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113-580: The taifas were eventually incorporated by the Almoravid dynasty in the late 11th century and, on its collapse, many taifas re-appeared only to be incorporated by the Almohad Caliphate . The fall of the Almohads resulted in a flourishing of the taifas , and this was the case despite constant warfare with Christian kingdoms. Taifa kings were wary of calling themselves "kings", so they took

226-478: A careful leash, forging a more productive partnership between them. Invoking stories of the early life of Muhammad, Ibn Yasin preached that conquest was a necessary addendum to Islamicization, that it was not enough to merely adhere to God's law, but necessary to also destroy opposition to it. In Ibn Yasin's ideology, anything and everything outside of Islamic law could be characterized as "opposition". He identified tribalism, in particular, as an obstacle. He believed it

339-652: A chieftain of the Gudala (and brother-in-law of the late Tarsina), went on pilgrimage to Mecca . On his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya , where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi , a native of Fez and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school. At this time, Ifriqiya was in ferment. The Zirid ruler, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis , was openly contemplating breaking with his Shi'ite Fatimid overlords in Cairo, and

452-593: A financial crisis during the abbacies of Pons of Melgueil (1109–22) and Peter the Venerable (1122–56). By 1100 the parias had decreased to a mere "trickle". Only in 1246, when the Kingdom of Granada , the last remaining Islamic state in Spain, agreed to pay half its annual revenue in parias to Castile, did tribute again constitute a major portion of Christian Spain's wealth. Though the burden of these last parias

565-656: A form of tribute paid by the taifas of al-Andalus to the Christian kingdoms of the north. Parias dominated relations between the Islamic and the Christian states in the years following the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba (1031) until the reunification of Islamic Spain under the Almoravid dynasty (beginning in 1086). The parias were a form of protection money established by treaty. The payee owed

678-546: A last attempt to shift momentum back in their favor against the Almoravids. Certain taifas hired Christian mercenaries to fight neighbouring realms (both Christian and Muslim). The most dynamic taifa, which conquered most of its neighbours before the Almoravid invasion, was Seville , which ironically was also the first of the major taifas to fall, followed (somewhat quickly) by Badajoz, Valencia and Zaragoza. Zaragoza

791-590: A long siege of the city , completely surrounding it, burning nearby villages, and confiscating the crops of the surrounding countryside. Ibn Jahhaf agreed at one point to pay tribute to El Cid in order to end the siege, which resulted in the Almoravids in the city being escorted out by El Cid's men. For reasons that remain unclear, an Almoravid relief army led by Ibn Tashfin's nephew, Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim, approached Valencia in September 1093 but then retreated without engaging El Cid. Ibn Jahhaf continued negotiations. In

904-408: A meeting with his neighbours, al-Mutawwakil of Badajoz and Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada , where they agreed to send an embassy to Ibn Tashfin to appeal for his assistance. The Taifa kings were aware of the risks that came with an Almoravid intervention but considered it the best choice among their bad options. Al-Mu'tamid is said to have remarked bitterly: "Better to pasture camels than to be

1017-489: A noble and wealthy Berber woman, Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah , who would become very influential in the development of the dynasty. Zaynab was the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Kairouan who had settled in Aghmat. She had been previously married to Laqut ibn Yusuf ibn Ali al-Maghrawi, the ruler of Aghmat, until the latter was killed during the Almoravid conquest of the city. It was around this time that Abu Bakr ibn Umar founded

1130-523: A peace treaty with the Hammadids. Algiers became their easternmost outpost. By the 1080s, local Muslim rulers in al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula ) were requesting Ibn Tashfin's help against the encroaching Christian kingdoms to the north. Ibn Tashfin made the capture of Ceuta his primary objective before making any attempt to intervene there. Ceuta, controlled by Zenata forces under

1243-514: A place north of Badajoz, called Zallaqa in Arabic sources and Sagrajas in Christian sources. In the Battle of Sagrajas (or Battle of Zallaqa), on 23 October 1086, Alfonso was soundly defeated and forced to retreat north in disorder. Al-Mu'tamid recommended that they press their advantage, but Ibn Tashfin did not pursue the Christian army further, returning instead to Seville and then to North Africa. It

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1356-638: A scholar named Waggag ibn Zallu . Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar (present-day Mauritania ). Hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, "the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God." It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation. Al-Bakri , writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them

1469-527: A second expedition to recapture it, but the Guddala refused to join him and returned instead to their homelands in the desert regions along the Atlantic coast. Historian Amira Bennison suggests that some Almoravids, including the Guddala, were unwilling to be dragged into a conflict with the powerful Zanata tribes of the north and this created tension with those, like Ibn Yasin, who saw northern expansion as

1582-530: A siege of the city by the veteran Almoravid commander, Mazdali, in the early spring of 1102. In April–May, Jimena and the Christians who wished to leave the city were evacuated with the help of Alfonso VI. The Almoravids occupied the city after them. That same year, with the capture of Valencia counting as another triumph, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin celebrated and arranged for his son, Ali ibn Yusuf , to be publicly recognized as his heir. The Taifa king of Zaragoza,

1695-498: A significant majority) and the Saqaliba , Eastern European former slaves. The most secure rulers were governors of frontier provinces, such as the “Farthest Frontier” of Zaragoza; since these regions had been ruled by families for generations prior to the fall of the caliphate, there was minor immediate impact when the caliphate fell. During the late 11th century, the Christian rulers of the northern Iberian peninsula set out to retake

