Everything about Almohades totally explained
The
Almohad Dynasty (From
Arabic الموحدون
al-Muwahhidun, for example "
the monotheists" or "the Unitarians"), was a
Berber,
Muslim dynasty that was founded in the 12th century, and conquered all northern
Africa as far as
Libya, together with
Al-Andalus (
Moorish Iberia). Between 1130 and his death in 1163,
Abd al-Mu'min al-Kumi, a Berber from the
Masmuda tribe, defeated the ruling
Almoravids and extended his power over all northern Africa as far as
Libya, becoming Emir of
Marrakech in 1149.
Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia, followed the fate of Africa, and in 1170 the Almohads transferred their capital to
Seville. However, by 1212
Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated by an alliance of the four Christian princes of
Castile,
Aragón,
Kingdom of Navarre and
Portugal, at the
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the
Sierra Morena. The battle destroyed Almohad dominance. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of
Córdoba and
Seville falling to 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 their most effective enemies, the
Marinids in 1215. The last representative of the line, Idris II, "El Wathiq"' was reduced to the possession of Marrakech, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269.
Origins
The dynasty originated with
Ibn Tumart, a member of the
Masmuda, a
Berber tribe of the
Atlas Mountains. Ibn Tumart was the son of a lamplighter in a mosque and had been noted for his piety from his youth; he was small, and misshapen and lived the life of a devotee-beggar. As a youth he performed the
hajj to
Mecca (or "Makkah"), whence he was expelled on account of his strictures on the laxity of others, and thence wandered to Baghdad, where he attached himself to the school of the orthodox doctor
al-Ash'ari. But he made a system of his own by combining the teaching of his master with parts of the doctrines of others, and with mysticism imbibed from the great teacher
Ghazali. His main principle was a strict Unitarianism which denied the independent existence of the attributes of God, as being incompatible with his unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart in fact represented a revolt against what he perceived as
anthropomorphism in the Muslim orthodoxy.
The Dynasty
After his return to Magreb at the age of twenty-eight, Ibn Tumart began preaching and heading attacks on wine-shops and on other manifestations of laxity. He even went so far as to assault the sister of the
Almoravid (Murabit) amir `Ali III, in the streets of
Fez, because she was going about unveiled after the manner of Berber women. Ali III allowed him to escape unpunished.
Ibn Tumart, who had been driven from several other towns for exhibitions of reforming zeal, now took refuge among his own people, the
Masmuda, in the
Atlas. It is highly probable that his influence wouldn't have outlived him, if he hadn't found a lieutenant in
Abd al-Mu'min al-Kumi, another Berber, from
Algeria, who was undoubtedly a soldier and statesman of a high order. When Ibn Tumart died in 1128 at the monastery or
ribat which he'd founded in the Atlas at
Tinmel, after suffering a severe defeat by the
Almoravids, Abd al-Mu'min
kept his death secret for two years, till his own influence was established. He then came forward as the lieutenant of the
Mahdi Ibn Tumart. Between 1130 and his death in 1163, 'Abd-el-Mumin not only rooted out the Murabits, but extended his power over all northern Africa as far as
Egypt, becoming amir of
Marrakech in 1149.
Al-Andalus followed the fate of Africa, and in 1170 the Almohads transferred their capital to
Seville, a step followed by the founding of the great mosque (now superseded by the cathedral), the tower of which, the
Giralda, they erected in 1184 to mark the accession of
Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur. From the time of Yusuf II, however, they governed their co-religionists in Iberia and Central North
Africa through lieutenants, their dominions outside
Morocco being treated as provinces. When their amirs crossed the Straits it was to lead a jihad against the Christians and to return to their capital,
Marrakech.
The Almohad princes had a longer and a more distinguished career than the Murabits (or
Almoravids). Yusuf II or
Abu Yaqub Yusuf (1163–1184), and Ya'qub I or
Yaqub al-Mansur (1184-1199), the successors of Abd al-Mumin, 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. But in the end they became less fanatical than the
Almoravids, and Ya'qub al Mansur was a highly accomplished man, who wrote a good
Arabic style and who protected the philosopher
Averroes. His title of al-Mansur, "The Victorious," was earned by the defeat he inflicted on
Alfonso VIII of Castile in the
Battle of Alarcos (1195).
Decline and loss of Iberia
However, the Christian states in Iberia were becoming too well organized to be overrun by the Muslims, and the Almohads made no permanent advance against them.
In 1212
Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214), the successor of al-Mansur, after an initially successful advance north, was defeated by an alliance of the four Christian princes of
Castile,
Aragón,
Kingdom of Navarre and
Portugal, at the
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the
Sierra Morena. The battle destroyed Almohad dominance. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of
Córdoba and
Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.
All that remained, thereafter, was the Moorish state of
Granada, which after an internal Muslim revolt, survived as a tributary state of the Christian kingdoms on Iberia's southern periphery. The
Nasrid dynasty or
Banu Nazari rose to power there after the defeat of the Almohads dynasty in 1212. Twenty different Muslim kings ruled
Granada from the founding of the dynasty in 1232 by
Muhammed I ibn Nasr until
January 2,
1492, when
Sultan Boabdil surrendered to the Christian Spanish kingdom. Today, the most visible evidence of the Nasrids is the
Alhambra palace complex built under their rule.
In their African holdings, the Almohads encouraged the establishment of Christians even in
Fez, and after the
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa they occasionally entered into alliances with the kings of
Castile. They were successful in expelling the garrisons placed in some of the coast towns by the
Norman kings of
Sicily. The history of their decline differs from that of the
Almoravids, whom they'd 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 Beni Marin (
Marinids) who founded the next dynasty. The last representative of the line, Idris II, "El Wathiq"' was reduced to the possession of
Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269.
Religion
The
Almohads, who had taken control of the Almoravids' Maghribi and Andalusian territories by 1147, far surpassed the
Almoravides in fundamentalist outlook, and they treated the
dhimmis harshly. Faced with the choice of either death or conversion, most Jews and Christians emigrated. Some, such as the family of
Maimonides, fled east to more tolerant Muslim lands,
Muwahhadi (Almohad) Caliphs,1121–1269
Culture
Sufi writers.
Sidi Abu Madyan Choaïb ben al-Houssein al-Ansari (1126-1198)
Ibn Hirzihim (m.1164)
Abi Mohammed Salih (1153-1234)
Ibn Harazim (m.1235)
Ahmad ibn Idris (1163-1253)
Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili (1197-1258)
Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi (b. 1185) historian and writer
Salih ben Sharif al-Rundi (1204-1285)
Bibliography
History of the Almonades, Reinhart Dozy, (second edition, 1881)
Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors, Coppée, (Boston, 1881)
Le livre d'Ibn Tumart, I. Goldziher, (1903)
Les Benou Ghanya, Bel, (1903)
Mica Enciclopedie de Istorie Universala, Marcel D. Popa, Horia C. Matei, (Bucharest, Editura Politica 1988)Further Information
Get more info on 'Almohades'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://almohad_dynasty.totallyexplained.com">Almohad dynasty Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
