Sharq al-Andalus

The Sharq al-Andalus (Arabic: شرق الاندلس) is defined as the eastern lands of al-Andalus, territories that have lived under a political power of acceptance of Islam as a belief and as a political structure and that geographically would include the territories of Murcia, the Valencian Community, New Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. During the Islamic period, the cartographer al-Idrisi outlined the division between Gharb al-Andalus and Sharq al-Andalus on his maps.

Map of Sharq al-Andalus in the 11th century

Most of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was carried out through treaties, such as the Treaty of Theodemir (Tudmir to the Arabs), a Visigoth nobleman and lord of extensive lands around Orihuela. Theodemir recognised Muslim sovereignty and agreed to pay tribute in exchange for keeping his properties.

During the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries, Sharq al-Andalus was governed by valis dependent on the emir or caliph of Córdoba. At the beginning of the 11th century, when the caliphate broke up into small independent kingdoms (taifas), the taifas of Murcia, Denia, Valencia, Mallorca, Alpuente and Tortosa were created in Sharq al-Andalus.

After the incorporation into al-Andalus, the majority of the Christian population (Mozarabs) converted to Islam (muladis) and adopted the language and ways of life of Islamic society. A large number of Arabs and, above all, Berbers from North Africa also settled in Sharq al-Andalus.

Sharq al-Andalus was integrated into the Islamic world for almost five centuries, until it was largely conquered in the first half of the 13th century by James I of Aragon.