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141-622: The organization is mostly active in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf , Algeria , where it is a powerful force within the POLISARIO and the Sahrawi republic . It is internationally active in organizing support for Sahrawi women and the Sahrawi cause, but also campaigns for women's rights within the exile community and in political decision-making. As a consequence of this, and of the special circumstances of

282-658: A 1955 book on the subject. According to the Ethnologue database, there were more than three million Hassaniya speakers in 2006, of whom 2.7 million resided in Mauritania. The number of Hassaniya speakers identifying as Sahrawi in the modern political sense is unknown, and estimates are hotly contested by partisans in the Western Sahara conflict. Most estimates however center around 200,000 to 400,000. These populations are centered in southern Morocco, Western Sahara, and in

423-486: A French non-settler colonial administration which, if light in its demands on the nomads, also deliberately overturned the existing social order, allying itself with lower-ranking marabout and zenaga tribes against the powerful warrior clans of the Hassane Arabs. In southern Morocco, France upheld indirect rule through the sultanate in some areas, while Spain exercised direct administration in others. Spanish Sahara

564-478: A careful leash, forging a more productive partnership between them. Invoking stories of the early life of Muhammad, Ibn Yasin preached that conquest was a necessary addendum to Islamicization, that it was not enough to merely adhere to God's law, but necessary to also destroy opposition to it. In Ibn Yasin's ideology, anything and everything outside of Islamic law could be characterized as "opposition". He identified tribalism, in particular, as an obstacle. He believed it

705-633: A chieftain of the Gudala (and brother-in-law of the late Tarsina), went on pilgrimage to Mecca . On his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya , where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi , a native of Fez and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school. At this time, Ifriqiya was in ferment. The Zirid ruler, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis , was openly contemplating breaking with his Shi'ite Fatimid overlords in Cairo, and

846-479: A few slaves at the most, as nomadic societies have less use of slave labour than sedentary societies; however, in some cases, slaves were used to work oasis plantations, farming dates , digging wells etc. An important reference on Sahrawi population ethnography is the work of Spanish anthropologist Julio Caro Baroja , who in 1952–53 spent several months among native tribes of the Spanish Sahara . He published

987-638: A long siege of the city , completely surrounding it, burning nearby villages, and confiscating the crops of the surrounding countryside. Ibn Jahhaf agreed at one point to pay tribute to El Cid in order to end the siege, which resulted in the Almoravids in the city being escorted out by El Cid's men. For reasons that remain unclear, an Almoravid relief army led by Ibn Tashfin's nephew, Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim, approached Valencia in September 1093 but then retreated without engaging El Cid. Ibn Jahhaf continued negotiations. In

1128-408: A meeting with his neighbours, al-Mutawwakil of Badajoz and Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada , where they agreed to send an embassy to Ibn Tashfin to appeal for his assistance. The Taifa kings were aware of the risks that came with an Almoravid intervention but considered it the best choice among their bad options. Al-Mu'tamid is said to have remarked bitterly: "Better to pasture camels than to be

1269-537: A noble and wealthy Berber woman, Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah , who would become very influential in the development of the dynasty. Zaynab was the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Kairouan who had settled in Aghmat. She had been previously married to Laqut ibn Yusuf ibn Ali al-Maghrawi, the ruler of Aghmat, until the latter was killed during the Almoravid conquest of the city. It was around this time that Abu Bakr ibn Umar founded

1410-510: A peace treaty with the Hammadids. Algiers became their easternmost outpost. By the 1080s, local Muslim rulers in al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula ) were requesting Ibn Tashfin's help against the encroaching Christian kingdoms to the north. Ibn Tashfin made the capture of Ceuta his primary objective before making any attempt to intervene there. Ceuta, controlled by Zenata forces under

1551-558: A place north of Badajoz, called Zallaqa in Arabic sources and Sagrajas in Christian sources. In the Battle of Sagrajas (or Battle of Zallaqa), on 23 October 1086, Alfonso was soundly defeated and forced to retreat north in disorder. Al-Mu'tamid recommended that they press their advantage, but Ibn Tashfin did not pursue the Christian army further, returning instead to Seville and then to North Africa. It

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1692-624: A scholar named Waggag ibn Zallu . Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar (present-day Mauritania ). Hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, "the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God." It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation. Al-Bakri , writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them

1833-517: A second expedition to recapture it, but the Guddala refused to join him and returned instead to their homelands in the desert regions along the Atlantic coast. Historian Amira Bennison suggests that some Almoravids, including the Guddala, were unwilling to be dragged into a conflict with the powerful Zanata tribes of the north and this created tension with those, like Ibn Yasin, who saw northern expansion as

1974-524: A siege of the city by the veteran Almoravid commander, Mazdali, in the early spring of 1102. In April–May, Jimena and the Christians who wished to leave the city were evacuated with the help of Alfonso VI. The Almoravids occupied the city after them. That same year, with the capture of Valencia counting as another triumph, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin celebrated and arranged for his son, Ali ibn Yusuf , to be publicly recognized as his heir. The Taifa king of Zaragoza,

2115-450: A swineherd"—meaning that it was better to submit to another Muslim ruler than to end up as subjects of a Christian king. As a condition for his assistance, Ibn Tashfin demanded that Algeciras (a city on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, across from Ceuta) be surrendered to him so he could use it as a base for his troops. Al-Mu'tamid agreed. Ibn Tashfin, wary of the hesitation of

2256-613: A tribe's cultural heritage reflects social stratification. In traditional Moorish-Sahrawi society, Arab tribes of the Tekna confederation claimed a role as rulers and protectors of the disarmed weaker Berber tribes of the Takna confederation. Thus, the warrior tribes and nobility would be Arab. However, most tribes, regardless of their mixed heritage, tend to claim some form of Arab ancestry, as this has been key to achieving social status. Many (the so-called chorfa tribes) will also claim descendancy from

2397-627: Is chaired by a Secretary General, elected also in the congresses, who is at the same time member of the Polisario Front national committee. Keltoum Khayati, a former secretary general of the UNMS, fled to Morocco and is defending the Moroccan position in the conflict. Fatma Mehdi Hassan has been secretary general since 2002. The UNMS has been a member of the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) and

2538-499: Is often neglected in histories of the Maghreb and al-Andalus. This has also encouraged a division in modern studies about the Almoravids, with archeology playing a greater role in the study of the southern wing, in the absence of more textual sources. The exact nature and impact of the Almoravid presence in the Sahel is a strongly debated topic among Africanists . According to Arab tradition,

2679-453: Is possible he was unwilling to be away from his home base for too long or that the death of his eldest son, Sir, encouraged him to return. After Ibn Tashfin's departure, Alfonso VI quickly resumed his pressure on the Taifa kings and forced them to send tribute payments again. He captured the fortress of Aledo , cutting off eastern al-Andalus from the other Muslim kingdoms. Meanwhile, Ibn Rashiq,

