P. GUICHARD. Al-ANDALUS. 711-1492. UNE HISTOIRE DE L'ANDALOUSIE ARABE. Paris: Hachette Litteratures, 2000-2001. 269 p.*

(c) 2002

Pierre Guichard, a leading French expert on the history of the Western Mediterranean in the Middle Ages and Professor at the University of Lumière-2 in Lyon, is the author of numerous works on the history, archeology, sociology and culture of Al - Andalus, medieval Spain, the Maghreb and Muslim Sicily1 . He is widely known outside of France; his works have received a deservedly high rating in the Russian scientific periodics2 .

Guichard's peer-reviewed monograph sums up to a certain extent his research on Al-Andalus, which is particularly valuable because it is based not only on Arabic, Latin, Old Castilian and Catalan sources, but also on data from archeology, numismatics and other auxiliary disciplines obtained by the author during expeditions and field research in which he participated himself. ³ . He also pays tribute to the work of his predecessors and colleagues, especially highlighting such experts on Al-Andalus as Vincent Lagarde [⁴] and Dominique Urvois. It is their opinion that he refers to when proving his thesis that there is no "poetization" of the holy war-jihad in Al-Andalus, the ideology of which has not attracted the majority of the country's inhabitants to its side (pp. 204-205).

Chronologically consistent presentation of the history of Al-Andalus from the Arab conquest to the victory of the Christian Reconquista is a synthesis of the achievements of the author himself, and the world "Andalusian studies" in general. Guichard tries to cover as objectively as possible the controversy between Claudio Sanchez-Albornoz, a supporter of the" Hispanism " of Al-Andalus, and Antonio Castro, who defends the thesis about the significance of the influence of Islam and Judaism on the historical destinies of Spain. He also touches on other controversial subjects in the historiography of Al-Andalus, in particular in the works of Ignacio Olague and Gabriel Martinez Gro, trying to avoid unjustified underestimation of this period in the history of Spain and its equally unjustified romanticization.

Gishar used Arabic chronicles as fully as possible, starting with the authors of the IX century al-Waqidi, al-Balazuri and Ibn Abd al-Hakam and ending with prominent historians of the X-XIV centuries, such as Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Khaldun, Abu Mervan Ibn Hayyan, Abu'l-Hasan Ibn Bassam al-Shantarini, Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib, Ibn al-Abbar, Ibn al-Asir, Ibn Izari al-Marrakushi. The book also often contains references to little-known or generally unknown authors, such as the twelfth-century biographer ad-Dabbi or the eighth-century memoirist Ayyash Sharahil al-Himyari, who commanded in 710-720. the Umayyad fleet that attacked Sicily and the Iberian Peninsula (pp. 23-24). Proving that the Arabization of the peninsula was quite rapid, Guichard, in particular, refers to the inscriptions on the surviving coins of the first years of the Arab conquest: in 712-714. they were minted with Muslim inscriptions, but in Latin, in 716-717 - in Latin and in Arabic, and since 720 - only in Arabic. At the same time vper-

* Guishar P. Al-Andalus, 711-1492. The history of Arab Andalusia. Paris: Hachette Literatur Publishing House, 2000-2001. 269 p.

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The name of the new province of the Muslim Empire, Al - Andalus, which was previously unknown in the sources and rather mysterious in its origin, appeared on the coins (p. 29).

Unlike many other, mostly Spanish, authors, Guichard believes that the Arabization of Autochthons was not only through mixed marriages and mestizos. No less, if not more, role in this process was played by the acculturation of the local population by introducing them to the increasingly flourishing Arab-Islamic civilization and their social adaptation to the new situation through a system of client relations, integration into an Arab tribe or clan with the assimilation of the ideology of tribal solidarity (asa-biya), corresponding to the development of the concept of genealogy and ethnonym (nisba). Islamization was also of great importance for accelerating the pace of Arabization, freeing new converts from the poll tax (jizya) and giving slaves personal freedom, and representatives of previously oppressed ethnic and religious minorities the opportunity to become full members of society and even rise above the previously despised majority. The descendants of those who converted to Islam were called Muwallads (born Muslims).

