Historical Explanation of the Geopolitical Factors Affecting the Urban Space of Toledo in the Umayyad Era

Geopolitics is an effort to draw attention to the significance of geographical patterns in political history. This article studies the urban space of Toledo with such an approach, during the social movements of the Umayyad period of al-Andalus. After the capture of al-Andalus by the Muslims in 714 AD, Toledo lost its capital position, but it still retained its geopolitical advantages that attracted a large population; advantages including geographical centrality, economic and agricultural priorities, existence of ancient access roads, and location of the Christian Clergy Center in that city. In the eighth and ninth centuries, Toledo had an arena of revolt against the Umayyad rulers, and at that juncture in history, frequent repression did not prevent the movements from rising again. Given the geopolitical importance of the Toledo, the difference between its protest movements and other movements in al-Andalus, and continuation of unrest for almost two centuries, these questions arise that what were the characteristics of Toledo's urban space? and which geopolitical factors did affect this space? and how did they do that? The research hypothesis is that place identity and social stratification as two geopolitical factors affected the urban space of Toledo and paved the way for the continuation of the movements.

Data gathering procedure of the present paper is based on library findings and the research is descriptive- analytic in terms of method and nature.

Toledo was the ancient royal city and pomp and ceremony, the former capital of the Visigoths, the center of the Andalusian Church, the geographical center of the peninsula, the crossroads of trade caravans, located on high and rocky ground, and surrounded by the swift-flowing river, Tago. These geostrategic features made it possible to resist external attack. People's awareness of these characteristics was effective in shaping their sense of place and the territory did not be conceded without fierce resistance. Proper economic capacity provided the basis for the movement and whenever these conditions were not met, the possibility of protest movements was reduced.Some places had become symbols of stability and repression during this period, three examples of which are discussed in this paper. Seeing these symbols evoked emotional arousal of Toledo residents. On the other hand the bloody massacre of the protesters affected the atmosphere of the city: a cloud of fear and suspicion. Toledo's social stratification was also significant. Different groups lived in this city were knitted together by common interests, a blend of various races: The Maladies, who were the largest population, the Mozarabs and the Berbers. The Umayyad Arabs were the ruling minority who had certain economic and social benefits. 

Research findings show that the place identity of Toledo was the source of the reproduction of the spirit of independence. The presence of repressive symbols in the city was reminiscent of days of struggle and epic. The combination and synergy of people's sense of place shaped the identity of place in Toledo in this kind of circumstances: A stable city with rich internal resources, a glorious past and a vague future, whose inhabitants sought to change their destiny. Also influenced by the presence of the Maladies, the Mozarabs, the Arabs and the Berbers, Toledo's social stratification was a context of continuing anti-Umayyads sentiment. Power and wealth were concentrated in a few hands and the Toledo people saw themselves facing inequality in social and economic opportunities which meant that spatial justice had not been achieved, which caused tension and mistrust between the rulers of Cordoba and the Toledo rebels. Thus, the urban space was always inflamed and confrontational, and every time an insurgency was quelled, it would resume shortly after, and it lasted for about two centuries