2820-760: Is spoken as a lingua franca by most of the Sahrawis, especially among the Sahrawi diaspora, with the Sahrawi Press Service , official news service of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , being available in Spanish since 2001 and the Sahara Film Festival , Western Sahara's only film festival , showing mainly Spanish-language films. After the Madrid Accords which transferred administration of

2961-474: Is tying" but figuratively means "one who is ready for battle at a fortress". The term is related to the notion of ribat رِباط , a North African frontier monastery-fortress, through the root r-b-t ( ربط " rabat ": to tie, to unite or رابط " raabat ": to encamp ). The name "Almoravid" was tied to a school of Malikite law called "Dar al-Murabitin" founded in Sus al-Aksa , modern day Morocco , by

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3102-454: Is whether the tribal confederations fell under French or Spanish colonial rule. France conquered most of North and West Africa largely during the late 19th century. This included Algeria and Mauritania, and, from 1912, Morocco. But Western Sahara and scattered minor parts of Morocco fell to Spain, and were named Spanish Sahara (subdivided into Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra ) and Spanish Morocco respectively. These colonial intrusions brought

3243-508: The Taifas . These states constantly fought with each other but were unable to raise large armies of their own, so they became reliant instead on the Christian kingdoms of the north for military support. This support was secured through the regular payment of parias (tributes) to the Christian kings, but the payments became a fiscal burden that drained the treasuries of these local rulers. In turn,

3384-724: The Abbasids caliphs in Baghdad as overlords. While the Abbasids themselves had little direct political power by this time, the symbolism of this act was important and enhanced Ibn Tashfin's legitimacy. According to Ibn Idhari, it was at the same time as this that Ibn Tashfin also took the title of amīr al-muslimīn ('Commander of the Muslims'). Ibn Idhari dates this to 1073–74, but some authors, including modern historian Évariste Lévi-Provençal , have dated this political decision to later, most likely when

3525-682: The Almoravid dynasty of Morocco and Andalusia , and several emirates in Mauritania. In the 11th century, the Bedouin tribes of the Beni Hilal and Beni Sulaym emigrated westwards from Egypt to the Maghreb region. In the early 13th century, the Yemeni Maqil tribes migrated westwards across the entirety of Arabia and northern Africa, to finally settle around present-day Morocco. They were badly received by

3666-667: The Barghawata , a Berber tribal confederation who followed an Islamic "heresy" preached by Salih ibn Tarif three centuries earlier. The Barghawata occupied the region northwest of Aghmat and along the Atlantic coast. They resisted the Almoravids fiercely and the campaign against them was bloody. Abdullah ibn Yasin was killed in battle with them in 1058 or 1059, at a place called Kurīfalalt or Kurifala. By 1060, however, they were conquered by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and were forced to convert to orthodox Islam. Shortly after this, Abu Bakr had reached as far as Meknes . Towards 1068, Abu Bakr married

3807-583: The General Federation of Arab Women since 1977 and of the Pan-African Women's Organization (PAWO) since 1980. On the national level, the UNMS objectives are: On the international level, the UNMS objectives are: Sahrawi people The Sahrawis , or Sahrawi people ( Arabic : صحراويون ṣaḥrāwīyūn ), are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes

3948-835: The Ghana Empire ; and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmasa . The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous and Draa valleys. Around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat (alias Tarsina), tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years. Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim ,

4089-721: The Greater Morocco ideology point to some Sahrawi tribes calling upon the Moroccan sultan, who until 1912 remained the last independent Islamic ruler of the area, for assistance against the Europeans (see Ma al-'Aynayn ). Pro-independence Sahrawis, on the other hand, point out that such statements of allegiance were almost routinely given by various tribal leaders to create short-term alliances, and that other heads of tribes indeed similarly proclaimed allegiance to Spain, to France, to Mauritanian emirates, and indeed to each other; they argue that such arrangements always proved temporary, and that

4230-598: The Hassaniya dialect of Arabic . The Arabic word Ṣaḥrāwī ( صحراوي ) literally means "Inhabitant of the Desert". The word Sahrawi is derived from the Arabic word Ṣaḥrā' ( صحراء ), meaning "desert". A man is called a Sahrawi , and a woman is called a Sahrawiya . In other languages it is pronounced in similar or different ways: Nomadic Berbers , mainly of the Senhaja / Zenaga tribal confederation, inhabited

4371-458: The Islamic prophet Muhammad . In any case, no tribal identity is cut in stone, and over the centuries a great deal of intermarriage and tribal re-affiliation has occurred to blur former ethnic/cultural lines; groups have often seamlessly re-identified to higher status identities, after achieving the military or economic strength to defeat former rulers. This was, for example, the case of the largest of

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4512-646: The Sosso , a neighboring people of the Sudan. Traditions in Mali related that the Sosso attacked and took over Mali as well, and the ruler of the Sosso, Sumaouro Kanté, took over the land. However, criticism from Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources. According to Professor Timothy Insoll,

4653-494: The Sous valley of southern Morocco, to seek out a Maliki teacher for his people. Waggag assigned him one of his residents, Abdallah ibn Yasin . Abdallah ibn Yasin was a Gazzula Berber, and probably a convert rather than a born Muslim. His name can be read as "son of Ya-Sin " (the title of the 36th surah of the Quran ), suggesting he had obliterated his family past and was "re-born" of

4794-614: The Spanish Sahara to Mauritania and Morocco, and Morocco claimed souvereignty over the territories, dismissing a judgement of the International Court of Justice reaffirming the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, from late 1975 an exodus of refugees fled the violence that ensued. Substantial numbers ended up in the Polisario Front movement's base areas in the Algerian Sahara, where refugee camps were set up in

4935-841: The Taifa kings and now intended to take direct control of the region. The Almoravid cause benefited from the support of the Maliki fuqahā ( Islamic jurists ) in Al-Andalus, who extolled the Almoravid devotion to jihad while criticizing the Taifa kings as impious, self-indulgent, and thus illegitimate. In September 1090, Ibn Tashfin forced Granada to surrender to him and sent Abdallah ibn Buluggin into exile in Aghmat. He then returned to North Africa again, but this time he left his nephew, Sir ibn Abu Bakr, in charge of Almoravid forces in al-Andalus. Al-Mu'tamid, seeking to salvage his position, resorted to striking an alliance with Alfonso VI, which further undermined his own popular support. In early 1091,

5076-561: The Taifa kings, immediately sent an advance force of 500 troops across the strait to take control of Algeciras. They did so in July 1086 without encountering resistance. The rest of the Almoravid army, numbering around 12,000, soon followed. Ibn Tashfin and his army then marched to Seville, where they met up with the forces of al-Mu'tamid, al-Mutawwakil, and Abdallah ibn Buluggin. Alfonso VI, hearing of this development, lifted his siege of Zaragoza and marched south to confront them. The two sides met at

