Most of the
Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania was
conquered by the Umayyads in 711-18. Hispania (or
al-Andalus) was organized as a single province (wilayah), with local provincial capital at
Córdoba, and integrated into their empire. In the administrative structure of the
Umayyad Caliphate, al-Andalus was formally a province subordinate to the Umayyad governor of
Kairouan in
Ifriqiya, rather than directly dependent on the Umayyad Caliph in
Damascus. Most of the governors (wali) of al-Andalus from 711 to 756 were provincial deputies appointed by the governor in
Kairouan, although a significant number of Andalusian governors during this period were chosen locally, with or without Kairouan's consent. Only one governor was a direct Caliphal appointee for Spain.
Although often characterized as "Umayyad governors", none of these dependent governors were actually members of the
Umayyad family. They should not be confused with the later independent Umayyad emirs and caliphs of al-Andalus after 756 (who were indeed Umayyad family members).
Key: All appointed by governor of
Ifriqiya except (*) elected internally by Andalusians; (**) appointed directly by Caliph; (***) forcibly imposed by Syrian regiments [1]
In 929, the Emir
Abd ar-Rahman III, proclaimed himself the
Caliph, the leader of the Islamic world, in competition with the
Abbasid and the
Fatimid caliphates which were also active at this time.
^Compiled from Gonzalo Martínez Díez, El condado de Castilla, 711-1038, p. 743; Abd al-Wahid Dhannun Taha (1989) Muslim Conquest and Settlement of North Africa and Spain, p. 183.