1808-454: A swineherd"—meaning that it was better to submit to another Muslim ruler than to end up as subjects of a Christian king. As a condition for his assistance, Ibn Tashfin demanded that Algeciras (a city on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, across from Ceuta) be surrendered to him so he could use it as a base for his troops. Al-Mu'tamid agreed. Ibn Tashfin, wary of the hesitation of

1921-508: Is often neglected in histories of the Maghreb and al-Andalus. This has also encouraged a division in modern studies about the Almoravids, with archeology playing a greater role in the study of the southern wing, in the absence of more textual sources. The exact nature and impact of the Almoravid presence in the Sahel is a strongly debated topic among Africanists . According to Arab tradition,

2034-457: Is possible he was unwilling to be away from his home base for too long or that the death of his eldest son, Sir, encouraged him to return. After Ibn Tashfin's departure, Alfonso VI quickly resumed his pressure on the Taifa kings and forced them to send tribute payments again. He captured the fortress of Aledo , cutting off eastern al-Andalus from the other Muslim kingdoms. Meanwhile, Ibn Rashiq,

2147-477: Is tying" but figuratively means "one who is ready for battle at a fortress". The term is related to the notion of ribat رِباط , a North African frontier monastery-fortress, through the root r-b-t ( ربط " rabat ": to tie, to unite or رابط " raabat ": to encamp ). The name "Almoravid" was tied to a school of Malikite law called "Dar al-Murabitin" founded in Sus al-Aksa , modern day Morocco , by

2260-461: The Taifas . These states constantly fought with each other but were unable to raise large armies of their own, so they became reliant instead on the Christian kingdoms of the north for military support. This support was secured through the regular payment of parias (tributes) to the Christian kings, but the payments became a fiscal burden that drained the treasuries of these local rulers. In turn,

2373-744: The Abbasids caliphs in Baghdad as overlords. While the Abbasids themselves had little direct political power by this time, the symbolism of this act was important and enhanced Ibn Tashfin's legitimacy. According to Ibn Idhari, it was at the same time as this that Ibn Tashfin also took the title of amīr al-muslimīn ('Commander of the Muslims'). Ibn Idhari dates this to 1073–74, but some authors, including modern historian Évariste Lévi-Provençal , have dated this political decision to later, most likely when

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2486-425: The Almohad Caliphate after the fall of Lisbon (1147). Warriors of the taifas took part in the Battle of Sagrajas , which resulted in the defeat of the Christians. Nevertheless, the Almoravids and the Almohads did not help the taifa emirs but rather annexed their lands to their own North African empires. In the 1100s, the remnants of the taifa dynasties in al-Andalus would join forces with Christian powers as

2599-673: The Barghawata , a Berber tribal confederation who followed an Islamic "heresy" preached by Salih ibn Tarif three centuries earlier. The Barghawata occupied the region northwest of Aghmat and along the Atlantic coast. They resisted the Almoravids fiercely and the campaign against them was bloody. Abdullah ibn Yasin was killed in battle with them in 1058 or 1059, at a place called Kurīfalalt or Kurifala. By 1060, however, they were conquered by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and were forced to convert to orthodox Islam. Shortly after this, Abu Bakr had reached as far as Meknes . Towards 1068, Abu Bakr married

2712-878: The Ghana Empire ; and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmasa . The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous and Draa valleys. Around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat (alias Tarsina), tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years. Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim ,

2825-584: The Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona , which exacted a very early one—called the vetus paria or "old paria"—from the taifa of Zaragoza . While parias may have been paid by the local Muslim leaders just west of the Llobregat after Raymond Borrel 's razzia on Córdoba in 1010, the earliest paria that can be dated was collected by Raymond Berengar I of Barcelona from Lleida and Zaragoza after his attack on those territories in 1045. In

2938-662: The Sosso , a neighboring people of the Sudan. Traditions in Mali related that the Sosso attacked and took over Mali as well, and the ruler of the Sosso, Sumaouro Kanté, took over the land. However, criticism from Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources. According to Professor Timothy Insoll,

3051-502: The Sous valley of southern Morocco, to seek out a Maliki teacher for his people. Waggag assigned him one of his residents, Abdallah ibn Yasin . Abdallah ibn Yasin was a Gazzula Berber, and probably a convert rather than a born Muslim. His name can be read as "son of Ya-Sin " (the title of the 36th surah of the Quran ), suggesting he had obliterated his family past and was "re-born" of

3164-851: The Taifa kings and now intended to take direct control of the region. The Almoravid cause benefited from the support of the Maliki fuqahā ( Islamic jurists ) in Al-Andalus, who extolled the Almoravid devotion to jihad while criticizing the Taifa kings as impious, self-indulgent, and thus illegitimate. In September 1090, Ibn Tashfin forced Granada to surrender to him and sent Abdallah ibn Buluggin into exile in Aghmat. He then returned to North Africa again, but this time he left his nephew, Sir ibn Abu Bakr, in charge of Almoravid forces in al-Andalus. Al-Mu'tamid, seeking to salvage his position, resorted to striking an alliance with Alfonso VI, which further undermined his own popular support. In early 1091,

3277-565: The Taifa kings, immediately sent an advance force of 500 troops across the strait to take control of Algeciras. They did so in July 1086 without encountering resistance. The rest of the Almoravid army, numbering around 12,000, soon followed. Ibn Tashfin and his army then marched to Seville, where they met up with the forces of al-Mu'tamid, al-Mutawwakil, and Abdallah ibn Buluggin. Alfonso VI, hearing of this development, lifted his siege of Zaragoza and marched south to confront them. The two sides met at