5217-449: The Taifa rulers burdened their subjects with increased taxation, including taxes and tariffs that were not considered legal under Islamic law. As the payments of tribute began to falter, the Christian kingdoms resorted to punitive raids and eventually to conquest. The Taifa kings were unwilling or unable to unite to counter this threat, and even the most powerful Taifa kingdom, Seville , was unable to resist Christian advances. After

5358-841: The Tindouf Province of Algeria, where large number of refugees from Western Sahara are located. Sahrawis' native language is the Hassānīya , a variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassan Arabian tribes of the Western Sahara . It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages originally spoken in this region. Though clearly a western dialect, Hassānīya is relatively distant from other North African variants of Arabic. Its geographical location exposed it to influence from Zenaga and Wolof . There are several dialects of Hassaniya;

5499-572: The Tindouf Province , and a smaller number in camps in Mauritania . The camps in Tindouf were named after towns in the Western Sahara (Awserd, Laayoune, Smara and Dakhla). As of January 2018, the number of Sahrawi refugees living in the five camps in Tindouf is estimated about 174.000, of whom 125,000 were entitled to food and nutrition assistance by UNHCR and 90,000 individuals regarded "most vulnerable refugees". The Moroccan government has contended that

5640-579: The Western Sahara war years, the situation of Sahrawi women has improved noticeably. There are presently two women in the Sahrawi republic's government, the Minister of Culture Khadijah Hamdi , and the Minister of Education Mariem Salek Hamada . The UNMS is directed by a "National Committee" of 66 members, elected in the UNMS congress every 5 years. It is subdivided into several departments: There are also departments for each Wilaya . The national committee

5781-542: The Western Sahara , traversing the territory between the Draa , the Niger , and the Senegal rivers. During their expansion into the Maghreb, they founded the city of Marrakesh as a capital, c.  1070 . Shortly after this, the empire was divided into two branches: a northern one centered in the Maghreb, led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin and his descendants, and a southern one based in

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5922-471: The Western Sahara , southern Morocco , much of Mauritania , and along the southwestern border of Algeria . They are of mixed Hassani Arab and Sanhaji Berber descent, as well as West African and other indigenous populations. As with most peoples living in the Sahara, the Sahrawi culture is a mix of Arab and indigenous African elements. Sahrawis are composed of many tribes and are largely speakers of

6063-624: The Zenata Berber descendants of the Merinid dynasty , and among the tribes pushed out of the territory were the Beni Hassan . This tribe entered the domains of the Sanhaja , and over the following centuries imposed itself upon them, intermixing with the population in the process. Berber attempts to shake off the rule of Arab warrior tribes occurred sporadically, but assimilation gradually won out, and after

6204-419: The al-Murabitin (Almoravids)—set out on a campaign to bring their neighbors over to their cause. In the early 1050s, a kind of triumvirate emerged in leading the Almoravid movement, including Abdallah Ibn Yasin, Yahya Ibn Umar and his brother Abu Bakr Ibn Umar . The movement was now dominated by the Lamtuna rather than the Guddala. During the 1050s, the Almoravids began their expansion and their conquest of

6345-438: The al-Murabitun , but does not clarify the reasons for it. Writing three centuries later, Ibn Abi Zar suggested it was chosen early on by Abdallah ibn Yasin because, upon finding resistance among the Gudala Berbers of Adrar (Mauritania) to his teaching, he took a handful of followers to erect a makeshift ribat (monastery-fortress) on an offshore island (possibly Tidra island, in the Bay of Arguin ). Ibn 'Idhari wrote that

6486-443: The ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu (near present-day Tiznit ), where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. The 13th-century Moroccan biographer Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili , and Qadi Ayyad before him in the 12th century, note that Waggag's learning center was called Dar al-Murabitin (The house of the Almoravids), and that might have inspired Ibn Yasin's choice of name for

6627-409: The ribats ' ) 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 Almoravids emerged from a coalition of the Lamtuna , Gudala , and Massufa, nomadic Berber tribes living in what is now Mauritania and

6768-422: The "first capital" of the Almoravids. Yahya ibn Umar was subsequently killed in battle against the Guddala in 1055 or 1056, or later in 1057. Meanwhile, in the north, Ibn Yasin had ordered Abu Bakr to take command of the Almoravid army and they soon recaptured Sijilmasa. By 1056, they had conquered Taroudant and the Sous Valley , continuing to impose Maliki Islamic law over the communities they conquered. When

6909-426: The 9th century. They were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of new converts, launched several campaigns against the " Sudanese " (pagan peoples of sub-Saharan Africa ). Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected (or captured) the citadel of Awdaghust, a critical stop on the trans-Saharan trade route. After the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdaghust passed over to

7050-417: The Almoravid capture of Ceuta (1083) on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, the way was now open for Ibn Tashfin to intervene in al-Andalus. It was in this same year that Alfonso VI , king of Castile and León , led a military campaign into southern al-Andalus to punish al-Mu'tamid of Seville for failing to pay him tribute. His expedition penetrated all the way to Tarifa , the southernmost point of

7191-413: The Almoravid troops, while he personally led another force from a different city gate and attacked their undefended camp. This inflicted the first major defeat on the Almoravids on the Iberian Peninsula. After his victory, El Cid executed Ibn Jahhaf by burning him alive in public, perhaps in retaliation for treachery. El Cid fortified his new kingdom by building fortresses along the southern approaches to

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7332-471: The Almoravids in the Sahara. Following this, the Almoravid Empire was divided into two distinct but co-dependent parts: one led by Ibn Tashfin in the north, and another led by Abu Bakr in the south. Abu Bakr continued to be formally acknowledged as the supreme leader of the Almoravids until his death in 1087. Historical sources give no indication that the two leaders treated each other as enemies and Ibn Tashfin continued to mint coins in Abu Bakr's name until

7473-405: The Almoravids into the first major Berber-led Islamic empire in the western Mediterranean. Their rulers never claimed the title of caliph and instead took on the title of Amir al-Muslimīn ("Prince of the Muslims") while formally acknowledging the overlordship of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad . The Almoravid period also contributed significantly to the Islamization of the Sahara region and to

7614-412: The Almoravids took control of Cordoba and turned towards Seville, defeating a Castilian force led Alvar Fañez that came to help al-Mu'tamid. In September 1091, al-Mu'tamid surrendered Seville to the Almoravids and was exiled to Aghmat. In late 1091, the Almoravids captured Almería. In late 1091 or January 1092, Ibn Aisha, one of Ibn Tashfin's sons, seized control of Murcia. The capture of Murcia brought

