This is one of my favorite articles I always chuckle to myself when you discuss loud noises in cities and making it forbidden for loud raspy voiced Latina women to speak un-quenching for hours in public. Very funny.
Iberia was neither conquered nor ruled by "Arabs," as you claim, though that is a widespread misconception. The initial invasion force, only about 12,000 strong, was overwhelmingly Berber—North African tribes freshly converted to Islam. They were led by Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād, himself a Berber. Arab authority, nominal under the Umayyads, supplied supposd legitimacy more than men.
Later arrivals under Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr brought some Arabs, but these were few. Throughout the period of North African rule (up to 1492), the ruling class in Al-Andalus was not predominantly Arab. Power and administration passed into the hands of Berbers, local converts (Muladi), and imported slaves (Saqaliba, in general, is the term, though not all Saqaliba were of servile origin), especially after the Umayyad Caliphate’s fall in 1031. At no point were Arabs ever in power aside from the Umayyads' rule in Cordoba.
Berber dominance intensified under the Almoravid and Almohad regimes—both North African and Berber in character. Though some Arabs settled, the term “Arab” as applied to the rulers of Al-Andalus is a historical distortion. Blood, not banners, defines identity in this matter.
However it is obviously true that the mostly Berber rulers and later local converts had been Arabized to some extent by the Muslim conquests. Arabized culturally.
It is hard to understand how the Visigothic kingdoms could have been conquered by such petty forces. The invaders under a new ruler were baying for blood. This was not a force united by religious devotion, most likely; rather they were probably united by a desire to rape and rule. The conquest succeeded due to internal Visigothic disintegration, elite fragmentation, and rapid operational strikes exploiting a political vacuum. I would assume that BAP would have approved of this. I cannot.
This is one of my favorite articles I always chuckle to myself when you discuss loud noises in cities and making it forbidden for loud raspy voiced Latina women to speak un-quenching for hours in public. Very funny.
“Slavery is often confused with civilization.” Yes indeed, Freedom isn’t a birthright it’s a blood sport. Noise disturbs the violence of my mind too
Iberia was neither conquered nor ruled by "Arabs," as you claim, though that is a widespread misconception. The initial invasion force, only about 12,000 strong, was overwhelmingly Berber—North African tribes freshly converted to Islam. They were led by Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād, himself a Berber. Arab authority, nominal under the Umayyads, supplied supposd legitimacy more than men.
Later arrivals under Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr brought some Arabs, but these were few. Throughout the period of North African rule (up to 1492), the ruling class in Al-Andalus was not predominantly Arab. Power and administration passed into the hands of Berbers, local converts (Muladi), and imported slaves (Saqaliba, in general, is the term, though not all Saqaliba were of servile origin), especially after the Umayyad Caliphate’s fall in 1031. At no point were Arabs ever in power aside from the Umayyads' rule in Cordoba.
Berber dominance intensified under the Almoravid and Almohad regimes—both North African and Berber in character. Though some Arabs settled, the term “Arab” as applied to the rulers of Al-Andalus is a historical distortion. Blood, not banners, defines identity in this matter.
However it is obviously true that the mostly Berber rulers and later local converts had been Arabized to some extent by the Muslim conquests. Arabized culturally.
It is hard to understand how the Visigothic kingdoms could have been conquered by such petty forces. The invaders under a new ruler were baying for blood. This was not a force united by religious devotion, most likely; rather they were probably united by a desire to rape and rule. The conquest succeeded due to internal Visigothic disintegration, elite fragmentation, and rapid operational strikes exploiting a political vacuum. I would assume that BAP would have approved of this. I cannot.