Fannu bint Umar ibn Yintan (died April 1147) was a princess and a Commanding officer of the Almoravid dynasty. In the guise of a man, wearing armour she participated in the defense of the citadel of Marrakesh [1] during the Almohad conquest of the city in 1147. [2]
She was raised in the Almoravid Palace in Marrakesh as the daughter of Umar ibn Yintan. Her future role was not strange, as women in Almoravid Morocco had a higher status than what was otherwise normal in Muslim states. Women at court were known to wield great influence in state affairs in the tradition and example of Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah, co-founder of the dynasty: women in Morocco did not wear veils, and the education of women was accepted and normal, with notable women such as Hafsa Bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya holding courses for the women of the palace, and at least two women known to have been doctors. [3]
In March 1147, the forces of Abd-al Mumin, successor of Ibn Tumart and founder of the Almohad Caliphate, reached the capital of Marrakech during his jihad against the Almoravid dynasty, broke into the town and battled over the control of the qasba (fortress) of the Almoravid Palace for days. Fannu famously dressed herself in male clothing and participated in the defense of the fortress, and according to tradition, the Almohads did not manage to conquer the fortress before "a young Almoravid woman, dressed as a man", was killed. [4] The Almohads were reportedly astonished by Fannu's conduct and bravery during the battle, and surprised that they had not realized that she was a woman before she died. [4]
The Almoravid dynasty was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almohads in 1147.
The Almohad Caliphate or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa.
The Banu Ghaniya were a Massufa Sanhaja Berber dynasty and a branch of the Almoravids. Their first leader, Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Yusuf, a son of Ali ibn Yusuf al-Massufi and the Almoravid Princess Ghaniya, was appointed as governor of the Balearic Islands in 1126. Following the collapse of the Almoravid power at the hand of the Almohads in the 1140s, the Banu Ghaniya continued to govern the Balearic Islands as independent emirs until about 1203, with a brief interruption in the 1180s. Later leaders made a determined attempt to reconquer the Maghreb, taking Bougie, Constantine and Algiers, and conquering most of modern Tunisia from about 1180 onwards.
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 ruling dynasty and creator of the Almohad 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, 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.
Jemaa el-Fnaa, also Jemaa el-Fna, Djema el-Fna or Djemaa el-Fnaa, is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter. It remains the main square of Marrakesh, used by locals and tourists.
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr, commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur or Moulay Yacoub, was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 1184 to 1199. His reign was distinguished by the flourishing of trade, architecture, philosophy and the sciences, as well as by victorious military campaigns in which he was successful in repelling the tide of the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Kutubiyya Mosque or Koutoubia Mosque is the largest mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. It is located in the southwest medina quarter of Marrakesh, near the Jemaa el-Fnaa market place, and is flanked by large gardens.
Hassan Tower or Tour Hassan (Arabic: صومعة حسان; is the minaret of an incomplete mosque in Rabat, Morocco. It was commissioned by Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, the third caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, near the end of the 12th century. The tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world, and the mosque, if completed, would have been the largest in the western Muslim world. When al-Mansur died in 1199, construction on the mosque stopped. The minaret was left standing at a height of 44 meters. The rest of the mosque was also left incomplete, with only the beginnings of several walls and 348 columns being constructed. The tower, along with the remains of the mosque and the modern Mausoleum of Mohammed V, forms an important historical and tourist complex in Rabat.
Ali ibn Yusuf was the 5th Almoravid emir. He reigned from 1106 to 1143.
Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf or Yusuf I was the second Almohad Amir or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184 in Marrakesh. He was responsible for the construction of the Giralda in Seville, which was part of a new grand mosque. He was a keen student of philosophy and patron of Averroes.
Almohad architecture corresponds to a period from the 12th to early 13th centuries when the Almohads ruled over the western Maghreb and al-Andalus. It was an important phase in the consolidation of a regional Moorish architecture shared across these territories, continuing some of the trends of the preceding Almoravid period and of Almoravid architecture.
Almohad doctrine or Almohadism was the ideology underpinning the Almohad movement, founded by Ibn Tumart, which created the Almohad Empire during the 12th to 13th centuries. Fundamental to Almohadism was Ibn Tumart's radical interpretation of tawḥid—"unity" or "oneness"—from which the Almohads get their name: al-muwaḥḥidūn (المُوَحِّدون).
The Ben Youssef Mosque, is a mosque in the Medina quarter of Marrakesh, Morocco, named after the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf. It is arguably the oldest and most important mosque in Marrakesh.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Marrakesh, Morocco.
Tasghîmût is a medieval fortress near Marrakesh, Morocco, built on a rocky plateau and fortified by the Almoravids under Ali ibn Yusuf in the 12th century to protect the nearby capital of Aghmat when the Almohads were making inroads in the western Maghreb. The fortress was conquered by the Almohads in 1132. Some archeological excavations were carried out in the 20th century, but many of the remains of the fortifications have been used for local building projects.
The Battle of al-Buhayra was a battle between the Almoravid and the Almohad armies in May 1130 CE just outside Marrakesh, Morocco.
The Almohad expedition to Dukkala was led by Abd al-Mu'min against tribesmen of Dukkala.
Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar b. Yaḥyā al-Hintātī, chief of the Hintata, was a close companion of Ibn Tumart and a shaper of the Almohad Empire greatly responsible for the unification of the Almohad corps. His grandson Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yahyā b. ʿAbd al-Waḥīd founded the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiya. He lived a long life and helped maintain ties between the Almohad movement's early revolutionary doctrine and its later dynastic period established by ʿAbd al-Muʾmin.
The Council of Ten was a group of Ibn Tumart's earliest and closest disciples, at the top of the hierarchy of the Almohad movement. It was composed of members from different tribes, including ‘Abd al-Mu’min al-Kumi of the Zanata, the chronicler al-Baydhaq of the Sanhaja, and the tribal chief Abu Hafs ‘Umar al-Hintati of the Masmuda. The Council of Ten evoked the image of the Prophet Muhammad's ten companions, though sources indicate that, for the Almohad council, ten was more of a name than a fixed number of members.
Almoravid architecture corresponds to a period from the 11th to 12th centuries when the Almoravids ruled over the western Maghreb and al-Andalus. It was an important phase in the development of a regional Moorish architecture, as the styles and craftsmanship of al-Andalus were further imported and developed in North Africa. The Almoravids founded the city of Marrakesh as their capital and built many mosques in the region, although much of what they built has not preserved. The Almoravids were overthrown by the Almohads in the 12th century, after which Almohad architecture continued to develop some of the same trends in the Maghreb and al-Andalus.