At the same time, the voluntary nature of Islamization and the tolerant attitude towards Christians and Jews who received the status of "protected" (dhimmi) contributed to easing social tensions, improving the moral climate, and generally increasing the authority of Islam in Al-Andalus (pp. 30-33). Moreover, the Arabs were not going to be limited only to the Iberian Peninsula and, starting from 716, they stubbornly advanced to the north of the Pyrenees. Guichard interprets the famous Battle of Poitiers in 732, during which Charles Martel, as they say in all European textbooks, stopped and turned back the Arab conquerors, differently: the Arabs chose to calmly "withdraw in good order" because of the strong defense of the Franks and the death of their leader Abd ar-Rahman al-Ghafiki. However, even after that, they raided the Loire and Garonne valleys, established their garrisons in Avignon and other cities of Provence, finally retreating only in 759.

The strife between the "Yemenis" and the "Kaysits" (conditionally - southern and northern Arabs) seriously weakened the position of the Arabs not only before the external enemy, but also before the conquered population of the conquered countries, and even more so - before the Berbers, who were clearly infringed upon by the Arabs in Al-Andalus. They threw them into battle first, but then left them out of the spoils and gave them less fertile or less secure land on the border. Before 750, the course of events in Al-Andalus was strongly influenced by the struggle between the "Yemenis" and the" Kaisites " in the Middle East, where the former acted, in modern terms, as "pigeons" who were most concerned with the development of the caliphate, and the latter as "hawks" who wanted to continue external expansion (p. 37-41). It should be noted that this concept coincides with the point of view of the British historian M. A. Shaban5 .

The Arab army that arrived from the Maghreb, defeated by the Berbers in Africa, came into conflict with both the Berbers and the Arabs of Al-Andalus, mainly "Yemenis". Since then, according to Guichard, a kind of "geographical asabiya" has emerged, uniting all the" people of the country "(Balyadi), i.e. descendants of the first Arab conquerors, as well as the Berbers, who gradually became Arabized, and contrasting them with the "Syrians" (a new wave of Arabs in 741). In the East, the Umayyads in 750 G. was replaced by the Abbasids. One of the Umayyads who survived their near-total slaughter, Abd ar-Rahman b'nuh Mu'awiyah, in 756 managed, after a short stay in the Maghreb, to take power in Al-Andalus and subjugate all the factions and currents of this motley and rebellious society. Synthesizing the data of Arab chronicles and the opinions of conflicting historians, Guichard concludes that "while in the East the fall of the Umayyads and the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate were fatal for the social and political domination of the Arabs, the regime established in Al-Andalus extends in this country the Arab dominance that previously prevailed in Damascus" (p. 48).

When the Arab dynasties in other Islamic states had already disappeared or, like the Abbasids, reigned but did not rule, the Umayyads in Cordoba minted silver coins according to their old patterns until 750, without recognizing either the Abbasid power or their financial system. They built a mosque in Cordoba that largely reproduced the corresponding Umayyad structures in Damascus and Jerusalem. Paying great attention to this circumstance (pp. 50-51), Guichard traces the simultaneous emergence of the "new aesthetic" of Al-Andalus, which combined Arab, Berber, Visigothic and Romanesque elements, during the construction of the Cordoba Mosque.

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The development of statehood in Al-Andalus was characterized by the interweaving of "eastern" and "Western" structures, components, and customs. The improvement of forms of government, the emergence of new positions, titles and titles took place here as an imitation of the traditions of the first Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus (661-750), but even more so - as an adaptation of the customs, methods and principles of organization of the conquerors to the social realities of the majority's life. At the same time, Guichard, as if distracting from the dominant line of world historiography, which usually highlights such figures as the first caliph of Cordoba, Abd ar-Rahman III (912-961), or Muhammad bin Abi Amir (Al-Mansur), the de facto ruler of the caliphate in 978-1002, notes the consolidation of power under Abd ar - Rahman I (756-788) and the crushing victories of his son Hisham over the Berbers of Valencia, the Christians of Asturias, and the Franks of the Duke of Toulouse (known in the French epic as Guillaume the Short-Nosed). Emir Abd al-Rahman II (822-852) was remembered for the introduction of the posts of wazir (minister) and qatib (secretary), the establishment of the financial department and chancery, the construction of the fortress of Murcia in 831, and the beginning of the struggle against the Muwallads and the Muwallads. Mosarabs (Christians of Al-Andalus who adopted the Arabic language and culture). At the same time, Ziriab, a Persian musician, singer and composer who arrived from Iraq, gave the emir a decisive impetus to the development of the culture of Al-Andalus. He introduced the people of Cordoba to the customs and etiquette of the Abbasid court of Baghdad, to the fashion, rules of conduct, cuisine, jewelry, luxury and refinement of the Muslim East of that time; created and canonized the surviving genres of Arab-Andalusian music.