3390-449: The Taifa rulers burdened their subjects with increased taxation, including taxes and tariffs that were not considered legal under Islamic law. As the payments of tribute began to falter, the Christian kingdoms resorted to punitive raids and eventually to conquest. The Taifa kings were unwilling or unable to unite to counter this threat, and even the most powerful Taifa kingdom, Seville , was unable to resist Christian advances. After

3503-618: The Western Sahara , traversing the territory between the Draa , the Niger , and the Senegal rivers. During their expansion into the Maghreb, they founded the city of Marrakesh as a capital, c.  1070 . Shortly after this, the empire was divided into two branches: a northern one centered in the Maghreb, led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin and his descendants, and a southern one based in

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3616-419: The al-Murabitin (Almoravids)—set out on a campaign to bring their neighbors over to their cause. In the early 1050s, a kind of triumvirate emerged in leading the Almoravid movement, including Abdallah Ibn Yasin, Yahya Ibn Umar and his brother Abu Bakr Ibn Umar . The movement was now dominated by the Lamtuna rather than the Guddala. During the 1050s, the Almoravids began their expansion and their conquest of

3729-550: The al-Murabitun , but does not clarify the reasons for it. Writing three centuries later, Ibn Abi Zar suggested it was chosen early on by Abdallah ibn Yasin because, upon finding resistance among the Gudala Berbers of Adrar (Mauritania) to his teaching, he took a handful of followers to erect a makeshift ribat (monastery-fortress) on an offshore island (possibly Tidra island, in the Bay of Arguin ). Ibn 'Idhari wrote that

3842-413: The parias of Badajoz and Seville. Eventually all the tribute found its way into the hands of Alfonso VI, who also exacted parias from Granada . Valencia fell into the hands of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1094), and upon recovery by the Muslims it was forced to briefly pay parias to Barcelona, payments which were later re-established by Raymond Berengar IV . These parias were still being collected in

3955-502: The ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu (near present-day Tiznit ), where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. The 13th-century Moroccan biographer Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili , and Qadi Ayyad before him in the 12th century, note that Waggag's learning center was called Dar al-Murabitin (The house of the Almoravids), and that might have inspired Ibn Yasin's choice of name for

4068-518: The ribats ' ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco . It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus , starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almohads in 1147. The Almoravids emerged from a coalition of the Lamtuna , Gudala , and Massufa, nomadic Berber tribes living in what is now Mauritania and

4181-481: The taifas of Seville , Toledo , and Zaragoza, and possibly also Badajoz and Valencia . In accordance with his testament, Ferdinand's parias were divided amongst his heirs along with his kingdom in December 1065: the eldest son, Sancho II , received Castile with the vetus paria ; the second son, Alfonso VI , received León with the parias of Toledo; and the third son, García II , received Galicia with

4294-473: The "Alfonsine census", was "the biggest donation that Cluny ever received from king or layman, and it was never to be surpassed". The large payments to Cluny, which financed Hugh the Great 's construction of the massive third abbey church, undoubtedly helped publish the wealth of Spain throughout Europe. Unfortunately for Cluny, changing conditions in Spain caused the payments to cease in 1111, and this brought on

4407-481: The "first capital" of the Almoravids. Yahya ibn Umar was subsequently killed in battle against the Guddala in 1055 or 1056, or later in 1057. Meanwhile, in the north, Ibn Yasin had ordered Abu Bakr to take command of the Almoravid army and they soon recaptured Sijilmasa. By 1056, they had conquered Taroudant and the Sous Valley , continuing to impose Maliki Islamic law over the communities they conquered. When

4520-634: The 1030s, having been taken over by more powerful neighboring taifas . The strongest and largest taifas in this first period (11th century) were the Taifa of Zaragoza , Taifa of Toledo , Taifa of Badajoz and the Taifa of Seville . The most notable taifa to conquer most of its weak neighbours was the Taifa of Seville under the Abbadid dynasty. This region includes the Central and Lisbon region of Portugal and Extremadura region of Spain. This region includes

4633-411: The 1060s he was still demanding parias from Lleida and Zaragoza, as well as the taifa of Tortosa . The Aragonese king Sancho Ramírez also took parias from the king of Zaragoza's underlings at Huesca and Tudela . In western Spain the first ruler to exact such tribute was Ferdinand I of León and Castile . From at least 1060, perhaps as early as 1055, Ferdinand had been exacting parias from

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4746-491: The 9th century. They were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of new converts, launched several campaigns against the " Sudanese " (pagan peoples of sub-Saharan Africa ). Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected (or captured) the citadel of Awdaghust, a critical stop on the trans-Saharan trade route. After the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdaghust passed over to

4859-757: The Alentejo and Algarve region of Portugal. This region includes the Madrid region and the provinces of Toledo and Guadalajara of Spain. This region includes the autonomous region of Andalucia in Spain This region only includes the provinces of Huesca, Lleida, Teruel, Zaragoza and Tarragona of Spain. This region includes the region of Valencia, Murcia and Baleares. Additionally, but not usually considered taifas , are: Almoravid dynasty The Almoravid dynasty ( Arabic : المرابطون , romanized :  Al-Murābiṭūn , lit.   'those from

4972-417: The Almoravid capture of Ceuta (1083) on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, the way was now open for Ibn Tashfin to intervene in al-Andalus. It was in this same year that Alfonso VI , king of Castile and León , led a military campaign into southern al-Andalus to punish al-Mu'tamid of Seville for failing to pay him tribute. His expedition penetrated all the way to Tarifa , the southernmost point of

