Almoravid and Almohad EmpiresA comprehensive account of two of the most important empires in medieval North AfricaThis is the first book in English to provide a comprehensive account of the rise and fall of the Almoravids and the Almohads, the two most important Berber dynasties of the medieval Islamic west, an area that encompassed southern Spain and Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The a'anhAja Almoravids emerged from the Sahara in the 1050s to conquer vast territories and halt the Christian advance in Iberia. They were replaced a century later by their rivals, the Almohads, supported by the Maa'GBPmAda Berbers of the High Atlas. Although both have often been seen as uncouth, religiously intolerant tribesmen who undermined the high culture of al-Andalus, this book argues that the eleventh to thirteenth centuries were crucial to the Islamisation of the Maghrib, its integration into the Islamic cultural sphere, and its emergence as a key player in the western Mediterranean, and that much of this was due to these oft-neglected Berber empires.Key featuresThe first work in English to give a full account of the Almoravids and AlmohadsFeatures numerous translated quotes and anecdotes from Arabic primary sourcesProvides an intimate portrait of the daily lives and material culture of people living within the empires, as well as delivering a clear dynastic historyUses maps, genealogical tables, illustrations and a chronology |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 24 | |
Revelation Revolution and Empire | 62 |
4 Society in the Almoravid and Almohad Eras 10501250 | 118 |
5 Economy and Trade Within and Beyond Imperial Frontiers 10501250 | 177 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abbasid Abd al-Mu'min Abd Allah Abu Bakr Abu Hafs Umar Abu Yaqub Yusuf Aghmat al-Andalus al-Bakri al-Bayan al-Baydhaq al-Mann bi'l-Imama al-Marrakushi Almería Almohad army Almohad empire Almoravid amir Almoravid and Almohad Andalus areas Banu Ghaniya Berber Bijaya Bosch Vilá caliph campaign century Ceuta Christian communities conquest Córdoba elite Fatimid fuqahā governor Granada Guddala Hadith High Atlas Iberian Ibid Ibn Idhari Ibn Khaldun Ibn Rushd Ibn Sahib al-Salat Ibn Tumart Ibn Yasin Ifriqiya Islamic Islamic west Jewish jihad jurists Kharijite Kitab Lagardère Lamtuna land Maghrib mahdi Maliki Marrakesh Masmuda medieval military minaret minbar mosque Mu'minid Muhammad Muslim North Africa palace political population Qayrawan Qur'an religious ribāt role rulers rural Sahara Salé Sanhaja sayyids scholars Seljuk Seville shaykhs Sijilmasa social Straits of Gibraltar Sufi Sufism Ta’ifa Ta'ifa kings Tashfin Tinmall tion Tlemcen towns trade tribal tribes tribesmen Umayyad urban western Maghrib women Yahya Yaqub al-Mansur Zanata Zirid