7755-463: The Almoravids under Abu Bakr's leadership conquered the Ghana Empire , founded by the Soninke, sometime around 1076–77. An example of this tradition is the record of historian Ibn Khaldun , who cited Shaykh Uthman, the faqih of Ghana, writing in 1394. According to this source, the Almoravids weakened Ghana and collected tribute from the Sudan, to the extent that the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away, and they were subjugated and absorbed by

7896-422: The Almoravids were in the process of securing control of al-Andalus. According to Amira Bennison, the recognition of the Abbasid caliph must have been established by the 1090s at latest. When Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi visited Baghdad between 1096 and 1098, possibly as part of an Almoravid embassy to Caliph al-Mustazhir , he claimed that the Friday prayers were already being given in the Abbasid caliph's name across

8037-423: The Almoravids within reach of Valencia , which was officially under the control of al-Qadir , the former Taifa ruler of Toledo. He had been installed here in 1086 by the Castilians after they took control of Toledo. Al-Qadir's unpopular rule in Valencia was supported by a Castilian garrison headed by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , a Castilian noble and mercenary better known today as El Cid. In October 1092, when El Cid

8178-600: The Banu Ya'la in battle near the valley of the Moulaya River and executed their commander, Mali Ibn Ya'la, the son of Tlemcen's ruler. However, Ibn Tilankan did not push to Tlemcen right away as the city of Oujda , occupied by the Bani Iznasan, was too strong to capture. Instead, Ibn Tashfin himself returned with an army in 1081 that captured Oujda and then conquered Tlemcen, massacring the Maghrawa forces there and their leader, al-Abbas Ibn Bakhti al-Maghrawi. He pressed on and by 1082 he had captured Algiers . Ibn Tashfin subsequently treated Tlemcen as his eastern base. At that time,

8319-546: The Christians in a narrow pass located between the mountains and the sea, but El Cid managed to rally his troops and repel the Almoravids yet again. In 1097, the Almoravid governor of Xativa, Ali ibn al-Hajj, led another incursion into Valencian territory but was quickly defeated and pursued to Almenara , which El Cid then captured after a three-month siege. In 1097, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin himself led another army into al-Andalus. Setting out from Cordoba with Muhammad ibn al-Hajj as his field commander, he marched against Alfonso VI, who

8460-425: The French colonial regime) managed to impose rigid, if arbitrary, borders on the previously fluid Sahara. The wide-ranging grazing lands of the nomads were split apart, and their traditional economies, based on trans-Saharan caravan trade and raiding of each other and the northern and southern Sahel neighbors, were broken. Little attention was paid to existing tribal confederations and zones of influence when dividing up

8601-417: The Hassaniya populations were (or are) divided into several groups, of different social status. At the peak of society were the aristocratic "warrior" lineages or clans , the Hassane , supposed descendants of the Beni Hassan Arab tribe (cf. Oulad Delim ). Below them stood the "scholarly" or "clerical" lineages. These were called marabout or zawiya tribes (cf. Oulad Tidrarine ). The latter designation

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8742-530: The Holy Book. Ibn Yasin certainly had the ardor of a puritan zealot; his creed was mainly characterized by a rigid formalism and a strict adherence to the dictates of the Quran, and the Orthodox tradition . (Chroniclers such as al-Bakri allege Ibn Yasin's learning was superficial.) Ibn Yasin's initial meetings with the Guddala people went poorly. As he had more ardor than depth, Ibn Yasin's arguments were disputed by his audience. He responded to questioning with charges of apostasy and handed out harsh punishments for

8883-426: The Iberian Peninsula. A couple of years later, in May 1085, he seized control of Toledo , previously one of the most powerful city-states in al-Andalus. Soon after, he also began a siege of Zaragoza . These dramatic events forced the Taifa kings to finally consider seeking an external intervention by the Almoravids. According to the most detailed Arabic source, it was al-Mu'tamid, the ruler of Seville, who convened

9024-654: The Muslim Saharan peoples under Christian European rule for the first time, and created lasting cultural and political divides between and within existing populations, as well as upsetting traditional balances of power in differing ways. The Sahrawi-Moorish areas, then still undefined as to exact territorial boundaries, proved troublesome for the colonizers, just as they had for neighbouring dynasties in previous centuries. The political loyalty of these populations were first and foremost to their respective tribes, and supertribal allegiances and alliances would shift rapidly and unexpectedly. Their nomadic lifestyle made direct control over

9165-431: The Sahara in order to suppress a rebellion by the Guddala and their allies which threatened the desert trade routes, in either 1060 or 1071. His wife Zaynab appears to have been unwilling to follow him south and he granted her a divorce. Apparently on Abu Bakr's instructions, she was then married to Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. Before leaving, Abu Bakr appointed Ibn Tashfin as his deputy in charge of the new Almoravid territories in

9306-407: The Sahara was generally considered Blad Essiba or "the land of dissidence" by the Moroccan central government and Sultan of Morocco in Fez , and by the authorities of the Deys of Algiers . The governments of the pre-colonial Sahelian empires of Mali and Songhai appear to have had a similar relationship with the tribal territories, which were at once the home of undisciplined raiding tribes and

9447-406: The Sahara, led by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and his descendants. The Almoravids expanded their control to al-Andalus (the Muslim territories in Iberia ) and were crucial in temporarily halting the advance of the Christian kingdoms in this region, with the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086 among their signature victories. This united the Maghreb and al-Andalus politically for the first time and transformed

9588-443: The Saharan caravan routes.) As with most Saharan peoples, the tribes reflect a highly mixed heritage, combining Arab, and other influences, including ethnic and cultural characteristics found in many ethnic groups of the Sahel . The latter were primarily acquired through mixing with Wolof , Soninke and other populations of the southern Sahel, and through the acquisition of slaves by wealthier nomad families. In pre-colonial times,

9729-435: The Saharan interior. French and Spanish colonial governments would gradually, and with varying force, impose their own systems of government and education over these territories, exposing the native populations to differing colonial experiences. The populations in Algeria were subjected to direct French rule, which was organized to enable the massive settlement of French and European immigrants. In Mauritania, they experienced

9870-407: The Saharan tribes. Their first major targets were two strategic cities located at the northern and southern edges of the desert: Sijilmasa in the north and Awdaghust in the south. Control of these two cities would allow the Almoravids to effectively control the trans-Saharan trade routes. Sijilmasa was controlled by the Maghrawa , a part of the northern Zenata Berber confederation, while Awdaghust

10011-419: The Sahrawi tribes, the Reguibat . A Berber-descended zawiya (scholarly) tribe who in the 18th century took up camel nomadism and warrior traditions, they simultaneously took on more and more of an Arab identity , reflecting their new position alongside the traditional warrior castes of Arab Hassane origin, such as the Oulad Delim and the Arabic-speaking tribes of the Tekna confederation. Generally speaking,