Abd ar-Rahman III began to restore order in the country after 30 years of rebellion, relying on ethnic Arabs and their tribal troops. Gradually, he added to them the Berbers who came over to his side, most of whom were in a semi-peaceful state, Muwallad feudal lords who feared for their possessions, and even Christians who were tired of anarchy and robbery. By 930, Abd ar-Rahman III had completely subdued the country, for which he received the title an-Nasir li Dinillah - "Winner in the name of the faith of Allah". A year earlier, he had assumed the title of caliph, finally separating from the Abbasids in Baghdad. [⁶ ] The Caliphate of 929-1031 in Cordoba is named in the book "The Sun that rose in the West" ⁷ . Indeed, it was, at least until 1009, a period of remarkable prosperity for Al-Andalus: all rebellions were suppressed, the "Versailles of the Umayyads" was built - the city of Madinat al-Zahra, on which 1,800 thousand dinars were spent annually for 25 years (a third of all revenues); 10 thousand masons, diggers and other craftsmen laid up to 6 thousand stones daily, creating an amazing city-palace with 4 floors during many years of construction. thousands of antique marble columns, mostly imported from Africa. Here they began to mint silver dirhams and gold dinars with the name of the Caliph and his title Amir al-muminin - "lord of the faithful". Cordoba grew and was decorated by the famous geographer of the tenth century. Ibn Haukal considered the only city in the world of Islam comparable to Baghdad. Reforms were carried out in the administration, army and palace service, and the Arab aristocracy and Berber leaders at the head of their tribal militias were pushed into the background by the Sakaliba-this was the name then given to real Slavs and other slaves (Europeans), whom "the regime bought young and raised as domestic servants and cadres for the army and state"(p. 83). Christian mercenaries also began to play a more prominent role in the army.

Relying on the reorganized army and noble clans of the new nominees (Berbers Banu Zannun in Valencia, Tujibid Arabs in Zaragoza and Banu Tawil in Huesca) , as well as on the traditional support of the "great families of Umayyad clients" (Banu Abi Abda, Banu Futais, Banu Hudayr, Banu Basil), the caliph smashed the Christian kings of Navarre and Leon He intervened in their affairs, captured the port of Melilla in the Maghreb in 927, and formed an alliance with the local Salihid emirs and the Byzantine Emperor against the Shiite Fatimid caliphate that dominated north Africa.

Abd ar-Rahman III was succeeded in 961 by his 40-year-old son Al-Hakam II (961-976), who was distinguished by poor health and encyclopedic knowledge. The period of his "motionless caliphate" is well understood thanks to the chronicles of Isa b'nu Ahmad al-Razi, the official historiographer of the second caliph of Cordoba, who described in detail the court ceremonies, festivals, receptions, the strictness of official protocol and the subtleties of the hierarchy of relatives and tribesmen of the Caliph, his ministers, high officials, generals, especially close servants and judges. Maintaining the status quo in the north with the Christian states, periodically confirming the-

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The caliph extended his possessions in the north-west of the Maghreb and even included Idrisid princes in the command of the army and in the ranks of the Maghreb nobility, who traced their family back to the descendants of the Prophet. At the same time, several Berber clans moved to Al-Andalus and added "very effective light cavalry" to the Caliph's army (pp. 87-89).

Al-Hakam II began collecting books and manuscripts at a young age. His famous library, which numbered 400 thousand volumes, was then the greatest in the world. He did much to establish ties with the East, including Byzantium, and to " elevate the Umayyad West over the Abbasid East, which he partially succeeded in doing." (In my opinion, he succeeded to the full extent, because in many ways the Andalusians surpassed the then declining Abbasid caliphate, especially in medicine, botany, pharmacology, architecture and ornamental decoration, having managed to synthesize the various achievements of the entire Mediterranean.) Guichard states that it was thanks to the "politically immobile" erudite caliph that they received the most valuable information. the strongest impulse is "intellectual life" and "the second Arab classicism in Al-Andalus at the end of the tenth century and in the eleventh century" (p. 91).