5085-481: The Almoravid troops, while he personally led another force from a different city gate and attacked their undefended camp. This inflicted the first major defeat on the Almoravids on the Iberian Peninsula. After his victory, El Cid executed Ibn Jahhaf by burning him alive in public, perhaps in retaliation for treachery. El Cid fortified his new kingdom by building fortresses along the southern approaches to

5198-647: The Almoravids in the Sahara. Following this, the Almoravid Empire was divided into two distinct but co-dependent parts: one led by Ibn Tashfin in the north, and another led by Abu Bakr in the south. Abu Bakr continued to be formally acknowledged as the supreme leader of the Almoravids until his death in 1087. Historical sources give no indication that the two leaders treated each other as enemies and Ibn Tashfin continued to mint coins in Abu Bakr's name until

5311-530: The Almoravids into the first major Berber-led Islamic empire in the western Mediterranean. Their rulers never claimed the title of caliph and instead took on the title of Amir al-Muslimīn ("Prince of the Muslims") while formally acknowledging the overlordship of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad . The Almoravid period also contributed significantly to the Islamization of the Sahara region and to

5424-412: The Almoravids took control of Cordoba and turned towards Seville, defeating a Castilian force led Alvar Fañez that came to help al-Mu'tamid. In September 1091, al-Mu'tamid surrendered Seville to the Almoravids and was exiled to Aghmat. In late 1091, the Almoravids captured Almería. In late 1091 or January 1092, Ibn Aisha, one of Ibn Tashfin's sons, seized control of Murcia. The capture of Murcia brought

5537-518: The Almoravids under Abu Bakr's leadership conquered the Ghana Empire , founded by the Soninke, sometime around 1076–77. An example of this tradition is the record of historian Ibn Khaldun , who cited Shaykh Uthman, the faqih of Ghana, writing in 1394. According to this source, the Almoravids weakened Ghana and collected tribute from the Sudan, to the extent that the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away, and they were subjugated and absorbed by

5650-529: The Almoravids were in the process of securing control of al-Andalus. According to Amira Bennison, the recognition of the Abbasid caliph must have been established by the 1090s at latest. When Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi visited Baghdad between 1096 and 1098, possibly as part of an Almoravid embassy to Caliph al-Mustazhir , he claimed that the Friday prayers were already being given in the Abbasid caliph's name across

5763-538: The Almoravids within reach of Valencia , which was officially under the control of al-Qadir , the former Taifa ruler of Toledo. He had been installed here in 1086 by the Castilians after they took control of Toledo. Al-Qadir's unpopular rule in Valencia was supported by a Castilian garrison headed by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , a Castilian noble and mercenary better known today as El Cid. In October 1092, when El Cid

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5876-835: The Banu Ya'la in battle near the valley of the Moulaya River and executed their commander, Mali Ibn Ya'la, the son of Tlemcen's ruler. However, Ibn Tilankan did not push to Tlemcen right away as the city of Oujda , occupied by the Bani Iznasan, was too strong to capture. Instead, Ibn Tashfin himself returned with an army in 1081 that captured Oujda and then conquered Tlemcen, massacring the Maghrawa forces there and their leader, al-Abbas Ibn Bakhti al-Maghrawi. He pressed on and by 1082 he had captured Algiers . Ibn Tashfin subsequently treated Tlemcen as his eastern base. At that time,

5989-529: The Caliphate left the rival Muslim kingdoms much weaker than their Christian counterparts, particularly the Castilian–Leonese monarchy, and many had to submit to them, paying tributes known as parias . Due to their military weakness, taifa princes appealed for North African warriors to come fight Christian kings on two occasions. The Almoravid dynasty was invited after the fall of Toledo (1085), and

6102-546: The Christians in a narrow pass located between the mountains and the sea, but El Cid managed to rally his troops and repel the Almoravids yet again. In 1097, the Almoravid governor of Xativa, Ali ibn al-Hajj, led another incursion into Valencian territory but was quickly defeated and pursued to Almenara , which El Cid then captured after a three-month siege. In 1097, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin himself led another army into al-Andalus. Setting out from Cordoba with Muhammad ibn al-Hajj as his field commander, he marched against Alfonso VI, who

6215-536: The Great . That period was treated as an interlude between Alexander's conquest of Persia and the formation of the Sasanian Empire . The negative portrayal of the Parthian period by Muslim historians may have been inherited from Sasanian propaganda. In the 11th century, Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī first applied the term to the regional rulers who appeared after the collapse of Umayyad power in Spain, "whose condition

6328-748: The Holy Book. Ibn Yasin certainly had the ardor of a puritan zealot; his creed was mainly characterized by a rigid formalism and a strict adherence to the dictates of the Quran, and the Orthodox tradition . (Chroniclers such as al-Bakri allege Ibn Yasin's learning was superficial.) Ibn Yasin's initial meetings with the Guddala people went poorly. As he had more ardor than depth, Ibn Yasin's arguments were disputed by his audience. He responded to questioning with charges of apostasy and handed out harsh punishments for

6441-426: The Iberian Peninsula. A couple of years later, in May 1085, he seized control of Toledo , previously one of the most powerful city-states in al-Andalus. Soon after, he also began a siege of Zaragoza . These dramatic events forced the Taifa kings to finally consider seeking an external intervention by the Almoravids. According to the most detailed Arabic source, it was al-Mu'tamid, the ruler of Seville, who convened

