2021-04-26 Mon

Hisham I or Hisham Al-Reda ?was the second Umayyad Emir of Cordoba, ruling from 788 to 796 in al-Andalus.

Hisham was born April 26, 757 in Cordoba. He was the first son of Abd al-Rahman I and his wife, Halul, and the younger half-brother of Suleiman. At the beginning of his reign, in 788, he faced rebellions from his brothers, Suleiman and 'Abd Allah.

Faced with Carolingian penetration south across the western and eastern Pyrenees, in 793 he called a jihad against the Christian Franks, sent over troops to Girona and Narbonne, but those strongholds stood firm. The Umayyad general Abd al-Malik ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Mughith was more fortunate on his approach to Carcassonne, where he defeated Louis the Pious' Carolingian mentor William of Orange. However, surprisingly, the expedition did not advance deeper into Carolingian territory, but resulted in hefty loot and numerous slaves, which in turn provided the funds to expand the Great Mosque of Cordoba and build many mosques.

Depicted here is silver Dirham issued under Hisham I reign in 175AH.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org