"I beg you, my loved ones, to call me to return along with the other cities of the lost paradise to Muslim hands so that happiness may reign in my lands. Dress me, for I am the bride of the land of Al Andalus."Again twisting history to meet its political and terrorist goals, the Hamas website tells children,
"I was once the capital of the Kingdom of Seville, connected to the Atlantic by the Guadalquivir River. I wear around my neck the scarf of the most beautiful river, more than the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Nile, where gondolas and fishing boats navigate for 24 miles, under the trees with the singing of the birds," the article says.
The history of the city begins, according to Al Fateh, with the Muslim conquest. The story ends when Seville was reconquered by King Fernando III, and concludes, "So the golden age of the Muslims who lost me ended, but the marks of their civilization remain."Let's take a look at Seville, shall we?
8th century BC: Original name thought to be Ispal. Seville was probably founded during the Tarshish period. Legend has it that Hercules drove two pillars into the site that would become the city. Tarshish has never been definitively identified but the Bible, the Phoenicians and the Greeks make many references to it.
3rd Century BC: The Cathaginians conquered Ispal.
206 BC: Roman commander Scipio Africanus conquered the city.
45 BC: Julius Caesar names the city Iulia Romula Hispalis and raised its status to a colony of Rome. Both the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian were born in Itálica, a suberb of Seville.
426 AD: Seville was taken by the Vandal king Gonderic. The Vandals hung around long enough to sack the city and the surrounding area, then left for Tunisia in 429.
429: The Suebi occupied the city. The Suebi were a Germanic tribe that entered the Iberian peninsula at about the same time as the Vandals. When the Vandals left for Tunisia to seek more treasure, the Suebi moved in. The Suebi were an illiterate and poorly organized group and almost no trace of their existence is visible today although they ostensibly controlled almost all of Western Spain and Portugal at one time.
527: The Visigoths, hired by the Romans to go after the Alans and the Vandals, eventually took out the Suebi, too and took control of Seville.
712: The Moors, under Musa ibn Nusayr, beseiged and conquered the city. The Moors were Berbers and Arabs converted to Islam who originally inhabited Mauritania in Africa.
1031: The Moorish caliphate fell and for some 50 years no central government had control of Seville.
1086: The Almoravids first wage holy war against their Moorish fellow Muslims in Africa and establish Marrakech (Morrocco) as their capital. The Almoravids then conquered Seville and all the rest of Moorish Spain. The Almoravids were a confederation of 3 Berber tribes (Lamtuna, Gudula, Massufa) of the Sanhaja clan. At the same time all this was happening, Spanish kings were slowly but surely winning back Spain by bits and pieces. Through all of this, only one man, a Spanish Christian, fought Moor and Almoravid and Christian king alike, depending on who was offering the most, and NEVER lost a fight. That would be Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known to you and I as El Cid. Don't believe the movie, that's not what El Cid was at all. He was a political animal who also happened to be a brilliant battlefield tactician, somewhat on a par with George S. Patton. But that's another story.
1110: The Spanish city of Saragossa was captured under the leadership of Ali bni Yusuf. This becomes the last victory in Spanish territory for the Almoravids.
1147: As the Almoravids had done to the Moors, so the Almohads did to the Almoravids. Marrakech falls to the Almohads. The Almohads was a Muslim Berber movement that disagreed with the Almoravids calling themselves jurists and didn't think the Almoravids were practicing pure Islam. So the Almohads conquered the Almoravids and forced the Almoravids to flee to Spain.
1172: Persuing the remnants of the Almoravid empire, the Almohads conquer Seville. The Almohads continued to lose their kingdom bit by bit to Spanish Christian kings.
1248: Fernando III, king of castilla y Leon, takes Seville from the Almohads.
So we see that the Muslims fought over "the land of Al Andalus" and "the Kingdom of Seville" for some 536 years. The battles between the various Muslim movements that I write of here concern only the city of Seville. This was only the tip of the iceberg as far as internecine warfare amongst the true believers of the religion of peace in Spain, North Africa, the Arabian peninsula and the Holy Land.
In a nutshell:
A Spaniard (Christian) took Seville from the
Almohads (Muslim) who took it from the
Almoravids (Muslim) who took it from the
Moors (Muslim) who took it from the
Visigoths (Christian) who took it from the
Suebi (Christian) who took it from the
Vandals (pagan) who took it from the
Romans (Christian by the time they lost it)
Seville was Christian under the Romans for about 300 years, Christian under the Suebi and Visigoths for 283 years, Muslim under, well, whomever, for some 536 years and Christian again under the Spaniards for 758 years and still counting. That totals 1344 years under one Christian ruler or another and only 758 years under one Muslim ruler or another. Of course, Seville was pagan from the 8th century BC until about the 2nd century AD, or about 1000 years. Still, I say the Christians have the upper hand here with their roughly 1344 years in control. Zapatero can breathe a sigh of relief. We aren't going to make him give it back.
More experts in history, grography and demography:
Islam Info, Rhymes With Right, Jason Brzoska (How the hell do you pronounce your name? Are you 'merican er a furriner?), Logical Meme, BizBlogger, Anti-Strib, Red Hot Cuppa Politics, In the Bullpen, Tammy Bruce, The Jawa Report,
TAGS: Hamas, Seville, al Andalus
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