Abd al-Rahman I (731-788) was emir of Islamic Spain from 756 to 788. Known as "the Immigrant," he established the rule of the Umayyad dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula.

Born near Damascus, Syria, Abd al-Rahman I was the son of the Umayyad prince Muawiya ibn Hisham and a Berber concubine named Rah. In 750 he was one of the few members of his family to escape slaughter by the Abbasids, and thus, as the Umayyad line was extinguished in the East, he made his way to the western Islamic world to establish a base of power. Accompanied by his freedman Badr, he traveled across North Africa, finally gaining refuge among his mother's tribe, the Nafza Berbers of Morocco. Using this base, he sent Badr to Spain to prepare the groundwork for his political aspirations.

On Aug. 14, 755, Abd al-Rahman landed at Almuñécar and was soon acknowledged as chief by...