Editing Al-Hakam II (section)

==Rule==
[[File:Golden dinar al hakam ii 21341.jpg|thumb|Dinar of al-Hakam II, 969 AD]]
Al-Hakam II succeeded to the Caliphate after the death of his father Abd-ar-Rahman III in 961. He secured peace with the [[Catholicism#Catholic Church use|Catholic]] kingdoms of northern Iberia, and made use of the stability to develop agriculture through the construction of irrigation works. Economic development was also encouraged through the widening of streets and the building of markets.

Whilst the internal administration was left increasingly to [[Vizier|vizir]] Al-Mushafi,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN9788489569850|title=Almanzor|last=Bariani|first=Laura|date=2003|publisher=Editorial NEREA|isbn=9788489569850|pages=66|language=es}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> general [[Ghālib ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān]] was gradually gaining influence as leader of the army in North Africa. He was chiefly preoccupied with repulsing the last [[Normans|Norman]] attacks (c. 970),<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xd5VonTOppMC|title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913 - 1936 Volume III|last=Brill|first=E. J.|date=1993|isbn=9004097899|pages=223|publisher=BRILL }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Vikings raids on the Spanish Peninsula|url=http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/MILT/article/view/MILT9696110067A/3416|access-date=2018-10-05|last=Scheen|first=Rolf|journal=Militaria. Revista de culturea militar|publisher=[[Complutense University of Madrid]]|pages=67|date=1996|issue=8}}</ref> and with the struggle against the [[Zirid dynasty|Zirids]] and the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]] in northern [[Morocco]]. The Fatimids were defeated in Morocco in 974, while Al-Hakam II was able to maintain the supremacy of the caliphate over the Catholic states of [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]], [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] and [[Kingdom of León|León]].