Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri

Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri (يوسف بن عبد الرحمن الفهري) was an Umayyad governor of Narbonne in Septimania and governor of al-Andalus from 747 to 756, ruling independently following the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate in 750. He was a descendant of 'Uqbah, the founder of al-Qayrāwan.

Governor in Narbonne
After the Battle of Poitiers, Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman was appointed governor of Narbonne according to the Chronicle of Moissac, where he was in command of military operations. During four years he is said to have raided and pillaged the Lower Rhone, and in 735 he took Arles.

Infight and Berber revolt
Between 716 and 756, al-Andalus was ruled by governors sent from Damascus or appointed on the recommendation of the Umayyad regional governors of Ifriqiya to which it belonged administratively. Like many of his predecessors Yusuf struggled to control infighting between the majority Berber population and the Arabs and also had to deal with perennial feuding between Syrian and Yemeni Arab tribes comprising his forces.

Governor of al-Andalus
After the instability of the Berber Revolt in al-Andalus, an arrangement was concluded between different Arab factions to alternate in office. However, after taking over and completing his term, he refused to give up the reigns of power, ruling unchallenged for 9 years. After becoming ruler, al-Fihri conducted a census, as part of which Bishop Hostegesis prepared a list of tax and jizya payers. The bishop then made annual visits to makes sure the taxes were collected properly.

Arrival of Abd al-Rahman I and downfall
Yusuf had just broken a revolt attempt in Zaragoza (755) when he led a campaign against the Basques of Pamplona in 755 but the detachment sent was annihilated. This was the moment chosen by Abd ar-Rahman I, who had fled Syria some years before to escape from the Abbasids, to disembark on the southern coast of present-day Spain. He went on to capture important southern strongholds such as Malaga and Seville.

After failing to compromise a deal with Abd-ar-Rahman I by which the Umayyad survivor would succeed him, Yusuf al-Fihri was defeated at the Battle of Musarah just outside Córdoba in May 756 by Abd ar-Rahman I, who thus became the first independent Emir of Córdoba.