Almohad Caliphate (1121-1269): Ibn Tumart's Reform Empire

The Almohad Caliphate was a Muslim empire founded by Berbers of the Moroccan High Atlas that ruled North Africa and al-Andalus from the mid-twelfth to the mid-thirteenth century. It grew out of the preaching of Ibn Tumart, who was proclaimed the Mahdi, a divinely guided leader, in 1121. At its height it united the Maghreb from the Atlantic to Tripolitania under one dynasty and left monuments such as the Kutubiyya in Marrakesh and the Giralda in Seville.

Background: Ibn Tumart and the reform movement

Ibn Tumart (c. 1080–1130) belonged to the Masmuda, a group of Berber peoples of the Atlas and Sus regions of southern Morocco. He travelled east to study, probably visiting centres of learning in the eastern Islamic world, and returned around 1117–1120 as a stern preacher of moral and religious reform. A later story that he studied with the theologian al-Ghazali is doubted by most historians.

His central teaching was tawhid, the absolute unity and transcendence of God. He attacked the ruling Almoravid dynasty for relying on narrow legal handbooks, for tolerating what he considered immoral customs and for a literal reading of scripture that, in his view, gave God human attributes. His followers called themselves al-Muwahhidun, “the unitarians”, which Spanish writers rendered as Almohads.

After confronting the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf in Marrakesh, Ibn Tumart withdrew to the mountains. In 1121 his followers recognised him as the Mahdi, and a few years later he made the fortified valley of Tinmal in the High Atlas his base. He organised the tribes into a tight hierarchy with councils and a disciplined army.

Conquest of the Maghreb

The first Almohad attack on Marrakesh ended in a heavy defeat at al-Buhayra in 1130, and Ibn Tumart died soon after. Leadership passed to his disciple Abd al-Mu’min, a Berber from the Tlemcen region rather than a Masmuda, whose talents as a general held the movement together. He adopted the title of caliph, a bold claim to lead the whole Muslim community.

Abd al-Mu’min avoided pitched battles in the plains and conquered the mountains and outlying towns first. Tlemcen and Oran fell in 1145, Fez in 1145 or 1146, and Marrakesh was taken in 1147 after a siege; the last Almoravid ruler was killed. Between 1151 and 1160 he pushed east, taking Bougie (Béjaïa) from the Hammadids and expelling the Normans of Sicily from Mahdia and the Tunisian coast. For the first time a single Berber dynasty ruled from the Atlantic to Libya.

Al-Andalus under the Almohads

The collapse of Almoravid power in Spain after 1144 left local rulers fighting each other and the Christian kingdoms. Almohad armies crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from 1146, took Seville in 1147 and gradually absorbed most of Muslim Spain and Portugal. Their main rival was Ibn Mardanish of Murcia, who resisted until his death in 1172.

Seville became the Almohads’ Andalusian capital. Abu Yaqub Yusuf (r. 1163–1184) built its great mosque, whose minaret, begun in 1184 and completed in 1198, survives as the Giralda, now the bell tower of Seville Cathedral. He was a cultivated ruler who gathered scholars such as the philosopher Ibn Tufayl and encouraged Averroes (Ibn Rushd) to write his commentaries on Aristotle. He died of wounds during a campaign against Santarém in Portugal in 1184.

His son Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur (r. 1184–1199) won the dynasty’s greatest victory at Alarcos on 18 July 1195, defeating Alfonso VIII of Castile. He also ordered the Hassan Tower and a vast mosque at Rabat, left unfinished at his death.

Religion, society and culture

The Almohads imposed their doctrine with severity. Under Abd al-Mu’min the traditional status of Jews and Christians as protected communities (dhimmis) was abolished in many areas, leaving them to choose between conversion, exile or concealment. Many Andalusian Jews, among them the family of Maimonides, left for Morocco, Egypt or the Christian north.

At the same time the court sponsored philosophy, medicine and architecture. Almohad buildings favoured plain surfaces, carved brick and stone, interlaced arches and restrained ornament, a style visible at Tinmal, the Kutubiyya and the Giralda. The dynasty also struck distinctive square silver coins.

Decline and fall

Muhammad al-Nasir (r. 1199–1213) led a large army against Castile and its allies but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa on 16 July 1212. The defeat damaged Almohad prestige, and after 1224 disputed successions split the ruling family. Around 1229–1230 the caliph al-Ma’mun even repudiated Ibn Tumart’s status as Mahdi in an effort to win support.

Christian kings exploited the chaos: Córdoba fell to Castile in 1236 and Seville in 1248, while Aragon took Majorca and Valencia. In Africa, governors and tribes broke away to found new dynasties, the Hafsids in Tunis (from 1229), the Zayyanids in Tlemcen and the Marinids in Morocco. The Marinids captured Marrakesh in 1269, killing the last effective Almohad caliph.

Timeline

• 1121: Ibn Tumart is proclaimed Mahdi by his followers.
• 1130: Almohad defeat at al-Buhayra near Marrakesh; death of Ibn Tumart.
• 1147: Abd al-Mu’min captures Marrakesh, ending the Almoravid dynasty in Morocco; Seville submits.
• 1160: Mahdia is taken from the Normans, completing the conquest of Ifriqiya.
• 1184: Construction of the minaret of Seville’s great mosque, the future Giralda, begins.
• 1195, 18 July: Al-Mansur defeats Alfonso VIII of Castile at Alarcos.
• 1212, 16 July: Almohad defeat at Las Navas de Tolosa.
• 1248: Seville surrenders to Ferdinand III of Castile.
• 1269: The Marinids take Marrakesh, ending Almohad rule.

Why it matters

The Almohads created the largest state ever ruled from Morocco and shaped the religious and architectural landscape of North Africa and southern Spain. Their patronage helped Averroes produce the Aristotle commentaries that later influenced Latin Europe. Their defeat in 1212 opened the way for the great Christian conquests in Iberia, leaving Granada as the last Muslim state there.