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Biography of Abd al-Rahman, III
Name: Abd al-Rahman, III
Birth Date: January 7, 891
Death Date: October 15, 961
Place of Birth: Cordova, Spain
Nationality: Spanish
Gender: Male
Occupations: caliph
Abd al-Rahman, III
Abd al-Rahman III (891-961) was the greatest of the Umayyad rulers of Spain and the first to take the title of Caliph. During his reign Islamic Spain became wealthy and prosperous.Abd al-Rahman III, called al-Nasir or the Defender (of the Faith), was born at Cordova on Jan. 7, 891, the son of Prince Muhammad and a Frankish slave. Like most of his family, he was blue-eyed and blond, but he dyed his hair black to avoid looking like a Goth. In 912 he succeeded his grandfather, Abd Allah, as emir. The first period of his half-century reign was marked by campaigns of pacification against various rebellious groups. Between 912 and 928 he steadily wore down the forces of Umar ibn Hafsun, whose coalition of neo-Moslem peasants from southern Spain proved the most serious challenge yet mounted against Cordova's authority.During the next phase of his reign Abd al-Rahman was able to concentrate his energies on …showed first 150 words…
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…showed last 150 words…for 25 years, Abd al-Rahman III launched the construction of a luxurious pleasure palace and administrative city, Madinat al-Zahra, just outside Cordova. Begun in 936, the construction took 40 years, and for a while the Caliph spent one-third of his annual income on it. He occupied the palace in 945, moving most of the governmental administrative bureaus there. Cordova itself, as the capital of Islamic Spain, became during his reign the greatest metropolis of western Europe, rivaling Constantinople.Abd al-Rahman III died at the apex of his power on Oct. 15, 961. He had pacified the realm, dealt ably with his Fatimid rivals, and stabilized the frontier with Christian Spain. Further Reading The definitive study of Islamic Spain during the lifetime of Abd al-Rahman III is in French, E. Lévi-Provençal, L'Espagne musulmane au X siècle (1932). For a general survey in English see W. Montgomery Watt, A History of Islamic Spain (1965).
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