ABD-AR-RAHMAN I. (756-788) founded the branch of the family which ruled for nearly three centuries in Mohammedan Spain. When the Omayyads were overthrown in the East by the Abbasids, 'Abd-ar-Rahman ibn Moawya, grandson of the caliph Histfam, was a young man of about 20 years of age. Together with his brother Yahya, he took refuge with Bedouin tribes in the desert. The Abbasids hunted their enemies down without mercy. Yahya was slain, and eAbd-ar-Rahman saved himself by fleeing first to Syria and thence to northern Africa which had fallen into the hands of local rulers, formerly amirs or lieutenants of the Omayyad caliphs, but now aiming at independence. In the midst of all his perils, which read like stories from the Arabian Nights, eAbd-ar-Rahman had been encouraged by a prophecy of his great uncle Maslama that he would restore the fortunes of the family. He was followed in all his wanderings by a few faithful clients of the Omayyads. In 755 he was in hiding near Ceuta, and he sent an agent over to Spain to ask for the support of other clients of the family, descendants of the conquerors of Spain, who were numerous, in the province of Elvira, the modern Granada. On the invitation of his partisans he landed at Almunecar, to the east of Malaga, on Aug. 14, 755. In the course of 756 a campaign was fought in the valley of the Guadalquivir, which ended, on May 16, in the defeat of the emir Yusuf outside Cordova. 'Abd-ar Rahman's army was so ill provided that he mounted almost the only good war-horse in it ; he had no banner, and one was improvised by unwinding a green turban and binding it round the head of a spear. The turban and the spear became the banner of the Spanish Omayyads. YUsuf recognized (Abd-ar-Rahman as emir of Spain in July 756. (See SPAIN.) `ABD-AR-RAHMAN II. (822-852), son of the emir Hakam, was one of the weaker of the Spanish Omayyads. He was a prince with a taste for music and literature.
was the greatest and the most successful of the princes of his dynasty in Spain (for the general history of his reign see SPAIN : History). He succeeded his grandfather `Abdallah when he was barely 22 and reigned for half a century. (Abd-ar-Rahman III. came to the throne when the country was exhausted by more than a generation of tribal con flict among the Arabs, and of strife between them and the Mohammedans of native Spanish descent. Spaniards who were openly or secretly Christians had acted with the renegades. These elements were not averse from supporting a strong ruler who would protect them against the Arab aristocracy. These rest less nobles were the most serious of `Abd-ar-Rahman's enemies. Next to them came the Fatimites of Egypt and northern Africa, who claimed the caliphate, and who aimed at extending their rule over the Mohammedan world, at least in the west. `Abd-ar Rahman subdued the nobles by means of a mercenary army, which included Christians. He repelled the Fatimites, partly by supporting their enemies in Africa and partly by claiming the caliphate for himself. His ancestors in Spain had been content with the title of sultan. The caliphate was thought only to belong to the prince who ruled over the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. But the force of this tradition had been so far weakened that tAbd-ar-Rahman could proclaim himself caliph on Jan. 16, 929. His worst enemies were always his fellow Mohammedans. After he was defeated by the Christians at Alhandega in 939 through the treason of the Arab nobles in his army (see SPAIN : History) he never again took the field.
In the agony of the Omayyad dynasty in Spain, two princes of the house were proclaimed caliphs for a very short time, `Abd ar-Rahman IV. Mortada (
and (Abd-ar-Rahman V. Mosta dir (1023-24). Both were the mere puppets of factions, who deserted them at once. eAbd-ar-Rahman IV. was murdered in the year in which he was proclaimed, at Guadiz, when fleeing from a battle in which he had been deserted by his supporters. `Abd-ar Rahman V. was proclaimed caliph in Dec. 1o23 at Cordova, and murdered in Jan. 1o24 by a mob of unemployed workmen, headed by one of his own cousins.
The history of the Omayyads in Spain is the subject of the Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne by R. Dozy (Leyden, 1861).
IV. (1878- ), sultan of Morocco, son of Sultan Mulai el Hasan III. by a Circassian wife. He was 16 years of age on his father's death in 1894. By the wise action of Si Ahmad bin Musa, the chamberlain of el Hasan, Abd el-Aziz's accession to the sultanate was ensured with but little fighting. Si Ahmad became regent and for six years showed him self a capable ruler. On his death in I90o the regency ended, and Abd-el-Aziz took the reins of government into his own hands, with an Arab from the south, el Menebhi, for his chief adviser. Urged by his Circassian mother, the sultan sought advice and counsel from Europe and endeavoured to act up to it. But dis interested advice was difficult to obtain, and in spite of the un questionable desire of the young ruler to do the best for the country, wild extravagance both in action and expenditure re sulted, leaving the sultan with depleted exchequer and the con fidence of his people impaired. His intimacy with foreigners and his imitation of their ways were sufficient to rouse fanaticism and create dissatisfaction. Europeans were accused of having spoiled the sultan and of being desirous of spoiling the country. When British engineers were employed to survey the route for a railway between Mequinez and Fez this was reported as indicating an absolute sale of the country. The fanaticism of the people was aroused and a revolt broke out near the Algerian frontier. Such was the condition of things when the news of the Anglo-French Agreement of 1904 came as a blow to Abd-el-Aziz, who had relied on England for support and protection against the inroads of France. On the advice of Germany he proposed the assembly of an international conference at Algeciras in 1906 to consult upon methods of reform, the sultan's desire being to ensure a condition of affairs which would leave foreigners with no excuse for interference in the control of the country. The sultan gave his adherence to the Act of the Algeciras Conference, but the state of anarchy into which Morocco fell during the latter half of 1906 and the beginning of i9o7 exposed the weakness of his gov ernment. In May 1907 the southern tribes invited Mulai Hafid, an elder brother of Abd-el-Aziz, and viceroy at Marrakesh, to become sultan, and in the following August Hafid was proclaimed sovereign. In the meantime the murder of Europeans at Casa blanca had led to the occupation of that port by France. In Sep tember Abd-el-Aziz arrived at Rabat from Fez to seek the sup port of the European powers against his brother. From France he was later enabled to negotiate a loan. His leaning to Christians aroused further opposition and in January 1908 he was declared deposed by the ulema of Fez, who offered the throne to Hafid. Af ter months of inactivity Abd-el-Aziz made an effort to restore his authority, and quitting Rabat in July he marched on Mar rakesh. His force was completely overthrown (Aug. 19) when near that city, and Abd-el-Aziz fled to Settat within the French lines round Casablanca. In November he came to terms with his brother, and thereafter took up his residence in Tangier as a pensioner of the new sultan. (See MOROCCO: History.)
