Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus is a term used for Iberia when it was partly or fully ruled by the Moors during the Middle Ages. The Moors were Muslims from North Africa who brought with them a culture that has been preserved in Spain, notably through architecture.

Understand
Al-Andalus began when Tariq ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad commander, led a large army across the Strait of Gibraltar (In Arabic Jabal Ṭāriq, "mountain of Tariq") into what was then Visigothic Hispania in 711.

It ended with the Reconquista ("reconquest") in 1492, when Granada, the last Islamic stronghold in Iberia, fell to the Christian kingdoms of northern Iberia. Consequently, the remaining Muslim and Jewish populations were either forced to convert to Christianity, killed, or were expelled, Muslims chiefly to North Africa and Jews mostly to Italy or the Ottoman-held Eastern Mediterranean

As a result of this history of Muslim rule, the Spanish language contains many loan words from Arabic, and Spanish cuisine also exhibits substantial Arabic influences.

The modern Spanish region of Andalusia derives its name from this polity.