Al-Ḥurr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al- Thaqafi () was an early

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

governor who ruled the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

province of

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

from between 716 and 718. He was the third successor to Musa bin Nusair, the North African governor who had directed the conquest of Visigothic Hispania several years earlier in 711.Hitti (1956) p. 499 Al-Hurr was the first Muslim commander to cross the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

in 717, leading a small raiding party into

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

. His incursions were largely unsuccessful, for which he was deposed in 718.Livermore (1947) p. 30

Background

In 711, an Umayyad army led by freedman Tariq bin Ziyad had been sent to the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

under the orders of North African governor Musa bin Nusair, resulting in its eventual

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

. Leaving his son 'Abd al-'Aziz in charge, Musa led a triumphant procession of over 400 well-dressed

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

ic princes, followed by slaves and prisoners of war, to the Caliph al-Walid I in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. During that visit, Musa dramatically fell out of favor with al-Walid: Tariq informed the caliph that the treasure paraded, for which Musa had claimed credit, had actually been captured by himself instead. Musa was stripped of his status, and 'Abd al-'Aziz remained in charge of the newly conquered territories, which were now named "

Governorship

After the assassination of Abd al-Aziz in 716, and the six-month rule of his cousin Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi, al-Hurr ibn 'abd al-Rahman al-Thaqafi was assigned the post. Soon afterwards, he relocated the Andalusian administrative capital from

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

to Córdoba. Al-Hurr was heavily involved in trying to suppress Christian Gothic resistance, and was largely successful in doing so. He's actually credited with the pacification of virtually all Visigothic Hispania, except for the mountain ranges of the Basque region, most of the Pyrenees and the still almost intact Duchy of Cantabria in the north of the Peninsula. After his rule in al-Andalus, the realm would become years later the leading realm in the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

. Some historians date the small Battle of Covadonga at the end of his term in office, in 718. Under the governorate of al-Hurr, coins with bilingual

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

inscriptions were minted. He also laid the foundations of the future Umayyad administration by sending Umayyad officials to towns, setting up rules for the management of real estate and taxation imposed on it (the ''tributa'' or land based taxation), returning property to Christian owners where applicable and punishing Berbers for looting and concealment of undeclared acquisition of goods. This job of establishing a civil administration was continued by his successor

Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani Al-Samh ibn Malik al- Khawlani () was the Arab governor general of Al-Andalus from between 719 and 721. In 720, under his governorate he minted the first purely Arab coins in Al-Andalus as part of his fiscal reforms. Conquest of remaining Visig ...

and completed by the wali

Yahya ibn Salama al-Kalbi Yahya ibn Salama al-Kalbi () was sent as governor of al-Andalus by the Caliph of Damascus Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and his tenure in office lasted three years. Yahya belonged to the tribe of Banu Kalb, which was established in southern Syria and no ...

.Collins, R. (1989) p. 48 Al-Hurr also turned his attention to the Aquitanians (referred in most Arabic chronicles as "Franks") across the

. Sources suggest he was enticed by the treasure hoarded in the convents and churches, or maybe chasing refugees, or taking advantage of the civil war going on between the chief officers of the Merovingian court with the involvement of Odo the Great, duke of

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

. None of al-Hurr's predecessors had attempted to cross the

, and in 717, he attempted to do just that. He led a small expedition across the range into still Gothic

, the first of which was likely to just reconnoiter the region. Several attempted raids later, all of which proved unsuccessful, al-Hurr was deposed by the caliph, who appointed

in 718 as his replacement. Al-Samh continued expeditions into present-day France, reaching as far as the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

, but would be killed in the Battle of Toulouse in 721.

Notes

References

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External links

Historical and Geographical Motives for Muslim Operations North of the Pyrenees
in "The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited", from '' Providence: Studies in Western Civilization'' v.2 n.1 (1993)", by William E. Watson. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurr Ibn Abd Al-Rahman Al-Thaqafi Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate Umayyad governors of Al-Andalus Arab generals Banu Thaqif 8th-century Arab people Umayyad conquest of Hispania