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The Moors: Light of Europe’s Dark Age

The Moors: Light of Europe’s Dark Age
  • PublishedMarch 23, 2020

History to Africans is something that’s given much reverence in Africa. Arguably, African history is everybody’s history. As research has given us a reason to believe that blacks are those with 100percent human DNA. 

According to the popular Oxford English Dictionary, the Moors, in the Middle Ages and late 17th century, were “commonly supposed to be black or very swarthy, instead, the word is often used for Negro.”

In the early 18th century, after a grim and extended resistance to the Arab invasions of North, the Moors converted to the surge of Islam. Sequel to this, they moved to Iberian peninsula where their victories and achievements soon became the substance of legends.

With 400 foot soldiers and 100 horses, all the Berbers executed their mission successfully in southern Iberia in July 710. The success of the mission made Tarif, an important port city in southern Spain, is named after Tarik.

However, it is vivid that the conquest of Spain was executed upon the initiative of Tarik ibn Ziyad. Tarik was a commander with at least 10,000 army under his command.

After a year, the courageous Tarik crossed the straits and went ashore near a rock promontory, which ever since then has borne his name Djabal Tarik (“Tarik’s Mountain”), or Gibraltar. Same year in August, Tarik won the paramount victory over the opposing European army.

On the night before the battle, it was reported that Tarik aroused his troops with the following words: “My brothers, the enemy is before you, the sea is behind; whither would ye fly? Join your general; I have determined either to lose my life or to trample on the prostrate king of the Romans.”

Wasting no time to unleash his victory, Tarik proceeded with his dashing and seemingly tireless Moorish cavalry to the Spanish city of Toledo. Within a month’s time, General Tarik ibn Ziyad had effectively eliminated Europeans who dominated the Iberian Peninsula.

After the bravery of thousands of Moors who flooded the Iberian Peninsula, some were eager to cross that they floated over on tree-trunks. 

Tarik himself, at the end of his illustrious military career, retired to the distant East, to spread the teachings of Islam.

There absolutely no need to speculate on the ethnicity of these early invaders. The Primera Cronica General of Alfonso X., made the observation regarding the Moors. They said their faces were purely black as pitch, the beautiful ones amongst them were as black as a cooking pot.

Written By
Africh Royale

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