Fertile Crescent :
195-792: Europe : Africa : Siberia : The Acheulo-Yabrudian complex is a complex of archaeological cultures in the Levant at the end of the Lower Palaeolithic . It follows the Acheulian and precedes the Mousterian . It is also called the Mugharan Tradition or the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC) . The Acheulo-Yabrudian complex has three stone-tool traditions, chronologically:
390-512: A Persian prince from Shiraz arrived and acquired the island of Kilwa from the local inhabitants, before quarrel with the Bantu king led to the severing Kilwa's land bridge to the mainland. Settlements in northern Madagascar such as Mahilaka [ de ] , Irodo , and Iharana also engaged in the trade, attracting Arab immigration. Bantu migrated to Madagascar and the Comoros from
585-702: A Roman civil war , which ultimately led to its conquest by Rome in 30 BC. The Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire freed the Levantine city state of Palmyra who conquered Egypt , however their rule lasted only a few years before Egypt was reintegrated into the Roman Empire . In the midst of this, Kush regained total independence from Egypt, and they would persist as a major regional power until, having been weakened from internal rebellion amid worsening climatic conditions, invasions by both
780-568: A coup d'état in 522 brought Dhu Nuwas back to power who again began persecuting Christians . The Aksumites invaded again in 525, and with Byzantine aid conquered the kingdom, incorporating it as a vassal state after some minor internal conflict . In the late 6th century the Aksumites were driven out of Yemen by the Himyarite king with the aid of the Sassanids . Further north-west,
975-590: A power vacuum in North Africa. The Zengid dynasty , nominally under Seljuk suzerainty , invaded on the pretext of defending Egypt from the Christians, and usurped the position of vizier in the caliphate. Following the assassination of the previous holder, the position of vizier passed onto Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (commonly referred to as Saladin). After a joint Zengid - Fatimid effort repelled
1170-539: A rationalist intellectualism in Almohad religious thought. Al-Mansur's father, Abu Ya'qub Yusuf , had also shown some favour towards philosophy and kept the philosopher Ibn Tufayl as his confidant. Ibn Tufayl in turn introduced Ibn Rush (Averroes) to the Almohad court, to whom Al-Mansur gave patronage and protection. Although Ibn Rushd (who was also an Islamic judge ) saw rationalism and philosophy as complementary to religion and revelation, his views failed to convince
1365-644: A revival in pyramid-building . After a century of rule they were forcibly driven out of Egypt by the Assyrians as reprisal for the Kushites agitating peoples within the Assyrian Empire in an attempt to gain a foothold in the region. The Assyrians installed a puppet dynasty which later gained independence and once more unified Egypt , with Upper Egypt becoming a rich agricultural region whose produce Lower Egypt then sold and traded. In 525 BC Egypt
1560-489: A wet period in the Sahel opened areas for human habitation and exploitation which had not been habitable for the better part of a millennium. Based on large tumuli scattered across West Africa dating to this period, it has been proposed that there were several contemporaneous kingdoms which have unfortunately been lost to history. Some important polities likely founded in the early-to-middle 1st millennium who did make it into
1755-784: A writing system was adapted or developed ; for example the oral recordation of the Kouroukan Fouga in the Mali Empire while having adapted the Arabic script to be used in scholarly pursuits . Many kingdoms and empires came and went in all regions of the continent . Most states were created through conquest or the borrowing and assimilation of ideas and institutions , while some developed through internal, largely isolated development. Some African empires and hegemonic kingdoms include Ghana , Mali, Songhai , Ife , Oyo , Bamana/Ségou , Asante , Massina , Sokoto , and
1950-441: A "sophisticated hybrid form of Islam that wove together strands from Hadith science, Zahiri and Shafi'i fiqh , Ghazalian social actions ( hisba ), and spiritual engagement with Shi'i notions of the imam and mahdi ". This contrasted with the highly orthodox or traditionalist Maliki school ( maddhab ) of Sunni Islam which predominated in the region up to that point. Central to his philosophy, Ibn Tumart preached
2145-568: A complicated blend of literalist jurisprudence and esoteric dogmatics. Some authors occasionally describe Almohads as heavily influenced by Mu'tazilism . Scholar Madeline Fletcher argues that while one of Ibn Tumart's original teachings, the murshida s (a collection of sayings memorized by his followers), holds positions on the attributes of God which might be construed as moderately Mu'tazilite (and which were criticized as such by Ibn Taimiyya ), identifying him with Mu'tazilites would be an exaggeration. She points out that another of his main texts,
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#17327758640642340-840: A conditional alliance to counter Damot , with Shewa at times forced to pay tribute to the pagans. In the 13th century the Ajuran clan established the Ajuran Sultanate on the eastern coast of the Horn and expanded, conquering the Tunni and vassalising Mogadishu , coming to dominate the Indian Ocean trade , while the Warsangali clan formed the Warsangali Sultanate on the Horn's north-eastern coast. The turn of
2535-690: A devastating ambush crippled their military leadership, and throughout the 12th century they gradually lost territory to the Christians. To the east, the Fatimids saw their empire start to collapse in 1061, beginning with the loss of the holy cities to the Sharifate of Mecca and exacerbated by rebellion in Cairo . The Seljuk Turks , who saw themselves as the guardian of the Abbasid Caliphate , capitalised and conquered much of their territories in
2730-464: A fundamentalist or radical version of tawhid – referring to a strict monotheism or to the "oneness of God". This notion gave the movement its name: al - Muwaḥḥidūn ( Arabic : المُوَحِّدون ), meaning roughly "those who advocate tawhid ", which was adapted to "Almohads" in European writings. Ibn Tumart saw his movement as a revolutionary reform movement much as early Islam saw itself relative to
2925-454: A heavy tax. The Exarchate of Africa covered much of Ifriqiya and the eastern Maghreb , surrounded by numerous Berber kingdoms that followed Christianity heavily syncretised with traditional Berber religion . The interior was dominated by various groupings of tribal confederations, namely the nomadic Zenata , the Masmuda of Sanhaja in modern-day Morocco , and the other two Sanhaja in
3120-591: A large Castilian army, descended from the hills, besieging cities such as Jaén and Andújar . They raided throughout the regions of Jaén , Cordova and Vega de Granada and, before the end of the year, al-Bayyasi had established himself in the city of Cordova . Sensing a power vacuum, both Alfonso IX of León and Sancho II of Portugal opportunistically ordered raids into Andalusian territory that same year. With Almohad arms, men and cash dispatched to Morocco to help Caliph al-Adil impose himself in Marrakesh, there
3315-452: A large garden east of the city). The Almohads were thoroughly routed, with huge losses. Half their leadership was killed in action, and the survivors only just managed to scramble back to the mountains. Ibn Tumart died shortly after, in August 1130. That the Almohad movement did not immediately collapse after such a devastating defeat and the death of their charismatic Mahdi, is likely due to
3510-437: A major activity in the numerous streams and lakes formed from the increased rains. Mande peoples have been credited with the independent development of agriculture about 4000–3000 BC. Evidence of the early smelting of metals – lead , copper , and bronze – dates from the fourth millennium BC. Egyptians smelted copper during the predynastic period , and bronze came into use after 3,000 BC at
3705-512: A massive advance in the Christian reconquista – the old great Andalusian citadels fell in a grand sweep: Mérida and Badajoz in 1230 (to Leon), Majorca in 1230 (to Aragon), Beja in 1234 (to Portugal), Cordova in 1236 (to Castile), Valencia in 1238 (to Aragon), Niebla - Huelva in 1238 (to Leon), Silves in 1242 (to Portugal), Murcia in 1243 (to Castile), Jaén in 1246 (to Castile), Alicante in 1248 (to Castile), culminating in
3900-578: A millennium, with Punt exchanging gold , aromatic resins , blackwood , ebony , ivory and wild animals. Towards the end of the ancient period, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea bore the Kingdom of D'mt beginning in 980 BC, whose people developed irrigation schemes, used ploughs , grew millet , and made iron tools and weapons . In modern-day Somalia and Djibouti there was the Macrobian Kingdom , with archaeological discoveries indicating
4095-670: A monopoly on Indian Ocean trade in the region. Aksum's rise had them rule over much of the regions from the Lake Tana to the valley of the Nile , and they further conquered parts of the ailing Kingdom of Kush , led campaigns against the Noba and Beja peoples, and expanded into South Arabia . This led the Persian prophet Mani to consider Aksum as one of the four great powers of the 3rd century alongside Persia , Rome , and China . In
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#17327758640644290-438: A palace there called Al-Muwarak on the site of the modern-day Alcázar of Seville . The successors of Abd al-Mumin, Abu Yaqub Yusuf (Yusuf I, ruled 1163–1184) and Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur (Yaʻqūb I, ruled 1184–1199), were both able men. Initially their government drove many Jewish and Christian subjects to take refuge in the growing Christian states of Portugal, Castile, and Aragon . Ultimately they became less fanatical than
4485-467: A period of effective regency for the young caliph, with power exercised by an oligarchy of elder family members, palace bureaucrats and leading nobles. The Almohad ministers were careful to negotiate a series of truces with the Christian kingdoms, which remained more-or-less in place for next fifteen years (the loss of Alcácer do Sal to the Kingdom of Portugal in 1217 was an exception). In early 1224,
4680-515: A revolt against what he perceived as anthropomorphism in Muslim orthodoxy. His followers would become known as the al-Muwaḥḥidūn ("Almohads"), meaning those who affirm the unity of God. After his return to the Maghreb c. 1117, Ibn Tumart spent some time in various Ifriqiyan cities, preaching and agitating, heading riotous attacks on wine-shops and on other manifestations of laxity. He laid
