View source for Almoravid dynasty

{{Infobox Former Country
|native_name = {{lang|ar|المرابطون}}
|conventional_long_name = Almoravid Empire
|common_name = Almoravids
|continent=Africa
|region = North Africa
|status=Empire 
|year_start = 1040
|year_end = 1147
|p1 = Lamtuna
|s1=Taifa of Mallorca
|s2=Taifa of Almería
|s3=Taifa of Badajoz
|s4=Taifa of Beja and Évora
|s5=Córdoban Republic
|s6=Taifa of Guadix and Baza
|s7=Almohad
|s8=Taifa of Málaga
|s9=Taifa of Silves
|s10=Taifa of Niebla
|s11=Purchena
|s12=Banu Hilal
|s13=Taifa of Murcia
|s14=Aroudant 
|s15=Taifa of Valencia
|image_flag = Flag of Morocco 1073 1147.svg
|image_map = Almoravid Empire.png
|image_map_caption = Map showing the extent of the Almoravid empire
|common_languages = [[Berber languages]] (predominant), [[Classical Arabic]], [[Mozarab]], [[Hebrew language]], [[African Romance]] & [[Andalusian Arabic]]
|religion =  [[Maliki]] [[Sunni Islam]] (predominant and official state religion), [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], [[Ibadi]], [[Judaism]] & [[Sufism]]
|capital = [[Aghmat]] (1040-1062), [[Marrakech]](1062-1147) & [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]]
|government_type = Caliphate
|title_leader = [[Caliph]]
|leader1 = [[Abdallah ibn Yasin]] 
|year_leader1 = 1040-1059
|leader2 = [[Ishaq ibn Ali]] 
|year_leader2 = 1146–1147
|stat_area1 = 3885000 
|currency =[[Dinar]] & [[Maravedi]]
}}

The '''Almoravids''' were a [[Berbers|Berber]] [[Islam|Muslim]]<ref>Glick, Thomas F. ''Islamic And Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages''. (2005) Brill Academic Publishers page 37</ref> dynasty from [[Morocco]] that ruled over a wide area of [[North Africa|northwestern Africa]] and the [[Iberian Peninsula]] during the 11th century.

Under this dynasty the [[Islam|Western Islamic]] empire included present-day [[Morocco]], [[Western Sahara]], [[Mauritania]], [[Gibraltar]], [[Tlemcen]] (in [[Algeria]]) and a great part of what is now [[Senegal]] and [[Mali]] in the south, and [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] to the north in [[Europe]]. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched 3,000 kilometres from [[Zaragoza]] in the north to [[Senegal]] in the south (an all-time latitude spanner until [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish America]]). The Almoravids originated as a [[Sunni Islam]]ic revivalist movement in present-day northern [[Mauritania]] and gradually evolved into a military confederation. The Almoravids started to subjugate [[Senegal]] and then started expanding northwards. They first captured southern and central [[Morocco]] and then took [[Marrakesh]] and started to proclaim themselves as an Islamic caliphate. They gathered many soldiers from the [[Tuareg]] tribe of [[Berbers]]. They then completed the conquest of Morocco by conquering the northern tip of Morocco and reached [[Ceuta]]. After conquering Morocco, they established their power base in Morocco rather than their original home, Mauritania. This was due to the isolation of Mauritania and the urbaneness of Morocco perfect for ruling empires. They then began to rule from Morocco after completing the conquest of the country and continued to further expand. Due to calls of help from the [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] [[taifa]]s in [[Iberia]], they expanded into Iberia and conquered the territory of the Islamic taifas there. After their conquest, they implemented [[Sharia law]] in all of their conquered territories. They proclaimed a ''[[jihad]]'' against the Christian Iberian kingdoms and met them at the Battle of Sagrajas where they decisively crushed the Christian army turning the tide of the ''[[Reconquista]]''. The Almoravids veiled themselves below the eyes with a tagelmust, a custom they adapted from southern Sanhaja [[Berbers]]. (This can still be seen among the modern [[Tuareg people]], but it was unusual further north.) Although practical for the desert dust, the Almoravids insisted on wearing the veil everywhere, as a badge of "foreignness" in urban settings, partly as a way of emphasizing their nomadic origins. It served as the uniform of the Almoravids. They wore the veil covering their entire face with the exception of their eyes due to their nomadic desert [[Sahara]]n origins. The empire reached its territorial extent under the reigns of Yusuf ibn Tashfin and Ali ibn Yusuf.

== Rulers ==
* Abdallah ibn Yasin (1040-1059)
* Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1061–1106)
* Ali ibn Yusuf (1106–42)
* Tashfin ibn Ali (1142–46)
* Ibrahim ibn Tashfin (1146)
* Ishaq ibn Ali (1146–1147)

==Related pages==
* [[History of Islam]]
* [[History of Spain]]

== References ==
<references/>
* ''General History of Africa, Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century'', Ed. M. Elfasi, Ch. 13 I.Hrbek and J.Devisse, The Almoravids (pp.&nbsp;336–366), UNESCO, 1988
* {{1911}}

== Other websites ==
* [http://www.worldhistoricalatlas.com Historical maps of Almoravid Dynasty]{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Maps to be combined and compared
* [http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/dynasties/almoravids.html Almoravids Dynasty]{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Berber dynasty


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[[Category:Former empires]]
[[Category:Former countries in Africa]]
[[Category:Former countries in Europe]]
[[Category:Royal dynasties]]
[[Category:1040s establishments]]
[[Category:12th-century disestablishments in Africa]]
[[Category:12th-century disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:11th-century establishments in Africa]]
[[Category:11th-century establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:1140s disestablishments]]