Very briefly, Gashar dwells on the reign of Hajib (Chancellor) Muhammad bnu Abi Amir, nicknamed Al-Mansur ("Victorious"). The author chooses from the 24 years of Al-Mansur's reign (978-1002), under which the formally reigning Hisham P (976-1009) meant nothing, such events as the construction of a new residence by him, the defeat of his father-in-law (and rival) Ghalib in 981, and the adoption of the title Malik ("king") in 991 with the transfer of the title Hajib to his son Abd al-Malik. According to Guichard, this is how the "Amirid dynasty" appeared, parallel to the Umayyads. The main thing for the author is that Al-Mansur was a "champion of the holy war", having made 57 campaigns to the north in 20 years, of which the most famous are the capture of Barcelona (985) and the sack of Santiago de Compostela (997). Abandoning tribal militias and their leaders, Al-Mansur made the main bet on mercenaries and slaves as warriors and on the Saqalib and Berbers from the Maghreb as commanders. By dominating the entire Iberian Peninsula and expanding Cordoba's position in the Maghreb, Al-Mansur also strengthened the position of Muslim theologians and jurists.

His father's policy was continued by Abd al-Malik (1002-1008), who successfully suppressed the plots of the Saqalib courtiers (1003) and Arab aristocrats who were dissatisfied with the elimination of the Umayyads (1006). After another successful campaign to the north (1007), Abd al-Malik received the nickname Al-Muzaffar - "The Triumphant". In October 1008, he died suddenly, most likely poisoned by his brother Abd ar - Rahman, who took his place. However, vanity, inability to rule and the claim to become the caliph's heir led the new ruler to collapse in February 1009. After that, he was killed, and Caliph Hisham II was forced to abdicate in favor of his cousin. This coup marked the beginning of a long period of fitna (rebellion, time of troubles), when in 22 years the power in Cordoba changed more than 12 times, accompanied by massacres, pogroms, arson, riots of the capital's rabble, who supported one or another group. This fierce power struggle involved Arab aristocrats and tribes, Berbers and their leaders, Sacaliba and Muslim theologians, Muwallads and Mosarabs, various factions of the army and administrative elite (including ethnic ones), as well as Christian mercenaries and occasional Northern Christians, especially Catalans, who helped one group or another. Guichard discusses all these events in the chapter on the Khilafah of Cordova (pp. 98-105), although in my opinion the Fitna period deserves a separate consideration ^.8 At the same time, in the final part of the chapter, he gives a very concise, succinct and accurate analysis of the reasons for the collapse of the caliphate in Cordoba, including: the discrepancies between the legitimate and actual power, the isolation of the sovereign's palace from the "real country", the disappearance of the aristocratic army of Arab tribes (junda), the diversity and factionalism of the new army, and finally-the weakness and the inability of the last caliphs. In addition, according to Guichard, the very idea of a caliphate "no longer worked in everyday political practice", although it could still "generate utopias and riots" (pp. 105-109).

The author discusses in more detail the period of" appanage kings " (muluk at-tawaif) (1031-1091) in the chapter "Between pen and sword" (p.109-133). Its title corresponds to the essence of what is happening: all the appanage principalities (taif), the number of which constantly changed, because they split and merged again, tried to outdo each other with the brilliance of cultural achievements and military exploits. Their history is a kaleidoscope of names and dynasties of different ages-

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The world is a place of cultural and intellectual origin, political culture and intellectual level, endless feuds, adventures, conspiracies, betrayals, as well as love and other adventures, sung in wonderful poems included in the golden fund of Arabic poetry. Although Guichard writes that "it is not easy to relate this phase of Al-Andalus' history coherently," he managed to do so. Skilfully comparing the forms of government, the organization of social life and the political methods of Muluk al-tawaif, he gave them personal portraits, not missing the opportunity to criticize the "picturesque anecdotes" about them, as well as the excessively " romantic "descriptions of them, which even the" great Dutch historian " Dozy sinned. Quite rightly, Guichard pays serious attention to the cultural rise in Al-Andalus of the XI century, about which A. B. Kudelin, I. M. Filshtinsky and B. Ya .Shidfar wrote quite a lot. ⁹

