The Almoravid dynasty was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Founded by Abu Bakr ibn Umar, the Almoravid capital was Marrakesh, a city the ruling house founded circa 1070. The dynasty emerged from a coalition of the Lamtuna, Godala and Massufa, nomadic Berber tribes living in what is now Mauritania and the Western Sahara, traversing the territory between the Draa, the Niger, and the Senegal rivers.
History of human habitation in Morocco spans since Lower Paleolithic, with the earliest known being Jebel Irhoud. Much later Morocco was part of Iberomaurusian culture, including Taforalt. It dates from the establishment of Mauretania and other ancient Berber kingdoms, to the establishment of the Moroccan state by the Idrisid dynasty followed by other Islamic dynasties, through to the colonial and independence periods.
Year 1056 (MLVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Medieval Muslim Algeria was a period of Muslim dominance in Algeria during the Middle Ages, spanning the millennium from the 7th century to the 17th century. The new faith, in its various forms, would penetrate nearly all segments of society, bringing with it armies, learned men, and fervent mystics; in large part, it would replace tribal practices and loyalties with new social norms and political idioms.
Abd al Mu'min was a prominent member of the Almohad movement. Although the Almohad movement itself was founded by Ibn Tumart, Abd al-Mu’min was the founder of the Almohad dynasty and creator of the dynasty's Empire. As a leader of the Almohad movement he became the first Caliph of the Almohad Empire in 1133, after the death in 1130 of the movement's founder, Ibn Tumart, and ruled until his death in 1163. Abd al-Mu'min put his predecessor's doctrine of Almohadism into practice, defeated the Almoravids in present-day Morocco, and extended his rule across Al-Andalus and as far as Tunis in Ifriqiya, thus bringing the Maghreb in North Africa and Al-Andalus in Europe under one creed and one government.
Azougui was a town in north western Mauritania, lying on the Adrar Plateau, north west of Atar. In the eleventh century it was the first capital of the Almoravid dynasty, who conquered a territory stretching from the Ghana Empire to Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula.
Abu Bakr ibn Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Turgut, sometimes suffixed al-Sanhaji or al-Lamtuni was a chieftain of the Lamtuna Berber Tribe and Amir of the Almoravids from 1056 until his death. He is credited to have founded the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, and under his rule the heretic Barghawatas were destroyed. In 1076, he conquered Koumbi Saleh capital of the Ghana Empire, and is credited to have brought Islam in this Western Sub-Saharan Africa region. In November of 1087, Abu Bakr died of a poisoned arrow in Senegal.
Yusuf ibn Tashfin, also Tashafin, Teshufin, was leader of the Berber Almoravid empire. He co-founded the city of Marrakesh and led the Muslim forces in the Battle of Sagrajas. Yusuf ibn Tashfin came to Al-Andalus from the Maghreb to help the Muslims fight against Alfonso VI, eventually achieving victory in Sagrajas and promoting an Islamic system in the region. In 1061 he took the title “Amir al-Mu'minin” recognising the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate whom he became a vassal of. He was married to Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah, whom he reportedly trusted politically.
The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid and Hasanid dynasty, descended from Muhammad. The Idrisids are traditionally considered to be the founders of the first Moroccan Muslim state, setting the stage for subsequent dynasties and states centered in this region. Their reign played an important role in the early Islamization of Morocco and also presided over an increase in Arab immigration and Arabization in major urban centers.
Abdallah ibn Yasin was a theologian and spiritual leader of the Almoravid movement.
The Lamtuna are a nomadic Berber tribe belonging to the Iẓnagen / Sanhaja (Zenaga) confederation, who traditionally inhabited areas from Sous to Adrar Plateau. During the Almoravid period, many Lamtunas emigrated northwards. Currently, the Lemtuna Tribe is based in the South of Mauritania. The chief of this Tribe is Mr. Limam Ould Teguedi (former Minister of Justice, former Minister of culture and former Attorney General of Mauritania. Among notable families, the family of Ehl Aly Ibn Ibrahim and the family of Ehel Sidelemine, Ehl Abdawa, Ehl Mohamed El-Emine, Ehl Mohammed Ghali. Sahrawi Tajakant as well as Messouma tribes are of the most recognisable offshoots of the Lamtunas. They inhabit the area between Morocco and Western Sahara.
Yahya, also spelled Yehya, is an Arabic male given name. According to the Qur'anic narrative, it is an Arabic form of the given name John, originally Hebrew Yohanan, i.e. primarily John the Baptist, who is known as Yahya ibn Zakariyya in Islam, and is considered a prophet in Islam. For this reason, Yahya is a comparatively common name in the Muslim world. The related Biblical name of Jehiah has the Arabic form Yaḥiyyā يَحِيَّى., having the same Arabic consonantal text as the name Yahya does.
Yahya Ibn Ibrahim was a leader of the Godala tribe in the Adrar plateau modern day mauritania. Yahya Ibn Ibrahim's primary significance was in his involvement with Abdallah ibn Yasin, a Berber Muslim theologian who founded the Almoravid movement.
Zaynab an-Nafzāwiyyah, was a Berber woman of influence in the early days of the Almoravid Berber empire which gained control of Morocco, Algeria, and parts of Spain.
The medieval era of Tunisia began with what would eventually return Ifriqiya to local Berber rule. The Shia Islamic Fatimid Caliphate departed to their newly conquered territories in Egypt leaving the Zirid dynasty to govern in their stead. The Zirids would eventually break all ties to the Fatimids and formally embrace Sunni Islamic doctrines.
Precolonial Mauritania, lying next to the Atlantic coast at the western edge of the Sahara Desert, received and assimilated into its complex society many waves of Saharan migrants and conquerors.
The Taifa of Badajoz was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Spain.
Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Umar ibn Talagagin ibn Turgut ibn Wartasin, commonly suffixed al-Lamtunial-Sanhaji, was a chieftain of the Lamtuna, a tribe in the Sanhaja confederation. Yahya ibn Umar was the first emir of the Almoravids in the mid-11th century, a movement he constructed in collaboration with the religious leader Abdallah ibn Yasin. Yahya led the Almoravid armies in their first campaigns, including captures of Sijilmassa and Awdaghost in 1054/55, but was himself killed in battle against a dissident Berber faction in the Adrar. Yahya was succeeded as Almoravid emir by his brother, Abu Bakr ibn Umar.
The people of Mauritania are nearly all adherents of Sunni Islam of Maliki school of jurisprudence, influenced with Sufism. Mauritania is a country in Africa, bordering Algeria, Mali, Senegal, and the Western Sahara. Officially, 100% of the Mauritanian citizens are Muslim, although there is a small community of Christians, mainly of foreign nationality. The two largest Sufi Muslim tariqas in Mauritania are Tijaniyyah and Qadiriyya. Because of the ethnic and tribal divisions in the country, religion is seen by the government as essential for national unity.
Abu Muhammad Mazdali ibn Tilankan was a Berber military commander and diplomat for the Almoravid empire. Once Yusuf ibn Tashfin decided to become independent, he chose Mazdali, his second cousin and made him one of his most effective collaborators, to subdue and pacify the Maghrib and al-Andalus.
