How Did The Islamic Empire Gain Power By Conquering Spain

The Islamic Caliphates gain, consolidate, and maintain power by conquering Spain, changing the daily life of the citizens, and establishing a stable government. The Islamic Empire, one of the greatest of its time, gained the power to achieve this label. The power advancements are expressed in Document 3. The evidence describes that Tariq ibn Ziyad ventured with his troops into Spain with the intent to claim it as part of the Islamic Empire and had great success in conquering Spain from 711 to 718 CE (Document 3, Tariq’s Address to His Soldiers, 711 CE). Understandably, conquering involves using military force to claim land. Spain became a part of the Islamic Empire and was ruled under the same laws as the rest of the empire. In addition, Spain

The Islamic Empire consolidated power by altering the daily lives of its citizens. In Document 6b, the adaptation to the currency is illustrated. The evidence states, “The Umayyad and Abbasid Dynasties replaced the Byzantine coins and the coins of other empires that once ruled the areas they controlled with coins that they minted themselves” (Document 6b, Standard Coinage). In addition Document 3 states, “At the time of his crossing, it was called the Strait of Hercules, … it was renamed the Strait of Gibraltar. … meaning “mountain of Tariq'', referring to … a rock formation where Tariq ibn Ziyad gathered his troops near the strait” (Document 3, Tariq’s Address to His Soldiers, 711 CE). A change in currency causes the people of the area to abide by the new economic system or else their current assets won’t have worth. Since citizens did not want to lose all of their wealth, they changed their currency. This allowed the Islamic Empire to consolidate power because they did not fight the people to change their currency. It is clear that the original coins no longer have worth, adding to the consolidation of

The ability to maintain power allowed the Islamic Empire to last various centuries. In the Islamic Empire, the caliphates maintained power through the use of a reliable government. Document 6d states “Diwans were boards, or committees, of advisors that helped the caliph divide up the responsibilities of the caliphate’s central government” (Document 6d, Central Diwans). Furthermore, the Diwan al-Khara, Diwan al-Rasa’il, Diwan al-Khatam, Diwan al-Barid, Diwan al-Qudat, and Diwan al-Jund administered and collected money, updated communication, kept records, administered postal services, dealt with legal court cases, and managed the military (Document 6d, Central Diwans). By dividing up the responsibilities, the government was able to be more efficient and effective over time. Furthermore, because one person was not in charge of everything, the Empire would be more likely to last and recover if something happened to a specific Diwan. Since the Islamic Caliphate was a strong and stable government the people would also be more willing to cooperate and fight for their empire. This will allow the empire to last longer as well because the people have