4875-650: A series of crucial victories and expanded rapidly, forcing the Byzantines to evacuate Syria. With Byzantine regional presence shattered, Egypt was quickly conquered by 642, with the Egyptian Copts odious of Byzantine rule generally putting up little resistance. The Muslims' attention then turned west to the Maghreb where the Exarchate of Africa had declared independence from Constantinople under Gregory
5070-528: Is estimated that Africa had up to 10,000 different states and autonomous groups having distinct languages and customs , with most following traditional religions . From the 7th century CE, Islam spread west amid the Arab conquest of North Africa , and by proselytization to the Horn of Africa. It later spread southwards to the Swahili coast assisted by Muslim dominance of the Indian Ocean trade , and from
5265-434: Is famous for rectangular slabs of ochre engraved with geometric designs. Using multiple dating techniques, the site was confirmed to be around 77,000 and 100–75,000 years old. Ostrich egg shell containers engraved with geometric designs dating to 60,000 years ago were found at Diepkloof , South Africa. Beads and other personal ornamentation have been found from Morocco which might be as much as 130,000 years old; as well,
5460-527: Is no doubt that these flags in their different colors delighted and pleased the people. According to historian Amira Benninson, the caliphs usually left their capital Marrakesh for war in al-Andalus preceded by the white banner of the Almohads, the Quran of 'Uthman and Quran of Ibn Tumart. Egyptian historiographer Al-Qalqashandi (d. 1418) mentioned white flags in two places, the first being when he spoke about
5655-493: Is particularly true of the various cultures and dynasties of Ancient Egypt and of Nubia . From around 3500 BC, a coalition of Horus -worshipping nomes in the western Nile Delta conquered the Andjety -worshipping nomes of the east to form Lower Egypt , whilst Set -worshipping nomes in the south coalesced to form Upper Egypt . Egypt was first united when Narmer of Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt , giving rise to
5850-468: Is sometimes mythical and social, and truth generally viewed as relativist . Oral tradition can be exoteric or esoteric . It speaks to people according to their understanding, unveiling itself in accordance with their aptitudes, and is not always to be taken literally. The first known hominids evolved in Africa. According to paleontology , the early hominids' skull anatomy was similar to that of
6045-423: The 'aqida (which was likely edited by others after him), demonstrates a much clearer Ash'arite position on a number of issues. Nonetheless, the Almohads, particularly from the reign of Caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur onward, embraced the use of logical reasoning as a method of validating the more central Almohad concept of tawhid . This effectively provided a religious justification for philosophy and for
Acheulo-Yabrudian complex - Misplaced Pages Continue
6240-665: The 11th dynasty conquered all of Egypt to form the Middle Kingdom in 2055 BC. The 12th dynasty oversaw advancements in irrigation and economic expansion in the Faiyum Oasis , as well as expansion into Lower Nubia at the expense of Kerma . In 1700 BC, Egypt fractured in two, ushering in the Second Intermediate Period . The Hyksos , a militaristic people from Palestine , capitalised on this fragmentation and conquered Lower Egypt, establishing
6435-580: The 15th dynasty of Egypt , whilst Kerma coordinated invasions deep into Egypt to reach its greatest extent, looting royal statues and monuments. A rival power base developed in Thebes with Ahmose I of the 18th dynasty eventually expelling the Hyksos from Egypt, forming the New Kingdom in 1550 BC. Utilising the military technology the Hyksos had brought, they conducted numerous campaigns to conquer
6630-631: The 1st and 2nd dynasties of Egypt whose efforts presumably consisted of conquest and consolidation, with unification completed by the 3rd dynasty to form the Old Kingdom of Egypt in 2686 BC. The Kingdom of Kerma emerged around this time to become the dominant force in Nubia, controlling an area as large as Egypt between the 1st and 4th cataracts of the Nile , with Egyptian records speaking of its rich and populous agricultural regions. The height of
6825-548: The Abbasid Caliph , albeit taking up for himself a quasi-caliphal title, 'al-Mutawwakil'. The departure of al-Ma'mun in 1228 marked the end of the Almohad era in Spain. Ibn Hud and the other local Andalusian strongmen were unable to stem the rising flood of Christian attacks, launched almost yearly by Sancho II of Portugal , Alfonso IX of León , Ferdinand III of Castile and James I of Aragon . The next twenty years saw
7020-635: The Aghlabids controlling Ifriqiya under only nominal Abbasid rule and in 868 when the Tulunids wrestled the independence of Egypt for four decades before again coming under Abbasid control. Late in the 9th century, a revolt by East African slaves in the Abbasid's homeland of Iraq diverted its resources away from its other territories, devastating important ports in the Persian Gulf , and
7215-729: The Aksumites and the Noba caused their disintegration into Makuria , Alodia , and Nobatia in the 5th century AD. The Romans managed to hold on to Egypt for the rest of the ancient period. In the Horn of Africa there was the Land of Punt , a kingdom on the Red Sea , likely located in modern-day Eritrea or northern Somaliland . The Ancient Egyptians initially traded via middle-men with Punt until in 2350 BC when they established direct relations. They would become close trading partners for over
7410-480: The Banu Hud dynasty that had once ruled the old taifa of Saragossa , emerged as the central figure of these rebellions, systematically dislodging Almohad garrisons through central Spain. In October 1228, with Spain practically all lost, al-Ma'mun abandoned Seville, taking what little remained of the Almohad army with him to Morocco. Ibn Hud immediately dispatched emissaries to distant Baghdad to offer recognition to
7605-782: The Barghawata of Masmuda , the Ifranid dynasty , and the Midrarid dynasty , both from the Zenata . The Idrisid dynasty would come to rule most of modern-day Morocco with the support of the Masmuda , whilst the growing Ibadi movement among the Zenata culminated in the Rustamid Imamate , centred on Tahert , modern-day Algeria . At the turn of the 9th century the Abbasids' sphere of influence would degrade further with
7800-611: The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa they occasionally entered into alliances with the kings of Castile . The history of their decline differs from that of the Almoravids, whom they had displaced. They were not assailed by a great religious movement, but lost territories, piecemeal, by the revolt of tribes and districts. Their most effective enemies were the Banu Marin ( Marinids ) who founded the next dynasty. The last representative of
7995-580: The Comoros . This second wave possibly found the island of Madagascar sparsely populated by descendants of the first wave a few centuries earlier, with the Vazimba of the interior's highlands being revered and featuring prominently in Malagasy oral traditions . The wider region underwent a trade expansion from the 7th century, as the Swahili engaged in the flourishing Indian Ocean trade following
Acheulo-Yabrudian complex - Misplaced Pages Continue
8190-698: The Ekoi civilisation rose circa 2nd century AD, and are most notable for constructing the Ikom monoliths and developing the Nsibidi script . The turn of the 7th century saw much of North Africa controlled by the Byzantine Empire . Christianity was the state religion of the empire, and Semitic and Coptic subjects in Roman Egypt faced persecution due to their 'heretical' Miaphysite churches, paying
8385-583: The First Punic War began when Carthage came into conflict with the expansionary Roman Republic on the island of Sicily , leading to what has been described as the greatest naval war of antiquity, causing heavy casualties on both sides, but ending in Carthage's eventual defeat and loss of Sicily. The Second Punic War broke out when the Romans opportunistically took Sardinia and Corsica whilst
8580-448: The Ghana Empire to control the affluent trans-Saharan trade routes in the Western Sahara , forming the Almoravid empire before conquering Maghrawa and intervening in the reconquest of Iberia by the Christian powers on the side of the endangered Muslim taifas , which were produced from the fall of the remnant Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba . The Almoravids incorporated the taifas into their empire, enjoying initial success, until
8775-404: The Hafsids of Masmuda in modern-day Tunisia , before finally being extinguished in 1269. Meanwhile, after defeating the Christians' Fifth Crusade in 1221, internal divisions involving Saladin's descendants appeared within the Ayyubid dynasty , crippling the empire's unity. In the face of Mongol expansion , the Ayyubids became increasingly reliant on Mamluk generals. At the end of
8970-418: The Hintata , Ibn Tumart abandoned his cave in 1122 and went up into the High Atlas , to organize the Almohad movement among the highland Masmuda tribes. Besides his own tribe, the Hargha, Ibn Tumart secured the adherence of the Ganfisa, the Gadmiwa, the Hintata, the Haskura, and the Hazraja to the Almohad cause. Sometime around 1124, Ibn Tumart established his base at Tinmel , a highly defensible position in
9165-426: The Jugurtha to the Romans. At the turn of the millennium they both would face the same fate as Carthage and be conquered by the Romans who established Mauretania and Numidia as provinces of their empire, whilst Musulamii , led by Tacfarinas , and Garamantes were eventually defeated in war in the 1st century AD however weren't conquered. In the 5th century AD the Vandals conquered north Africa precipitating
9360-432: The Khurasanid dynasty and Arab tribes ruling Ifriqiya , to be later displaced by the Norman Kingdom of Africa . In the late 10th and early 11th centuries the Fatimids would lose the Maghreb to the Hammadids in modern-day Algeria and the Maghrawa in modern-day Morocco , both from Zenata . In 1053 the Saharan Sanhaja , spurred on by puritanical Sunni Islam , conquered Sijilmasa and captured Aoudaghost from
9555-490: The Levant from the Canaanites , Amorites , Hittites , and Mitanni , and extinguish Kerma , incorporating Nubia into the empire, sending the Egyptian empire into its golden age. Internal struggles, drought and famine, and invasions by a confederation of seafaring peoples , contributed to the New Kingdom 's collapse in 1069 BC, ushering in the Third Intermediate Period which saw Egypt fractured into many pieces amid widespread turmoil. Egypt's disintegration liberated
9750-575: The Maghreb and Ifriqiya were mostly cut off from the cradle of civilisation in Egypt by the Libyan desert , exacerbated by Egyptian boats being tailored to the Nile and not coping well in the open Mediterranean Sea . This caused its societies to develop contiguous to those of Southern Europe , until Phoenician settlements came to dominate the most lucrative trading locations in the Gulf of Tunis , initially searching for sources of metal . Phoenician settlements subsequently grew into Ancient Carthage after gaining independence from Phoenicia in
