Andalusian Culture Remains Strong in the Maghreb

03/02/2005

While Al Andalus represents a glorious past to many Middle Eastern Arabs, people of the Maghreb region continue to embrace aspects of Andalusian culture. They inherited the culture from Andalusians who settled in North Africa after their expulsion from what is now southern Spain.

("Andalusian Music," "Interview with Dwight Reynolds," Afropop.org – 2001-2003; "Alhambra," Greatbuildings.com; "Tunisia's Andalusian Heritage," Contemporary Review – 01/07/00)

[File] Alhambra, Granada

In the Arab collective memory, Al Andalus remains a time and place when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived in an atmosphere of tolerance and peace. For some 800 years between the 8th and the 15th centuries, Al Andalus was an intellectual and creative centre of the Western world.

Cities like Cordoba, Granada, Seville and Toledo -- though politically divided during much of their history -- made important contributions to the fields of art, architecture, science, philosophy, literature and music. The cities produced key figures such as the great philosopher Ibn Rushd (1126-1198) and Moses Maimonides (1134-1204), an influential Jewish philosopher who later became Saladin's physician.

[File] The interior of the Cordoba Mosque

In the eighth century, armies of Arabs and Berbers led by Tariq Bin Ziyad conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula and unified it for the first time under Islamic rule. Al Andalus, as the territory came to be known, was administered by a provincial government based in Cordoba, which quickly became the most important centre for learning in the West. Pope Sylvester II (950-1003) is believed to have studied mathematics, science and mechanics in Cordoba and Seville. This pope is credited with introducing Arabic numerals, the decimal system, and Arab knowledge of astronomy to Europe.

The Christian armies of Aragon and Castille defeated the Almohads, a North African dynasty that had been in control of much of Al Andalus, in 1212. The armies reduced most of Al Andalus, except Nasrid-controlled Granada, into principalities that paid tribute to the northern Christian kingdoms. The Alhambra, a magnificent palace that was meant as a physical realization of Islamic paradise, was the last major Islamic monument to be built before the Christian armies started the process of ousting Muslims and Jews. Islamic rule ended in the Iberian Peninsula after eight centuries when Granada fell in 1492, the year Christopher Columbus arrived in America.

Arab ancestry was not common to all Andalusians. The majority of them were either North African Berbers, Iberian converts to Islam or Jews who lived in harmony with Muslims and Christians. The non-Christians began to leave Andalusia as early as the 11th century when Toledo was occupied by Alfonso VI, king of Castille. The last group to leave was the Moriscos, who had nominally converted to Christianity to avoid being expelled. According to historians, the eventual expulsion was due to them not assimilating quickly enough.

Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia were natural destinations for the exiles.

Fez in Morocco became home to Muslim and Jewish refugees from Toledo, Cordoba (which fell in the 12th century) and Seville (which fell in the 13th century). A section of Fez is known today as the Andalusian Quarter. Tetouan was completely rebuilt and repopulated by Granadan refugees.

Many communities in Morocco still identify themselves as Andalusian. Cities such as Diaz, Torres, Medina, Molina, Borras and Banzi still boast of such heritage.

In neighboring Algeria, Tlemcen became a haven for expelled Jews. The Moriscos settled in Oran. In Tunisia, some Moriscos re-converted to Islam but continued to speak and read Spanish for several centuries.

[File] Moorish and Christian Musicians from the Cantigas de Santa Maria (13th Century)

Andalusian impact on North African culture has been profound and continuous. Orchestras in Fez, Tangier and Tetouan still use Andalusian instruments and music dating back to 9th century singer and composer Ziryab. Andalusian music in Morocco is still referred to as ala and has long been encouraged and promoted by official authorities.

Andalusian migration created a renaissance in all forms of Tunisian art and architecture. Mosques, palaces and homes were decorated with colorful tiles reminiscent of buildings in Cordoba and Granada. Testour, 50 miles west of Tunis on the banks of the Medjerda River in the nation's ''Andalusian Countryside,'' is a near replica of an old Andalusian town with its tiled homes, street names and two-courtyard mosques. Blonde and blue-eyed children, undoubtedly descendents of Iberian Muslims, can occasionally be seen playing in the streets.

Andalusian music also survived in Tunisia, where it is called malouf. The Rashidiya, an Arabic music conservatory established in 1934, continues to preserve and study Andalusian music in its original form.

Andalusian music had a tougher time taking root in Algeria, where French occupation authorities and later religious fundamentalists tried to crush it. It luckily survived as underground music in cities such as Tlemcen and Oran, inspiring many young musicians to modernize the form and take it to new heights. In Oran it helped shape rai music, one of the most popular genres in North Africa.

Time could not sever the emotional ties between Andalusians and their former homeland but the expulsion of Andalusians allowed their culture to spread to the Maghreb. As a result, they continue to live in and enrich the nations of the Maghreb and the greater world community by their contributions.