6554-431: The Sahara in order to suppress a rebellion by the Guddala and their allies which threatened the desert trade routes, in either 1060 or 1071. His wife Zaynab appears to have been unwilling to follow him south and he granted her a divorce. Apparently on Abu Bakr's instructions, she was then married to Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. Before leaving, Abu Bakr appointed Ibn Tashfin as his deputy in charge of the new Almoravid territories in

6667-406: The Sahara, led by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and his descendants. The Almoravids expanded their control to al-Andalus (the Muslim territories in Iberia ) and were crucial in temporarily halting the advance of the Christian kingdoms in this region, with the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086 among their signature victories. This united the Maghreb and al-Andalus politically for the first time and transformed

6780-407: The Saharan tribes. Their first major targets were two strategic cities located at the northern and southern edges of the desert: Sijilmasa in the north and Awdaghust in the south. Control of these two cities would allow the Almoravids to effectively control the trans-Saharan trade routes. Sijilmasa was controlled by the Maghrawa , a part of the northern Zenata Berber confederation, while Awdaghust

6893-399: The advice of Zaynab. Abu Bakr recognized that he was unable to force the issue and was unwilling to fight a battle over control of Marrakesh, so he decided to voluntarily recognize Ibn Tashfin's leadership in the Maghreb. The two men met on neutral ground between Aghmat and Marrakesh to confirm the arrangement. After a short stay in Aghmat, Abu Bakr returned south to continue his leadership of

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7006-439: The annual parias at around 10,000 mithqals , comparable to the vetus paria . The largest parias on record were those forced on the eastern taifas by Alfonso's vassal Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in 1089–91, during which period he took in 146,000 dinars . By comparison, a typical nobleman's ransom cost 500–1,000 aurei in contemporary Spain and in Córdoba 400 horses or seventy human slaves were worth about 10,000 mithqals in

7119-439: The archaeology of ancient Ghana simply does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests. Dierke Lange agreed with the original military incursion theory but argues that this doesn't preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that the main factor of the demise of the Ghana Empire owed much to the latter. According to Lange, Almoravid religious influence

7232-403: The campaign concluded that year, they retired to Sijilmasa and established their base there. It was around this time that Abu Bakr appointed his cousin, Yusuf ibn Tashfin , to command the garrison of the city. In 1058, they crossed the High Atlas and conquered Aghmat , a prosperous commercial town near the foothills of the mountains, and made it their capital. They then came in contact with

7345-430: The city and then turned south to capture Awdaghust, which they accomplished that same year. Although the town was mainly Muslim, the Almoravids pillaged the city and treated the population harshly on the basis that they recognized the pagan king of Ghana . Not long after the main Almoravid army left Sijilmasa, the city rebelled and the Maghrawa returned, slaughtering the Lamtuna garrison. Ibn Yasin responded by organizing

7458-450: The city had consisted of an older settlement called Agadir, but Ibn Tashfin founded a new city next to it called Takrart, which later merged with Agadir in the Almohad period to become the present city. The Almoravids subsequently clashed with the Hammadids to the east multiple times, but they did not make a sustained effort to conquer the central Maghrib and instead focused their efforts on other fronts. Eventually, in 1104, they signed

7571-422: The city to defend against future Almoravid attacks. In late 1096, Ibn Aisha led an army of 30,000 men to besiege the strongest of these fortresses, Peña Cadiella (just south of Xativa ). El Cid confronted them and called on Aragon for reinforcements. When the reinforcements approached, the Almoravids lifted the siege, but laid a trap for El Cid's forces as they marched back to Valencia. They successfully ambushed

7684-528: The command of Diya al-Dawla Yahya, was the last major city on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar that still held out against him. In return for a promise to help him, Ibn Tashfin demanded that al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad , the ruler of Seville , provide assistance in besieging the city. Al-Mu'tamid obliged and sent a fleet to blockade the city by sea, while Ibn Tashfin's son Tamim led the siege by land. The city finally surrendered in June–July 1083 or in August 1084. Ibn Tashfin also made efforts to organize

7797-438: The contrary, intense intellectual and literary activity grew in some of the larger taifas. There was a second period when taifas arose, toward the middle of the 12th century, when the Almoravid rulers were in decline. During the heyday of the taifas, in the 11th century and again in the mid 12th century, their emirs (rulers) competed among themselves, not only militarily but also for cultural prestige. They tried to recruit

7910-413: The date of the final conquest of Fez as 1069 (461 AH). Historian Ronald Messier gives the date more specifically as 18 March 1070 (462 AH). Other historians date this conquest to 1074 or 1075. In 1079, Ibn Tashfin sent an army 20,000 strong from Marrakesh to push towards what is now Tlemcen to attack the Banu Ya'la, the Zenata tribe occupying the area. Led by Mazdali Ibn Tilankan, the army defeated

8023-496: The end, he refused to pay El Cid's tribute and the siege continued. By April 1094, the city was starving and he decided to surrender it shortly after. El Cid re-entered Valencia on 15 June 1094, after 20 months of siege. Rather than ruling through a puppet again, he now took direct control as king. Meanwhile, also in 1094, the Almoravids seized control of the entire Taifa kingdom of Badajoz after its ruler, al-Mutawwakil, sought his own alliance with Castile. The Almoravid expedition

8136-415: The field, the Almoravids did not capture any major new towns or fortresses. El Cid attempted to Christianize Valencia, converting its main mosque into a church and establishing a bishopric , but ultimately failed to attract many new Christian settlers to the city. He died on 10 July 1099, leaving his wife, Jimena, in charge of the kingdom. She was unable to hold off Almoravid pressures, which culminated in