9945-539: The Maghreb traversing the Sahara into the western Sahel and Sudan , catalysed by the Fula jihads in the 18th and 19th centuries. Systems of servitude and slavery were historically widespread and commonplace in parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient and medieval world . When the trans-Saharan , Red Sea , Indian Ocean and Atlantic slave trades began, many of the pre-existing local slave systems started supplying captives for slave markets outside Africa, creating various diasporas , especially in
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#173277586406410140-478: The Old Kingdom came under the 4th dynasty who constructed numerous great pyramids , however under the 6th dynasty of Egypt power began to decentralise to the nomarchs , culminating in anarchy exacerbated by drought and famine in 2200 BC, and the onset of the First Intermediate Period in which numerous nomarchs ruled simultaneously. Throughout this time, power bases were built and destroyed in Memphis , and in Heracleopolis , when Mentuhotep II of Thebes and
10335-419: The Old Testament . Meanwhile during the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries Islam spread through the Somali Peninsula , largely via da'wah . The Harla Kingdom of Hubat also converted to Islam circa 700. The Somalis were organised into various clans , and relations with Arabs led tradition to hold their lineages to Samaale , Daarood or Sheikh Ishaaq , traditionally descendants of Muhammad's cousins . To
10530-642: The Omo remains from Ethiopia ( c. 233,000 years ago ). Scientists have suggested that Homo sapiens may have arisen between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East Africa and South Africa . Evidence of a variety of behaviors indicative of Behavioral modernity date to the African Middle Stone Age , associated with early Homo sapiens and their emergence. Abstract imagery, widened subsistence strategies, and other "modern" behaviors have been discovered from that period in Africa, especially South, North, and East Africa. The Blombos Cave site in South Africa, for example,
10725-415: The Rif mountains in the north. One of their early bases beyond the mountains was Taza , where Abd al-Mu"min founded a citadel ( ribat ) and a Great Mosque circa 1142. The Almoravid ruler, Ali ibn Yusuf, died in 1143 and was succeeded by his son, Tashfin ibn Ali . The tide turned more definitively in favour of the Almohads from 1144 onwards, when the Zenata tribes in what is now western Algeria joined
10920-463: The Romans established the province of Africa , with Numidia assuming control of many of Carthage's African ports. Towards the end of the 2nd century BC Mauretania fought alongside Numidia's Jugurtha in the Jugurthine War against the Romans after he had usurped the Numidian throne from a Roman ally. Together they inflicted heavy casualties that quaked the Roman Senate , with the war only ending inconclusively when Mauretania's Bocchus I sold out
11115-488: The Sao civilisation flourished for over a millennium beginning in the 6th century BC, in territory that later became part of present-day Cameroon and Chad . Sao artifacts show that they were skilled workers in bronze , copper , and iron , with finds including bronze sculptures, terracotta statues of human and animal figures, coins, funerary urns, household utensils, jewellery, highly decorated pottery, and spears. Nearby, around Lake Ejagham in south-west Cameroon ,
11310-462: The Syrian Wars with the Seleucid Empire , the Ptolemaic Kingdom lost its holdings outside Africa, but expanded its territory by conquering Cyrenaica from its respective tribes, and subjugated Kush . Beginning in the mid second century BC, dynastic strife and a series of foreign wars weakened the kingdom, and it became increasingly reliant on the Roman Republic . Under Cleopatra VII , who sought to restore Ptolemaic power, Egypt became entangled in
11505-536: The Toucouleur in West Africa; Ancient Egypt, Kush, Carthage, the Fatimids , Almoravids , Almohads , Ayyubids , and Mamluks in North Africa; Aksum , Ethiopia , Adal , Kitara , Kilwa , and Imerina in East Africa; Kanem-Bornu , Kongo , Mwene Muji , Luba , Lunda , and Utetera in Central Africa; and Mapungubwe , Zimbabwe , Mutapa , Rozvi , Maravi , Mthwakazi , and Zulu in Southern Africa. Some societies are heterarchical and egalitarian , while others remained organised into chiefdoms . At its peak it
11700-453: The Zirids . From there they conquered up to modern-day Syria and Hejaz , securing the holy cities of Mecca and Medina . The Fatimids became absorbed by the eastern realms of their empire, and in 972, after encouragement from faqirs , the Zirids changed their allegiance to recognise the Abbasid Caliphate . In retaliation the Fatimids commissioned an invasion by nomadic Arab tribes to punish them, leading to their disintegration with
11895-434: The dhimmi status of religious minorities further stifled the once flourishing Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain ; Maimonides went east and many Jews moved to Castillian-controlled Toledo . According to the research of Muhammad al-Manuni , there were 400 paper mills in Fes under the reign of Sultan Yaqub al-Mansur in the 12th century. The Almohad ideology preached by Ibn Tumart is described by Amira Bennison as
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#173277586406412090-690: The early Muslim conquests . Settlements further centralised and some major states included Gedi , Ungwana [de] , Pate , Malindi , Mombasa , and Tanga in the north, Unguja Ukuu on Zanzibar , Kaole , Dar es Salaam , Kilwa , Kiswere [ de ] , Monapo , Mozambique , and Angoche in the middle, and Quelimane , Sofala , Chibuene , and Inhambane in the south. Via mtumbwi [ uk ] , mtepe and later ngalawa they exported gold , iron , copper , ivory , slaves , pottery , cotton cloth , wood , grain , and rice , and imported silk , glassware , jewellery , Islamic pottery , and Chinese porcelain . Relations between
12285-413: The fall of Rome . Swathes of indigenous peoples would regain self-governance in the Mauro-Roman Kingdom and its numerous successor polities in the Maghreb, namely the kingdoms of Ouarsenis , Aurès , and Altava . The Vandals ruled Ifriqiya for a century until Byzantine reconquest in the early 6th century AD. The Byzantines and the Berber kingdoms fought minor inconsequential conflicts, such as in
12480-496: The gorilla and the chimpanzee , great apes that also evolved in Africa, but the hominids had adopted a bipedal locomotion which freed their hands. This gave them a crucial advantage, enabling them to live in both forested areas and on the open savanna at a time when Africa was drying up and the savanna was encroaching on forested areas. This would have occurred 10 to 5 million years ago, but these claims are controversial because biologists and genetics have humans appearing around
12675-722: The huffaz or reciters of the Quran into a training school of the Almohad elite. They were no longer described as "memorisers" but as "guardians" who learned riding, swimming, archery, and received a general education of high standards. Abd al-Mu'min thus transformed the Almohad movement from a Masmuda aristocracy to a Mu'minid dynastic state. While most of the Almohad elites accepted this new concentration of power, it nonetheless triggered an uprising by two of Ibn Tumart's half-brothers, 'Abd al-'Aziz and 'Isa. Shortly after Abd al-Mu'min announced his heir, towards 1154–1155, they rebelled in Fez and then marched on Marrakesh, whose governor they killed. Abd al-Mu'min, who had been in Salé, returned to
12870-433: The island's estuaries , with oral histories describing bloody clashes and earlier settlers often pushed along the coast or inland. An Arab geographer wrote in 1224 that the island consisted of a great many towns and kingdoms, with kings making war on each other. Assisted by climate change, the peoples gradually transformed the island from dense forest to grassland for cultivation and zebu pastoralism . Oral traditions of
13065-490: The unity of God ' ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula ( Al-Andalus ) and North Africa (the Maghreb ). The Almohad movement was founded by Ibn Tumart among the Berber Masmuda tribes, but the Almohad caliphate and its ruling dynasty, known as the Mu'minid dynasty , were founded after his death by Abd al-Mu'min al-Kumi . Around 1121, Ibn Tumart
13260-452: The wider Red Sea trade and transported their cargo via beden , exporting myrrh , frankincense , spices , gum , incense , and ivory , with freedom from Roman interference causing Indians to give the cities a lucrative monopoly on cinnamon from ancient India . The Kingdom of Aksum grew from a principality into a major power on the trade route between Rome and India through conquering its unfortunately unknown neighbours, gaining
13455-800: The 11th millennium BP , pottery was independently invented in Africa, with the earliest pottery there dating to about 9,400 BC from central Mali. It soon spread throughout the southern Sahara and Sahel . In the steppes and savannahs of the Sahara and Sahel in Northern West Africa, the Nilo-Saharan speakers and Mandé peoples started to collect and domesticate wild millet, African rice and sorghum between 8000 and 6000 BC. Later, gourds , watermelons , castor beans , and cotton were also collected and domesticated. The people started capturing wild cattle and holding them in circular thorn hedges, resulting in domestication . They also started making pottery and built stone settlements (e.g., Tichitt , Oualata ). Fishing , using bone-tipped harpoons , became
13650-480: The 1930s and 1950s, before modern radiometric dating . The recently excavated Qesem and Tabun caves, however, suggest the oldest period is about 350 kyr and the most recent 200 kyr. This would make the Lower–Middle Palaeolithic transition rapid occurring at 215,000 BP within a 30,000 year period. Some date it earlier at 400,000-220,000 bp. History of Africa#Paleolithic Archaic humans emerged out of Africa between 0.5 and 1.8 million years ago. This
13845-399: The 1st century AD, and formed various city states which traded via the Indian Ocean trade , constituting the Swahili civilisation . Madagascar was possibly first settled by Austronesians from 350 BC-550 AD, termed the Vazimba in Malagasy oral traditions, although there is considerable academic debate. The eastern Bantu group would eventually meet with the southern migrants from
14040-608: The 1st century AD, forming the Gokomere culture in the 5th century AD. The second thrust from the Great Lakes was eastward, also in the 1st century AD, expanding to Kenya , Tanzania , and the Swahili coast . Prior to this migration, the northern part of the Swahili coast was home to the elusive Azania , most likely a Southern Cushitic polity, extending southwards to modern-day Tanzania . The Bantu populations crowded out Azania , with Rhapta being its last stronghold by
