Biography of Abderraman III: – Eighth sovereign Umayyad of Muslim Spain and first of them took the title of Caliph (Cordoba, 891 – 961). He acceded to the throne in the year 912, when he was only 21, designated by its grandfathers to happen to him in preference to its own children; and in 929 he was proclaimed caliph, breaking the last symbolic link that united him with the caliphate of the Abbasids.
Biography of Abderraman III
- Born:- 7 January 891 AD, Córdoba, Spain
- Died:- 15 October 961 AD, Córdoba, Spain
- Successor:- Al-Hakam II
- Parents:- Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi
- Children:- Al-Hakam II, Hisham III of Córdoba, Abd ar-Rahman IV
- Place Of Burial:- Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, Córdoba, Spain
He dedicated the greatest efforts of his long reign to subdue the territory to its effective authority, suffocating the rebellion of Andalusia (after the taking of Bobastro in 928) and imposing itself by the force to the semi-independent local gentlemen.
See Also: Biography of Abdurrahman I
He extended his actions to North Africa, where several rebel chiefs declared themselves vassals of the caliph of Cordova instead of abiding to the native caliphate of the Fatimies; With this he managed to prevent the expansionist temptations of the Fatimids, while seizing such important coastal towns as Tangier, Ceuta and Melilla.
He also fought against the Christian kingdoms of the North, albeit with unequal luck: he was defeated by the Leonese in San Esteban de Gormaz (917), defeated Leonese and Navarre in Mudania (918), Muez campaign (920) and Irati (924), he lost again and was about to die in the “battle of the moat” of Simancas (939).
But on the whole it can be said that the borders remained secure during this reign, and that even Abderraman was erected in Arbitrator of the internal disputes of the Christian kingdoms, converted into tributaries of his since 960.
After the interior had been pacified and the frontiers had been secured, the Caliphate lived a time of religious tolerance and great constructions (such as those of Madinat al-Zahra). The external prestige of the caliphate of Cordova resulted in the establishment of relations with the Germanic and Byzantine emperors and with the kings of England, France and Italy.
