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The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of Al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including the present day Spain and Portugal ) and the Maghreb and western Africa , whose culture is often called Moorish . A usual misconception is to relate them to the inhabitants of modern day Mauritania to which they are only related by an historic and therefore ambiguous name. According to the British Museum, Oxford University and Egyptologist scholar Stanley Lane-Poole , author of "Moors in Spain" Poole proves Moors were African and of Ethiopic and Berber origin (Arabic: السودان) and corrects the previously wrong notion that they were the descendents of slaves of the European Moors who then adopted the customs and language of their former masters. Since the Maure were a dark-skinned people in comparison to Europeans, 'Moor' came to be applied indiscriminately by Europeans to Africans, Muslims, Saracens, Persians, or Indians. This signifies that the term became known as a culture which would later include various ethnicities. Shakespeare's Othello was 'the Moor of Venice.' HISTORY In 711 AD, the Moors invaded Visigoth Christian Spain . Under their leader, a Berber general named Tariq Ibn-Ziyad they brought most of Spain under Islamic rule in an eight-year campaign. They attempted to move northeast across the Pyrenees Mountains but were defeated by the Frank Charles Martel at the Battle Of Tours in 732 . The Moors ruled in Spain, except for small areas in the northwest and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees, and in North Africa for several decades. The Moorish state suffered civil conflict in the 750s . The country then broke up into a number of mostly Islamic Fiefdom s, which were consolidated under the Caliphate Of Cordoba . Christian states based in the north and west slowly extended their power over Spain . Galicia , León , Navarre , Aragon , Catalonia or '' Marca Hispanica '', and eventually Castile became Christian in the next several centuries. This period is known for the tolerant acceptance of Christians, Muslim s and Jew s living in the same territories. Although, the Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed in 1031 and the Islamic territory in Spain came to be ruled by North African Moors. In 1212 a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of Alfonso VIII Of Castile drove the muslims from Central Spain . However the Moorish Kingdom of Granada thrived for three more centuries in the southern Iberian peninsula. This kingdom is known in modern time for architectural gems such as the Alhambra . On January 2 , 1492 , the leader of the last Muslim stronghold in Granada surrendered to armies of a recently united Christian Spain. The remaining Muslim were forced to leave Spain or convert to Christianity. These descendants of the Muslims were named '' Morisco s''. They were an important portion of the peasants in some territories, like Aragon , Valencia or Andalusia , until their systematic expulsion in the years from 1609 to 1614 . Henre Lapeyre has estimated that this affected 300,000 out of a total of 8 million inhabitants at the time. In the meantime, the tide of Islamic conquest had rolled not just westward to Spain, but also eastward, through India , the Malayan Peninsula , and Indonesia , up to Mindanao , one of the major islands of an archipelago, which the Spanish had reached during their voyages westward from the New World . By 1521 , the ships of Magellan had themselves reached that island archipelago, which they named the Philippines , after Philip II Of Spain . On Mindanao, the Spanish also named these Kris -bearing people as Moros , or 'Moors'. See Reconquista . ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL FACTS When the Romans entered West Africa in 46 B.C., they called the Africans Maure s, from the Greek adjective ''mauros'', meaning dark skin. It is from mauros and the Latin term Maure s that the word ''Moor'' is derived. Since the inhabitants of North Africa were an admixture, with the majority being dark-skinned, the Romans, and later the Europeans, called them Moors. It is no coincidence that the land inhabited by the Moors was called Mauretania and Morocco. In the beginning of the seventh century, the Arab prophet, Mohammed, began to preach the word of Islam. Consumed with religious fervor, the Arabs sought to spread Islam and conquer the world. By 708 , the Arabs had overrun North Africa. Consequently, Moors in large numbers accepted Arabic as the national language and converted to their conqueror's religion, garnering Ethiopian and various other multicultural groups who supported Islam's sweep across the continent. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century), Spain was held by a European tribe, the Visigoths. Though they were Arian Christians, their brand of Christianity was cruel and unjust. For this reason, Spain's Jews, serfs, and slaves looked favorably upon the arrival of a new civilization in which they would be able to live free of persecution. Tarik, a great African chief, was given the rank of general in the Arab army and sent to raid Spain. On April 30 , 711 , Tarik landed on the Spanish Coast with 7,000 troops. His troops consisted of 300 Arabs and 6,700 native Africans (Moors). An ancient source, Ibn Husayn (ca. 950 , recorded that these troops were " Sudanese ", an Arabic word for these African people. The Moors were unstoppable, and Visigoth ic Spain ceased to be. The few resisting Visigoths fled to the caves of the Cantabrian Mountains. Later in the century, they would reclaim parts of northern Spain. The Moors of Africa were the primary military force. When the Arabs arrived, the main part of the battle had been completed already. The Arab chiefs assigned themselves the most fertile regions. This dissatisfied the Moors, who were not long in coming to blows with the Arabs(The History of Spain by Louis Bertrand and Sir Charles Petrie - published by Eyre & Spottiswood, London, 1945, page 36). Ultimately, the Moors acquired two-thirds of the peninsula, which they named Al-Andalus . Al-Andalus was obliged to pay tribute to the Arab Caliph of Damascus . As Al-Andulus acquired its own identity, its bond with the Caliph began to weaken. In 756 , Al-Andalus proclaimed itself an independent state as a scion of the recently toppled Ummayad Dynasty reestablished an Ummayad caliphate in Al-Andalus to rival the Abbasid Caliphate that had supplanted the former in other parts of the Muslim world. Thus, its only links to the Arabs would be the Islamic faith and the Arabic language. The Moorish architectural remains in Cordoba, Seville, and Granada prove conclusively that these cities were prosperous and artistically brilliant when compared to Christian cities in Europe at the time. The Moors of Al-Andalus held the torch of learning and civilization when compared to the rest of Europe. OTHER MOORS IN HISTORY
PRESENT-DAY MOORS In modern usage, Moor or '''Moorish''' ( dialect of Arabic . These Moors live mainly in Western Sahara and the Islamic Republic Of Mauritania , from which the latter country derives its name. Historically, European scholars have divided the Moors into two groups: African, and European-Arab Moors. Arabs invaded North Africa during 640 C.E. and (- Berber origin. This represented the smallest group within the Moorish population. Moors were all one class and culture. Although darker skinned African Moors made up the majority of this group, race and ethnic division did not exist amongst Moors and there was no distinction in regards to Race . (see also Memetic Engineering ) This has been proven by Joel Augustus Rogers ' book "Nature Knows No Color Lines". Further Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan author of "Africa: Mother of Western Civilization" goes on to prove this group is from Ethiopic origins that migrated to northwest and northeast regions of Africa, and the only thing Arabic about the Moors was the fact that they were Moslem. This happened after adopting Islam upon the Arab invasion of North Africa during the year 640 C.E. Moors did not and currently do not identify themselves with black or white neither does other islamic groups seen elsewhere. In addition the Moors themselves were responsible for much of the slave trade including selling others into slavery including Europeans, Africans and others. According to some reports slavery is still practiced in parts of Mauritania and elsewhere and Sudan in Darfur. NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES OF MOORS Early 17th-century English attitudes toward non-Europeans were largely shaped by the government's diplomatic policies and, to a lesser extent, by exotic stories brought back by travelers overseas. The term “moor” was derived from the name of the country Mauretania as stated above and was used to refer to North, West and East Africans or, even more loosely, for non-whites or Muslims of any origin. North and West Africans living in Elizabethan England were frequently singled out for their unusual dress, behavior and customs and were commonly referred to as “devils” or “villains.” Moors were commonly stereotyped as sexually overactive, prone to jealousy, (''Othello'') and generally wicked. The public associated “blackness” with moral corruption, citing examples from Christian theology to support the view that whiteness was the sign of purity, just as blackness indicated sin. Although Queen Elizabeth granted the Moors “full diplomatic recognition” out of gratitude for their help in conquering Spain, in 1601 she deported them, citing concerns about their irregular behavior and a fear that allowing them to stay in England would lead to overpopulation. Africans were not typically associated with slavery at that time, since the slave trade would not be fully established until the late 17th century. Instead, the Elizabethan portrait of the dark-skinned “other” clearly established him as a bestial force, dangerous because of his sexuality, temper and magical powers. QUOTES
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