Abd al-Rahman I

Who was Abd al-Rahman I?

Abd al-Rahman I, or, his full name by patronymic record, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was the founder of a Muslim dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries. The Muslims called the regions of Iberia under their dominion al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman's establishment of a government in al-Andalus represented a branching from the rest of the Islamic Empire, which had been brought under the Abbasid following the overthrow of the Umayyads from Damascus in 750.

He was also known by appellations al-Dakhil, Saqr Quraish and the "Falcon of Andalus". Variations of the spelling of his name include Abd ar-Rahman I, Abdul Rahman I and Abderraman I.