Abderramán III was the first caliph of Córdoba , he ruled al-Andalus between the years 912 and 961. He was born in 891 in Córdoba. He was the son of Mohamed (son of Abdallah ben Mohamed) and Maria (daughter of a Catholic father). he Succeeded, in 912, his grandfather, who preferred him over his children and appointed him successor to his throne . As soon as he rose to power, he had to fight and finish off many rebels that still remained from the previous reign. In Toledo, he defeated the sons of Hafsún; in Alhama, he submitted to Azomor; in Cazorla, Obeidallah; Zaragoza also surrendered to him.
On January 16, 929, he put an end to the emirate and set himself up as caliph; thus began the caliphate of Córdoba. In 932, he took over all government functions from him. On the other hand, on several occasions, Abderramán III went to war against the Catholic kings of the north of the Peninsula:against Ordoño II of León (910-924), who called Sancho Garcés I of Navarra (905 -925); but the caliph's army defeated them in Val de Junquera, later he was defeated by Sancho and his son García Sánchez I (925-970); meanwhile, Ordoño II entered through al-Andalus to near Córdoba, destroyed several towns and returned to León with considerable booty. He also fought against Caliph Ramiro II (930-950), King of Asturias and León, together with Fernán González (929-970), Count of Castile, and they defeated him. Later, the caliph besieged Zamora, and against him were Ramiro II, Fernán González and García Sánchez (from Navarra); then the battle of the «Moat of Zamora» took place , where, although the Arabs won, 50,000 Muslims perished, and Abderramán III himself was seriously wounded on August 5, 939; but Ramiro II returned to recover Zamora shortly after. These fights continued for years with alternating fate. Ordoño III (950-955), king of Asturias and León, sacked Lisbon and returned to León.
Death of Abderrahman III
Abderrahman III died on November 15, 961 in Córdoba. He is considered the greatest of the caliphs of al-Andalus. He was the first to engrave his name and his titles on coins. He was a man of great learning and a poet. All his children were poets, philosophers or historians. In his palace of Meruán, the wisest men of his time met, and there all the branches of knowledge of that time were cultivated. Córdoba became the emporium of the culture of his time; in it he created, Abderrahmán, the first Medicine Academy that existed in Europe; Sancho I of Asturias and León went there to cure his obesity. This caliph built, at the foot of Sierra Morena, the city-palace of Madina al-Zahra, in memory of his favorite wife. In this work, 10,000 workers worked for more than 20 years. In the harem he had 6,000 women.