Among the most notable of Islamic territories was Spain, which came under the control of the Moors in 711. The Moors were a nomadic people from North Africa, where the name of the nation of Morocco reflects the region's Moorish heritage. They were a group distinct from Arabs, but the name "Moor" eventually came to mean all Muslim peoples in Spain, both North Africans and Arabs. The latter arrived in 756, when Abd-ar-Rahman escaped Abbasid assassins to establish an Umayyad stronghold in Spain. There he founded what he called the emirate (IM-uh-ret) of Cordoba. An emir (i-MEER) is a type of commander in Islamic countries. Eventually the Umayyad leaders declared themselves caliphs, suggesting that they saw themselves as the legitimate leaders of the Islamic world.
Christian forces held the north of Spain, and scored a major victory when they retook the northern city of Toledo (toh-LAY-doh) in 1085. By then the Umayyad caliphate had fallen, replaced by more conquerors from Morocco: first the Almoravids (al-muh-RAH-vedz) in 1086, and later the Almohads (AL-moh-hahdz) in 1120. During the 1100s, the Christian reconquest of Spain was in full force, and after they conquered Cordoba in 1236, the Christians had the Almohads on the run. The Nasrid (NAHS-reed) dynasty, also from Morocco, ruled during a final period, beginning in 1238; then in 1492, the Spaniards expelled the last Moors from their country.
The Moors left a strong legacy in the form of architecture, the most notable example of which is a magnificent palace called the Alhambra. to the Arab influence, Spaniards enjoyed a highly civilized lifestyle while the rest of Western Europe remained mired in the ignorance and confusion that characterized the "Dark Ages."
Profited from the death of his old foe. By taking power, he founded a new dynasty that would rule Islam during its period of greatest expansion.
In 680, Ali's son Husayn led a revolt against the Umayyads and was assassinated. His murder became a rallying cause for Shi'ite (SHEE-ight) Muslims, who broke away from the majority group, known as Sunni (SOO-nee) Muslims. The Shi'ites rejected the first three caliphs, and maintained that Ali and the descendants of Fatima, starting with Husayn, constituted a line of infallible leaders or imams (i-MAHMZ). The Shi'ite interpretation of Islam spread among the poorer classes and among non-Arabs—particularly in Iran, where it remains the dominant faith today.
Meanwhile the center of power in the Islamic world shifted
The Alhambra is a magnificent palace built by the Moors in Spain during their control of the region in the Middle Ages. Reproduced by permission of the Corbis Corporation.
Northward to the ancient Syrian city of Damascus, which became the capital of the Umayyad caliphate. The Umayyads soon expanded their boundaries to Spain and North Africa in the west, and India and the edge of China in the east. But this vast realm became difficult to govern; also, the Umayyads had a policy of only allowing Arabs to serve as leaders, and this made them many enemies. In 750 a descendant of Muhammad's uncle Abbas (uh-BAHS) led a revolt and began killing off all the Umayyad leaders. Only one escaped: Abd-ar-Rahman (AHB'd ar-
Ruh-MAHN; 731-788), who established a dynasty of long standing in Spain (see box, "Moorish Spain").