8249-438: The gold that came from Ghana in the south, but in practice it remained dependent on the spoils of new conquests. The majority of the Almoravid army continued to be composed of Sanhaja recruits, but Ibn Tashfin also began recruiting slaves to form a personal guard ( ḥashm ), including 5000 black soldiers ( 'abid ) and 500 white soldiers ( uluj , likely of European origin). At some point, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin moved to acknowledge

8362-454: The historic region of the Sudan . After the death of Abu Bakr (1087), the confederation of Berber tribes in the Sahara was divided between the descendants of Abu Bakr and his brother Yahya, and would have lost control of Ghana. Sheryl Burkhalter suggests that Abu Bakr's son Yahya was the leader of the Almoravid expedition that conquered Ghana in 1076, and that the Almoravids would have survived

8475-477: The intention of reclaiming his father's position in the Maghreb. Another Almoravid commander, Mazdali ibn Tilankan , who was related to both men, defused the situation and convinced Ibrahim to join his father in the south rather than start a civil war. Ibn Tashfin had in the meantime helped to bring the large area of what is now Morocco , Western Sahara , and Mauritania under Almoravid control. He spent at least several years capturing each fort and settlement in

8588-425: The jurists of Kairouan were agitating for him to do so. Within this heady atmosphere, Yahya and Abu Imran fell into conversation on the state of the faith in their western homelands, and Yahya expressed his disappointment at the lack of religious education and negligence of Islamic law among his southern Sanhaja people. With Abu Imran's recommendation, Yahya ibn Ibrahim made his way to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zelu in

8701-522: The lands of the former Visigothic Kingdom that had been conquered by Muslims. By this time the caliphate of Cordova, among the richest and most powerful states in Europe, had suffered a civil war, known as the Fitna of al-Andalus . As a result, it "broke into taifas , small rival emirates fighting among themselves". However, the political decline and chaos was not immediately followed by cultural decline. To

8814-473: The latter's death. Following Abu Bakr's departure, Ibn Tashfin was largely responsible for building the Almoravid state in the Maghreb over the next two decades. One of Abu Bakr's sons, Ibrahim, who served as the Almoravid leader in Sijilmasa between 1071 and 1076 (according to the coinage minted there), did develop a rivalry with Ibn Tashfin and attempted to confront him toward 1076. He marched to Aghmat with

8927-560: The loss of Ghana and the defeat in the Maghreb by the Almohads, and would have ruled the Sahara until the end of the 12th century. Initially, it appears Ibn Tashfin had little interest in involving the Almoravids in the politics of al-Andalus (the Muslim territories on the Iberian Peninsula). After the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century, al-Andalus had split into small kingdoms or city-states known as

9040-527: The most famous poets and artisans. Observers in al-Andalus in the 1080s did not see a decline as likely, much less imminent or probable. However, by the 1090s, popular revolt became a real possibility as the ulama accusations against taifa kings gained popularity. Reversing the trend of the Umayyad period, when the Christian kingdoms of the north often had to pay tribute to the Caliph, the disintegration of

9153-497: The movement. The Almoravids, sometimes called "al-mulathamun" ("the veiled ones", from litham , Arabic for " veil ".) trace their origins back to several Saharan Sanhaja nomadic tribes, dwelling in an area that stretches between the Senegal River in the south and the Draa river in the north. The first and main Almoravid founding tribe was the Lamtuna . It occupied the region around Awdaghust (Aoudaghost) in

9266-438: The name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the "persevering in the fight" sense, to boost morale after a particularly hard-fought battle in the Draa valley c.  1054 , in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, partly with the conscious goal of forestalling any tribal or ethnic identifications. The name might be related to

9379-704: The nature of the "conquest" in the south of the Sahara, the influence and success of the Almoravid movement in securing west African gold and circulating it widely necessitated a high degree of political control. The Arab geographer Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri wrote that the Almoravids ended Ibadi Islam in Tadmekka in 1084 and that Abu Bakr "arrived at the mountain of gold" in the deep south. Abu Bakr finally died in Tagant in November 1087 following an injury in battle—according to oral tradition, from an arrow —while fighting in

9492-469: The new Almoravid realm. Under his rule, the western Maghreb was divided into well-defined administrative provinces for the first time—prior to this, it had been mostly tribal territory. A developing central government was established in Marrakesh, while he entrusted key provinces to important allies and relatives. The nascent Almoravid state was funded in part by the taxes allowed under Islamic law and by

9605-408: The new capital of Marrakesh. Historical sources cite a variety of dates for this event ranging from 1062, given by Ibn Abi Zar and Ibn Khaldun , to 1078 (470 AH), given by Muhammad al-Idrisi . The year 1070, given by Ibn Idhari , is more commonly used by modern historians, although 1062 is still cited by some writers. Shortly after founding the new city, Abu Bakr was compelled to return south to

9718-610: The next step in their fortunes. While Ibn Yasin went north, Yahya Ibn Umar remained in the south in the Adrar, the heartland of the Lamtuna, in a defensible and well-provisioned place called Jabal Lamtuna, about 10 kilometres northwest of modern Atar . His stronghold there was a fortress called Azuggi (also rendered variably as Azougui or Azukki), which had been built earlier by his brother Yannu ibn Umar al-Hajj. Some scholars, including Attilio Gaudio, Christiane Vanacker, and Brigitte Himpan and Diane Himpan-Sabatier describe Azuggi as

