Undated
Qayrawān, the Sūs, and Aghmāt
Zaynab was a politically influential woman connected to the Almoravid succession in Morocco. Born to a trader from Qayrawān who had settled in the Sūs, she married successive rulers associated with Aghmāt and the Almoravid advance before becoming the wife of Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn. Her wealth and ambition helped Yūsuf mobilize troops, recruit additional forces, and strengthen his position while Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar was absent in the desert.
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The Story
Zaynab is presented as an intelligent, ambitious woman whose interventions altered the course of Almoravid politics. She was the daughter of a trader from Qayrawān who had settled in the Sūs, and she was reportedly first married to the Masmūda chief of Aghmāt. Her social position connected the urban and tribal politics of southern Morocco.
When the Zanāta took possession of Aghmāt, Zaynab transferred her loyalty to the new ruler and married Laqǧūṭ ibn Yūsuf al-Maghrāwī. After the Almoravids drove Laqǧūṭ away, she married Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar. Abū Bakr divorced her before returning to the desert, after which Ibn Tāshfīn took her as his wife.
Zaynab gave Yūsuf a large fortune, which he augmented through taxation of his tributaries. The money financed troop mobilization, the purchase of Sudanese slaves and Christian captives, and the provision of mounts. Her influence therefore extended beyond marriage alliances: it contributed materially to the formation of the heterogeneous army that supported Yūsuf’s rise.
Undated
Qayrawān, the Sūs, and Aghmāt
Zaynab was a politically influential woman connected to the Almoravid succession in Morocco. Born to a trader from Qayrawān who had settled in the Sūs, she married successive rulers associated with Aghmāt and the Almoravid advance before becoming the wife of Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn. Her wealth and ambition helped Yūsuf mobilize troops, recruit additional forces, and strengthen his position while Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar was absent in the desert.
Continue exploring
The Story
Zaynab is presented as an intelligent, ambitious woman whose interventions altered the course of Almoravid politics. She was the daughter of a trader from Qayrawān who had settled in the Sūs, and she was reportedly first married to the Masmūda chief of Aghmāt. Her social position connected the urban and tribal politics of southern Morocco.
When the Zanāta took possession of Aghmāt, Zaynab transferred her loyalty to the new ruler and married Laqǧūṭ ibn Yūsuf al-Maghrāwī. After the Almoravids drove Laqǧūṭ away, she married Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar. Abū Bakr divorced her before returning to the desert, after which Ibn Tāshfīn took her as his wife.
Zaynab gave Yūsuf a large fortune, which he augmented through taxation of his tributaries. The money financed troop mobilization, the purchase of Sudanese slaves and Christian captives, and the provision of mounts. Her influence therefore extended beyond marriage alliances: it contributed materially to the formation of the heterogeneous army that supported Yūsuf’s rise.
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