Homeland of the Amazighs in Cordoba and its environs
Central Andalusia is distinguished from the rest of the regions by the abundance of sources, but mainly by the availability of texts that directly refer to the Amazigh settlement and its point.
The first settlement of the Amazighs in Cordoba dates back to the era of Tariq Ibn Ziyad’s conquest of it at the hands of the battalion led by Mughith Al-Rumi when he left some elements there to rule alongside its Jewish population (1). The city’s location will help attract a Amazigh population permanently and continuously.
After the revolution of 123 AH 740 AD, Thalabah bin Salam al-Ijli captured a thousand rebellious Amazighs and took them to Cordoba (2). When Abd al-Rahman entered al-Andalus, there were famous Amazigh families in Cordoba of prestige and wealth, and their number was important, even though some of them would leave the city.
We provide a group of texts on the Amazigh settlement of Mediterranean Andalusia. Al-Razi mentions that Fahs al-Balut, located north of Cordoba, is inhabited by Amazighs (3), and the same statement is conveyed by Yaqut al-Hamawi (4), and we find in Ibn al-Fardi a reference to the Walhasa tribe of Kazna al-Nafziyya that inhabit this Fahs (5). . In the examination, we find a fort called Mastata from the work of Urit (6) and the fort of Siddfoura (7). This examination is inhabited by Princes because it played an important role in consolidating the foundations of the state of Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhel. Ibn al-Khatib mentions a person called Muhammad ibn Maslama, known as Ibn al-Aftas, who was a Maknasi who descended on Fahs al-Balut (9).
It appears that the oak was located as a result of its proximity to the capital and its availability of natural protection thanks to its mountainous topography. It was a destination for a number of Amazigh tribes, namely Nefza (Walhasla), Masmouda, Sedfoura, and Meknesa.
To the south of Cordoba, a group of Amazigh islands spreads. The author of “Mentioning the Countries of Andalusia and Its Virtues” mentions that the city of Qabra was inhabited by Amazighs and Arabs, and Al-Idrisi points out that the forts of Blay and Mentrak (fortresses inhabited by Amazighs in the days of the Umayyads) (10). The Banu Musharraf family of Zawat al-Katamiyya lived in Ashkenda (11), and on the road from Cordoba to Seville there is the castle of Shant Villa (a stronghold from ancient times for the Berbers) (12), and its Amazighs included the Banu al-Layth al-Zanatids (13).
To the east of Cordoba is Balcona, to which Yahya bin Dharis al-Sanhaji belongs. He is its governor and he destroyed the hand of Omar bin Hafsun (14) with a stroke of his sword. Bayana was also a stable for Amazigh elements.
the reviewer
(1) Al-Razi, his geography, Al-Andalus magazine, issue 18, p. 1
(2) Dictionary of Countries, vol. 1, p. 492
(3) Ibn al-Fardi, History of the Scholars of Andalusia, Egyptian Publishing House, Cairo, 1966, vol. 2, p. 144.
(4) Al-Khashni, previous reference, p. 360
(5) Dictionary of Countries, vol. 5, p. 24
(6) Ibid., vol. 3, p. 397
(7) News Collection, p. 101
(8) Ibn al-Khatib, Works of Information, Dar al-Makhos, Beirut, 1956, vol. 2, p. 183
(9) Anonymous, mentioning the country of Andalusia and its virtues, p. 96
(10) Nuzhat al-Mushtaq, vol. 2, p. 512
(11) Ibn Hazm, previous reference, p. 501