Sharq al-Andalus

The Sharq al-Andalus (Arabic: شرق الاندلس) was the eastern lands of al-Andalus, the Muslim-ruled territories of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It corresponds with the modern-day Region of Murcia, Valencian Community, the southern parts of Aragon and Catalonia and including the Balearic Islands. The Muslim cartographer al-Idrisi outlined the division between Gharb al-Andalus and Sharq al-Andalus on his maps. The territories became part of Al-Andalus through the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula of the 8th century but was reconquered by the Christian Crown of Aragon, as part of the Reconquista, in the 12th and 13th centuries.