ALMORAVID

The Almoravids were first led by Abdallah ibn Yasin [i], who sought to reform the Islam of the Sanhajas with more rigorism. The Sanhajas [ii] expelled him, leading him to take refuge in a fortress [iii]. Yasin and the monks formed a religious fraternity with monastic and military activities. The Almoravid power began to decline under the reign of Ali B. Yusuf [iv]. In the war of Al-Andalus, the Almoravids had to face the Christian advancement as well as the Almohad revolt [v]. Despite their military strength and fortifications to prevent access to the valleys from the dissident mountainous areas, the Almoravids surrendered against Almohad attacks.

The Lamtuna [vi] were allies of the Almoravids, and became part of their nucleus. This began the conquest of the Sahara and the western Maghreb. The Almoravids’ Rivals were the Almohads [vii]. The rivalry emerged as a reaction to the religious relaxation and openness of the Almoravids, who had made themselves masters of the Maghreb, but failed in their attempt to re-enforce the Muslim states and did not stop the advancement of Christian states in the Iberian Peninsula. Despite their military strength and the series of fortifications, the Almoravids surrendered to Almohad attacks, and their capital city of Marrakech fell in 1147 CE.

The Almoravids founded Marrakech, and developed a palace area known as Qasr al-hajar, a stone palace, and a large mosque called Alik. B Yusuf. They guaranteed their water supply thanks to a complex network of canalizations [viii] which preserved numerous urban gardens in their territory. They also reunified Fez, a prominent city in northwest Morocco, where they built a new wall and extended the al-Qarawiyyin mosque [ix]. Almoravid art brought certain innovations to the architectural tradition of the Muslim world. These artistic contributions from the empire include the use of poly-lobed arches, and a new form of cutting the intrados and recti curvilinear lines [x].

The Almoravid Empire had an organized and centralized administrative system, supervised by several Almoravid dignitaries [xi]. The Maliki jurists [xii] influenced the high spheres of power, and taught the people destined for judicial and religious positions. They also had a military system [xiii]. Yassin imposed very strict discipline measures on his forces for every breach of his laws. Their main force was infantry, armed with javelins in the front ranks and pikes behind. This was supported by camelmen and horsemen on the flanks. Some sources mention that the Almoravids could gather up to thirty thousand soldiers, but in general their armies constituted much smaller forces.

The historical period of the Almoravid Empire was in the Middle Age from 1040 AD to 1147 CE. The official languages of the empire were Berber and Arabic, although Mozarabic was also spoken. The Almoravid’s official religion was Islam. The empire had two capitals: the first was Aghmat [xiv] (1040-1062) and the last was Marrakesh [xv] (1062-1147). They also had two princes of the Muslims, or more accurately two Amir al-Muslimin. The first was Abdallah ibn Yasin [xvi] (1040-1059). The second prince was Ishaq ibn Ali [xvii] (1146-1147). At the largest point of extension of the Empire, the Almoravid territory reached 1,000,000 km².

The key accomplishment of the Almoravids was the conquest of Al-Andalus [xviii]. Al-Andalus is what is now known today as the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. The Taifas of Badajoz [xix] and Seville [xx] claimed help from the Almoravid Empire against the Castilian king in this conquest. King Alfonso VI [xxi] besieged them for the decision to stop paying taxes. The Almoravids wanted to unify the territories of Al-Andalus again through a more rigorous interpretation of Islam. Upon the major accomplishment of conquering Al-Andalus, the Almoravid dynasty continued to control the fragmented Muslim kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula between 1090 CE and 1146 CE.

The Almoravids saw great economic and financial development thanks to their control of the Trans-Saharan trade routes [xxii]. The gold obtained from the trade routes allowed the Almoravids to mint coins of this metal. One of the mints of the empire was in Sijilmasa, which was an important center of commerce in the Sahara. The official use of the Almoravid coin, known as Almoravid Dinars, expanded to the Christian kingdoms of Spain and were known as Maravedí [xxiii]. Thanks to this rich economic activity, cities such as Almería emerged, and substantially encouraged the development of commercial exchanges with the north of the Mediterranean.