Al-Hakam II
Al-Hakam II was designated his father's successor as early as 919 at the age of four. During his father's reign, he participated actively in the caliph's administration and gained experience in the palace and on military campaigns. The reign of Al-Hakam II saw the strengthening of the state. He pursued military expansion, both in the north and the south. In North Africa, he competed with the Fatimids for control of the trans-Saharan trade, and subdued the Idrisids of Morocco. In the north, he gained enough esteem of the Christian kings that they regularly solicited his arbitration in their own disputes. During his reign, Al-Andalus was the most powerful state in Europe.