The book traces the evolution of Andalusian society in the X-XI centuries, its customs and customs, the position of women, freer than in the East, religious life and legal situation, fiscal legislation, the status of Christians, Sacalibas and Jews, as well as the peculiar process of "detribalization" of society. In the era of Fitna and Muluk al-Tawaif, almost all the rulers, including those from the Berbers and Muwallads, "called themselves Arabs". By the end of the twelfth century. All the inhabitants of Al-Andalus, including the Mosarabs, spoke only Arabic. Guichard also notes the significant role of the country's Jewish communities in the economy, governance, and cultural life of Al-Andalus, as well as in its foreign trade, especially with Egypt, Syria, Sicily, the Maghreb, and Provence.

According to the author, the emirates of Al-Andalus, dominated by " civil officials... the clergy, writers, and scientists "inevitably had to lose out to" Christian states in which the whole society was organized by a dominant class of warriors, powerful and active " (p.126). Turning to the Berbers of the Maghreb for help, the emirs avoided the triumph of the reconquista already in the XI century, but they still lost power: the Maghreb leader Yusuf ibn Tashfin, the founder of the Almoravid dynasty, who twice (1086 and 1088) came to the aid of the Muslims of Al-Andalus, marked his third arrival (1090-1092) with the conquest of almost all the emirates.

The importance of Al-Andalus for the Almoravid empire was determined by the minting of gold coins and the lively trade with the Christian world, the basing of the empire's military fleet led by the Andalusian Ibn Maimun in Almeria, and the production of fabrics famous there from Genoa to London. New clans of merchants and lawyers, as well as muhtasibs (market keepers), began to take an increasing part in the management of cities. The city's craft was developing successfully. Products made of silk, copper and gold were sold outside the country. In general, the level of culture achieved earlier has declined slightly, although patronage has also disappeared along with the emirs.

The Almohads who had succeeded the Almoravids in the Maghreb and declared themselves caliphs began to take over Al-Andalus. Equally irreconcilable in matters of religion, they initially opposed luxury and "excesses", but, like their predecessors, they began to assimilate the culture of Al-Andalus and use its achievements, especially in the field of architecture, ornamentalism, poetry, philosophy. They almost restored the former Muslim power on the peninsula, but in the long and stubborn battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), the combined forces of Castile, Aragon and Navarre defeated the Caliph's huge army, which was torn apart by contradictions between Bedouin militias, the Negro guard of African slaves, Turkic volunteers from Egypt and detachments of Andalusians who actually evaded the battle, the day before which the Caliph executed their leader ¹⁰ .

Over the next 30 to 40 years, Al-Andalus almost disappeared under the pressure of the Reconquista. Only the small emirate of Granada in the south-east of the peninsula, led by the Nasrid dynasty, survived for more than two and a half centuries (1237-1492). Guichard, however, is not so much interested in the agony of their emirate as in the "end of the whole world", i.e. the disappearance of Al-Andalus as such. Therefore, he pays about as much attention to the decisive successes of the thirteenth-century Reconquista (pp. 191-206) as to the Sultanate of Granada (pp. 207-226), whose life is considered in connection with what happened to the Mudejars (Arab. mudajan - "tamed"), i.e. by Muslims on Christian territory. Granada has adopted many of the traditions of the Al-Andalus culture. The prominent historian and philosopher Ibn az-Zubayr, the refined poet Ibn Zamrak, and the "greatest author of Granada", the minister, historian and poet Ibn al - Khatib, who is well versed in medicine, physics, geography, philosophy, and religion, worked here.-

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He is recognized by contemporary authors as "one of the main Muslim scholars of all time". Built by the Nasrids, the magnificent Alhambra fortress-palace, which served as a model for subsequent Muslim architecture, impresses with the perfection of its forms even today.