10152-477: The Sahrawis, enabling them to choose for themselves whether they wanted Spanish Sahara to turn into an independent state, or to be annexed to Morocco or Mauritania. The area today referred to as Western Sahara remains, according to the United Nations, one of the world's last remaining major non-self-governing territories . Morocco controls most of the territory as its Southern Provinces , and while recognized by

10293-590: The United States, the legality is disputed militarily by the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed movement claiming independence for the territory as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Since 1991, there has been a cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario, but disturbances in Moroccan-held territories as well as the ongoing dispute over the legal status of the territory guarantees continued United Nations involvement and occasional international attention to

10434-436: The Western Sahara society, stood the znaga tribes—tribal groups labouring in demeaning occupations, such as fishermen (cf. Imraguen ), as well as peripheral semi-tribal groups working in the same fields (among them the "professional" castes, mallemin and igawen ). All these groups were considered to be among the bidan grouping. Below them ranked servile groups known as Haratin , according to some sources descendants of

10575-399: The advice of Zaynab. Abu Bakr recognized that he was unable to force the issue and was unwilling to fight a battle over control of Marrakesh, so he decided to voluntarily recognize Ibn Tashfin's leadership in the Maghreb. The two men met on neutral ground between Aghmat and Marrakesh to confirm the arrangement. After a short stay in Aghmat, Abu Bakr returned south to continue his leadership of

10716-494: The archaeology of ancient Ghana simply does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests. Dierke Lange agreed with the original military incursion theory but argues that this doesn't preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that the main factor of the demise of the Ghana Empire owed much to the latter. According to Lange, Almoravid religious influence

10857-419: The areas now known as Western Sahara , southern Morocco , Mauritania and southwestern Algeria , before Islam arrived in the 8th century CE. It is not known when the camel was introduced to the region (probably in the first or second millennium BCE), but it revolutionized the traditional trade routes of North Africa . Berber caravans transported salt, gold, and slaves between North and West Africa , and

10998-455: The campaign concluded that year, they retired to Sijilmasa and established their base there. It was around this time that Abu Bakr appointed his cousin, Yusuf ibn Tashfin , to command the garrison of the city. In 1058, they crossed the High Atlas and conquered Aghmat , a prosperous commercial town near the foothills of the mountains, and made it their capital. They then came in contact with

11139-481: The city and then turned south to capture Awdaghust, which they accomplished that same year. Although the town was mainly Muslim, the Almoravids pillaged the city and treated the population harshly on the basis that they recognized the pagan king of Ghana . Not long after the main Almoravid army left Sijilmasa, the city rebelled and the Maghrawa returned, slaughtering the Lamtuna garrison. Ibn Yasin responded by organizing

11280-551: The city had consisted of an older settlement called Agadir, but Ibn Tashfin founded a new city next to it called Takrart, which later merged with Agadir in the Almohad period to become the present city. The Almoravids subsequently clashed with the Hammadids to the east multiple times, but they did not make a sustained effort to conquer the central Maghrib and instead focused their efforts on other fronts. Eventually, in 1104, they signed

11421-422: The city to defend against future Almoravid attacks. In late 1096, Ibn Aisha led an army of 30,000 men to besiege the strongest of these fortresses, Peña Cadiella (just south of Xativa ). El Cid confronted them and called on Aragon for reinforcements. When the reinforcements approached, the Almoravids lifted the siege, but laid a trap for El Cid's forces as they marched back to Valencia. They successfully ambushed

11562-540: The closest thing to centralized government that was ever achieved by the Hassaniya tribes, but even these emirates were weak, conflict-ridden and rested more on the willing consent of the subject tribes than on any capacity to enforce loyalty. Modern distinctions drawn between the various Hassaniya -speaking Sahrawi- Moorish groups are primarily political, but cultural differences dating from different colonial and post-colonial histories are also apparent. An important divider

11703-727: The command of Diya al-Dawla Yahya, was the last major city on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar that still held out against him. In return for a promise to help him, Ibn Tashfin demanded that al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad , the ruler of Seville , provide assistance in besieging the city. Al-Mu'tamid obliged and sent a fleet to blockade the city by sea, while Ibn Tashfin's son Tamim led the siege by land. The city finally surrendered in June–July 1083 or in August 1084. Ibn Tashfin also made efforts to organize

11844-410: The control of trade routes became a major ingredient in the constant power struggles between various tribes and sedentary peoples. On more than one occasion, the Berber tribes of present-day Mauritania, Morocco and Western Sahara united behind religious leaders to sweep the surrounding governments from power, then founding principalities, dynasties, or even vast empires of their own. This was the case with

11985-512: The date of the final conquest of Fez as 1069 (461 AH). Historian Ronald Messier gives the date more specifically as 18 March 1070 (462 AH). Other historians date this conquest to 1074 or 1075. In 1079, Ibn Tashfin sent an army 20,000 strong from Marrakesh to push towards what is now Tlemcen to attack the Banu Ya'la, the Zenata tribe occupying the area. Led by Mazdali Ibn Tilankan, the army defeated

12126-454: The earlier pre-Arab populations. (Note that "Haratin", a term of obscure origin, has a different meaning in the Berber regions of Morocco.) They often lived serving affiliated bidan families, and as such formed part of the tribe, not tribes of their own. Below them came the slaves themselves, who were owned individually or in family groups, and could hope at best to be freed and rise to the status of Haratin. Rich bidan families would normally own

12267-496: The end, he refused to pay El Cid's tribute and the siege continued. By April 1094, the city was starving and he decided to surrender it shortly after. El Cid re-entered Valencia on 15 June 1094, after 20 months of siege. Rather than ruling through a puppet again, he now took direct control as king. Meanwhile, also in 1094, the Almoravids seized control of the entire Taifa kingdom of Badajoz after its ruler, al-Mutawwakil, sought his own alliance with Castile. The Almoravid expedition

12408-560: The fact that many if not all of the Sahrawi/Moorish tribes today claim Arab ancestry; several are even claiming to be descendants of Muhammad , so-called sharifian tribes. The modern day Sahrawis are a mixed ethnic group of Arabs, West Africans & diverse Berbers. The people inhabit the westernmost Sahara desert, in the area of modern Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara, and parts of Algeria. (Some tribes would also traditionally migrate into northern Mali and Niger, or even further along

12549-496: The failed Char Bouba uprising (1644–74), the Berber tribes virtually without exception embraced Arab or Muslim culture and even claim Arab heritage. The Arabic dialect of the Beni Ḥassān , Hassaniya , remains the mother-tongue of Mauritania and Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara to this day, and is also spoken in southern Morocco and western Algeria, among affiliated tribes. Berber vocabulary and cultural traits remain common, despite

