Abd al-Rahman III
Assumption of the Caliphate

We are the most worthy to fulfill our right, and the most entitled to complete our good fortune, and to put on the clothing granted by the nobility of God, because of the favour which He has shown us, and the renown which He has given us, and the power to which He has raised us, because of what He has enabled us to acquire, and because of what He has made easy for us and for our state to achieve; He has made our name and the greatness of our power celebrated everywhere; and He has made the hopes of the worlds depend on us, and made their errings turn again to us and their rejoicing at good news be (rejoicing at good news) about our dynasty. And praise be to God, possessed of grace and kindness, for the grace which He has shown, most worthy of superiority for the superiority which He has granted us. We have decided that the da‘wa should be to us as Commander of the Faithful and that letters emanating from us or coming to us should be in the same manner. Everyone who calls himself by this name apart from ourselves is arrogating it to himself and trespassing upon it and is branded with something to which he has no right. We know that if we were to continue the neglect of this duty which is owed to us in this matter then we should be forfeiting our right and neglecting our title, which is certain. So order the khaṭīb in your place to pronounce using and address your communications to us accordingly, if God will. Written on Thursday, 2 Dhū al-Ḥijja 316.

Translated by David Wasserstein

Despite having defeated only some of the rebels, Abd al-Rahman III considered himself powerful enough to declare himself Caliph of Córdoba on 16 January 929, effectively breaking his allegiance to, and ties with, the Fatimid and Abbasid caliphs. The caliphate was thought only to belong to the Emperor who ruled over the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, and his ancestors had until then been content with the title of emir. But the force of this tradition had weakened over time; and the title increased Abd al-Rahman's prestige with his subjects, both in Iberia and Africa. He based his claim to the caliphate on his Umayyad ancestors who had held undisputed control of the caliphate until they were overthrown by the Abbasids.

Abd al-Rahman's move made him both the political and the religious leader of all the Muslims in al-Andalus, as well as the protector of his Christian and Jewish subjects. The symbols of his new caliphal power were a sceptre (jayzuran) and the throne (sarir). In the mint he had founded in November 928, Abd al-Rahman started to mint gold dinars and silver dirhams, replacing the "al-Andalus" title with his name.

In his new role as caliph, he achieved the surrender of Ibn Marwan of Badajoz in 930 as well as the surrender of the Banu Dānis of Alcácer do Sal. On the southern front, to counter the increasing Fatimid power in North Africa, abd al-Rahmad ordered the construction of a fleet based in Almeria. The caliph helped the Maghrawa Berbers conquer Melilla (927), Ceuta (931) and Tangiers (951), who, in return, accepted his suzerainty. However, he was unable to defeat Jawhar al-Siqilli of the Fatimids. In 951 he signed a peace with the new king of León, Ordoño III, in order to have a free hand against the Fatimids whose ships were harassing caliphal shipping in the Mediterranean and had even launched an assault against Almeria. Abd al-Rahman's force, led by prime minister Ahmad ibn Said, besieged the Fatimid port of Tunis, which bought its safety by paying a huge sum.

In the end he was able to create a protectorate covering the northern and central Maghreb, supporting the Idrisid dynasty; the Caliphate's influence in the area disappeared after a Fatimid offensive in 958, after which abd al-Rahman kept only the strongholds of Ceuta and Tangiers.
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