11th century – 11th century
Senegal estuary, western Maghrib, and Iberian Peninsula
The Almoravids were a Muslim imperial movement whose armies emerged from the Senegal estuary and included substantial forces from Takrür. They conquered parts of the Maghrib and Iberian Peninsula, fought Ghana, and promoted strict Sunni orthodoxy across western Islam before their power fragmented in the late eleventh century.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Almoravids emerged from the Senegal estuary and connected the political worlds of the western Sudan, the Maghrib, and Iberia. Their armies included large forces of Black African soldiers from Takrür, demonstrating the military and political links between the southern Sahara and the northern Islamic lands. Their expansion carried them beyond the immediate desert frontier into North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
The movement conquered parts of the Maghrib and of the Iberian Peninsula while seeking to restore sunna, described here as a strict Muslim orthodoxy throughout western Islam. Its campaigns were therefore both political and religious, although the passage also places them within the wider circulation of gold, soldiers, and merchants between the Sudan and the Mediterranean world.
Between 1050 and 1080 the Almoravids fought the Ghana Empire, which collapsed in 1076. In 1086 Ibn Tashfîn led a Muslim army, including many men from Takrür, to victory over Christian forces at Zallaca, where the Black warriors of the Almoravids distinguished themselves. By the end of the eleventh century, however, rivalries among Maghribi and Saharan groups and resistance in Ghana’s provinces had brought Almoravid power in sub-Saharan Africa to an end.
11th century – 11th century
Senegal estuary, western Maghrib, and Iberian Peninsula
The Almoravids were a Muslim imperial movement whose armies emerged from the Senegal estuary and included substantial forces from Takrür. They conquered parts of the Maghrib and Iberian Peninsula, fought Ghana, and promoted strict Sunni orthodoxy across western Islam before their power fragmented in the late eleventh century.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Almoravids emerged from the Senegal estuary and connected the political worlds of the western Sudan, the Maghrib, and Iberia. Their armies included large forces of Black African soldiers from Takrür, demonstrating the military and political links between the southern Sahara and the northern Islamic lands. Their expansion carried them beyond the immediate desert frontier into North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
The movement conquered parts of the Maghrib and of the Iberian Peninsula while seeking to restore sunna, described here as a strict Muslim orthodoxy throughout western Islam. Its campaigns were therefore both political and religious, although the passage also places them within the wider circulation of gold, soldiers, and merchants between the Sudan and the Mediterranean world.
Between 1050 and 1080 the Almoravids fought the Ghana Empire, which collapsed in 1076. In 1086 Ibn Tashfîn led a Muslim army, including many men from Takrür, to victory over Christian forces at Zallaca, where the Black warriors of the Almoravids distinguished themselves. By the end of the eleventh century, however, rivalries among Maghribi and Saharan groups and resistance in Ghana’s provinces had brought Almoravid power in sub-Saharan Africa to an end.
Continue the journey
Other paths related to this story.