The Golden Age: Emirate and Caliphate of Córdoba (756-1031)

Abderraman I, who founded the independent Emirate of Córdoba in 756, spent much of his reign (756-788) crushing internal revolts and in 785-786 founded the Great Mosque of Córdoba on the site of a former Visigothic church. His successors expanded both the state and the mosque: Al-Hakam I suppressed the serious Revolt of the Suburb in Córdoba in 818, Abderraman II developed the administration and courtly culture, and Muhammad I faced the decades-long muladí rebellion of Umar ibn Hafsun, based at the fortress of Bobastro, which exposed the deep tensions among Arabs, Berbers, muladíes, and Mozarabs within Andalusi society.