The Al Andalous Heritage

If the tunnel under the Straits of Gibraltar which will link Morocco and Spain can already be glimpsed on the horizon of the 21′t century, we should not forget that this maritime discontinuity, this natural frontier between two continents, had long ago and for a very long time channeled the multiple currents of many civilizations.

Under the Omayyad’s dynasty, the Arab conquest which originally came from Alep assumed a wandering itinerary along the Mediterranean coasts and was marked by stops in Damascus, Alexandria, Tripoli, Sfax, Tunis, Algiers, Nador and then Ceuta in order to reach Spain starting in 711. Over the course of a presence which lasted eight centuries, all aspects of Arab-Muslim civilization were displayed and took root. From one side of the Straits of Gibraltar to the other, Middle Eastern influences could be observed in such varied disciplines as religion, linguistics, philosophy, science, architecture, etc.

The Al Andalusian Heritage, in a strict interpretation of the term, concerned the territories of the Iberian peninsula under Muslim domination, from the 7th to the 15th century: it occurred nevertheless largely in Andalusia. Let’s follow particularly the traces of two dynasties: the Almoravides and the Almohades. They bear witness to a common patrimony shared by both Spain and Morocco.

Depending upon their geographic origins, successive dynasties followed roughly the same routes, linking the Middle East or Southern Morocco to Spain in order to multiply, intertwine, to wander off and then meet again in Andalusia. Along these routes which led to Cordoba (the Emirate and Caliphate of Cordoba from 711 to 1031), to Seville (the capital of Al Andalous in 1163) or to Granada (the Nasridean capital), one found oneself pausing in Tangiers, Ceuta, Algeciras, Ronda and Malaga, which were all crossroads. Nevertheless, the influence of Islamic civilization from the East spread from there, notably to France, to Italy and in the intellectual realm, throughout all of Europe.

By Florence Poudru

Collapse of the Al Andalusian unity in Cordoba

The collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba, which came with the fall of the Omeyades dynasty in 1031, caused the birth of many smaller kingdoms. The loss of this Al Andalusian unity favored the emergence of a new dynasty: that of the Almoravides (in the 11′h and 12th centuries), which stemmed from Berber origins.
These men, very pious and austere, were as well fierce warriors: they sought to remove Islam from the confines of the Western Sahara and then to control the commercial caravan routes which were the source of great wealth, particularly thanks to rock-salt and to gold. The commercial trade between Africa and Spain intensified, requiring the construction of stop-over cities: Marrakech is a striking example. Other cities in Mauritania, Senegal and Mali sprang to life andlourished; Tombouctou emerged as a center of learning.

After the founding of Marrakech by Youssef Ibn Tachfin in 1062, the Almoravides followed a route which led to Meknes, Fes, Ceuta and Tangiers. In order to link Algeciras to Granada, they developed two routes which cut through Ronda, one by Cadiz to the west and the other by Jimenes Castellar.
These « blue warriors », their faces protected by an indigo blue veil, conquered north Africa and the Al Andalusian region. On contact with these territories, they discovered and adopted the luxuries which they had previously denounced. .. They in turn were supplanted by the Almohades (in the 12th and 13th centuries).