14235-504: The 1st millennium BC iron working had reached Northwestern Africa , Egypt, and Nubia. Zangato and Holl document evidence of iron-smelting in the Central African Republic and Cameroon that may date back to 3,000 to 2,500 BC. Assyrians using iron weapons pushed Nubians out of Egypt in 670 BC, after which the use of iron became widespread in the Nile valley. The theory that iron spread to Sub-Saharan Africa via
14430-818: The 3rd millennium BC. Iron smelting developed in the area between Lake Chad and the African Great Lakes between 1,000 and 600 BC, and in West Africa around 2,000 BC, long before the technology reached Egypt. Before 500 BC, the Nok culture in the Jos Plateau was already smelting iron. Archaeological sites containing iron-smelting furnaces and slag have been excavated at sites in the Nsukka region of southeast Nigeria in Igboland : dating to 2,000 BC at
14625-494: The 4th century AD Aksum's king converted to Christianity and Aksum's population, who had followed syncretic mixes of local beliefs , slowly followed. In the early 6th century AD, Cosmas Indicopleustes later described his visit to the city of Aksum , mentioning rows of throne monuments, some made out of "excellent white marble" and "entirely...hewn out of a single block of stone" , with large inscriptions attributed to various kings, likely serving as victory monuments documenting
14820-805: The 4th millennium BC the Congo Basin was inhabited by the Bambenga , Bayaka , Bakoya , and Babongo in the west, the Bambuti in the east , and the Batwa who were widely scattered and also present in the Great Lakes region ; together they are grouped as Pygmies . On the later-named Swahili coast there were Cushitic -speaking peoples, and the Khoisan (a neologism for the Khoekhoe and San ) in
15015-681: The 6th century BC, and they would build an extensive empire , countering Greek influence in the Mediterranean , as well as a strict mercantile network reaching as far as west Asia and northern Europe , distributing an array of commodities from all over the ancient world along with locally produced goods, all secured by one of the largest and most powerful navies in the ancient Mediterranean . Carthage's political institutions received rare praise from both Greeks and Romans, with its constitution and aristocratic council providing stability, with birth and wealth paramount for election. In 264 BC
15210-533: The 6th century, the Kingdom of Aksum ruled over much of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea , with the Harla Kingdom to its east, while ancient Somali city-states such as Mosylon , Opone , Sarapion , Avalites , and Aromata on the Somali Peninsula continued to thrive off of the lucrative Indian Ocean trade and their preferential relations with India. Following the birth of Islam in
15405-608: The 740s the Berber Revolt rocked the caliphate and the Berbers took control over the Maghreb, whilst revolts in Ifriqiya were suppressed. The Abbasid dynasty came to power via revolution in 750 and attempted to reconfigure the caliphate to be multi-ethnic rather than Arab exclusive, however this wasn't enough to prevent gradual disintegration on its peripheries. Various short-lived native dynasties would form states such as
15600-549: The 7th century AD, Bantu spread to the Upemba Depression , forming the Upemba culture [ es ] . During the 1st millennium BC the Bantu spread further from the Great Lakes to Southern and East Africa. One early movement headed south to the upper Zambezi basin in the 2nd century BC. The Bantu then split westward to the savannahs of present-day Angola and eastward into Malawi , Zambia , and Zimbabwe in
15795-516: The 7th century saw the Swahili coast continue to be inhabited by the Swahili civilisation , whose economies were primarily based on agriculture , however they traded via the Indian Ocean trade and later developed local industries, with their iconic stone architecture . Forested river estuaries created natural harbours whilst the yearly monsoon winds assisted trade, and the Swahili civilisation consisted of hundreds of settlements and linked
15990-560: The 9th century expanded southwards. The history becomes murky, however tradition holds that Aksum's expansion brought it into conflict in 960 with the Jewish Kingdom of Beta Israel , led by queen Gudit and located in the Simien Mountains . Accordingly, Gudit defeated and killed Aksum's king , and burnt their churches. It's possible that Gudit was a pagan queen who led resistance to Aksum's southward expansion. To
16185-414: The 9th century, when zebu were first brought. From the 10th century Kilwa expanded its influence, coming to challenge the dominance of Somalian Mogadishu located to its north, however details of Kilwa's rise remain scarce. In the late 12th century Kilwa wrestled control of Sofala in the south, a key trading city linking to Great Zimbabwe in the interior and famous for its Zimbabwean gold, which
16380-751: The Acheulo-Yabrudian, the Yabrudian and the Pre- Aurignacian or Amudian. The Yabrudian tradition is dominated by thick scrapers shaped by steep Quina retouch; the Acheuleo-Yabrudian contains Yabrudian scrapers and handaxes ; and the Pre-Aurignacian/Amudian is dominated by blades and blade-tools. Determining the age period for the Acheulo-Yabrudian has been difficult as its major excavations occurred in
16575-614: The Almohad armies. These moves also had the corollary effect of advancing the Arabisation of future Morocco. Abd al-Mu'min spent the mid-1150s organizing the Almohad state and arranging for power to be passed on through his family line. In 1154, he declared his son Muhammad as his heir. In order to neutralise the power of the Masmuda, he relied on his tribe of origin, the Kumiyas (from the central Maghreb), whom he integrated into
16770-638: The Almohad camp, along with some of the previously Almoravid-aligned leaders of the Masufa tribe. This allowed them to defeat Tashfin decisively and capture Tlemcen in 1144. Tashfin fled to Oran, which the Almohads then attacked and captured, and he died in March 1145 while trying to escape. The Almohads pursued the defeated Almoravid army west to Fez, which they captured in 1146 after a nine-month siege. They finally captured Marrakesh in 1147, after an eleven-month siege. The last Almoravid ruler, Ishaq ibn Ali ,
16965-533: The Almohad flag in Tunisia, where he stated that: "It was a white flag called the victorious flag, and it was raised before their sultan when riding for Eid prayers or for the movement of the makhzen slaves (which were the ordinary people of the country and the people of the markets)". By the end of the Almohad reign, dissident movements would adopt black in recognition of the Abbasid caliphate and in rejection of
17160-434: The Almohad governor of Jaén , who took a handful of followers and decamped for the hills around Baeza. He set up a rebel camp and forged an alliance with the hitherto quiet Ferdinand III of Castile . Sensing his greater priority was Marrakesh, where recusant Almohad sheikh s had rallied behind Yahya, another son of al-Nasir, al-Adil paid little attention to them. In 1225, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi's band of rebels, accompanied by
17355-417: The Almohad power structure and from whom he recruited some 40,000 into the army. They would later form the bodyguard of the caliph and his successors. In addition, Abd al-Mu'min relied on Arabs, the great Hilalian families that he had deported to Morocco, to further weaken the influence of the Masmuda sheikhs. With his son appointed as his successor, Abd al-Mu'min placed his other children as governors of
17550-599: The Almohads governed their co-religionists in Iberia and central North Africa through lieutenants, their dominions outside Morocco being treated as provinces. When Almohad emirs crossed the Straits it was to lead a jihad against the Christians and then return to Morocco. In 1212, the Almohad Caliph Muhammad 'al-Nasir' (1199–1214), the successor of al-Mansur, after an initially successful advance north,
17745-407: The Almohads were recognized for their use of white banners, which were supposed to evoke their "purity of purpose". This began a long tradition of using white as main dynastic color in what is now Morocco for the later Marinids and Saadian sultanates. Whether these white banners contained any specific motifs or inscriptions is not certain. Historian Ḥasan 'Ali Ḥasan writes: As for the flags of
17940-557: The Almohads, the main flag was white, and on one side was written during the reign of Ibn Tumart: "The one Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the Mahdi is the successor of Allah", and on the other side: "There is no god but Allah, and my success is only with Allah, and I entrust my affairs to Allah", and the white color continued with the rest of the caliphs, even if they adopted other colored flags, red, yellow and other colors. There
18135-465: The Almoravids, and Ya'qub al-Mansur was a highly accomplished man who wrote a good Arabic style and protected the philosopher Averroes . In 1190–1191, he campaigned in southern Portugal and won back territory lost in 1189. His title of " al-Manṣūr " ("the Victorious") was earned by his victory over Alfonso VIII of Castile in the Battle of Alarcos (1195). From the time of Yusuf II , however,
18330-703: The Americas . From 1870 to 1914, driven by the great force and hunger of the Second Industrial Revolution , European colonisation of Africa developed rapidly, as the major European powers partitioned the continent in the 1884 Berlin Conference , from one-tenth of the continent being under European imperial control to over nine-tenths in the Scramble for Africa . European colonialism had significant impacts on Africa's societies , and
18525-580: The Andalusi historian Ibn Ṣāḥib aṣ-Ṣalāt [ ar ] . For example, the khaṭīb , or sermon-giver, of al-Qarawiyyīn Mosque in Fes, Mahdī b. 'Īsā, was replaced under the Almohads by Abū l-Ḥasan b. 'Aṭiyya khaṭīb because he was fluent in Berber. As the Almohads rejected the status of Dhimma , the Almohad conquest of al-Andalus caused the emigration of Andalusi Christians from southern Iberia to
18720-607: The Berber that this conflict was not just against the Byzantines. The Arabs returned and defeated Kusaila and Altava in 690, and, after a set-back, expelled the Byzantines from North Africa. To the west, Kahina of the Kingdom of the Aurès declared opposition to the Arab invasion and repelled their armies, securing her position as the uncontested ruler of the Maghreb for five years. The Arabs received reinforcements and in 701 Kahina
18915-569: The Book ”) constituting the Dhimmi class were permitted to practice their religion and exempted from military service in exchange for a tax , which was improperly extended to include converts. Followers of traditional Berber religion , which were mostly those of tribal confederations in the interior, were violently oppressed and often given the ultimatum to convert to Islam or face death or enslavement. Converted natives were permitted to participate in
