Battle of Toulouse Abd Al-Rahman took part in the
Battle of Toulouse, where
Al Samh ibn Malik was killed in 721 (102
AH) by the forces of Duke
Odo of Aquitaine. After the severe defeat, he fled south along with other commanders and troops, and took over the command of Eastern Andalus. He was briefly relieved of his command, when
Anbasa ibn Suhaym al-Kalbi was appointed in 721. After Anbasa died in 726 in southern
Gaul, several successive commanders were put in place, none of whom lasted very long.
Rebellion in Cerdanya In 730, the
Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik appointed Abd Al-Rahman as
wali (governor) of al-Andalus.
David Levering Lewis describes him as "intelligent, eloquent, and an accomplished administrator". On hearing that
Uthman ibn Naissa, the Berber deputy governor of Catalunya, had concluded an alliance with duke
Odo of Aquitaine, in order to set up an independent Catalunya for himself, the governor hurried to quell the rebellion. He engaged the Berber lord's forces and killed him in 731. By some accounts, Uthman ibn Naissa killed himself.
Battle of the River Garonne The wali assembled troops in
Pamplona, called for recruits from Yemen and the
Levant, and prepared to cross the Pyrenees into
Gaul. Many arrived, and he crossed the
Pyrenees range with an army composed primarily of
Arabs. Emir Abd Al-Rahman made his way through
Gascony and
Aquitaine, according to one unidentified Arab, "That army went through all places like a desolating storm," sacking and capturing the city of
Bordeaux, after defeating Duke
Odo of Aquitaine in battle outside the city, and then again defeating a second army of Duke Odo at the Battle of the River Garonne —where the western chroniclers state, "God alone knows the number of the slain." he formed an army of Gauls and Germans approximately 30,000 strong. The invading forces, having no reason to believe the Franks were anything more than one of the various barbarian tribes that had ravaged Europe after Rome's fall, failed to scout their strength in advance. They also misjudged Charles Martel, who was determined to prevent the expansion of the Caliphate over the Pyrenees into the heart of Christian Europe. This was a disastrous mistake which led to the defeat of Abd Al-Rahman in 732 near
Poitiers, south of the river
Loire. The Frankish leader chose the battlefield. Moving his army over the mountains and avoiding the open roads, he escaped detection until positioning his men on a high, wooded plain. Martel had carefully chosen the battlefield, in large part knowing the hills and trees surrounding his position would greatly hinder the Umayyad cavalry. For seven days, the two armies skirmished and maneuvered, with the Islamic forces recalling all their raiding parties, so that on the seventh day, their army was at full strength. Martel also received some reinforcements, though most historians agree he was badly outnumbered during the battle. Martel trained his men to fight in a large square, similar to the ancient Greek phalanx formation, to withstand the Umayyad heavy cavalry. The Franks held their defensive formation all day, and repulsed repeated charges by the Umayyad heavy cavalry. According to Lewis, the Umayyad soldiers were accompanied by their families. Wives and concubines were among the casualties. Realizing their camp was being plundered, a large contingent of Abd Al-Rahman's forces broke off battle and returned to rescue their booty. Abd Al-Rahman was thus left exposed before the Frankish infantry and was killed in battle while attempting to rally his men. One reason for the defeat of the Umayyad army was their preoccupation with war booty; another was the squabbles between various ethnic and tribal factions, which led to the surviving generals being unable to agree on a single commander to take Abd Al-Rahman's place. Political factions, racial and ethnic rivalries, and personality clashes arose following his death. The varied nationalities and ethnicities present in an army drawn from all over the Caliphate, and the surviving generals, bickered among themselves, unable to agree on a commander to lead them the following day. The inability to select anyone to lead certainly contributed to the wholesale retreat of an army that was still dangerous. == See also ==