Table Of ContentA History of Early
Al-Andalus
- -
Akhbar majmu’a
The
David James
Culture and Civilization in the Middle East
A History of Early Al-Andalus
The A khbār majmū‘a, or ‘Collected Accounts’, deal with the Muslim
conquest of the Iberian peninsula in 711 and subsequent events in al-Andalus,
down to and including the reign of ‘ Abd al-Ra h mān III (912–961), founder
of the Umayyad caliphate of al-Andalus. No Arabic text dealing with the
early history of al-Andalus has aroused more controversy, and its contents
and origin have occupied the attention of leading scholars of Islamic Spain
since its publication in 1867.
This book gives the fi rst complete English translation of this key
contemporary text, together with notes, comments, appendices and maps.
It is introduced by a survey of scholarly opinion on the text from the
nineteenth to the twenty-fi rst centuries in which all the – often heated –
arguments around the text are explained. The translator concludes his intro-
duction with an in-depth examination of the manuscript containing the only
surviving copy of the text and presents some interesting new evidence pro-
vided by a scribe which has gone unnoticed until now. Providing new
insights into this signifi cant Arabic text, this book will be of great interest to
scholars of the history of Spain and Portugal, Islamic history and Mediaeval
European history.
David James was Special Lecturer in Arabic Studies at University College
Dublin, where he taught a course on Islamic Spain. He is the author of Early
Islamic Spain, The History o f Ibn al-Qūtīya and several books on the art of
the Islamic manuscript.
Culture and civilization in the Middle East
General Editor: Ian Richard Netton
Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Exeter
This series studies the Middle East through the twin foci of its diverse cultures and
civilisations. Comprising original monographs as well as scholarly surveys, it covers
topics in the fi elds of Middle Eastern literature, archaeology, law, history, philosophy,
science, folklore, art, architecture and language. While there is a plurality of views, the
series presents serious scholarship in a lucid and stimulating fashion.
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED BY CURZON
The Origins of Islamic Law
The Qur’an, the Muwatta’ and Madinan Amal
Yasin Dutton
A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo
The history of Cambridge University’s Genizah collection
Stefan Reif
The Formative Period of Twelver Shi’ism
Hadith as discourse between Qum and Baghdad
Andrew J. Newman
Qur’an Translation
Discourse, texture and exegesis
Hussein Abdul-Raof
Christians in Al-Andalus 711–1000
Ann Rosemary Christys
Folklore and Folklife in the United Arab Emirates
Sayyid Hamid Hurriez
The Formation of Hanbalism
Piety into power
Nimrod Hurvitz
Arabic Literature
An overview
Pierre Cachia
Structure and Meaning in Medieval Arabic and Persian Lyric Poetry
Orient pearls
Julie Scott Meisami
Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily
Arabic-speakers and the end of Islam
Alexander Metcalfe
Modern Arab Historiography
Historical discourse and the nation-state
Youssef Choueiri
The Philosophical Poetics of Alfarabi, Avicenna and Averroes
The Aristotelian reception
Salim Kemal
PUBLISHED BY ROUTLEDGE
1 The Epistemology of Ibn Khaldun
Zaid Ahmad