19110-572: The Carthaginians were putting down a ferocious Libyan revolt , with Carthage initially experiencing considerable success following Hannibal 's infamous crossing of the alps into northern Italy . In a 14 year long campaign Hannibal's forces conquered much of mainland Italy , only being recalled after the Romans conducted a bold naval invasion of the Carthaginian homeland and then defeated him in climactic battle in 202 BC. Carthage
19305-596: The Castilians to lay a long and difficult siege. The brave defiance of little Capilla, and the spectacle of al-Bayyasi's shipping provisions to the Castilian besiegers, shocked Andalusians and shifted sentiment back towards the Almohad caliph. A popular uprising broke out in Cordova – al-Bayyasi was killed and his head dispatched as a trophy to Marrakesh. But Caliph al-Adil did not rejoice in this victory for long – he
19500-698: The Cave of Hearths in South Africa has yielded a number of beads dating from significantly prior to 50,000 years ago, and shell beads dating to about 75,000 years ago have been found at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Around 65–50,000 years ago, the species' expansion out of Africa launched the colonization of the planet by modern human beings. By 10,000 BC, Homo sapiens had spread to most corners of Afro-Eurasia . Their dispersals are traced by linguistic, cultural and genetic evidence. Eurasian back-migrations, specifically West-Eurasian backflow , started in
19695-648: The Christian north, which had an impact on the use of Romance within Almohad territory. After the Almohad period, Muslim territories in Iberia were reduced to the Emirate of Granada , in which the percentage of the population that had converted to Islam reached 90% and Arabic-Romance bilingualism seems to have disappeared. The Almohads worked to suppress the influence of the Maliki school of fiqh, even publicly burning copies of Muwatta Imam Malik and Maliki commentaries. They sought to disseminate ibn Tumart's beliefs; he
19890-570: The Christianity and Judaism which preceded it, with himself as its mahdi and leader. In terms of Muslim jurisprudence , the state gave recognition to the Zahiri ( ظاهري ) school of thought, though Shafi'ites were also given a measure of authority at times. While not all Almohad leaders were Zahirites, quite a few of them were not only adherents of the legal school but also well-versed in its tenets. Additionally, all Almohad leaders – both
20085-914: The Christians and after he had put down a revolt from the Fatimid army , Saladin eventually deposed the Fatimid caliph in 1171 and established the Ayyubid dynasty in its place, choosing to recognise the Abbasid Caliphate . From there the Ayyubids captured Cyrenaica , and went on a prolific campaign to conquer Arabia from the Zengids and the Yemeni Hamdanids , Palestine from the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem , and Syria and Upper Mesopotamia from other Seljuk successor states . To
20280-462: The Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively. The Almohads continued to rule in Africa until the piecemeal loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies, the Marinids from northern Morocco in 1215. The last representative of the line, Idris al-Wathiq , was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269;
20475-523: The Dahlak archipelago . Despite having ancient roots, the Red Sea slave trade expanded and flourished following the Muslim conquests with Bejas , Nubians , and Ethiopians exported to Hejaz . Aksum gradually lost their control of the Red Sea , and the expulsion of the Byzantines from the region isolated them, causing their society to become introspective, drawing inspiration from biblical traditions of
20670-610: The Great Lakes in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and both groups continued southward, with eastern groups continuing to Mozambique and reaching Maputo in the 2nd century AD. Further to the south, settlements of Bantu peoples who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen were well established south of the Limpopo River by the 4th century AD, displacing and assimilating the Khoisan . By the Chari River south of Lake Chad
20865-603: The High Atlas. Their principal damage was in rendering insecure (or altogether impassable) the roads and mountain passes south of Marrakesh – threatening the route to all-important Sijilmassa , the gateway of the trans-Saharan trade . Unable to send enough manpower through the narrow passes to dislodge the Almohad rebels from their easily defended mountain strong points, the Almoravid authorities reconciled themselves to setting up strongholds to confine them there (most famously
21060-614: The Horn's southeast coast the Tunni clan established the Tunni Sultanate , and the clans of Sarapion formed the Sultanate of Mogadishu . Traditionally, Gudit's dynasty reigned until 1137 when they were overthrown or conquered by Mara Takla Haymanot , with traditions differing on whether he was an Aksumite general or relative of Gudit, who established the Zagwe dynasty . In Ethiopia tradition holds that prior to his accession to
21255-485: The Mahdi's privy council, composed of his earliest and closest companions; and the consultative Council of Fifty, composed of the leading sheikh s of the Masmuda tribes. The early preachers and missionaries ( ṭalaba and huffāẓ ) also had their representatives. Militarily, there was a strict hierarchy of units. The Hargha tribe coming first (although not strictly ethnic; it included many "honorary" or "adopted" tribesmen from other ethnicities, e.g. Abd al-Mu'min himself). This
21450-778: The Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western Maghreb. The Almohad movement originated with Ibn Tumart , a member of the Masmuda , an Amazigh tribal confederation of the Atlas Mountains of southern Morocco. At the time, Morocco , western Algeria and Spain ( al-Andalus ), were under the rule of the Almoravids , a Sanhaja Berber dynasty. Early in his life, Ibn Tumart went to Spain to pursue his studies, and thereafter to Baghdad to deepen them. In Baghdad, Ibn Tumart attached himself to
21645-544: The Muslims returned to the Maghreb to find the Byzantines had reinforced the Exarchate and allied with the Berber Kingdom of Altava under Kusaila , who was approached prior to battle and convinced to convert to Islam. Initially having become neutral, Kusaila objected to integration into the empire and in 683 destroyed the poorly supplied Arab army and conquered the newly-found Kairouan , causing an epiphany among
21840-602: The Normans two years earlier, recognized Almohad authority right after. In the 1170s and 1180s, Almohad power in the eastern Maghreb was challenged by the Banu Ghaniya and by Qaraqush , an Ayyubid commander. Yaqub al-Mansur eventually defeated both factions and reconquered Ifriqiya in 1187–1188. In 1189–1190, the Ayyubid sultan Salah ad-Din (Saladin) requested the assistance of an Almohad navy for his fight against
22035-604: The Nubian city of Meroe is no longer widely accepted, and some researchers believe that sub-Saharan Africans invented iron metallurgy independently. Metalworking in West Africa has been dated as early as 2,500 BC at Egaro west of the Termit in Niger, and iron working was practiced there by 1,500 BC. Iron smelting has been dated to 2,000 BC in southeast Nigeria . Central Africa provides possible evidence of iron working as early as
22230-635: The Patrician . The Muslims conquered Ifriqiya and in 647 defeated and killed Gregory and his army decisively in battle . The Berbers of the Maghreb proposed payment of annual tribute, which the Muslims, not wishing to annex the territory, accepted. After a brief civil war in the Muslim empire, the Rashidun were supplanted by the Umayyad dynasty in 661 and the capital moved from Medina to Damascus . With intentions to expand further in all directions,
22425-414: The Sahara in modern-day Algeria , who all mainly followed traditional Berber religion . In 618 the Sassanids conquered Egypt during the Byzantine-Sasanian War , however the province was reconquered three years later. The early 7th century saw the inception of Islam and the beginning of the Arab conquests intent on converting peoples to Islam and monotheism . The nascent Rashidun Caliphate won
22620-451: The Wolaita-Mala dynasty established the Kingdom of Damot in the 13th century, locally known as the Kingdom of Wolaita , which followed a traditional religion . The history continues to be murky, however regional hegemony was contested between the Kingdom of Damot , the Zagwe , and the Sultanate of Shewa . Damot likely drew its economic power from gold production, which was exported to Zeila. The Zagwe and Shewa were forced into
22815-415: The ailing Rustamid Imamate and fought a proxy war against the remnants of the Umayyad dynasty centred in Cordoba , resulting the eastern Maghreb coming under the control of the vassalized Zirid dynasty , who hailed from the Sanhaja . In 969 the Fatimids finally conquered Egypt against a weakened Abbasid Caliphate after decades of attempts, moving their capital to Cairo and deferring Ifriqiya to
23010-522: The blame for the latitude on the ruling dynasty of the Almoravids, whom he accused of obscurantism and impiety. He also opposed their sponsorship of the Maliki school of jurisprudence, which drew upon consensus ( ijma ) and other sources beyond the Qur'an and Sunnah in their reasoning, an anathema to the stricter Zahirism favored by Ibn Tumart. His antics and fiery preaching led fed-up authorities to move him along from town to town. After being expelled from Bejaia , Ibn Tumart set up camp in Mellala, in
23205-415: The case of Garmul , however largely coexisted. Further inland to the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa were the Sanhaja in modern-day Algeria , a broad grouping of three groupings of tribal confederations , one of which is the Masmuda grouping in modern-day Morocco , along with the nomadic Zenata ; their composite tribes would later go onto shape much of North African history . In the western Sahel
23400-430: The central highlands describe encountering an earlier population called the Vazimba , thought to have been the first settlers of Madagsacar, represented as primitive dwarfs. From the 13th century Muslim settlers arrived, integrating into the respective societies, and held high status owing to Islamic trading networks. The 7th to 13th centuries in West Africa were a period of relatively abundant rainfall that saw
23595-411: The city, defeated the rebels, and had everyone involved executed. In March 1159, Abd al-Mu'min led a new campaign to the east. He conquered Tunis by force when the local Banu Khurasan leaders refused to surrender. Mahdia was besieged soon after and surrendered in January 1160. The Normans there negotiated their withdrawal and were allowed to leave for Sicily . Tripoli, which had rebelled against
