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<p>[QUOTE="Sallent, post: 2483390, member: 76194"]The year is 976 AD. For over 200 years the remains of the once great Umayyad Caliphate have managed to keep their Abbasid enemies at bay, and have secured a few remaining territories in North Africa, as well as Al-Andalus in Iberia. By all accounts, they've done a good job of it. Islamic culture, science, mathematics, architecture, and literature have thrived under their rule, and the Christian kings of Iberia have been pushed back. A "permanent peace" appears to have been secured between the Caliphate and the Christian kings... and talk of the Christian Reconquista seems almost a thing of the past. What could possibly go wrong?</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]524474[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba, circa 972 AD</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hisham II</b></p><p>It is in this climate of optimism that the Umayyad Caliph Hisham II took the throne. Little could his subjects know that within 4 decades the seeds of the Islamic decline in Iberia would be firmly sowed, and the last remnants of the once great Umayyads would be whipped from the Earth.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]524473[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Caliph Hisham II, of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]524475[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="4"><b>UMAYYADS of SPAIN. Hisham II, 976-1009 AD. </b></font></p><p>AR Dirhem (3.93 gm) of al-Andalus, AH 393. Kalima / Hishams titles. M.325.</p><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately for the Umayyads, Hisham II was a weak Caliph. Things went well enough initially when he led troops against the Christian Kingdoms, breaking the peace treaties between the Caliphate and the Christian Kingdoms. His attacks inflicted terrible losses on the Christians. Perhaps all of Iberia could be brought under Islamic rule? Well, history had other plans, and soon the mercenaries that Hisham II brought to Iberia for his campaigns against the Christians battled for power among each other instead. It wasn't long before the Caliph found himself a puppet of the</p><p>Berber mercenaries he had hired to help defeat the Christians. Unsurprisingly, soon Hisham II was dead under mysterious circumstances and the Caliphate of Cordoba descended into a bitter civil war between the remaining Umayyad royals and the mercenaries.</p><p><br /></p><p>This Civil War, which lasted between 1009 - 1031 AD, called the <b>Fitna of al-Andalus</b>, saw the Christian Kings play the Muslim combatants against each other by pretending to aid different factions, while also aiding their enemies behind their backs. As a result, Islamic rule over Iberia weakened and the Christian kings were able to conquer a lot of land. As the Ummayad Caliphate in Spain fractured into warring Taifas (Islamic Kingdoms), Christian reconquest of all of Iberia seemed imminent.</p><p><br /></p><p>Although things eventually stabilized with the arrival of the Almoravids in 1040 AD, Islamic rule over Iberia would never be as strong or secure. The Almoravids were soon overthrown by the Almohads, who mismanaged Iberia and suffered terrible defeats at the hands of the Christian armies.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]524484[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Almohad Caliphate (Muwahid)</b></p><p>Islamic Iberia and North Africa</p><p>AR Dirham AH 524- 640 (AD 1156- 1272)</p><p><br /></p><p>The disastrous defeats suffered by the Almohads against the Christians led to rebellion among Iberian Muslims, and to the creation in 1238 AD of the last Islamic Kingdom in Iberia, the Emirate of Granada, which would survive only as a tributary state to the Christian Monarchs. By 1492 al-Andalus would be history, as the Christians decided to finish what they had started 450+ years earlier when Hisham II brought about the collapse of the Ummayyads of Spain.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]524485[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Surrender of Muhammad XII to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Sallent, post: 2483390, member: 76194"]The year is 976 AD. For over 200 years the remains of the once great Umayyad Caliphate have managed to keep their Abbasid enemies at bay, and have secured a few remaining territories in North Africa, as well as Al-Andalus in Iberia. By all accounts, they've done a good job of it. Islamic culture, science, mathematics, architecture, and literature have thrived under their rule, and the Christian kings of Iberia have been pushed back. A "permanent peace" appears to have been secured between the Caliphate and the Christian kings... and talk of the Christian Reconquista seems almost a thing of the past. What could possibly go wrong? [ATTACH=full]524474[/ATTACH] [B]Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba, circa 972 AD[/B] [B]Hisham II[/B] It is in this climate of optimism that the Umayyad Caliph Hisham II took the throne. Little could his subjects know that within 4 decades the seeds of the Islamic decline in Iberia would be firmly sowed, and the last remnants of the once great Umayyads would be whipped from the Earth. [ATTACH=full]524473[/ATTACH] [B]Caliph Hisham II, of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba[/B] [ATTACH=full]524475[/ATTACH] [SIZE=4][B]UMAYYADS of SPAIN. Hisham II, 976-1009 AD. [/B][/SIZE] AR Dirhem (3.93 gm) of al-Andalus, AH 393. Kalima / Hishams titles. M.325. Unfortunately for the Umayyads, Hisham II was a weak Caliph. Things went well enough initially when he led troops against the Christian Kingdoms, breaking the peace treaties between the Caliphate and the Christian Kingdoms. His attacks inflicted terrible losses on the Christians. Perhaps all of Iberia could be brought under Islamic rule? Well, history had other plans, and soon the mercenaries that Hisham II brought to Iberia for his campaigns against the Christians battled for power among each other instead. It wasn't long before the Caliph found himself a puppet of the Berber mercenaries he had hired to help defeat the Christians. Unsurprisingly, soon Hisham II was dead under mysterious circumstances and the Caliphate of Cordoba descended into a bitter civil war between the remaining Umayyad royals and the mercenaries. This Civil War, which lasted between 1009 - 1031 AD, called the [B]Fitna of al-Andalus[/B], saw the Christian Kings play the Muslim combatants against each other by pretending to aid different factions, while also aiding their enemies behind their backs. As a result, Islamic rule over Iberia weakened and the Christian kings were able to conquer a lot of land. As the Ummayad Caliphate in Spain fractured into warring Taifas (Islamic Kingdoms), Christian reconquest of all of Iberia seemed imminent. Although things eventually stabilized with the arrival of the Almoravids in 1040 AD, Islamic rule over Iberia would never be as strong or secure. The Almoravids were soon overthrown by the Almohads, who mismanaged Iberia and suffered terrible defeats at the hands of the Christian armies. [ATTACH=full]524484[/ATTACH] [B]Almohad Caliphate (Muwahid)[/B] Islamic Iberia and North Africa AR Dirham AH 524- 640 (AD 1156- 1272) The disastrous defeats suffered by the Almohads against the Christians led to rebellion among Iberian Muslims, and to the creation in 1238 AD of the last Islamic Kingdom in Iberia, the Emirate of Granada, which would survive only as a tributary state to the Christian Monarchs. By 1492 al-Andalus would be history, as the Christians decided to finish what they had started 450+ years earlier when Hisham II brought about the collapse of the Ummayyads of Spain. [ATTACH=full]524485[/ATTACH] [B]Surrender of Muhammad XII to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella[/B][/QUOTE]
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