barbarian tribes and the Byzantines, and religious strife all occurred throughout their two-and-a-half century long rule over a mostly Hispano-Roman population.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Visigothic tremissis of King Sisebut, 612-621 AD)</p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/d92fbfcf-8595-4e8e-a6e4-6e644bb1dba0-jpeg.971268/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(Visigothic Kingdom, 700 AD)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]988600[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>During the early 8th century, the Visigoths were embroiled in yet another war, with King Roderic facing of against rebellious Basques in the north of the country. By this time, all of Hispania plus Septimania in Gaul was united under Gothic control.</p><p><br /></p><p>During the previous century, Islam had united the Arab tribes and driven them to conquer large swaths of territory in the span of a few decades. By the end of the 7th century, the vast Umayyad Caliphate (ruled by the descendants of Umayya ibn Abd Shams) stretched from the Atlantic coast in North Africa all the way to Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Umayyad Caliphate, 750 AD)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]988591[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>It is not entirely certain what triggered the Muslims to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and invade Hispania; one story lays the blame on a Count Julian of Ceuta who invited them over as revenge for King Roderic having allegedly raped one of his daughters. If this is the case, then it is also not clear if Julian meant to replace Roderic with Muslim help, or in fact have the country taken over by foreign invaders. It is possible that the Umayyad invasion started simply as one of the regular raids by Berbers from North Africa that snowballed into a full-blown conquest. Whatever the case, the fact remains that in the year 711, the Muslim commander Tariq ibn Ziyad led an invasion force composed of mostly Berbers, who themselves were recently converted to Islam.</p><p><br /></p><p>A year later, in 712, the Muslim army met King Roderic and the Visigothic army at the Battle of Guadalete. The battle ended in a crushing Visigothic defeat, and the king killed (his death having possibly been helped by betrayal among some of his forces). His death left the small Visigothic ruling elite in disarray. This disorganization further aided the Muslims.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Battle of Guadelate)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]988593[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>During the next five years, the Muslim armies moved further north and reached Septimania; by this time the Umayyad annexation of Hispania was largely complete (later, the Umayyads in Hispania would become independent when the Abbasids took power over the caliphate). The remaining Christian forces were pushed into a small corner of north-central Hispania, where a Visigothic noble named Pelagius established the Kingdom of Asturias. In 722, an Umayyad force sent to conquer the region was decisively defeated at Covadonga by the Christians, the first victory won against the Muslims after their conquest of Hispania. The Battle of Covadonga marks the beginning of the Reconquista, a nearly-800 year war that would see Christian kingdoms in the north gradually wrest control of Iberia from the forces of Islam, culminating in the conquest of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Surrender of Muhammad XII, the last Sultan of Granada, to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]988594[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Muslims called their new land al-Andalus (the origin of the modern name of the Spanish region, Andalusia) , and under their rule, it became one of the richest and most advanced societies in the Middle Ages. Cordoba became the capital, and grew to be the largest city in Europe and a leading center of learning, science, and culture. Religious tolerance was observed (depending on the ruler), as long as non-Muslim religions paid a special tax which also happened to guarantee their protection. Even though they had worked together to take Hispania, ethnic strife was present between Arab Muslims, the high-class ruling elite, and non-Arab, Muslim Berbers. The Muslims built many grand and elaborate buildings and structures based on Arabic and Moorish architecture, one of the most famous examples being the Great Mosque of Cordoba, now the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Interior of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]988603[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>(The Alhambra, in Granada)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]988608[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="ValiantKnight, post: 3686566, member: 44210"]A long-term goal of mine is to collect coins from all of Spain's history up until 1500. Still missing pre-Roman Iberian, and high medieval, but I can happily announce that I achieved a milestone very recently by acquiring, not one, not two, but three coins of Muslim Spain, or in Arabic, [I]al-Andalus [/I]([SIZE=6]الأندلس[/SIZE]). I was not too confident in being able to identify whether a coin advertised as from al-Andalus really was the real deal, but after some research recently into Andalusian coins I decided to take the plunge. [B][U]Al-Hakam I[/U], Emirate of Cordoba[/B] AR dirham [B]Obv[/B]: (center, in Arabic) "There is no God but Allah. He has no equal" (in margins, in Arabic) “In the name of Allah. this Dirham was struck in al-Andalus in the year six and ninety and one-hundred ” (AH 196) [B]Rev[/B]: (center, in Arabic) "Allah is One God. The eternal and indivisible, who has not begotten, and has not been begotten and never is there His equal" (in margins, in Arabic) “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it” [B]Mint[/B]: Cordoba (al-Andalus) [B]Date[/B]: 811-812 AD [B]Ref[/B]: Album 340 [ATTACH=full]988645[/ATTACH] [B][U]Abd-al-Rahman III[/U], Caliphate of Cordoba[/B] AR dirham [B]Obv[/B]: (center, in Arabic) "There is no God but Allah. He has no equal" (in margins, in Arabic) “In the name of Allah. this Dirham was struck in al-Andalus in the year two and thirty and three-hundred ” (AH 332) [B]Rev[/B]: (center, in Arabic) "The Imam / al-Nasir Li-Din / Allah Abd al-Rahman / Commander of the Faithful / Qasim" (in margins, in Arabic) “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it” [B]Mint[/B]: Cordoba (al-Andalus) [B]Date[/B]: 943-944 AD [B]Ref[/B]: Album 350 [ATTACH=full]988654[/ATTACH] [B][U]Abd-al-Rahman III[/U], Caliphate of Cordoba[/B] AR dirham [B]Obv[/B]: (center, in Arabic) "There is no God but Allah. He has no equal" (in margins, in Arabic) “In the name of Allah. this Dirham was struck in al-Andalus in the year five and thirty and three-hundred ” (AH 335) [B]Rev[/B]: (center, in Arabic) "The Imam / al-Nasir Li-Din / Allah Abd al-Rahman / Commander of the Faithful / Qasim" (in margins, in Arabic) “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it” [B]Mint[/B]: Cordoba (al-Andalus) [B]Date[/B]: 946-947 AD [B]Ref[/B]: Album 350.5 [ATTACH=full]988656[/ATTACH] [B][U]History[/U][/B] The story of al-Andalus begins with the Visigoths, the last and longest lasting of the Germanic conquerors of Roman Hispania. Their rule over the country was relatively prosperous compared to elsewhere in early medieval Europe, but the Visigoths were not without problems; civil wars, conflicts with other barbarian tribes and the Byzantines, and religious strife all occurred throughout their two-and-a-half century long rule over a mostly Hispano-Roman population. (Visigothic tremissis of King Sisebut, 612-621 AD) [IMG]https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/d92fbfcf-8595-4e8e-a6e4-6e644bb1dba0-jpeg.971268/[/IMG] (Visigothic Kingdom, 700 AD) [ATTACH=full]988600[/ATTACH] During the early 8th century, the Visigoths were embroiled in yet another war, with King Roderic facing of against rebellious Basques in the north of the country. By this time, all of Hispania plus Septimania in Gaul was united under Gothic control. During the previous century, Islam had united the Arab tribes and driven them to conquer large swaths of territory in the span of a few decades. By the end of the 7th century, the vast Umayyad Caliphate (ruled by the descendants of Umayya ibn Abd Shams) stretched from the Atlantic coast in North Africa all the way to Central Asia and the Hindu Kush. (Umayyad Caliphate, 750 AD) [ATTACH=full]988591[/ATTACH] It is not entirely certain what triggered the Muslims to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and invade Hispania; one story lays the blame on a Count Julian of Ceuta who invited them over as revenge for King Roderic having allegedly raped one of his daughters. If this is the case, then it is also not clear if Julian meant to replace Roderic with Muslim help, or in fact have the country taken over by foreign invaders. It is possible that the Umayyad invasion started simply as one of the regular raids by Berbers from North Africa that snowballed into a full-blown conquest. Whatever the case, the fact remains that in the year 711, the Muslim commander Tariq ibn Ziyad led an invasion force composed of mostly Berbers, who themselves were recently converted to Islam. A year later, in 712, the Muslim army met King Roderic and the Visigothic army at the Battle of Guadalete. The battle ended in a crushing Visigothic defeat, and the king killed (his death having possibly been helped by betrayal among some of his forces). His death left the small Visigothic ruling elite in disarray. This disorganization further aided the Muslims. (Battle of Guadelate) [ATTACH=full]988593[/ATTACH] During the next five years, the Muslim armies moved further north and reached Septimania; by this time the Umayyad annexation of Hispania was largely complete (later, the Umayyads in Hispania would become independent when the Abbasids took power over the caliphate). The remaining Christian forces were pushed into a small corner of north-central Hispania, where a Visigothic noble named Pelagius established the Kingdom of Asturias. In 722, an Umayyad force sent to conquer the region was decisively defeated at Covadonga by the Christians, the first victory won against the Muslims after their conquest of Hispania. The Battle of Covadonga marks the beginning of the Reconquista, a nearly-800 year war that would see Christian kingdoms in the north gradually wrest control of Iberia from the forces of Islam, culminating in the conquest of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. (Surrender of Muhammad XII, the last Sultan of Granada, to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella) [ATTACH=full]988594[/ATTACH] The Muslims called their new land al-Andalus (the origin of the modern name of the Spanish region, Andalusia) , and under their rule, it became one of the richest and most advanced societies in the Middle Ages. Cordoba became the capital, and grew to be the largest city in Europe and a leading center of learning, science, and culture. Religious tolerance was observed (depending on the ruler), as long as non-Muslim religions paid a special tax which also happened to guarantee their protection. Even though they had worked together to take Hispania, ethnic strife was present between Arab Muslims, the high-class ruling elite, and non-Arab, Muslim Berbers. The Muslims built many grand and elaborate buildings and structures based on Arabic and Moorish architecture, one of the most famous examples being the Great Mosque of Cordoba, now the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. (Interior of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba) [ATTACH=full]988603[/ATTACH] (The Alhambra, in Granada) [ATTACH=full]988608[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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