23790-423: The continent's south. The Bantu expansion constituted a major series of migrations of Bantu -speaking peoples from Central Africa to Eastern and Southern Africa and was substantial in the settling of the continent. Commencing in the 2nd millennium BC, the Bantu began to migrate from Cameroon to the Congo Basin , and eastward to the Great Lakes region to form the Urewe culture from the 5th century BC. In
23985-487: The continent, and, with a weakened Europe after the Second World War , waves of decolonisation took place. This culminated in the 1960 Year of Africa and the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 (the predecessor to the African Union ), with countries deciding to keep their colonial borders. Traditional power structures remained partly in place in many parts of Africa, and their roles, powers, and influence vary greatly. Many countries have undergone
24180-507: The continent. The community are still tasked with building the institutional frameworks, incorporating African epistemologies , establishing a continental periodisation, and representing an African perspective. In African societies, the historical process is largely a communal one, with eyewitness accounts, hearsay , reminiscences, and occasionally visions , dreams, and hallucinations crafted into narrative oral traditions which are performed and transmitted through generations. Time
24375-404: The crusaders, which al-Mansur declined. Al-Andalus followed the fate of North Africa. Between 1146 and 1173, the Almohads gradually wrested control from the Almoravids over the Muslim principalities in Iberia. The Almohads transferred the capital of Muslim Iberia from Córdoba to Seville . They founded a great mosque there; its tower, the Giralda , was erected in 1184. The Almohads also built
24570-511: The disasters were promptly blamed on the distractions of Caliph al-Adil and the incompetence and cowardice of his lieutenants, the successes credited to non-Almohad local leaders who rallied defenses. But al-Adil's fortunes were briefly buoyed. In payment for Castilian assistance, al-Bayyasi had given Ferdinand III three strategic frontier fortresses: Baños de la Encina , Salvatierra (the old Order of Calatrava fortress near Ciudad Real ) and Capilla . But Capilla refused to hand them over, forcing
24765-489: The early Holocene or already earlier in the Paleolithic period, sometimes between 30 and 15,000 years ago, followed by pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration waves from the Middle East, mostly affecting Northern Africa, the Horn of Africa, and wider regions of the Sahel zone and East Africa. Affad 23 is an archaeological site located in the Affad region of southern Dongola Reach in northern Sudan , which hosts "the well-preserved remains of prehistoric camps (relics of
24960-402: The early 7th century, the north-central Harar Plateau was settled by early Muslims fleeing persecution , intermingling with the Somali who became some of the first non-Arabs to convert to Islam . Muslim-Aksumite relations were initially positive with Aksum giving refuge to early Muslims in 613, however relations soured after Aksum made incursions along the Arab coast and Muslims settled
25155-413: The east in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Somali clans such as the Dir and other groups formed states in the Harar Plateau , including Fatagar , Dawaro , Bale , Hadiya , Hargaya , Mora , Kwelgora , and Adal , with the latter centred on the port city of Zeila (previously Avalites ). They neighboured the Sultanate of Shewa to their south, who's dynasty hailed from the Meccan Banu Makhzum . On
25350-415: The east, however the Fatimids repelled them from encroaching on Egypt. Amid the Christians' First Crusade against the Seljuks , the Fatimids opportunistically took back Jerusalem , but then lost it again to the Christians in decisive defeat . The Fatimids ' authority collapsed due to intense internal struggle in political rivalries and religious divisions, amid Christian invasions of Egypt , creating
25545-423: The end of Ramadan in late 1121, after a particularly moving sermon, reviewing his failure to persuade the Almoravids to reform by argument, Ibn Tumart 'revealed' himself as the true Mahdi , a divinely guided judge and lawgiver, and was recognized as such by his audience. This was effectively a declaration of war on the Almoravid state. On the advice of one of his followers, Omar Hintati , a prominent chieftain of
25740-460: The explosive growth of trade, particularly across the Sahara desert , and the flourishing of numerous important states. The introduction of the camel to the western Sahel was a watershed moment, allowing more merchandise to move more easily. These desert-side states are the first to appear in the written record, with Arab and Berber merchants from North Africa leaving descriptions of their power and wealth. Nevertheless, there remain massive gaps in
25935-527: The fall of the greatest of Andalusian cities, the ex-Almohad capital of Seville , into Christian hands in 1248. Ferdinand III of Castile entered Seville as a conqueror on December 22, 1248. The Andalusians were helpless before this onslaught. Ibn Hudd had attempted to check the Leonese advance early on, but most of his Andalusian army was destroyed at the battle of Alange in 1230. Ibn Hud scrambled to move remaining arms and men to save threatened or besieged Andalusian citadels, but with so many attacks at once, it
26130-431: The fold. Three years after Ibn Tumart's death he was officially proclaimed "Caliph". After 1133, Abd al-Mu'min quickly expanded Almohad control across the Maghreb, while the embattled Almoravids retained their capital in Marrakesh. Various other tribes rallied to the Almohads or to the Almoravids as the war between them continued. Initially, Almohad operations were limited to the Atlas mountains. In 1139, they expanded to
26325-420: The fortress of Tasghîmût that protected the approach to Aghmat , which was conquered by the Almohads in 1132), while exploring alternative routes through more easterly passes. Ibn Tumart organized the Almohads as a commune, with a minutely detailed structure. At the core was the Ahl ad-dār ("House of the Mahdi"), composed of Ibn Tumart's family. This was supplemented by two councils: an inner Council of Ten,
26520-407: The foundations for states in Central, Eastern, and Southern regions. In most African societies the oral word is revered, and as such they have generally recorded their history orally. This has led anthropologists to term them oral civilisations, contrasted with literate civilisations which pride the written word. Oral tradition often remained the preferred method of recordation in cases when
26715-417: The governing of the Muslim empire in order to quell the enormous administrative problems owing to the Arabs' lack of experience governing and rapid expansion. Unorthodox sects such as the Kharijite , Ibadi , Isma'ili , Nukkarite and Sufrite found fertile soil among many Berbers dissatisfied with the oppressive Umayyad regime , with religion being utilised as a political tool to foster organisation. In
26910-499: The greater part of the Almohad army in Spain across the straits in 1228 to confront Yahya. That same year, Portuguese and Leonese renewed their raids deep into Muslim territory, basically unchecked. Feeling the Almohads had failed to protect them, popular uprisings took place throughout al-Andalus. City after city deposed their hapless Almohad governors and installed local strongmen in their place. A Murcian strongman, Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Hud al-Judhami , who claimed descendance from
27105-612: The historical record include Mema , Takrur , Silla , and Wagadu (commonly called the Ghana Empire). Soninke traditions mention four previous foundings of Wagadu , and hold that the final founding of Wagadu occurred after their first king did a deal with Bida , a serpent deity who was guarding a well, to sacrifice one maiden a year in exchange for assurance regarding plenty of rainfall and gold supply. Soninke tradition portrays early Ghana as warlike, with horse-mounted warriors key to increasing its territory and population, although details of their expansion are extremely scarce. At
27300-420: The historical record, and many details are speculative and/or based on much later traditions. Almohads In Al-Andalus: The Almohad Caliphate ( IPA : / ˈ æ l m ə h æ d / ; Arabic : خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or دَوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or ٱلدَّوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِيَّةُ from Arabic : ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ , romanized : al-Muwaḥḥidūn , lit. 'those who profess
27495-433: The impression Africa had no recorded history. Pre-colonial Christian states include Ethiopia, Makuria , and Kongo. Widespread conversion to Christianity occurred under European rule in southern West Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa due to efficacious missions , with peoples syncretising Christianity with their local beliefs . The rise of nationalism facilitated struggles for independence in many parts of
27690-411: The last 70 thousand to 200 thousand years. The fossil record shows Homo sapiens (also known as "modern humans" or "anatomically modern humans") living in Africa by about 350,000–260,000 years ago. The earliest known Homo sapiens fossils include the Jebel Irhoud remains from Morocco ( c. 315,000 years ago ), the Florisbad Skull from South Africa ( c. 259,000 years ago ), and
27885-470: The latest in Egypt and Nubia. Nubia became a major source of copper as well as of gold . The use of gold and silver in Egypt dates back to the predynastic period. In the Aïr Mountains of present-day Niger people smelted copper independently of developments in the Nile valley between 3,000 and 2,500 BC. They used a process unique to the region, suggesting that the technology was not brought in from outside; it became more mature by about 1,500 BC. By
28080-405: The leadership of self-proclaimed caliph Abd al-Mu'min and, after gaining the support of the Zenata , swept through the Maghreb, conquering the Hammadids , the Hilalian Arab tribes , and the Norman Kingdom of Africa , before gradually conquering the Almoravid remnant in Al-Andalus , proclaiming the Almohad Caliphate and extending their rule from the western Sahara and Iberia to Ifriqiya by
28275-429: The line, Idris al-Wathiq , was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh , where he was murdered by a slave in 1269. The use of Berber languages was important in Almohad doctrine . Under the Almohads, the khuṭba (sermon) at Friday prayer was made to be delivered in Arabic and Berber , with the latter referred to as al-lisān al-gharbī (Arabic: اللسان الغربي , lit. 'the western tongue') by
