1. The
Almoravid
and
Almohad
Empires
The Almoravids

2. The Almoravid Empire At
Fullest
Expansion

3. Almoravids and Almohads
Context: Tripartite Caliphate
Umayyad (Sunni Islam) – Andalusia/Cordoba
[ongoing threats from Christian ‘Franks’
Fatimids (Shia Islam) – Maghreb/Egypt
Abbasids (Sunni Islam) – Asia (Iraq/Iran) [ongoing threats from ‘Turks’ central Asia]

4. BYZANTINE EMPIRE
ABBASID EMPIRE
FATIMID EMPIRE

5. Almoravids and Almohads
Context: Tripartite Caliphate
political/religious divisions DID NOT impede cultural, commercial relations
Commerce especially important: from sub-Saharan Africa, to Maghreb, to Europe, to Asia – and back!

6. Major International Trade Networks

7. Almoravids and Almohads
Ideological belief differences (i.e. Shia, Kharijite, Sunni etc.)
Dynastic differences (Umayyads, Fatimids, Abbasids etc.)
DID NOT impede the practice of Islam….

8. Almoravids and Almohads
Practice of Islam:
One of ‘pillars’ of Islam: if at all possible, every Muslim should make the Pilgrimage to (pray at) the Kaaba in Mecca
Brought Muslims from ALL parts of Islamic world together and ‘through’ that world

9. “Making the hajj to Mecca from Africa” (no date)

10. Almoravids and Almohads
Pilgrimage generated shared knowledge and experience
Also genre of writing: became common to write/publish accounts of pilgrimage which contributed to ‘world’ of Islamic knowledge
Travels took many months (overland); often years

11. Almoravids and Almohads
North Africa:
Population still mostly Berber (some Christians, Jews in main cities)
Several Berber ‘Muslim’ states emerged 8th-9th centuries [last lecture]
Became part of expansive Fatimid Caliphate but retained much local autonomy

12. Almoravids and Almohads
Eclecticism of Ifriqiyya:
Berbers retaining, reshaping ‘pre-Islamic’ cultures, incorporating into Islamic practices
Also close ties with Andalusia [history of North African Berbers in Spain, subsequent establishment Umayyads . . .]

13. Almoravids and Almohads
Eclecticism of Ifriqiyya:
Other ‘non-Shia’ groups also attracted to North Africa: especially various groups Kharijites (several ‘strands’)
found in many main commercial centres [see below]: important to rise of Almoravids

14. Almoravids and Almohads
North African Islamic World in 11th Century:
Also extended to southern side of mountains in Ifriqiyya: the Sahara desert
(contemporary Morocco, Mauritania): major tribes Sanhaja – made up of ‘clans’ such as Guddala, Lamtuna, Lamta, Massufa….

15. Almoravids and Almohads
Origins of Almoravids: Sanhaja clan
Leader (Guddala) Yahya b. Ibrahim made pilgrimage
Influenced by culture, law he saw in North African centres
Especially impressed by ‘Malikism

16. MASUDA
Almoravid Empire --
11th Century
MASSUFA
LAMTUNA
GUDDALA

17. Almoravids and Almohads
Malikism:
Significance: adherence to ‘tradition’ of the Prophet and the Mecca/Medina historical experience
so: ‘traditional’ – intolerant compared to some other ‘schools’ of thought developing
Not accepting of Shi’ism or Kharijitism

18. Almoravids and Almohads
Islamic Law:
Since Rashidun Caliphate and ‘evolution of Islam’: different schools of interpretation developing
No one school dominant; scholars shared ideas – no clear ‘boundaries’ (yet) by 11th century [topic of last week, Ch. 6 of Bennison]

19. Almoravids and Almohads
Significance in Saharan Context:
b. Ibrahim saw his desert tribe ‘falling short’ of perfection (or at least as he’d observed it in various learning centres)
Different versions of story [Bennison] but on return sought out ‘teacher’ to take back with him [see also al-Bakri]

20. Almoravids and Almohads
Abd Allah b. Yasin:
Brought message of strict adherence to Islam
Sought ‘followers’ (among b. Ibrahim’s clan): in time formed ‘following’ that supported movement – withdrew to ribat (sanctuary), comparable to Prophet Mohamed’s hijra

21. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravids ‘born’: al murabitun
physical place (if it existed): cannot be identified, possibly ‘coastal’ but only hypothesis
Marked shift to next phase: from encouragement to coercion

22. Almoravids and Almohads
Jihad or holy war’: Dual meaning --both seclusion and war
‘ribat’ : internal, personal ‘war’ - process of purification
‘jihad’: external, public ‘war’ -- process of conversion

23. Almoravids and Almohads
Internecine War:
When b. Yasin’s ‘patron’ (b. Ibrahim) died, some rejected his leadership (and form of religion)
Succession dispute favoured Yahya b. Umar (matrilineal choice): he favoured b. Yasin’s movement – but from Lamtuna clan, so ‘shift’ in leadership

24. Almoravids and Almohads
In 1050s: ‘triumvirate’ of b. Yasin, Yahya b. Umar and (his brother) Abu Bakr jointly headed ‘Almoravid’ movement
b. Umar brothers brought the military backing b. Yasin that he needed
Strategy now shifted from ‘encouraging’ to ‘enforcing’ change to stricter Islamic law

25. Almoravids and Almohads
A Sanhaja Federation: al-murabutin
Now able to ‘correct’ religious practices among other Sanhaja clans by force
Simultaneously: created one ‘military federation’ out of multiple desert groups previously in competition for resources

26. Almoravids: ‘Desert Federation’
MASUDA
Almoravids: ‘Desert Federation’ Of
Sanhaja
Clans
MASSUFA
LAMTUNA
GUDDALA

27. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravids (now ‘a military movement):

28. Almoravids and Almohads
Turned north to actual ‘non-Muslim’ Berbers in the High Atlas Mountains
Expanded activities into rich Dra’a valley: date-palm groves, agriculture, commercial centres

29. Dra’a Valley [follows Dra’a River]

31. Almoravid Movements –
Note: area of
Ribat unknown * * *
Salt mine *

32. Almoravids and Almohads
[Bennison]:
Makes point that initial Almoravid ‘beliefs’ and ‘ambitions’ were complex:
- genuine religious ‘fervour’: belief in Maliki law
- equally real political ambition (power)
- understanding that Islam should be ONE umma (community), have ONE emir (leader)

33. Almoravids and Almohads
Economic Base: resources and commodities
Sought control of desert resources [pasture, water, salt, pastorally-produced goods – leather, milk; most importantly camels]
Sought control of trans-Saharan trade [based on the above, but also other commodities – gold, salt, slaves from south; cloth from north]

34. x x Almoravids and Trans-Saharan Trade Networks x = Salt deposits
= Gold Fields

35. Almoravids and Almohads
Trans-Saharan Trade, Regional Economies:
Often missed (in literature): Almoravids not only trying to control trade across the Sahara but the desert resources that supported that commerce
Territory/tribes ‘between’ commercial centres critical to their economic and political power

36. Almoravids and Almohads
Sijilmassa – Awdaghust: targets for Almoravid control
Each ‘desert-edge’ city marking north, south (respectively) nodes of trans-Saharan trade
Each (in turn) connected into regional and (in north), international commercial networks

37. Almoravids and Almohads
Sijilmassa 1054/5: first target (history well known [see also al-Bakri])
Controlled by Kharijites – constituted legitimate jihad
No submission: full destruction of town
Military garrison built: failed to ‘hold’ the city

38. Almoravids and Almohads
Critical moment:
Almoravids needed to re-take Sijilmassa
Guddala refused: preferred the desert
b. Umar killed in retaliatory battle (1055/6)
Sijilmassa later re-conquered

39. Almoravids and Almohads
Critical moment:
left movement in hands of Ibn Yasin and Abu Bakr
continued ‘northward’ looking: Atlas Mountains

40. Almoravids and Almohads
sought alliance with mountain tribes (Masmuda)
successfully occupied Aghmat: city to north of mountains: commercial centre
Kharijite population: jihad again had legitimacy
the beginning of Maghreb expansion [will return to, below]

41. Almoravids and Almohads
Video Excerpt:
“The Almoravids and Almohads: the Berber Empires”
[1:30 – 12:40]

42. Almoravids and Almohads
Awdaghust: south of the Sahara
10th century, in hands of ‘Sanhaja’ Chief
11th century (seemingly) subservient to Ghana (non-Muslim)
Kingdom controlled gold production/trade; slave raiding/trading

