Abd al-Aziz (al-Andalus)

Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ( Arabic عبد العزيز بن موسى, DMG ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Mūsā ) († March 716 ) was the first governor of the Muslim Umayyad empire in Al-Andalus , Spain, in the years 714–716.

Life

Abd al-Aziz was a son of the Arab general and governor of the North African province of Ifrīqiya , Musa ibn Nusayr . In 711, the Muslims conquered the Visigoth Empire of the Iberian Peninsula. First, the advance took place under the leadership of Tariq ibn Ziyad , who defeated the Goths in the battle of the Río Guadalete . In 712 Musa ibn Nusayr, who was accompanied by his son Abd al-Aziz, took over the leadership of the Muslim invasion. After taking Seville , he went to the siege of Mérida . In his absence, Seville revolted, but Abd al-Aziz was able to suppress the uprising.

As a result, Abd al-Aziz moved to eastern Spain and fought Teudemir , the Visigoth dux in the southeast of the Carthaginensis (a region around Murcia ). Teudemir was eventually trapped in Orihuela and, according to a legendary report, had the women of the city in men's clothing and fully armed line up along the city walls in order to deceive the Arabs about the small number of defenders, which they had succeeded in doing; so he had reached the conclusion of a favorable peace treaty. The more or less authentic text of this treaty signed in April 713 between Abd al Aziz and Teudemir has been preserved in at least three independent sources. Accordingly, Teudemir was confirmed in possession of the cities of Orihuela, Baltana , Alicante , Mula , Villena , Lorca and Ello. Furthermore, the security of his subjects and their property as well as the freedom to practice their religion were promised and a guarantee of the existence of Christian churches was given. In return, Teudemir had to undertake, among other things, to recognize Arab sovereignty, not to accept any opponents of Abd al-Aziz and to pay an annual tribute. Teudemir went personally to Damascus and obtained confirmation of this agreement from the caliph.

After Musa ibn Nusayr and Tariq ibn Ziyad had advanced into northern Spain and brought large parts of the country under their control, they were recalled from their command despite (or because of) their success by the caliph Al-Walid I. Before Musa ibn Nusayr left Spain and went to Damascus, he made his son Abd al-Aziz governor of conquered Spain in 714, which was given the name al-Andalus.

Abd al-Aziz chose Seville in southern Spain as his residence. According to one line of tradition, it was under his rule that parts of present-day Portugal, including the cities of Évora , Santarém and Coimbra, as well as part of the Pyrenees region in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, were conquered by the Arabs. The governor also encouraged marriages between the Muslim conquerors and Visigoth women, as neither Arab nor Berber women had moved to al-Andalus with the invading army.

In order to consolidate his power, Abd al-Aziz himself married Egilo , the widow of the Visigoth king Roderich , who died in the battle of the Rio Guadalete in 711 . His goal was to make himself de facto independent of the caliph and to establish an independent rule over al-Andalus. In this intention he was encouraged by Egilo, who allegedly persuaded him to put a crown on his head. The marriage with the king's widow was supposed to give him the loyalty of the Christian population. The plan failed, however, because Abd al-Aziz was murdered in March 716 during prayer in the Santa Rufina monastery, which was then used as a mosque, near Seville. According to certain traditions, this attack would have been carried out directly on the orders of the Umayyad caliph Sulaimān because of Abd al-Aziz's striving for independence ; the head of the slain governor was immediately sent to Damascus.

Remarks

1. ^ Klaus Herbers : History of Spain in the Middle Ages , Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-17-018871-2 , pp. 79f.
2. ↑ Évariste Lévi-Provençal : Abd al-Aziz b. Musa b. Nusayr , in: Encyclopaedia of Islam , 2nd edition, Vol. 1 (1960), p. 58.
3. ↑ Dietrich Claude : Investigations into the fall of the Visigoth Empire (711-725) . In: Historisches Jahrbuch 108, 1988, pp. 352f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Musa ibn Nusair	Governor of Al-Andalus 714–716	Ayub ibn Habib al-Lachmi