28470-443: The man dangerous, and urged him to be put to death or imprisoned. But the emir decided merely to expel him from the city. Ibn Tumart took refuge among his own people, the Hargha, in his home village of Igiliz (exact location uncertain), in the Sous valley. He retreated to a nearby cave, and lived out an ascetic lifestyle, coming out only to preach his program of puritan reform, attracting greater and greater crowds. At length, towards
28665-507: The more Egyptianized Kingdom of Kush in Nubia, and later in the 8th century BC the Kushite king Kashta would expand his power and influence by manoeuvring his daughter into a position of power in Upper Egypt , paving the way for his successor Piye to conquer Lower Egypt and form the Kushite Empire . The Kushites assimilated further into Egyptian society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions , and culture, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture and overseeing
28860-409: The moulding of their respective societies and meant that prior to the accession of trans-Saharan trade routes , symbiotic trade relations developed in response to the opportunities afforded by north–south diversity in ecosystems, trading meats , copper , iron , salt , and gold . Various civilisations prospered in this period. From 4000 BC, the Tichitt culture in modern-day Mauritania and Mali
29055-435: The mountains for their first sizeable attack in the lowlands. It was a disaster for their opponents. The Almohads swept aside an Almoravid column that had come out to meet them before Aghmat, and then chased their remnant all the way to Marrakesh. They laid siege to Marrakesh for forty days until, in April (or May) 1130, the Almoravids sallied from the city and crushed the Almohads in the bloody Battle of al-Buhayra (named after
29250-447: The oldest open-air hut in the world) and diverse hunting and gathering loci some 50,000 years old". Around 16,000 BC, from the Red Sea Hills to the northern Ethiopian Highlands , nuts, grasses and tubers were being collected for food. By 13,000 to 11,000 BC, people began collecting wild grains. This spread to Western Asia , which domesticated its wild grains, wheat and barley . Between 10,000 and 8000 BC, Northeast Africa
29445-407: The outskirts of the city, where he received his first disciples – notably, al-Bashir (who would become his chief strategist) and Abd al-Mu'min (a Zenata Berber, who would later become his successor). In 1120, Ibn Tumart and his small band of followers proceeded to Morocco , stopping first in Fez , where he briefly engaged the Maliki scholars of the city in debate. He even went so far as to assault
29640-423: The pebble that finally broke al-Andalus. It was the first internal coup among the Almohads. The Almohad clan, despite occasional disagreements, had always remained tightly knit and loyally behind dynastic precedence. Caliph al-Adil's murderous breach of dynastic and constitutional propriety marred his acceptability to other Almohad sheikhs . One of the recusants was his cousin, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi ("the Baezan "),
29835-427: The popular Fumo Liyongo . The islands of Pemba , Zanzibar , Lamu , Mafia and the Comoros were further settled by Shirazi and grew in importance due to their geographical positions for trade. By 1100, all regions of Madagascar were inhabited, although the total population remained small. Societies organised at the behest of hasina , which later evolved to embody kingship, and competed with one another over
30030-399: The possibility of other unknown sophisticated civilisations at this time. After D'mt's fall in the 5th century BC the Ethiopian Plateau came to be ruled by numerous smaller unknown kingdoms who experienced strong south Arabian influence , until the growth and expansion of Aksum in the 1st century BC. Along the Horn's coast there were many ancient Somali city-states which thrived off of
30225-445: The provinces of the caliphate. His sons and descendants became known as the sayyid s ("nobles"). To appease the traditional Masmuda elites, he appointed some of them, along with theirs sons and descendants, to act as important advisers, deputies, and commanders under the sayyid s. They became known as the abna' al-muwahhidin or "Sons of the Almohads". Abd al-Mu'min also altered the Almohad structure set up by Ibn Tumart by making
30420-454: The region, the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym , reacted to the Almohad advance by gathering an army against them. The Almohads routed them in the Battle of Sétif in April 1153. Abd al-Mu'min nonetheless saw value in their military abilities. He persuaded them by various means – including taking some families as hostages to Marrakesh and more generous actions like offering them material and land incentives – to move to present-day Morocco and join
30615-414: The regular army ( jund ), then the religious corps – the muezzins , the hafidh and the hizb – followed by the archers, the conscripts, and the slaves. Ibn Tumart's closest companion and chief strategist, al-Bashir, took upon himself the role of " political commissar ", enforcing doctrinal discipline among the Masmuda tribesmen, often with a heavy hand. In early 1130, the Almohads finally descended from
30810-457: The religiously learned and the laymen – were hostile toward the Malikite school favored by the Almoravids. During the reign of Abu Yaqub, chief judge Ibn Maḍāʾ oversaw the banning of all religious books written by non-Zahirites; when Abu Yaqub's son Abu Yusuf took the throne, he ordered Ibn Maḍāʾ to undertake the actual burning of such books. In terms of Islamic theology , the Almohads were Ash'arites , their Zahirite-Ash'arism giving rise to
31005-431: The rise of settled communities occurred largely as a result of the domestication of millet and of sorghum . Archaeology points to sizable urban populations in West Africa beginning in the 4th millennium BC, which had crucially developed iron metallurgy by 1200 BC, in both smelting and forging for tools and weapons. Extensive east-west belts of deserts , grasslands , and forests from north to south were crucial in
31200-463: The sister of the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf , in the streets of Fez , because she was going about unveiled, after the manner of Berber women. After being expelled from Fez, he went to Marrakesh , where he successfully tracked down the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf at a local mosque, and challenged the emir, and the leading scholars of the area, to a doctrinal debate. After the debate, the scholars concluded that Ibn Tumart's views were blasphemous and
31395-424: The site of Lejja (Eze-Uzomaka 2009) and to 750 BC and at the site of Opi (Holl 2009). The site of Gbabiri (in the Central African Republic) has also yielded evidence of iron metallurgy, from a reduction furnace and blacksmith workshop; with earliest dates of 896–773 BC and 907–796 BC respectively. The ancient history of North Africa is inextricably linked to that of the Ancient Near East and Europe . This
31590-503: The skills of his successor, Abd al-Mu'min . Ibn Tumart's death was kept a secret for three years, a period which Almohad chroniclers described as a ghayba or "occultation". This period likely gave Abd al-Mu'min time to secure his position as successor to the political leadership of the movement. Although a Zenata Berber from Tagra (Algeria), and thus an alien among the Masmuda of southern Morocco, Abd al-Mu'min nonetheless saw off his principal rivals and hammered wavering tribes back to
31785-434: The societies and kingdoms of the interior, such as those of the Zambezi basin and the Great Lakes , to the wider Indian Ocean trade . There is much debate around the chronology of the settlement of Madagascar , although most scholars agree that the island was further settled by Austronesian peoples from the 5th or 7th centuries AD who had proceeded through or around the Indian Ocean by outrigger boats , to also settle
31980-470: The states fluctuated and varied, with Mombasa , Pate , and Kilwa emerging as the strongest. This prosperity led some Arab and Persian merchants to settle and assimilate into the various societies, and from the 8th to the 14th century the region gradually Islamised due to the increased trading opportunities it brought, with some oral traditions having rulers of Arab or Persian descent . The Kilwa Chronicle , supposedly based on oral tradition , holds that
32175-519: The suppression of communal autonomy disrupted local customary practices and caused the irreversible transformation of Africa's socioeconomic systems . Colonies were maintained for the purpose of economic exploitation and extraction of natural resources . African history was initially written by outsiders ( Europeans and Arabs ), and in colonial times under the pretence of Western superiority supported by scientific racism . Oral sources were deprecated and dismissed by unfamiliar historians, giving them
32370-405: The theological school of al-Ash'ari , and came under the influence of the teacher al-Ghazali . He soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters. Ibn Tumart's main principle was a strict unitarianism ( tawhid ), which denied the independent existence of the attributes of God as being incompatible with His unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart represented
32565-399: The throne, Gebre Meskel Lalibela was guided by Christ on a tour of Jerusalem , and instructed to build a second Jerusalem in Ethiopia. Accordingly this led to the commissioning of eleven rock-hewn churches outside the capital in Roha, which was renamed Lalibela in his honour, and quickly became a holy city in Ethiopian Christianity . According to oral traditions, Motolomi Sato of
32760-517: The traditional Maliki ulema , with whom the Almohads were already at odds. After the decline of Almohadism, Maliki Sunnism ultimately became the dominant official religious doctrine of the region. By contrast, the teachings of Ibn Rushd and other philosophers like him were far more influential for Jewish philosophers – including Maimonides , his contemporary – and Christian Latin scholars – like Thomas Aquinas – who later promoted his commentaries on Aristotle . Most historical records indicate that
32955-447: The triumph and defeat of nationalistic fervour, and continue to face challenges such as internal conflict, neocolonialism , and climate change . African historiography became organized at the academic level in the mid-20th century, and saw a movement towards utilising the oral sources in a multidisciplinary approach. This culminated in UNESCO publishing the General History of Africa from 1981, edited by specialists from across
33150-444: The turn of the 13th century. Later, the Christians capitalised on internal conflict within the Almohads in 1225 and conquered Iberia by 1228, with the Emirate of Granada assuming control in the south. Following this, the embattled Almohads faced invasions from an Almoravid remnant in the Balearics and gradually lost territory to the Marinids in modern-day Morocco , the Zayyanids in modern-day Algeria , both of Zenata , and