43. Almoravids and Almohads
[Bennison] Story of Awdaghust and Ghana ‘controversial’
Argues we know little for sure: Almoravids ‘attack’ Awdaghust 1055/6: do they establish control?
Do they ‘conquer’ Ghana itself 1076?
Major ‘historiographical’ controversy

44. Almoravids and Almohads
“Conquest that never was . . .”:
long argued that ‘Conquest of Ghana by the Almoravids in 1076’ one of most significant moments West African history – part of jihad that brought them to Awdaghust
credited with bringing Islam, trade, North African influence into sub-Saharan Africa

45. Almoravids and Almohads
“Conquest that never was . . .”:
hypothesis challenged 1980s: both written and oral evidence ‘silent’ on supposed momentous event [Conrad, Fisher]
reconsideration: ‘silence’ not always conclusive [Burkhalter]

46. Almoravids and Almohads
“Conquest that never was. . .”:
Bennison: leaves ambiguous conclusion
“The View from Awdaghust”: no evidence of destruction city in 11th century – supports argument that there was no (later) conquest of Ghana’s capital
[‘recommended reading]

47. Almoravids and Almohads
in larger context: Awdaghust probably declined from resource depletion, drought not ‘conquest and destruction’
‘conquest’ of Ghana likely one of negotiation
consistent with evidence and with Islamic and Almoravid expansion in general [see below: expansion in Maghreb]

48. Almoravids and Almohads
Conversion: [Bennison]
Ghana did ultimately become Muslim but no evidence that this was because of conquest
‘tradition’ (oral): ties conversion Ghana’s King to years of drought, influence of Muslim merchants

49. Almoravids and Almohads
Returning to ‘Northern Almoravids’:
[Bennison] underlines importance of negotiation and seeking of ‘local interlocutors’
Cites story of Zaynab as example: widow of local prominent merchant married Abu Bakr ‘bringing both political alliance and wealth to Almoravid movement’

50. Almoravids: ‘Maghreb and Andalusian Expansion
MASUDA
Almoravids: ‘Maghreb and Andalusian Expansion
MASSUFA
LAMTUNA
GUDDALA

51. Almoravids and Almohads
[Bennison] that the new Almoravid empire was not only founded on military conquest (as is always ‘celebrated’) but on the establishment of alliances through negotiation, marriage etc.
exactly as we have seen elsewhere in the newly emergent Islamic world: is this about Islam or….??

52. Almoravids and Almohads
New Capital for the North:
Almoravids ‘outlive welcome’ in Aghmat: established new Capital on territory lying between two important ‘clans’ in region
Marakesh: rapidly became administrative and commercial centre of ‘northern’ Almoravids

53. Almoravid Empire -- Marakesh: New Northern Capital * Marakesh MASSUFA
LAMTUNA
GUDDALA

54. Almoravids and Almohads
‘Empire Saved’:
Rebellion by Saharan clans pulled Abu Bakr back into desert: left Ibn Yasin ‘in charge’ in Marakesh
Also left Zaynab to him

55. Almoravids and Almohads
Development of Marakesh:
Ibn Yasin [not his son as claimed in Video] responsible for establishing Almoravid administration in ‘new capital’
Had become centre of trade, culture – and politics

56. Almoravids and Almohads
Development of Marakesh:
Most notable Almoravid architecture evident
Koubba only remaining ‘original’ building [image above of dome from inside]
[see also video]

57. Almoravids and Almohads

58. Almoravids and Almohads
Also important:
Ibn Yasin built up army: drew heavily on recruits from Sahara
Also imported slaves (trans-Saharan trade)
Increasingly attractive to Saharans (army, city, power)

59. Almoravids and Almohads
Two years later: Abu Bakr returned and camped at Aghmat
Two Emirs? Two Capitals?
Were Almoravids ‘veiled people of the desert’ or… new masters of the ‘urban, civilized Maghreb’?

