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Tariq Bin Ziyad
Tariq ibn Ziyad ( ; ), also known simply as Tarik in English, was an Umayyad commander who initiated the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain and Portugal) against the Visigothic Kingdom in 711–718 AD. He led an army and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from the North African coast, consolidating his troops at what is today known as the Rock of Gibraltar. The name "Gibraltar" is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name (), meaning 'mountain of Tariq', which is named after him. Origins Medieval Arabic historians give contradictory data about Ṭāriq's origins and ethnicity. Some conclusions about his personality and the circumstances of his entry into al-Andalus are surrounded by uncertainty. The vast majority of modern sources state that Ṭāriq was a Berber ''mawla'' of Musa ibn Nusayr, the Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya. According to Ibn Khaldun, Tariq Ibn Ziyad was from a Berber tribe in what is now Algeria. Heinrich Barth mentions that Tariq Ibn Zi ...
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Roderic
Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish language, Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigoths, Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an extremely obscure figure about whom little can be said with certainty. He was the last Goth to rule from Toledo, Spain, Toledo, but not the last Gothic king, a distinction which belongs to Ardo. Roderic's election as king was disputed and he ruled only a part of Hispania with an opponent, Achila II, Achila, ruling the rest. He faced a rebellion of the Basques and the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, Umayyad invasion. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Guadalete. His widow Egilona is believed to have married Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, the first Muslim governor of Hispania. Early life According to the late ''Chronicle of Alfonso III'', Roderic was a son of Theodefred, himself a son of king Chindaswinth, and of a woman named Riccilo. Roderic' ...
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Berbers
Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their usage of Berber languages, most of them mutually unintelligible, which are part of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They are indigenous peoples, indigenous to the Maghreb region of North Africa, where they live in scattered communities across parts of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and to a lesser extent Tunisia, Mauritania, northern Mali and northern Niger. Smaller Berber communities are also found in Burkina Faso and Egypt's Siwa Oasis. Descended from Stone Age tribes of North Africa, accounts of the Imazighen were first mentioned in Egyptian hieroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian writings. From about 2000 BC, Berber languages spread westward from the Nile, Nile Valley across the northern Sahara int ...
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Florinda La Cava
Florinda la Cava, or simply La Cava, is a character who, according to legend, played a central role in the downfall of the Visigothic kingdom in Spain in 711. Although she was treated as historical in Spain for centuries, there is no evidence for her existence whatsoever and her name is certainly a later concoction. The musical '' La Cava'', which premiered in 2000, is based on the legend of Florinda. Legend La Cava was the daughter (or in some early accounts, wife) of Count Julian, a figure whose historicity is doubtful. According to the earliest Arabic accounts, he was the Christian governor of Ceuta under the last Visigothic king, Roderic, a figure whose historicity is certain. She was either seduced by King Roderic, becoming his lover, or abducted by him and raped. In some versions, the king is depicted spying on her while she bathed in a garden. In others, she is the seducer. Afterwards, Julian, in order to avenge his dishonor on Roderic, colludes with the Umayyad forces ( ...
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Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of the special member state territories and the European Union, special member state territories of the European Union. It was a regular municipalities in Spain, municipality belonging to the province of Cádiz prior to the passing of its Statute of Autonomy in March 1995, as provided by the Spanish Constitution, henceforth becoming an autonomous city. Ceuta, like Melilla and the Canary Islands, was classified as a free port before Spain joined the European Union. Its population is predominantly Christian and Islam in Spain, Muslim, with a small minority of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus, from Pakistan. Spanish language, Spanish is the official language, while Moroccan Darija, Darija Arabic is also widely spoken. Names The name Abyla has be ...
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Qayrawan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661–680); this is when it became an important centre for Sunni Islamic scholarship and Quranic learning, attracting Muslims from various parts of the world. The Mosque of Uqba is situated in the city.Europa Publications "General Survey: Holy Places" ''The Middle East and North Africa 2003'', p. 147. Routledge, 2003. . "The city is regarded as a holy place for Muslims." Etymology The name ( ''al-Qayrawān'') is an Arabic word meaning "military group" or "caravan", borrowed early on from the Middle Persian word ''kārawān'' (modern Persian ''kârvân''), meaning "military column" (''kâr'' "people/military" + ''vân'' "outpost") or " caravan" (see caravanserai). In Berber, the city used to be called ''Tikirwan'', thought to be an adaptat ...