2 The Hanbali School of Law and Ibn Taymiyyah
Confl ict or concilation
Abdul Hakim I Al-Matroudi
3 Arabic Rhetoric
A pragmatic analysis
Hussein Abdul-Raof
4 Arab Representations of the Occident
East–West encounters in Arabic fi ction
Rasheed El-Enany
5 God and Humans in Islamic Thought
Abd al-Jabba¯r, Ibn S¯ına¯ and al-Ghaza¯l¯ı
Maha Elkaisy-Friemuth
6 Original Islam
Malik and the madhhab of Madina
Yasin Dutton
7 Al-Ghazali and the Qur’an
One book, many meanings
Martin Whittingham
8 Birth of The Prophet Muhammad
Devotional piety in Sunni Islam
Marion Holmes Katz
9 Space and Muslim Urban Life
At the limits of the labyrinth of Fez
Simon O’Meara
10 Islam and Science
The intellectual career of Nizam al-Din al-Nizaburi
Robert G. Morrison
11 Ibn ‘Arabî – Time and Cosmology
Mohamed Haj Yousef
12 The Status of Women in Islamic Law and Society
Annotated translation of al-T.a¯hir al-H.adda¯d’s Imra’tuna¯ fi ‘l-shar¯ıca wa ‘l-mujtamac,
with an introduction
Ronak Husni and Daniel L. Newman
13 Islam and the Baha’i Faith
A comparative study of Muhammad ‘Abduh and ‘Abdul-Baha ‘Abbas
Oliver Scharbrodt
14 Comte de Gobineau and Orientalism
Selected eastern writings
Translated by Daniel O’Donoghue Edited by Geoffrey Nash
15 Early Islamic Spain
The history of Ibn al-Qu¯t.¯ıya
David James
16 German Orientalism
The study of the Middle East and Islam from 1800 to 1945
Ursula Wokoeck
17 Mulla¯ S.adra¯ and Metaphysics
Modulation of being
Sajjad H. Rizvi
18 Schools of Qur’anic Exegesis
Genesis and development
Hussein Abdul-Raof
19 Al-Ghazali, Averroes and the Interpretation of the Qur’an
Common sense and philosophy in Islam
Avital Wohlman, translated by David Burrell
20 Eastern Christianity in the Modern Middle East
Edited by Anthony O’Mahony and Emma Loosley
21 Islamic Reform and Arab Nationalism
Expanding the crescent from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean (1880s–1930s)
Amal N. Ghazal
22 Islamic Ethics
Divine Command Theory in Arabo-Islamic thought
Mariam al-Attar
23 Muslim Fortresses in the Levant
Between Crusaders and Mongols
Kate Raphael
24 Being Human in Islam
The impact of the evolutionary worldview
Damian Howard
25 The UAE and Foreign Policy
Foreign aid, identities and interests
Khalid S. Almezaini
26 A History of Early al-Andalus
The Akhbar majmu’a
David James
27 Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought
Al-Ghazali’s Theory of Mystical Cognition and its Avicennian foundation
Alexander Treiger
28 Shi’i Theology in Iran
The challenge of religious experience
Ori Goldberg
29 Founding Figures and Commentators in Arabic Mathematics
A history of Arabic sciences and mathematics, Volume 1
Roshdi Rashed, translated and edited by Nader El-Bizri
A History of Early Al-Andalus
The Akhbār majmū‘a
A study of the unique Arabic manuscript in the
Bibliothèque Nationale
de France, Paris, with a translation,
notes and comments
David James
First published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2012 David James
The right of David James to be identifi ed as author of this work has
been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
ISBN 978-0-415-66943-6 (hbk)
ISBN 978-0-203-80757-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman by Cenveo Publisher Services
Contents
Acknowledgements xiii
PART I
Introduction 1
1 The Akhbār majmū‘a : study and speculation 3