After the unification of Castile and Aragon (1479), the last bastion of Muslim statehood on the peninsula fell. In 1492, Al-Andalus ceased to exist. However, the legacy left by him is much more important for the culture of not only the East, but also the West, than is commonly thought. Guichard elaborates on this issue, noting the "contradictory fate of mudeharism", which influenced the economy, culture and art of Spain and Portugal, especially in the Maghreb, where the civilization of Al - Andalus "largely lives in a number of features of Muslim culture", especially in crafts, customs, music, architecture. Moreover, he credits Al-Andalus with the "charm of Islam" of the medieval West, which was expressed in the sphere of material, spiritual, everyday and other culture of Italy, Spain, and the south of France, from where it was transmitted to other European countries. Guichard ends the book with a story about how the "forgotten" Al-Andalus "was rediscovered" thanks to scientific research that is more than 200 years old.

Chronology, maps, and bibliography complete this extremely capacious and valuable book, which, on the one hand, summarizes all Western studies on the history of Al - Andalus, and on the other, is interesting with a fresh look at this history by one of its best experts, who managed to approach many aspects of it in a new way.

notes

¹ The reviewer knows more than 50 works of P. Guichard. The most important of them are: Structures sociales "orientales" et "occidentales" dans l'Espagne musulmane. Paris-La Haye, 1977; L'Espagne et la Sicile musulmanes au XIe et XIIe siecles. Lyon, 1990. 2000; Les Musulmans de Valence et la Reconquete (XIe- XIIIe siecles). T. 1-2. Damas, 1990-1991; Le Sarq al-Andalus, l'Orient et Ie Maghreb au XII-e et XIII-siecles / Relaciones de la Peninsula Iberica con el Magreb. Actas del Coloquio. Madrid, 1998. P. 1-20; Les Mozarabes de Valence et d'Al-Andalus entre 1'histoire et le mythe / Revue de l'Occident Musulman et de la Mediterranee. Aix-en-Provence. 1985, N 40. P. 17-27; L'Espagne des Amirides et des princes des tayfas; Les Almoravides; Les Almohades; La poussee europeenne et les musulmans d'Occident / Etats, societes et cultures du Monde Musulman Medieval, Xe- XVe siecle. T. 1. P., 1995. P. 49-80, 151-167,205-232,282-314.

² See reviews of his works: Orient (Oriens). 1992. N 1. pp. 181-187; Asia and Africa today. 1994. N 12. pp. 63-68; Vostok (Oriens). 1997. N 2. p. 188-192; Voprosy istorii [Questions of History]. 1998. N 1. pp. 124-130.

^{Bazzana A., Guichard P.} 3 Les chateaux ruraux d'Al-Andalus. Madrid, 1988.

^{Lagardere V.} 4 Le Vendredi de Zailaqa: 23 octobre 1086. P. 1989; idem. Campagnes et paysans d'al-Andalus (VIIe-XVe s.). P., 1993; idem. Les Almoravides: le djihad andalou (1106-1143). P., 1998.

^{Shaban M.A.} 5 Islamic History A.D. 600-750 (A.H. 132). A New Interpretation. Cambridge University Press. 1971. P.120.

⁶ In his interpretation of the uprisings of the IX-X centuries, Guichard takes into account the recently published work of the Spanish Arabist historian M. de Guichard. Aden Almansa M. Entre el Feudalismo y el Islam. Umar Ibn Hafsdn en los historiadores, en las fuentas у en la historia. Jaen. 1997), but criticizes his exaggeration of the role of former Visigothic feudal lords and downplaying the significance of the confrontation between ethno-religious groups (pp. 72-74).

⁷ The title repeats the title of M. Barcelo's book. El Sol que salio рог Occidente. Estudios so-bre el Estado omeya en Al-Andalus. Universidad de Jaen, 1997).

⁸ This was recently proved by M. V. Rudakova. See: Rudakova M. V. The collapse of the Cordoba Caliphate (the era of Fitna and muluk at-tawa'if). Avtoref. kand. dis. Moscow, 2001.

⁹ See: Kudelin A. B. Classical Arab-Spanish poetry, Moscow, 1973; Filshtinsky IM. Andalusia in the image of Washington Irving / Irving V. Alhambra, Moscow, 1979. pp. 5-22; Filyitinsky IM., Shidfar B. Ya. Essay on Arab-Muslim culture, Moscow, 1971; Shidfar B. Ya. Andalusian literature. Moscow, 1970.

^{Dhina Amar.} 10 Grands tournants de l'histoire de l'Islam. Alger, 1982. P. 144-148.

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