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Ibn Abd Al-Hakam
Abu'l Qāsim ʿAbd ar-Raḥman bin ʿAbdullah bin ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (), generally known simply as Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (; 801 AD – 257 AH / 871 AD) was a Sunni Muslim historian and jurist from Fustat, Egypt. He wrote a work generally known as " The Conquest of Egypt and North Africa and al-Andalus" (, ''Futūḥ mișr wa'l-maghrib wa'l-andalus''). This work is considered one of the earliest Islamic Arabic-language histories to have survived to the present day. Life Ibn Abd al-Hakam came from an Arab family. The author's father Abdullah and brother Muhammad were the leading Egyptian authorities of their time (early ninth century) on the Maliki school of fiqh (Islamic law). After the father's death, the family were persecuted by the caliph al-Wathiq for their adherence to orthodoxy. Although much quoted by early traditionists and historians, they are rarely mentioned by name because of a family disgrace. In the reign of the caliph al-Mutawakkil the historian and his brothers were ...
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The Moorish Castle
The Moorish Castle is the name given to a medieval fortification in Gibraltar comprising various buildings, gates, and fortified walls, with the dominant features being the Tower of Homage and the Gate House. Part of the castle itself also housed the prison of Gibraltar until it was relocated in 2010. The Tower of Homage is clearly visible to all visitors to Gibraltar; not only because of its striking construction, but also because of its dominant and strategic position. Although sometimes compared to the nearby '' alcazars'' in Spain, the Moorish Castle in Gibraltar was constructed by the Marinid dynasty, making it unique in the Iberian Peninsula. History Gibraltar has always been of special significance to the numerous peoples and civilisations that have visited or occupied it over the ages, from the Neanderthal period, through the Classical and on to Moorish, Spanish, and the current British rule. The Moorish occupation is by far the longest in Gibraltar's recorded histor ...
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Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of 140,158, as of the 2008 census. A major centre of the Medieval Muslim Algeria, Central Maghreb, the city is a mix of Arabs, Arab, Berbers, Berber, al-Andalus, 'Āndalusī, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman, and Western influence on Africa, Western influences. From this mosaic of influences, the city derives the title of capital of Andalusian art in Algeria. Various titles are attributed to the city including "the Pearl of the Maghreb", "the African Granada" and "the Medina of the West". Etymology The name Tlemcen (''Tilimsān'') was given by the Zayyanid King Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan. One possible etymology is that it comes from a Berber languages, Berber word ''tilmas'' 'spring, water-hole', or from the combination of the Berber words ''tala'' 'fou ...
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Béni Saf
Beni Saf () is a town in northwestern Algeria, about 80 kilometers southwest of Oran. The town was founded in 1876 as a shipping port for iron ore, which is mined just south of the town. Other products of the town include zinc, marble and onyx, and the fishing industry is extensive. The Medgaz natural gas pipeline links Beni Saf to the in Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ..., Spain. Climate Sources * Communes of Aïn Témouchent Province {{AïnTémouchent-geo-stub ...
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Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Algeria–Niger border, the southeast by Niger; to Algeria–Western Sahara border, the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to Algeria–Morocco border, the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. The capital and List of cities in Algeria, largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast. Inhabited since prehistory, Algeria has been at the crossroads of numerous cultures and civilisations, including the Phoenicians, Numidians, Ancient Rome, Romans, Vandals, and Byzantine Greeks. Its modern identity is rooted in centuries of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arab Muslim migration waves since Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, the seventh century and the subsequent Arabization, Arabisation ...
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Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and considered by a number of scholars to be a major forerunner of historiography, sociology, economics, and demography studies. His best-known book, the ''Muqaddimah'' or ''Prolegomena'' ("Introduction"), which he wrote in six months as he states in his autobiography, influenced 17th-century and 19th-century Ottoman historians such as Kâtip Çelebi, Mustafa Naima and Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, who used its theories to analyze the growth and decline of the Ottoman Empire. Ibn Khaldun interacted with Tamerlane, the founder of the Timurid Empire. He has been called one of the most prominent Muslim and Arab scholars and historians. Recently, Ibn Khaldun's works have been compared with those of influential European philosophers such as Niccolò Machiavelli ...
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