33345-416: The valley of the Nfis in the High Atlas. Tinmal would serve both as the spiritual center and military headquarters of the Almohad movement. It became their dar al-hijra (roughly 'place of retreat'), emulating the story of the hijra (journey) of Muhammad 's to Medina in the 7th century. For the first eight years, the Almohad rebellion was limited to a guerilla war along the peaks and ravines of
33540-403: The wars waged. The turn of the 6th century saw Aksum balanced against the Himyarite Kingdom in southwestern Arabia, as part of the wider Byzantine-Sassanian conflict . In 518, Aksum invaded Himyar against the persecution of the Christian community by Dhu Nuwas , the Jewish Himyarite king. Following the capture of Najran , the Aksumites implanted a puppet on the Himyarite throne, however
33735-477: The west from the 7th to 15th century, Arab tribes migrated into the Sudan , during which time the Beja Islamised and adopted Arab customs . In the 8th century, Beja nomads invaded Aksum 's northern territories and occupied the Eritrean Highlands , leading punitive raids into Aksum, with the Beja establishing various kingdoms . The Aksumite population migrated further inland into the Ethiopian Highlands , moving their capital from Aksum to Kubar , and later in
33930-407: The west, there was a new domestic threat to Almoravid rule; a religious movement headed by Ibn Tumart from the Masmuda tribal grouping, who was considered by his followers to be the true Mahdi . Initially fighting a guerilla war from the Atlas Mountains , they descended from the mountains in 1130 but were crushed in battle , with Ibn Tumart dying shortly after. The movement consolidated under
34125-403: The youthful caliph died in an accident, without any heirs. The palace bureaucrats in Marrakesh , led by the wazir Uthman ibn Jam'i, quickly engineered the election of his elderly grand-uncle, Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu' , as the new Almohad caliph. But the rapid appointment upset other branches of the family, notably the brothers of the late al-Nasir, who governed in al-Andalus . The challenge
34320-420: Was a hopeless endeavor. After Ibn Hud's death in 1238, some of the Andalusian cities, in a last-ditch effort to save themselves, offered themselves once again to the Almohads, but to no avail. The Almohads would not return. With the departure of the Almohads, the Nasrid dynasty (" Banū Naṣr ", Arabic : بنو نصر ) rose to power in Granada . After the great Christian advance of 1228–1248, the Emirate of Granada
34515-431: Was a veritable massacre – the Portuguese men-at-arms easily mowed down the throng of poorly armed townsfolk. Thousands, perhaps as much as 20,000, were said to have been slain before the walls of Seville. A similar disaster befell a similar popular levy by Murcians at Aspe that same year. But Christian raiders had been stopped at Cáceres and Requena . Trust in the Almohad leadership was severely shaken by these events –
34710-466: Was assassinated in Marrakesh in October 1227, by the partisans of Yahya, who was promptly acclaimed as the new Almohad caliph Yahya "al-Mu'tasim" . The Andalusian branch of the Almohads refused to accept this turn of events. Al-Adil's brother, then in Seville, proclaimed himself the new Almohad caliph Abd al-Ala Idris I 'al-Ma'mun' . He promptly purchased a truce from Ferdinand III in return for 300,000 maravedis , allowing him to organize and dispatch
34905-501: Was conquered by the expansive Achaemenids , however later regained independence in 404 BC until 343 BC when it was re-annexed by the Achaemenid Empire . Persian rule in Egypt ended with the defeat of the Achaemenids by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, marking the beginning of Hellenistic rule by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. The Hellenistic rulers, seeking legitimacy from their Egyptian subjects, gradually Egyptianized and participated in Egyptian religious life . Following
35100-517: Was cultivating wheat and barley and raising sheep and cattle from Southwest Asia. A wet climatic phase in Africa turned the Ethiopian Highlands into a mountain forest. Omotic speakers domesticated enset around 6500–5500 BC. Around 7000 BC, the settlers of the Ethiopian highlands domesticated donkeys , and by 4000 BC domesticated donkeys had spread to Southwest Asia. Cushitic speakers, partially turning away from cattle herding, domesticated teff and finger millet between 5500 and 3500 BC. During
35295-426: Was defeated by an alliance of the three Christian kings of Castile , Aragón and Navarre at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena . The battle broke the Almohad advance, but the Christian powers remained too disorganized to profit from it immediately. Before his death in 1213, al-Nasir appointed his young ten-year-old son as the next caliph Yusuf II "al-Mustansir" . The Almohads passed through
35490-477: Was eventually put down after decades of violence, resulting in between 300,000 and 2,500,000 dead. This gradual bubbling of disintegration of the caliphate boiled over when the Fatimid dynasty rose out of the Bavares tribal confederation and in 909 conquered the Aghlabids to gain control over all of Ifriqiya . Proclaiming Isma'ilism , they established a caliphate rivalling the Abbasids , who followed Sunni Islam . The nascent caliphate quickly conquered
35685-447: Was followed by the emergence of modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) in East Africa around 300,000–250,000 years ago. In the 4th millenium BC written history arose in Ancient Egypt , and later in Nubia 's Kush , the Horn of Africa 's Dʿmt , and Ifrikiya 's Carthage . Between around 3000 BC and 1000 AD, the Bantu expansion swept from north-western Central Africa (modern day Cameroon ) across much of sub-Saharan Africa, laying
35880-436: Was followed by the men of Tinmel, then the other Masmuda tribes in order, and rounded off by the black fighters, the ʻabīd . Each unit had a strict internal hierarchy, headed by a mohtasib , and divided into two factions: one for the early adherents, another for the late adherents, each headed by a mizwar (or amzwaru ); then came the sakkakin (treasurers), effectively the money-minters, tax-collectors, and bursars, then came
36075-514: Was forced to give up their fleet, and the subsequent collapse of their empire would produce two further polities in the Maghreb; Numidia , a polity made up of two Numidian tribal federations until the Massylii conquered the Masaesyli , and assisted the Romans in the Second Punic War; Mauretania , a Mauri tribal kingdom , home of the legendary King Atlas ; and various tribes such as Garamantes , Musulamii , and Bavares . The Third Punic War would result in Carthage's total defeat in 146 BC and
36270-425: Was immediately raised by one of them, then governor in Murcia , who declared himself Caliph Abdallah al-Adil . With the help of his brothers, he quickly seized control of al-Andalus. His chief advisor, the shadowy Abu Zayd ibn Yujjan, tapped into his contacts in Marrakesh, and secured the deposition and assassination of Abd al-Wahid I, and the expulsion of the al-Jami'i clan . This coup has been characterized as
36465-408: Was killed and the kingdom defeated. They completed their conquest of the rest of the Maghreb, with large swathes of Berbers embracing Islam, and the combined Arab and Berber armies would use this territory as a springboard into Iberia to expand the Muslim empire further. Large numbers of Berber and Coptic people willingly converted to Islam, and followers of Abrahamic religions (“ People of
36660-409: Was killed. In 1151, Abd al-Mu'min launched an expedition to the east. This may have been encouraged by the Norman conquests along the coast of Ifriqiya, as fighting the Christian invaders here gave him a pretext for conquering the rest of the region. In August 1152, he captured Béjaïa , the capital of the Hammadids . The last Hammadid ruler, Yahya ibn Abd al-Aziz , fled by sea. The Arab tribes of
36855-400: Was little means to stop the sudden onslaught. In late 1225, with surprising ease, the Portuguese raiders reached the environs of Seville . Knowing they were outnumbered, the Almohad governors of the city refused to confront the Portuguese raiders, prompting the disgusted population of Seville to take matters into their own hands, raise a militia, and go out in the field by themselves. The result
37050-431: Was practically all that remained of old al-Andalus . Some of the captured citadels (e.g. Murcia, Jaen, Niebla) were reorganized as tributary vassals for a few more years, but most were annexed by the 1260s. Granada alone would remain independent for an additional 250 years, flourishing as the new center of al-Andalus. In their African holdings, the Almohads encouraged the establishment of Christians even in Fez , and after
37245-432: Was recognized by his followers as the Mahdi , and shortly afterwards he established his base at Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains . Under Abd al-Mu'min (r. 1130–1163), they succeeded in overthrowing the ruling Almoravid dynasty governing Morocco in 1147, when he conquered Marrakesh and declared himself caliph . They then extended their power over all of the Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus followed, and all of Muslim Iberia
37440-416: Was substantial in the usurpation of Mogadishu 's hegemony, while also conquering Pemba and Zanzibar . Kilwa 's administration consisted of representatives who ranged from governing their assigned cities to fulfilling the role of ambassador in the more powerful ones. Meanwhile the Pate Chronicle [ fr ] has Pate conquering Shanga , Faza , and prosperous Manda , and was at one time led by
37635-600: Was the author of the Aʿazzu Mā Yuṭlab , the Counterpart of the Muwatta ( محاذي الموطأ ), and the Compendium of Sahih Muslim ( تلخيص صحيح مسلم ). Literary production continued despite the Almohad reforms's devastating effect on cultural life in their domain. Almohad universities continued the knowledge of preceding Andalusi scholars as well as ancient Greek and Roman writers; contemporary literary figures included Averroes , Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya , ibn Tufayl , ibn Zuhr , ibn al-Abbar , ibn Amira and many more poets, philosophers, and scholars. The abolishment of
37830-411: Was the oldest known complexly organised society in West Africa, with a four tiered hierarchical social structure. Other civilisations include the Kintampo culture from 2500 BC in modern-day Ghana , the Nok culture from 1500 BC in modern-day Nigeria , the Daima culture around Lake Chad from 550 BC, and Djenné-Djenno from 250 BC in modern-day Mali . Towards the end of the 3rd century AD,
38025-436: Was under Almohad rule by 1172. The turning point of their presence in the Iberian Peninsula came in 1212, when Muhammad al-Nasir (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian forces from Castile , Aragon and Navarre . Much of the remaining territories of al-Andalus were lost in the ensuing decades, with the cities of Córdoba and Seville falling to
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