12690-415: The field, the Almoravids did not capture any major new towns or fortresses. El Cid attempted to Christianize Valencia, converting its main mosque into a church and establishing a bishopric , but ultimately failed to attract many new Christian settlers to the city. He died on 10 July 1099, leaving his wife, Jimena, in charge of the kingdom. She was unable to hold off Almoravid pressures, which culminated in

12831-648: The figure is much lower, around 45,000 to 50,000, and that these people are kept in the refugee camps against their will by Polisario. Mauritania housed as of 2009 about 26,000 Sahrawi refugees, classified by UNHCR as "people in a refugee-like situation". Many of them moved back and forth from the camps in Tindouf, Algeria. Additionally, between 3,000 and 12,000 Sahrawis live in Spain, their former colonizer. In 2018, thirty Sahrawi refugees died in an air crash of Algerian Air Force Il-76 . They had been visiting Algiers for various medical and bureaucratic reasons. Sahrawis from

12972-559: The form of the Ait Arbein (Group of Forty) , which would handle supratribal affairs such as common defence of the territory or common diplomacy . During colonial times, Spain attempted to assume some of the legitimacy of these traditional institutions by creating its own Djema'a, a state-run political association that supported its claims to the territory. Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( Arabic : المرابطون , romanized :  Al-Murābiṭūn , lit.   'those from

13113-438: The gold that came from Ghana in the south, but in practice it remained dependent on the spoils of new conquests. The majority of the Almoravid army continued to be composed of Sanhaja recruits, but Ibn Tashfin also began recruiting slaves to form a personal guard ( ḥashm ), including 5000 black soldiers ( 'abid ) and 500 white soldiers ( uluj , likely of European origin). At some point, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin moved to acknowledge

13254-450: The historic region of the Sudan . After the death of Abu Bakr (1087), the confederation of Berber tribes in the Sahara was divided between the descendants of Abu Bakr and his brother Yahya, and would have lost control of Ghana. Sheryl Burkhalter suggests that Abu Bakr's son Yahya was the leader of the Almoravid expedition that conquered Ghana in 1076, and that the Almoravids would have survived

13395-477: The intention of reclaiming his father's position in the Maghreb. Another Almoravid commander, Mazdali ibn Tilankan , who was related to both men, defused the situation and convinced Ibrahim to join his father in the south rather than start a civil war. Ibn Tashfin had in the meantime helped to bring the large area of what is now Morocco , Western Sahara , and Mauritania under Almoravid control. He spent at least several years capturing each fort and settlement in

13536-527: The issue. The Polisario Front is the Western Sahara's national liberation movement, fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara since 1973—originally against Spanish rule; after 1975, against Mauritania and Morocco; since 1979, against Morocco only. The organization is based in Algeria, where it is responsible for the Tindouf refugee camps. The organization has maintained a cease-fire with Morocco since 1991 (see Settlement Plan ), but continues to strive for

13677-425: The jurists of Kairouan were agitating for him to do so. Within this heady atmosphere, Yahya and Abu Imran fell into conversation on the state of the faith in their western homelands, and Yahya expressed his disappointment at the lack of religious education and negligence of Islamic law among his southern Sanhaja people. With Abu Imran's recommendation, Yahya ibn Ibrahim made his way to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zelu in

13818-570: The large Reguibat , have a Berber background but have since been thoroughly arabized; others, such as the Oulad Delim , are considered descendants of the Beni Hassan , even though intermarriage with other tribes and former slaves have occurred; a few, such as the Tekna tribal confederation , have retained some Berber dialect of the area. Often, though not in the case of the Tekna, the Berber-Arab elements of

13959-468: The latter's death. Following Abu Bakr's departure, Ibn Tashfin was largely responsible for building the Almoravid state in the Maghreb over the next two decades. One of Abu Bakr's sons, Ibrahim, who served as the Almoravid leader in Sijilmasa between 1071 and 1076 (according to the coinage minted there), did develop a rivalry with Ibn Tashfin and attempted to confront him toward 1076. He marched to Aghmat with

14100-650: The loss of Ghana and the defeat in the Maghreb by the Almohads, and would have ruled the Sahara until the end of the 12th century. Initially, it appears Ibn Tashfin had little interest in involving the Almoravids in the politics of al-Andalus (the Muslim territories on the Iberian Peninsula). After the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century, al-Andalus had split into small kingdoms or city-states known as

14241-587: The main trade route for the Saharan caravan trade . Central governments had little control over the region, although the Hassaniya tribes would occasionally extend " beya " or allegiance to prestigious rulers, to gain their political backing or, in some cases, as a religious ceremony. The Moorish populations of what is today northern Mauritania established a number of emirates, claiming the loyalty of several different tribes and through them exercising semi-sovereignty over traditional grazing lands. This could be considered

14382-577: The most important among these are the Qadiriyya and Tijaniyya . Further, among the Hassaniya tribes, certain lineages reputed to be descended from Mohammad, the chorfa , have played an important role in intertribal religious society. The tribe was the historical basis of social and political organisation among the Hassaniya-speaking tribes of the Sahara, well into the colonial and arguably post-colonial period. Traditionally, Hassaniya Sahrawi society

14523-539: The movement. The Almoravids, sometimes called "al-mulathamun" ("the veiled ones", from litham , Arabic for " veil ".) trace their origins back to several Saharan Sanhaja nomadic tribes, dwelling in an area that stretches between the Senegal River in the south and the Draa river in the north. The first and main Almoravid founding tribe was the Lamtuna . It occupied the region around Awdaghust (Aoudaghost) in

14664-438: The name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the "persevering in the fight" sense, to boost morale after a particularly hard-fought battle in the Draa valley c.  1054 , in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, partly with the conscious goal of forestalling any tribal or ethnic identifications. The name might be related to

14805-690: The nature of the "conquest" in the south of the Sahara, the influence and success of the Almoravid movement in securing west African gold and circulating it widely necessitated a high degree of political control. The Arab geographer Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri wrote that the Almoravids ended Ibadi Islam in Tadmekka in 1084 and that Abu Bakr "arrived at the mountain of gold" in the deep south. Abu Bakr finally died in Tagant in November 1087 following an injury in battle—according to oral tradition, from an arrow —while fighting in

14946-464: The new Almoravid realm. Under his rule, the western Maghreb was divided into well-defined administrative provinces for the first time—prior to this, it had been mostly tribal territory. A developing central government was established in Marrakesh, while he entrusted key provinces to important allies and relatives. The nascent Almoravid state was funded in part by the taxes allowed under Islamic law and by

15087-408: The new capital of Marrakesh. Historical sources cite a variety of dates for this event ranging from 1062, given by Ibn Abi Zar and Ibn Khaldun , to 1078 (470 AH), given by Muhammad al-Idrisi . The year 1070, given by Ibn Idhari , is more commonly used by modern historians, although 1062 is still cited by some writers. Shortly after founding the new city, Abu Bakr was compelled to return south to

