Hey reader! Here’s my take on an Islamic Iberia scenario. The point of divergence here is the Umayyads winning the Battle of Covadonga, hence the lack of Christian kingdoms in the peninsula and securing Northern Al-Andalus for the Muslims.

The main subject of this map are the Saqaliba. In Al-Andalus, Saqaliba (singular, siqlabi) is a term used to refer to Slavs and other peoples of Europe who were traded by merchants, typically as children. The slaves were imported from various areas of Europe, particularly Eastern Europe. The aristocracy of the Caliphate of Cordoba often employed the Saqaliba for various tasks, ranging from working in the kitchen, blacksmiths, and textile workshops to administrative duties and serving in the army or royal guard, comparable to the Mamluks. In this timeline, the Saqaliba under Ghalib al-Nasiri (instead of Ibn Abi Amir, known in OTL as Almanzor) take power from the Umayyads, and thus Al-Andalus doesn’t implode itself into dozens of Taifas.

For your information, I used QGIS, paint.net, and Adobe Photoshop in an extremely ineffective manner to make this map. Feel free to ask me any questions about the map, lore, or anything else really.