Panel 11 - Andalusian society
This panel contains detailed information on the formation of Andalusian society, the transformation of urban space from Reccopolis to Raqqubal, the pattern of the Andalusian tax system and its agricultural production.
1. The Arrival of Islam
The Arabs, who arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in 711 accompanied by North African Berber tribal groups, expanded through the conquest of cities and territories or via a policy of pacts with the Visigothic nobility, altering the existing political and social landscape and leading to the constitution of a new societal model: Andalusian.
Along with the local population, Berber tribes from the Maghreb settled in the region. A period of instability ensued throughout the eighth century, resulting from conflicts that unfolded in the area, involving the Berber groups, the local population, and the supporters of the emirs of Cordoba.
By the beginning of the nineth century, when the Andalusian model of society had become hegemonic and the Umayyad emirate had solidified, various lineages from the Berber tribes gained control over vast territories and founded new cities. The Banu-Salim, in the Henares and Jalón basin, established Alcalá, Guadalajara, and Medinaceli; the Banu-dil-Nun, in La Alcarria and La Mancha in Cuenca, founded Uclés; and the Banu-Abdus settled in the region of Reccopolis, where they established Zorita.
2. Government from Córdoba
The Emirate of Córdoba
The first political organization of al-Andalus was the emirate, dependent on Damascus, where the highest political and religious authority, the caliph, resided. In the middle of the 8th century, the caliphate transferred its seat to Baghdad due to the victory of the Abbasids over the Umayyad dynasty.
Consequently, the only Umayyad who managed to flee Damascus, ‘Abd al-Rahman I, created the first independent Muslim state in al-Andalus: the Umayyad Emirate of Cordoba, subject only religiously to Baghdad.
The Caliphate of Córdoba
In 929, Emir ‘Abd al-Rahman III severed ties with the religious authority of Baghdad and proclaimed himself Caliph, giving rise to the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba.
This event politically represented the hegemony of al-Andalus over the Mediterranean West and marked the moment when the foundations of Andalusian culture were consolidated in the intellectual, artistic, scientific, and social spheres.
3. Raqqubal: transformations in an urban space
The 8th century
Reccopolis, then known as Madinat Raqaubal, persisted throughout the 8th century with the same urban structure as the late Visigothic period, although various objects found, mainly ceramics, provide evidence of the onset of the Andalusian era. Between the end of the 8th century and the beginning of the 9th, a fire destroyed the palatine complex, and the urban landscape was radically reduced and transformed due to revolts by the Berbers and local Mozarabic population against the Emirs of Cordoba.
Housing
In the 8th century, part of the old commercial buildings were transformed into dwellings, a process that had already begun towards the end of the Visigothic period.
The Palatine Complex
At the beginning of the 9th century, part of the ancient palace was reconstructed and transformed into a fortified enclosure, intended for territorial control and as a place of refuge. The monumental gate was sealed, becoming the access point to the fortified complex. New dwellings and storage areas for agricultural products, formed by sets of silos, were constructed around this enclosure.
4. The Andalusian tax state
The consolidation of Andalusian society was articulated around the existence of a strong, centralized state organization where relations were direct between the individual and the state. This was organized through the imposition of a tributary tax collection system in which coinage was the primary fiscal instrument, and its minting was the exclusive prerogative of the Emir and, later, the Caliph.
Excavations carried out so far have yielded three silver dirhems from the Emirate of Cordoba. The coins are dated by the issues of Al-Hakan I (796-822 AD) and Abd al-Rahman II (822-852 AD). The appearance of these numismatic elements is related to the last moments of habitation at the site before its gradual abandonment throughout the first half of the 9th century.
5. Agricultural production
The intense agricultural exploitation of the fertile Tagus plains and nearby fields continued during the early Andalusian period.
Numerous silos, associated with the new dwellings, were used for grain storage. These were globular structures excavated into the ground and coated with a waterproofing clay plaster, closed off with a circular stone slab.