15228-500: The new rulers, and its fighters would regularly slip in out of French and Spanish territory, similarly exploiting the rivalries between European powers. The last major Reguibat raid took place in 1934, after which the Spanish authorities occupied Smara , finally gaining control over the last unpatrolled border territories. The Sahrawi-Moorish tribes remained largely nomadic until the early to mid-20th century, when Franco-Spanish rivalries (as well as disagreements between different wings of

15369-606: The next step in their fortunes. While Ibn Yasin went north, Yahya Ibn Umar remained in the south in the Adrar, the heartland of the Lamtuna, in a defensible and well-provisioned place called Jabal Lamtuna, about 10 kilometres northwest of modern Atar . His stronghold there was a fortress called Azuggi (also rendered variably as Azougui or Azukki), which had been built earlier by his brother Yannu ibn Umar al-Hajj. Some scholars, including Attilio Gaudio, Christiane Vanacker, and Brigitte Himpan and Diane Himpan-Sabatier describe Azuggi as

15510-545: The north. According to Ibn Idhari, Zaynab became his most important political advisor. A year later, after suppressing the revolt in the south, Abu Bakr returned north toward Marrakesh, expecting to resume his control of the city and of the Almoravid forces in North Africa. Ibn Tashfin, however, was now unwilling to give up his own position of leadership. While Abu Bakr was still camped near Aghmat, Ibn Tashfin sent him lavish gifts but refused to obey his summons, reportedly on

15651-465: The official languages of the Moroccan administered part of Western Sahara. While Standard Arabic is the only official language in Mauritania , Algeria and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic . The current Moroccan constitution (adopted in July 2011) mentions, in its 5th article, the Hassaniya language and recommends its preservation as a cultural heritage of Morocco. Due to the past colonization of Western Sahara and Cape Juby by Spain, Spanish

15792-479: The only other Muslim power left in the peninsula, sent an ambassador on this occasion and signed a treaty with the Almoravids. By the time Ibn Tashfin died in 1106, the Almoravids were thus in control of all of al-Andalus except for Zaragoza. In general, they had not reconquered any of the lands lost to the Christian kingdoms in the previous century. Ali Ibn Yusuf ( r.  1106–1143 ) was born in Ceuta and educated in

15933-417: The people of Western Sahara. As described above, the Hassaniya speaking tribes are of Arabian , Beni Hassan descent, who fused with the dominant Sanhaja Berber tribes, as well as Black African and other indigenous populations (e.g. indigenous Soninke speaking groups). Even though cultural arabization of the Berber people was thorough, some elements of Berber identity remain. Some tribes, such as

16074-515: The preferred one in among the Western Sahara-centered tribes, who would also almost invariably claim chorfa status to enhance their religious credibility. The zawiya tribes were protected by Hassan overlords in exchange for their religious services and payment of the horma , a tributary tax in cattle or goods; while they were in a sense exploited, the relationship was often more or less symbiotic. Under both these groups, but still part of

16215-511: The primary differences among them are phonetics. Today Hassaniya is spoken in south-western Algeria, northern Mali, Mauritania, southern-Morocco and Western Sahara. (Mauritania has the biggest concentration of speakers) . Some Sahrawis speak Tashelhit and/or Moroccan Arabic as a second language due to interaction with neighboring populations. Modern Standard Arabic and the Amazigh language (a standardized version of Moroccan Berber languages) are

16356-484: The refugee camps are regularly provided with free flights in Algerian military transport aircraft . Religiously , the Sahrawis are Sunni Muslims of the Maliki rite or school. Historically, religious practice has been pragmatically adapted to nomad life and local tradition. Also, since the late medieval period, various Sufi Turuq (brotherhoods or orders), have played an important role in popular religious practice;

16497-405: The region around Fez and in northern Morocco. After most of the surrounding region was under his control, he was finally able to conquer Fez definitively. However, there is some contradiction and uncertainty among historical sources regarding the exact chronology of these conquests, with some sources dating the main conquests to the 1060s and others dating them to the 1070s. Some modern authors cite

16638-506: The ruler of Murcia , was embroiled in a rivalry with al-Mu'tamid of Seville. As a result, this time it was the elites or notables ( wujūh ) of al-Andalus who now called for help from the Almoravids, rather than the kings. In May–June 1088, Ibn Tashfin landed at Algeciras with another army, soon joined by al-Mu'tamid of Seville, by Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada, and by other troops sent by Ibn Sumadih of Almería and Ibn Rashiq of Murcia. They then set out to retake Aledo. The siege, however,

16779-462: The same areas. The period of colonization radically changed existing power structures, leaving a confused legacy of contradictory political affiliations, European-drawn borders with little resemblance to ethnic and tribal realities, and the foundations of modern political conflict. For example, both sides in the Western Sahara conflict (Morocco vs. the Polisario Front ) draw heavily on colonial history to prove their version of reality. Proponents of

16920-522: The slightest deviations. The Guddala soon had enough and expelled him almost immediately after the death of his protector, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, sometime in the 1040s. Ibn Yasin, however, found a more favorable reception among the neighboring Lamtuna people. Probably sensing the useful organizing power of Ibn Yasin's pious fervor, the Lamtuna chieftain Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni invited the man to preach to his people. The Lamtuna leaders, however, kept Ibn Yasin on

17061-435: The southern Sahara according to contemporary Arab chroniclers such as al-Ya'qubi , al-Bakri and Ibn Hawqal . According to French historian Charles-André Julien : "The original cell of the Almoravid empire was a powerful Sanhaja tribe of the Sahara, the Lamtuna, whose place of origin was in the Adrar in Mauritania ." The Tuareg people are believed to be their descendants. These nomads had been converted to Islam in

17202-445: The struggle against France and Spain into the traditional power play of the nomads, aggravating the internal struggles. Uprisings and violent tribal clashes therefore took place with increasing frequency as European encroachment increased, and on occasion took the form of anti-colonial holy war, or Jihad , as in the case of the Ma al-'Aynayn uprising in the first years of the 20th century. It

17343-473: The territories hard to achieve, as did general lawlessness, an absence of prior central authority, and a widely held contempt for the kind of settled life that the colonizers sought to bring about. Centuries of intertribal warfare and raids for loot ( ghazzu ) guaranteed that the populations were well armed and versed in guerilla-style warfare. Tribes allied to hostile European powers would now also be considered fair game for cattle raids on those grounds, which tied

17484-429: The territories ruled by Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. After leaving Yusuf Ibn Tashfin in the north and returning south, Abu Bakr Ibn Umar reportedly made Azuggi his base. The town acted as the capital of the southern Almoravids under him and his successors. Despite the importance of the Saharan trade routes to the Almoravids, the history of the southern wing of the empire is not well documented in Arabic historical sources and

