Emirate of Cordoba

The Emirate of Córdoba (Arabic: إمارة قرطبة‎, Imārat Qurṭuba) was an independent emirate in the Iberian Peninsula ruled by the Umayyad dynasty with Córdoba as its capital.

After the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711–718, the Iberian Peninsula was established as a province under the Umayyad Caliphate. The rulers of this province established their capital in Córdoba and received from the Umayyad Caliphate the title of wali or emir.

In 756, Abd ar-Rahman I, a prince of the deposed Umayyad royal family, refused to recognize the authority of the Abbasid Caliphate and became an independent emir of Córdoba. This first unification of al-Andalus under Abd al-Rahman still took more than 25 years to complete (Toledo, Zaragoza, Pamplona, Barcelona).

For the next century and a half, his descendants continued as emirs of Córdoba, with nominal control over the rest of al-Andalus and sometimes even parts of western North Africa, but with real control always in question. In 929, Abd ar-Rahman III proclaimed himself caliph of Córdoba, elevating the emirate to a more prestigious position. In spite of this, the Emirate of Córdoba gradually lost power, culminating in the 1492 conquest of all Spain by the Christian kingdoms.

Emirate of Cordoba in "The Pugnacious Peacemaker"
The fortunes of Cordova prospered in the centuries following the Moors' 732 victory at Tours. Cordovan colonists founded the Emirate of the dar al-Harb in South Skrelleland.