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Almohad Empireالموَحدون Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) Template:Ar icon
1121–1269
Flag
The Almohad empire (green) at its greatest extent, c. 1200.
Capital	Tinmel (1121-1147) Marrakesh (1147-1171) again (1213-1269) Seville (1171-1184) Rabat (1184-1213)
Religion	Sunni Islam
Government	Monarchy
Caliph
• 1121-1130	Abd al-Mumin
• 1266–1269	Abu al-Ula al-Wathiq Idris
History
• Established	1121
• Disestablished	1269
Area
1,621,393.5 km (626,023.5 sq mi)
Currency	Derham, Dobla almohad
Preceded by Succeeded by Almoravid dynasty Marinid dynasty Emirate of Granada Abdalwadid Hafsid dynasty Taifa of Orihuela Taifa of Niebla Taifa of Arjona Kingdom of Castile Kingdom of Aragon Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of Leon
Today part of	Algeria  Gibraltar  Libya  Morocco  Portugal  Spain  Tunisia

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The Almohad Dynasty (Berber: Imweḥḥden, from Arabic الموحدون al-Muwaḥḥidun, "the monotheists" or "the Unitarians"), was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.

Led by Abd al-Mu'min al-Kumi between 1130 and his death in 1163, the Almohads defeated the ruling Almoravids, extending their power over all northern Africa as far as Libya. Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia (modern Portugal and southern Spain) under the Almoravid dynasty, followed the fate of Africa, and in 1170 the Almohads transferred their capital to Seville.

The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. 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 the rise of their most effective enemies, the Marinids in 1215. 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; the Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western Maghreb.

The holy place and the tomb of the Almohads remains in Morocco, along with the tomb of their rivals and enemies, the Almoravids. In Arabic Al-Muwahhidūn means "the monotheists" or "the unitarians".

History

Origins

The dynasty originated with Ibn Tumart, a member of the Masmuda, a Berber tribe of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. 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, whence he was expelled on account of his severe 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.

Ibn Tumart 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 that denied the independent existence of the attributes of God as being incompatible with his unity, and therefore as polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart in fact represented a revolt against what he perceived as anthropomorphism in the Muslim orthodoxy.

After his return to the Maghreb at the age of twenty-eight, Ibn Tumart began preaching and agitating, heading riotous 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.

In 1118, Ibn Tumart began campaigning against the immorality of the Almoravids in enforcing religious values. The Almohads, in his view, sought to restore Islamic Orthodoxy and were therefore highly critical of the Almoravids.

Tumart also declared himself the Mahdi, a divinely guided leader, in 1121. 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 Mountains. It is highly probable that his influence would not have outlived him, if he had not 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 had 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, until his own influence was established.

Al-Andalus

Abd al-Mu'min 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 Marrakesh in 1149.

Al-Andalus followed the fate of Africa. Between 1146 and 1173, the Almohads gradually brought the various principalities under Almoravid rule under their control. The Almohads transferred the capital to from Cordoba to Seville, a step followed by the founding of the great mosque, the tower of which, The Giralda, they erected in 1184 to mark the accession of Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur.

The Almohad princes had a longer and more distinguished career than the Murabits (or Almoravids). Yusuf I 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. Ultimately 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).

From the time of Yusuf II, however, the Almohads 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, Marrakesh.

Religious fundamentalism

The Almohads, who had taken control of the Almoravids' Maghribi and Andalusian territories by 1147, far surpassed the Almoravids in fundamentalist outlook, and they treated the dhimmis (non-Muslims) harshly. Faced with the choice of either death or conversion, most Jews and Christians emigrated. Many Jews were also forced to convert or to wear identifying clothing so that their religion would be known. Many Jews and Christians emigrated. A few, like the family of Maimonides, eventually fled east to more tolerant Muslim lands, while most of them went northward to settle in the growing Christian kingdoms.

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, Navarre, and Portugal, at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena. The battle destroyed Almohad dominance.

The Nasrid dynasty ("Banu Nazari" (Template:Lang-ar)) rose to power in Granada after the defeat of the Almohads in 1212, eventually becoming a tributary state of the Christian kingdoms. The other 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.

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 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 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.

Culture

Almohad universities continued the knowledge of Greek and Roman ancient writers, while contemporaries cultural figures included Averroes and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.

The style of Almohad art was essentially an oriental one, although most of the workers were from al-Andalus. The main sites of Almohad architecture and art include Fes, Marrakech, Rabat and Seville. Figurative arts suffered somewhat from the orthdox interpretation of the Quran, which forbade human representation, and thus the genre of art which flourished mostly in the Almohad lands was architecture, although it also did not reach peaks of originality.

The Almohads reduced decorations, and introduced the use of geometrical holes, following in general the principle of expressing a certain degree of magnificence. As centuries passed, the buildings had increasingly oriental appearance and similar structures: mosques with rectangular plans, divided into naves with pillars, as well as a wide use of horseshoe-shaped arches. The most common building material was brickwork, followed by mortar. Foreign influence can be seen in domes of Egyptian origin and, in the civil sector, the triumphal arches inspired by those in the same country. The construction of fortifications with towers was also widespread.

The main Almohad structures include the Giralda of the former mosque of Seville (founded in 1171), the Koutoubia Mosque and the Kasbah of Marrakech, the Hassan Tower of Rabat and the Atalaya Castle in Andalusia.

List of Almohad caliphs (1121–1269)

• Ibn Tumart 1121–1130
• Abd al-Mu'min 1130–1163
• Abu Ya'qub Yusuf I 1163–1184
• Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur 1184–1199
• Muhammad an-Nasir 1199–1213
• Abu Ya'qub Yusuf II 1213–1224
• Abd al-Wahid I 1224
• Abdallah al-Adil 1224–1227
• Yahya 1227–1235
• Idris I 1227–1232
• Abdul-Wahid II 1232–1242
• Ali 1242–1248
• Umar 1248–1266
• Idris II 1266–1269

List of Sufi writers of the Almohad caliphate

• Sidi Abu Madyan Choaïb ben al-Houssein al-Ansari (1126–1198)
• Ali ibn Harzihim (m.1164)
• Abi Mohammed Salih (1153–1234)
• Abu Abdallah ibn Harzihim (m.1235)
• Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili (1197–1258)
• Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi (b. 1185) historian and writer
• Salih ben Sharif al-Rundi (1204–1285)

References

1. Le Moyen Âge, XIe- XVe siècle, par Michel Kaplan & Patrick Boucheron. p.213, Ed. Breal 1994 (ISBN 2-85394-732-7)
2. Almohad Dirham
3. B. Lugan, Histoire du Maroc, ISBN 2-262-01644-5
4. Concise Encyclopaedia of World History, by Carlos Ramirez-Faria, pp.23&676
5. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/16820/Almohads
6. Barton, Simon (2009). A History of Spain. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 63–66. ISBN 978-0-230-20012-8.
7. Islamic world. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 2, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
8. The Forgotten Refugees
9. .jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0001_0_00857.html Jewish Virtual Library]
10. Frank and Leaman, 2003, p. 137-138.
11. Sephardim
12. Kraemer, 2005, pp. 16-17.
13. Le muse, De Agostini, Novara, 1964, Vol. I pag.152-153

Sources

• 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)

External links

• Almohads Dynasty : Islamic Architecture
• Abd al-Mumin life among Masmudas: Encyclopædia Britannica

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