17625-585: The territory's independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) through peaceful negotiations. The Polisario Front restricts its claims to the colonially-defined Western Sahara, holding no claim to, for example, the Sahrawi-populated Tarfaya Strip in Morocco, or any part of Mauritania . Since 1979, the Polisario Front has been recognized by the United Nations as the representative of

17766-415: The traditions of al-Andalus, unlike his predecessors, who were from the Sahara. According to some scholars, Ali ibn Yusuf represented a new generation of leadership that had forgotten the desert life for the comforts of the city. His long reign of 37 years is historically overshadowed by the defeats and deteriorating circumstances that characterized the later years, but the first decade or so, prior to 1118,

17907-480: The tribal confederations always maintained de facto independence of central authority, and would even fight to maintain this independence. The International Court of Justice issued a ruling on the matter in 1975, stating that there had existed ties between the Moroccan sultan and some (mainly northerly Tekna ) tribes in then-Spanish Sahara, but that these ties were not sufficient to abrogate Western Sahara's right to self-determination. The same kind of ruling

18048-466: The urbanization of the western Maghreb, while cultural developments were spurred by increased contact between Al-Andalus and Africa. After a short apogee, Almoravid power in al-Andalus began to decline after the loss of Zaragoza in 1118. The final cause of their downfall was the Masmuda -led Almohad rebellion initiated in the Maghreb by Ibn Tumart in the 1120s. The last Almoravid ruler, Ishaq ibn Ali ,

18189-585: Was away from the city, there was an insurrection and coup d'état led by the qadi (judge) Abu Ahmad Ja'far Ibn Jahhaf. The latter called for help from the Almoravids in Murcia, who sent a small group of warriors to the city. The Castilian garrison was forced to leave and al-Qadir was captured and executed. However, the Almoravids did not send enough forces to oppose El Cid's return and Ibn Jahhaf undermined his popular support by proceeding to install himself as ruler, acting like yet another Taifa king. El Cid began

18330-479: Was characterized by continuing military successes, enabled in large part by skilled generals. While the Almoravids remained dominant in field battles, military shortcomings were becoming apparent in their relative inability to sustain and win long sieges. In these early years, the Almoravid state was also wealthy, minting more gold than ever before, and Ali ibn Yusuf embarked on ambitious building projects, especially in Marrakesh. Upon his enthronement, Ali ibn Yusuf

18471-452: Was completely tribal, organized in a complex web of shifting alliances and tribal confederations, with no stable and centralized governing authority. Lawmaking, conflict resolution and central decision-making within the tribe, was carried out by the Djema'a , (Arabic, gathering) a gathering of elected elders ( shaykhs ) and religious scholars. Occasionally, larger tribal gatherings could be held in

18612-463: Was controlled by the Soninke . Both cities were captured in 1054 or 1055. Sijilmasa was captured first and its leader, Mas'ud Ibn Wannudin, was killed, along with other Maghrawa leaders. According to historical sources, the Almoravid army rode on camels and numbered 30,000, though this number may be an exaggeration. Strengthened with the spoils of their victory, they left a garrison of Lamtuna tribesmen in

18753-487: Was gradual, rather than the result of military action; there the Almoravids gained power by marrying among the nation's nobility. Lange attributes the decline of ancient Ghana to numerous unrelated factors, one of which is likely attributable to internal dynastic struggles instigated by Almoravid influence and Islamic pressures, but devoid of military conquest. This interpretation of events has been disputed by later scholars like Sheryl L. Burkhalter, who argued that, whatever

18894-461: Was in Toledo at the time. The Castilians were routed at the Battle of Consuegra . El Cid was not involved, but his son, Diego, was killed in the battle. Soon after, Alvar Fañez was also defeated near Cuenca in another battle with the Almoravids, led by Ibn Aisha. The latter followed up this victory by ravaging the lands around Valencia and defeated another army sent by El Cid. Despite these victories in

19035-436: Was issued with regard to Mauritania , where the court found that there were indeed strong tribal and cultural links between the Sahrawis and Mauritanian populations, including historical allegiance to some Moorish emirates, but that these were not ties of a state or government character, and did not constitute formal bonds of sovereignty. Thus, the court recommended the United Nations to continue to pursue self-determination for

19176-545: Was killed when the Almohads captured Marrakesh in 1147 and established themselves as the new dominant power in both North Africa and Al-Andalus. The term "Almoravid" comes from the Arabic " al-Murabit " ( المرابط ), through the Spanish : almorávide . The transformation of the b in " al-Murabit " to the v in almorávide is an example of betacism in Spanish. In Arabic, " al-Murabit " literally means "one who

19317-487: Was led by Sir ibn Abu Bakr, who had been appointed as governor of Seville. The Almoravids then returned their attention to Valencia, where another of Ibn Tashfin's nephews, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, was ordered to take the city. He arrived outside its walls in October 1094 and began attacks on the city. The siege ended when El Cid launched a two-sided attack: he sent a sortie from one city gate that posed as his main force, occupying

19458-515: Was not enough to urge his audiences to put aside their blood loyalties and ethnic differences, and embrace the equality of all Muslims under the Sacred Law, it was necessary to make them do so. For the Lamtuna leadership, this new ideology dovetailed with their long desire to refound the Sanhaja union and recover their lost dominions. In the early 1050s, the Lamtuna, under the joint leadership of Yahya ibn Umar and Abdallah ibn Yasin—soon calling themselves

19599-488: Was not until the 1930s that Spain was able to finally subdue the interior of present-day Western Sahara , and then only with strong French military assistance. Mauritania's raiding Moors had been brought under control in the previous decades, partly through skilful exploitation by the French of traditional rivalries and social divisions between the tribes. In these encounters, the large Reguibat tribe proved especially resistant to

19740-541: Was treated first as a colony, and later as an overseas province, with gradually tightening political conditions, and, in later years, a rapid influx of Spanish settlers (making Spaniards about 20% of the population in 1975). By the time of decolonization in 1950s–1970s, Sahrawi tribes in all these different territories had experienced roughly a generation or more of distinct experiences; often, however, their nomadic lifestyle had guaranteed that they were subjected to less interference than what sedentary populations experienced in

19881-644: Was undermined by rivalries and disunity among the Taifa kings. News eventually reached the Muslims that Alfonso VI was bringing an army to help the Castilian garrison. In November 1088, Ibn Tashfin lifted the siege and returned to North Africa again, having achieved nothing. Alfonso VI sent his trusted commander, Alvar Fañez , to pressure the Taifa kings again. He succeeded in forcing Abdallah ibn Buluggin to resume tribute payments and began to pressure al-Mu'tamid in turn. In 1090, Ibn Tashfin returned to al-Andalus yet again, but by this point he seemed to have given up on

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