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420 although since Alfonso I it had made no real advance, now took advantage of the revolts in the south to extend its frontier to the Douro and to capture the strongholds of Zamora, Simancas, St Esteban de Gormaz and Osma, which together formed an almost unbreakable barrier against the Muslims. Leonese raids extended to the Tagus and even to the Guadiana. In 901 Aḥmad ibn Mu'āwiya proclaimed himself to the Berbers as the Mahdī. They collected an army and advanced against Zamora, which had been rebuilt by Alfonso III in 893. The Berber leaders, however, were jealous of the power of the Mahdī, who had been victorious in the first battle. They therefore deserted, with the result that Aḥmad ibn Mu'āwiya's army perished and he himself was put to death by the Leonese. This victory, won with the help of Toledo and Sancho of Navarre, gave great impetus to progress in the latter kingdom, which had hitherto been chieffy engaged in combating the Franks. The courage of the Leonese was now raised to such a pitch that they felt strong enough to strike a blow at Muslim civilisation. The life-work of 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān III was to defend that civilisation from the dangers that threatened it on the north and south, but first of all he had to bring his own subjects to obedience.

In dealing with the Spanish party and the Arab aristocracy, he abandoned the tortuous policy of 'Abdallāh in favour of a bolder one which soon won him success. In a few years everything had changed. The chiefs who fought 'Abdallāh were dead, and the aristocracy had no leaders. The Spanish party had lost its first vigour and, although the people were patriotic, they had grown tired of war. Omar, like the Emir, began hiring mercenaries, and these troops were not too heroic, while the lords of the castles were thoroughly demoralised. The struggle had really lost its national character and was becoming a religious war. All these things told in favour of the Emir, whom everyone regarded as the one hope of safety. He vigorously opened the campaign. Within three months he had captured Monteleon and reduced almost all the fortresses of Jaen and Elvira. On the death of Ibrahīm ibn Ḥajjāj, Aḥmad ibn Maslama was appointed governor of Seville, and he formed an alliance with Ibn Ḥafṣūn. But the Emir laid siege to Seville and defeated Ibn Ḥafṣūn's army, while Seville surrendered 20 December 913. In another campaign against the mountain land of Regio (Málaga) (914) 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān treated the Christians equitably, and this policy was eminently effective; for the commanders of almost all the castles surrendered. That indomitable Spanish hero, Omar ibn Ḥafşun, died in 917: he had in the last thirty years often made the throne of the Umayyads totter, but he had failed to secure the freedom of his country or to found a new dynasty; he was, however, spared the sight of his party's ruin. The revolt in Regio lasted another ten years under the sons of Omar. At length in 927 the Emir laid siege to their stronghold, Bobastro, which surrendered on 21 January 928. Ibn Ḥafṣūn's daughter, Argentea, who was a religious