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In 711 the Muslim army led by Tarik, crossed the Strait of Giblartar and defeated the Visighots at the Battle of Guadalete.
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Was a Berber commander and led the Muslim army through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Peninsula and defeated the Visigoths at the battle of Guadalete. -
The Battle of Guadalete was the first major battle in the Muslim conquest of the Peninsula. -
After the Battle of Guadalete the Visigoth Kingdom was suffering from economic crisis and internal disputes so other Muslims armies ecountered almost no resistance.
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By 722 they controlled almost all of the Peninsula except a narrow mountainous strip in the north where the Hispano-Visigoth took refuge. -
After conquering Hispania the Umayyad Caliph of Dasmascus established the emirate of al-Alandalus with its capital in Córdoba and ruled by an emir. In the mid-8th century the Abbasid dynasty from Bahdad took control of the Islamic Empire.
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The last memeber of the Umayyad clan, Abd al-Rahman, fled to al-Alandalus. He proclaimed himself an independent emir under the name Abd al-Rahman I and founded the Umayyat empire of Córdoba. It had its own administrative and legal structure, but it remained under Bahdad's religious authority. -
To strengthen his power and his authority over other rival clans, Emir Abd al-Rahman III named himself caliph and proclaimed independence from Bahdad's religious authority. -
Caliphate of Córdoba was an economic, cultural and scientific golden age, and Córdoba became the most Europe's most populated city.
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Thanks to Al-Mansur and his military expeditions (azeifas) he supressed internal rebellions and Christians advances, and forced them to pay taxes (parias) to keep the peace. -
In the early 11th century, the high cost of the army and rivalry between the nobles and military to escape the caliphs control sent the caliphate into a crisis. In 1031, the Muslim aristocracy divided al-Andalus into over 25 independent kingdoms, or Taifas, each with a major city. This fragmenation led the christian kingdoms in the north to attack.
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To prevent Christian conquest, two North African Muslim peoples, the Almoravids and the Almohads, arrived on the Peninsula and took control of the most Taifas.
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With the Muslim defeat in the Battle of Navas de Tolosa, the Christians conquered virtually all Taifa kingdoms. -
The last Muslim enclave was the Kingdom of Granada, founded in 1238 by the Nasrid dynasty.
For over two centuries, the Nasrid Kingdom was prosperous thanks to trade and agriculture. Granada became an important cultural and commercial hub. However, the Nasrid kings had to pay Castille heavy taxes. -
In the late 15th century, the Catholic Kings declared to conquer the Kingdom. Boabdil, the last Nasrid King, surrendered Granada in 1492, ending almost 800 years of Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula.