The southern part of the Iberian peninsula was under Islamic rule for seven hundred years. In medieval history, "al-Andalus" (Arabic: الأندلس) was the name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Arab and North African Muslims (given the generic name of Moors), at various times in the period between 711 and 1492.
Most of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania was conquered by the Umayyads in 711-18. Hispania (or al-Andalus) was organized as a single province (wilayah), with local provincial capital at Córdoba, and integrated into their empire. In the administrative structure of the Umayyad Caliphate, al-Andalus was formally a province subordinate to the Umayyad governor of Kairouan in Ifriqiya, rather than directly dependent on the Umayyad Caliph in Damascus. Most of the governors (wali) of al-Andalus from 711 to 756 were provincial deputies appointed by the governor in Kairouan, although a significant number of Andalusian governors during this period were chosen locally, with or without Kairouan's consent. Only one governor was a direct Caliphal appointee for Spain.
Although often characterized as "Umayyad governors", none of these dependent governors were actually members of the Umayyad family. They should not be confused with the later independent Umayyad emirs and caliphs of al-Andalus after 756 (who were indeed Umayyad family members).
Key: All appointed by governor of Ifriqiya except (*) elected internally by Andalusians; (**) appointed directly by Caliph; (***) forcibly imposed by Syrian regiments [1]
In 750, the Abbasid Revolution overthrew the Umayyad caliphate in Damascus. An Umayyad prince, Abd ar-Rahman I, escaped to al-Andalus and set up the independent Emirate of Cordoba.
In 929, the Emir Abd ar-Rahman III, proclaimed himself the Caliph, the leader of the Islamic world, in competition with the Abbasid and the Fatimid caliphates which were also active at this time.
Collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba, end of the Umayyads, beginning of the first Taifa period.
. Roger Collins . Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400–1000 . 2nd . New Studies in Medieval History . 1995 . St. Martin's Press . New York . 978-0-312-12662-9 . 299 . Lists of Rulers: The Arab Governors.