The history of al-Andalus to the fall of the Umayyads is to a large extentthe history of Cordoba, and of that city's greatest glory. The Arabic histori es and the accounts of travellers to al-Andalus portrayed Cordoba as one of the wonders of the world .' Ibn Hawqal, who visited al-Andalus in 948 , wrote:

'There is nothing to equal it in the whole of the Maghreb [North Africa and al-Andalus] , or even in Upper Mesopot amia, Syria or Egypt, for the number of its inhabitants, its extent, the vast area taken up by markets, its cleanliness, the architecture of the mosques or the great number of baths and caravanserais. Several travellers from this city who have visited Baghdad, say that it is the size of one of the quarters of that city. . . . Cordoba is not perhaps equal to half the size of Baghdad, but is not far off being so. It is a city with a stone wall, with handsome districts and vast squares."