60. Almoravids and Almohads
Symbolic Saving of Empire:
Story of the meeting of Abu Bakr, Ibn Yasin (supposedly as ‘advised’ by Zayneb)
- Important not because of ‘truth’ (or lack thereof) but because of what the memory of it says about this New Muslim Society

61. Almoravids and Almohads
Abu Bakr returned ‘to the desert’:
As ‘senior’ (cousin): image remained on coinage
But Ibn Yasin’s power was now recognized as ‘Emir’ – with Marakesh as the Almoravid capital

62. Almoravids and Almohads
‘Conquest’ that was – or was not:
Must be seen in this context : An Almoravid ‘empire’ effectively if not officially ‘divided’ between north (Maghreb) and south (Sahara)
Much ‘weakened’ movement also much less likely to have been able to ‘conquer’ Empire of Ghana!

63. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravid Empire: two different worlds
[Bennison]: Sahara/Sahel … as distinct from … Maghreb/Mediterranean (soon to be also ‘Andalusian’)
Reflected both in ‘history’ and in historiography

64. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravids in Andalusia:
After the last Umayyad Caliph: Emirate broke up into principalities
Local ‘princes’ in competition with each other:
like al-Bakri’s father – some lost ! [see ‘Discussion Rdg’, al-Bakri]

65. Almoravids and Almohads
Relations with Christians:
Varied: both conflict (actual military battles) and co-operation ( intermarried with…)
Surprisingly similar to earlier Bedouin society despite its ‘urban’ European context – culture mixture but overall WEALTHY

66. Almoravids and Almohads
Politics of ‘Cordoba Culture’:
Wealthy, cultured, international society built up under Umayyads was seductive
Princes (known as ‘Ta’if’ or ‘party’) paid tribute to Christians: allowed to live as they pleased

67. Almoravids and Almohads
Problems:
Sometimes tribute seen as ‘too heavy’: not paid – resulted in military conflict
This in turn began to threaten Cordoba itself and Muslim ‘enclave’ in Europe

68. Almoravids and Almohads
Problems:
Increasingly, jurists [Maliki] objected to payments to ‘infidels’ as ‘un-Islamic’: people themselves turning against their own ‘rulers’
Princes began looking for support to resist Christian ‘overlords’: looking across Straits of Gibraltar!

69. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravids in North Africa:
Under Ibn Tashfin (b. Yasin’s son) centred in Marakesh: Almoravid expansion in Maghredb continued – included Tlemcen (to the east) and Ceuta (to the north)
Administration built on Marakesh to incorporate new territories/cities effectively [more on gov’t, society later lectures]

70. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravids: ‘Empire’ extended from Sudan to Mediterranean , Atlantic to central Sahara (salt mines of Teghaza)
Challenge to maintain, let alone ‘develop’
NO desire to move into Europe!!

71. Almoravids and Almohads
By late 11th C. (1080s): Muslim presence in Spain looked to be in danger of collapsing
This in itself was of concern to Almoravids just building Maghrebian empire
Repeated requests by Princes for Almoravid assistance to sustain power confirmed worry

72. Almoravids and Almohads
Critical event: Christian taking of city of Toledo 1085
1086 battle: ibn Tashfin forces allied with ‘Princes’ – difficult but they won
. . . And then withdrew!

73. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravids NOT seeking ‘place in Europe’:
Worse: interaction with Muslim Princes convinced them that the Islamic society in Spain was significantly ‘degenerate’ as to necessitate jihad
Christians were not the only enemies

74. Almoravids and Almohads
Argument for military intervention in Europe changed justification:
“[It was] to put an end to the reigns of these Andalusi lords who neglected the affairs of their governments, lacked any spirit of solidarity or courage to oppose the [Christian] reconquest, and indulged in pleasures and a dissolute lifestyle, while burdening their subjects with illegal taxes and levies.”
[Bennison, 45] ,

75. Almoravids and Almohads
Argument for military intervention in Europe changed justification:
Need to conquer ‘degenerate’ Muslims and shore up territory against Christians
1090: Granada ‘conquered’ in name of Islam -- jihad

76. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravid ‘conquest’ of Andalusia:
In part strictly military
In even larger part ‘religious’: took care to cultivate local Maliki jurists
Not difficult: Almoravids self-positioned as ‘purists’

77. Almoravids and Almohads
Almoravids conquer Andalusia:
Ultimately, was support of local jurists that made the difference at each ‘stage’ of conquest
Valencia: last hold out – capitulated in 1102
Celebrated rule of Ali b. Tashfin over ‘north’: Maghreb and Andalusia

78. The Almoravid Empire At
Fullest
Expansion