A brief history of the manuscript 4
The title 5
A brief description of the text 8
A brief description of the manuscript 13
The fi rst accounts of the Akhbār majmū‘a 14
The beginning of the dispute 15
Current theories 20
The evidence of the manuscript 33
PART II
The Akhbār majmū‘a: ‘Collected Accounts’ of the years
86–350/705–961 43
2 The conquest and the rule of the governors of Damascus 45
Synopsis 45
[1.BS] The early civil wars 47
[2.RS] Al-Walīd restores order 47
[3.BkS] The frontier of Ifr¯ıqiya 47
[4.BS] Al-Walīd summons Mūsā 48
[5.BS] Mūsā’s campaign and the situation
in al-Andalus 48
viii Contents
[6.BS] Mūsā contacts al-Walīd 49
[7.BkS] T.āriq’s advance and the battle of al-Buh.ayra 50
[8.RS] The capture of Écija, Cordova and Tudm¯ır 51
[9.BkS] The siege of the church in Cordova 53
[10.BkS] Those inside the church surrender 53
[11.BkS] T.āriq captures Toledo and the Table of
Sulaymān 53
[12.RS] The arrival of Mūsā 54
[13.BS] The capture of Seville and the siege
of Mérida 54
[14.BS] The capture of Mérida and Mūsā’s ruse 55
[15.RS] Revolt in Seville and Mūsā’s advance
to Toledo 56
[16.BS] Mūsā’s recall and the rule of ‘Abd al-‘Azīz 56
[17.RS] Ayyūb takes up residence 57
[18.BS] Events during the caliphates of Sulaymān
and ‘Umar 57
[19.RS] The rule of al-Samh. and others 58
[20.BS] The rule of ‘Uqba 59
[21.RS] The Berber revolt 61
[22.BS] Mūsā before Sulaymān 61
[23.BkS] Sulaymān accuses Mūsā 62
3 The Civil Wars 63
Synopsis 63
[24.BkS] Kulthūm is sent to Ifr¯ıqiya 65
[25.RS] The fate of the Syrian army 67
[26.BS] The arrival of H. anz. ala 67
[27.BkS] The arrival of Balj 68
[28.RS] ‘ Abd al-Malik’s sons retaliate 71
[29.BS] Al-H. us.ayn defends Balj 71
[30.RS] The rule of Tha‘laba 72
[31.BS] Abū’l-Kha.t.tār is sent to al-Andalus 72
[32.BS] The arrival of ‘ Abd al-Rah.mān
(the emir ‘Abd al-Rah.mān I (138–172/756–788)) 73
[33.RS] The fate of the Umayyads 74
[34.BkS] Massacre and fl ight of the Umayyads 74
[35.BkS] Flight of the Umayyads to Ifr¯ıqiya 75
Contents ix
[36.BkS] ‘Abd al-Rah.mān’s story 75
[37.RS] Another account 77
[38.BS] The rise of Yūsuf al-Fihrī 78
[39.RS] Civil war 79
[40.BkS] Al-S. umayl is besieged in Saragossa 81
[41.BkS] The continuation of
‘Abd al-Rah.mān’s story 83
[42.BS] Abū ‘Uthmān’s account 86
[43.BS] ‘Abdallāh and Abū ‘Uthmān meet
‘Abd al-Rah. mān 87
[44.RS] Yūsuf and al-S. umayl learn of ‘Abd al-Rah.mān’s
arrival 88
[45.BS] Yūsuf advised to return to Cordova 89
[46.BkS] Yūsuf sends messengers to
‘Abd al-Rah.mān 89
[47.BS] ‘Abd al-Rah.mān collects his supporters 91
[48.RS] Farqad’s prediction to al-S. adfūrī 92
[49.BS] ‘Abd al-Rah.mān captures Cordova 93
[50.RS] The two sides make peace 95
[51.BS] Legal action against Yūsuf and al-S. umayl 97
[52.RS] Arrival of al-Marwānī and Yūsuf’s defection 97
[53.BS] Yūsuf’s fl ight to Mérida 98
[54.RS] Yūsuf’s defeat and death 98
[55.BS] The two concubines of ‘Abd al-Rah.mān 100
[56.RS] The death of al-S.umayl 100
4 The annals of ‘Abd al-Rah.mān I 101
Synopsis 101
[57.BS] The revolt of al-Ghassānī 101
[58.RS] The revolt of Hishām al-Fihrī at
Toledo 101
[59.BS] The revolt of al-‘Alā’ at Beja 102
[60.BkS] The revolt of al-Ma.tarī at Niebla 103
[61.BkS] The revolt of Abū’l-S.abbāh. 104
[62.BS] The revolt of al-Fā.timī 104
[63.RS] The revolt of al-Yazīdī 106
[64.BS] The revolt of al-S.iqlābī in Tudmīr 106
[65.BkS] The revolt of al-Sulmī 107
