THE ARAB CONQUEST 169who thus established their authority over all of Al-Andalus.^45 It was
not to go unchallenged thereafter, especially in the later ninth cen-
tury, but the imposition of centralised rule from Cordoba over so
much of the peninsula proved the prelude to the cultural flowering
of Al-Andalus in the Umayyad period.Society and Government
'Abd al-Ral}.man set up an independent state in Al-Andalus, breaking
the political unity of the Islamic world, an example soon to be fol-
lowed by others, notably in North Africa. He took the title of Amir,
basically a secular and military one, and refused allegiance to the
'Abbasids. However their precedence as titular heads of the commu-
nity of Orthodox Muslims, as expressed in the title of caliph, was not
challenged by the Spanish Umayyads until 929, when 'Abd al-Ral}.man
III, a descendant of the founder of the dynasty, established his own
caliphate. Through the rule of 'Abd al-Ral}.man I (756-788) a meas-
ure of order was restored to the peninsula, principally by the careful
placing or relocation of the mutually hostile elements amongst the
conquerors. It has sometimes been stated that Arab tribal distinctions
declined and disappeared in early Umayyad Spain. Quite the contrary
appears to have been the case. The tribal organisation of Arab society
remained strong, possibly being reinforced by recruitment from the
ranks of the muwallads, until at least the end of the tenth century.46
As Al-Maqqari saw it: 'Even after this monarch ('Abd al-Ral]man I)
had subjected the whole of Andalus to his sway, the western provinces
of the Empire were still cut up and divided into districts, inhabited
by tribes, clans, and families, who in case of need, clung to each other
for protection, and who in time of rebellion or civil discords, were
sure to stand by one another. '47 These continuing tribal divisions,
with the attendant feuds and loyalties, together with the existence of
large numbers of Berbers, muwallads and Christians, presented the
Umayyad regime with far greater problems of order and stability than
their Roman or Visigothic predecessors had had to face.
It is possible to know more about the government of Islamic Spain
than about those of its precursors. The accounts to be found in the
sources, notably Al-Maqqari, provide a basically unchronological pic-
ture, but it appears that most of the standard features of the admin-
istration developed by the 'Abbasids in Iraq in the later eighth and
ninth centuries were also employed in Al-Andalus.^48 The resulting