9831-551: The north. According to Ibn Idhari, Zaynab became his most important political advisor. A year later, after suppressing the revolt in the south, Abu Bakr returned north toward Marrakesh, expecting to resume his control of the city and of the Almoravid forces in North Africa. Ibn Tashfin, however, was now unwilling to give up his own position of leadership. While Abu Bakr was still camped near Aghmat, Ibn Tashfin sent him lavish gifts but refused to obey his summons, reportedly on

9944-483: The only other Muslim power left in the peninsula, sent an ambassador on this occasion and signed a treaty with the Almoravids. By the time Ibn Tashfin died in 1106, the Almoravids were thus in control of all of al-Andalus except for Zaragoza. In general, they had not reconquered any of the lands lost to the Christian kingdoms in the previous century. Ali Ibn Yusuf ( r.  1106–1143 ) was born in Ceuta and educated in

10057-405: The region around Fez and in northern Morocco. After most of the surrounding region was under his control, he was finally able to conquer Fez definitively. However, there is some contradiction and uncertainty among historical sources regarding the exact chronology of these conquests, with some sources dating the main conquests to the 1060s and others dating them to the 1070s. Some modern authors cite

10170-603: The reign of James I the Conqueror (1213–76), who put an end to them by conquering Valencia. Much of the wealth acquired through parias was distributed to cathedrals and monasteries , while some found its way back to the aristocracy . Sometime between 1053 and 1065 Ferdinand of León pledged an annual census of 1,000 aurei for the Abbey of Cluny , a donation re-established by Alfonso VI in 1077 and then increased to 2,000 aurei in 1090 by this same monarch. This, known as

10283-506: The ruler of Murcia , was embroiled in a rivalry with al-Mu'tamid of Seville. As a result, this time it was the elites or notables ( wujūh ) of al-Andalus who now called for help from the Almoravids, rather than the kings. In May–June 1088, Ibn Tashfin landed at Algeciras with another army, soon joined by al-Mu'tamid of Seville, by Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada, and by other troops sent by Ibn Sumadih of Almería and Ibn Rashiq of Murcia. They then set out to retake Aledo. The siege, however,

10396-526: The slightest deviations. The Guddala soon had enough and expelled him almost immediately after the death of his protector, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, sometime in the 1040s. Ibn Yasin, however, found a more favorable reception among the neighboring Lamtuna people. Probably sensing the useful organizing power of Ibn Yasin's pious fervor, the Lamtuna chieftain Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni invited the man to preach to his people. The Lamtuna leaders, however, kept Ibn Yasin on

10509-493: The southern Sahara according to contemporary Arab chroniclers such as al-Ya'qubi , al-Bakri and Ibn Hawqal . According to French historian Charles-André Julien : "The original cell of the Almoravid empire was a powerful Sanhaja tribe of the Sahara, the Lamtuna, whose place of origin was in the Adrar in Mauritania ." The Tuareg people are believed to be their descendants. These nomads had been converted to Islam in

10622-590: The taifas of Badajoz , Toledo , Zaragoza , and even Sevilla paid tribute to Alfonso VI . By the end of the 13th century, only one remained, the Emirate of Granada , the rest being incorporated into the Christian states of the north . The Arabic term mulūk al-ṭawāʾif means "kings of the territorial divisions" or "party kings". Muslim historians originally used these terms to refer to the Parthian Empire and other regional rulers that succeeded Alexander

10735-484: The territories ruled by Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. After leaving Yusuf Ibn Tashfin in the north and returning south, Abu Bakr Ibn Umar reportedly made Azuggi his base. The town acted as the capital of the southern Almoravids under him and his successors. Despite the importance of the Saharan trade routes to the Almoravids, the history of the southern wing of the empire is not well documented in Arabic historical sources and

10848-410: The times, though it is impossible to determine their precise value in modern terms. The vetus paria in about 1060, when it was being paid to Ferdinand of León, was worth around 10,000 aurei per annum . This was raised to 12,000 numos de auro per annum when Sancho IV of Navarre acquired it. In 1075 Alfonso VI negotiated 30,000 mithqals from Granada, including two years' worth of arrears, putting

10961-683: The title of hajib , presenting themselves as representatives for a temporarily absent caliph. The taifa courts were renowned centres of cultural excellence in which poets, scientists, and other scholars were able to thrive. Wars between the taifas were common and rulers of Muslim taifas were known to ally with the Iberian Christians (and the North African kingdoms) against European or Mediterranean Christian rulers from outside of al-Andalus. These alliances frequently included payments of large tributes in return for security. Eventually,

11074-415: The traditions of al-Andalus, unlike his predecessors, who were from the Sahara. According to some scholars, Ali ibn Yusuf represented a new generation of leadership that had forgotten the desert life for the comforts of the city. His long reign of 37 years is historically overshadowed by the defeats and deteriorating circumstances that characterized the later years, but the first decade or so, prior to 1118,

11187-494: The tributary military protection against foes both Islamic and Christian. Usually the original exaction was forced, either by a large razzia or the threat of one, or as the cost of supporting one Islamic party against another. (The word " taifa " means "party [kingdom]" and refers to the prevalence of factionalism in Islamic Spain during the taifas era.) The earliest evidence of parias pertains to eastern Spain, to

11300-471: The urbanization of the western Maghreb, while cultural developments were spurred by increased contact between Al-Andalus and Africa. After a short apogee, Almoravid power in al-Andalus began to decline after the loss of Zaragoza in 1118. The final cause of their downfall was the Masmuda -led Almohad rebellion initiated in the Maghreb by Ibn Tumart in the 1120s. The last Almoravid ruler, Ishaq ibn Ali ,

