Developments in the Field of Agriculture in Muslim Spain

Abstract

With the Islamic rule, important developments emerged in Muslim Spain in the field of agriculture as in many other fields. With the encouragement and interest of the Umayyads of Iberian and the Muslim administrators who ruled the peninsula afterwards, new plant species and agricultural technologies brought from the East entered the region and existing technologies were improved. The traditional crops of the Iberian Peninsula were improved and their yields increased. Many agricultural techniques, starting from new irrigation techniques to the preparation of various types of fertilisers, began to be applied in the Peninsula during this period. This article discusses the developments in the field of agriculture after the Muslims took control of the Iberian Peninsula and the contributions of the Umayyad emirs and caliphs and the rulers of the Muslim states established after the Umayyads to the development of agriculture. The introduction of new plant species and agricultural technologies to the Peninsula, the improvement of existing products, and the scientific heritage that emerged in the field of agriculture in Muslim Spain are presented with recourse to the sources of that time period, and modern literature as well. © 2023, Istanbul 29 Mayis University - ISAM, TDV Centre for Islamic Studies. All rights reserved.