Abd-ar-Rahman III (889-961), eighth Umayyad ruler of Spain (912-961). Succeeding to an emirate diminished by provincial governors who acted like independent rulers, Abd-ar-Rahman set out to reassert Umayyad authority over all his territories: he recaptured Toledo, the last of the wayward cities, in 932. At the same time he built up a navy unmatched anywhere in the world, and used it to wrest part of present-day Tunisia from the Fatimids. He also inflicted several defeats on the Christian kingdoms of León and Navarra, checking their expansion; by 929 he felt confident enough to assume the title of caliph.