11413-625: Was accepted as the new ruler by most Almoravid subjects, except for his nephew, Yahya ibn Abu Bakr, the governor of Fes. Ali ibn Yusuf marched his army to the gates of Fes, causing Yahya to flee to Tlemcen. There, the veteran Almoravid commander, Mazdali, convinced Yahya to reconcile with his uncle. Yahya agreed, went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and upon his return he was allowed to rejoin Ali Ibn Yusuf's court in Marrakesh. Parias In medieval Spain , parias (from medieval Latin pariāre , "to make equal [an account]", i.e. pay) were

11526-460: Was also very powerful and expansive, but inhibited by the neighbouring Christian states of the Pyrenees . Zaragoza, Toledo , and Badajoz had previously been the border military districts of the Caliphate. After the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031 about 33 independent taifas emerged out the civil war and conflict in al-Andalus. Many of the less tenable taifa kingdoms had disappeared by

11639-589: Was away from the city, there was an insurrection and coup d'état led by the qadi (judge) Abu Ahmad Ja'far Ibn Jahhaf. The latter called for help from the Almoravids in Murcia, who sent a small group of warriors to the city. The Castilian garrison was forced to leave and al-Qadir was captured and executed. However, the Almoravids did not send enough forces to oppose El Cid's return and Ibn Jahhaf undermined his popular support by proceeding to install himself as ruler, acting like yet another Taifa king. El Cid began

11752-479: Was characterized by continuing military successes, enabled in large part by skilled generals. While the Almoravids remained dominant in field battles, military shortcomings were becoming apparent in their relative inability to sustain and win long sieges. In these early years, the Almoravid state was also wealthy, minting more gold than ever before, and Ali ibn Yusuf embarked on ambitious building projects, especially in Marrakesh. Upon his enthronement, Ali ibn Yusuf

11865-468: Was controlled by the Soninke . Both cities were captured in 1054 or 1055. Sijilmasa was captured first and its leader, Mas'ud Ibn Wannudin, was killed, along with other Maghrawa leaders. According to historical sources, the Almoravid army rode on camels and numbered 30,000, though this number may be an exaggeration. Strengthened with the spoils of their victory, they left a garrison of Lamtuna tribesmen in

11978-487: Was gradual, rather than the result of military action; there the Almoravids gained power by marrying among the nation's nobility. Lange attributes the decline of ancient Ghana to numerous unrelated factors, one of which is likely attributable to internal dynastic struggles instigated by Almoravid influence and Islamic pressures, but devoid of military conquest. This interpretation of events has been disputed by later scholars like Sheryl L. Burkhalter, who argued that, whatever

12091-465: Was in Toledo at the time. The Castilians were routed at the Battle of Consuegra . El Cid was not involved, but his son, Diego, was killed in the battle. Soon after, Alvar Fañez was also defeated near Cuenca in another battle with the Almoravids, led by Ibn Aisha. The latter followed up this victory by ravaging the lands around Valencia and defeated another army sent by El Cid. Despite these victories in

12204-609: Was killed when the Almohads captured Marrakesh in 1147 and established themselves as the new dominant power in both North Africa and Al-Andalus. The term "Almoravid" comes from the Arabic " al-Murabit " ( المرابط ), through the Spanish : almorávide . The transformation of the b in " al-Murabit " to the v in almorávide is an example of betacism in Spanish. In Arabic, " al-Murabit " literally means "one who

12317-492: Was led by Sir ibn Abu Bakr, who had been appointed as governor of Seville. The Almoravids then returned their attention to Valencia, where another of Ibn Tashfin's nephews, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, was ordered to take the city. He arrived outside its walls in October 1094 and began attacks on the city. The siege ended when El Cid launched a two-sided attack: he sent a sortie from one city gate that posed as his main force, occupying

12430-616: Was like that of the mulūk al-ṭawāʾif of the Persians". The phrase implied cultural decline. The corresponding term in Spanish is reyes de taifas ("kings of taifas "), by way of which the Arabic term has entered English (and French) usage. The origins of the taifas must be sought in the administrative division of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba , as well in the ethnic division of the elite of this state, divided among Arabs , Berbers , Muladíes (indigenous Muslim converts,

12543-521: Was not enough to urge his audiences to put aside their blood loyalties and ethnic differences, and embrace the equality of all Muslims under the Sacred Law, it was necessary to make them do so. For the Lamtuna leadership, this new ideology dovetailed with their long desire to refound the Sanhaja union and recover their lost dominions. In the early 1050s, the Lamtuna, under the joint leadership of Yahya ibn Umar and Abdallah ibn Yasin—soon calling themselves

12656-662: Was sometimes reduced to a quarter or a fifth of state revenue, the Grenadine kings were forced to tax their subjects far beyond what was permissible under Islamic law . Parias were generally paid in gold coin ( aurei , "golden ones", or numos de auro , "coins of gold", in Latin), usually Islamic dinars or mithqals , accompanied by gifts of carpets, silks, ivories, plate, and other luxuries not produced widely in Christian Europe. They were extremely large sums for

12769-649: Was undermined by rivalries and disunity among the Taifa kings. News eventually reached the Muslims that Alfonso VI was bringing an army to help the Castilian garrison. In November 1088, Ibn Tashfin lifted the siege and returned to North Africa again, having achieved nothing. Alfonso VI sent his trusted commander, Alvar Fañez , to pressure the Taifa kings again. He succeeded in forcing Abdallah ibn Buluggin to resume tribute payments and began to pressure al-Mu'tamid in turn. In 1090, Ibn Tashfin returned to al-Andalus yet again, but by this point he seemed to have given up on

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