Almohad Caliphate | |||||
الموَحدون (Al-Muwaḥḥidūn) (in Arabic) ⵉⵎⵡⴻⵃⵃⴷⴻⵏ (Imweḥḥden) (in Berber) |
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Ruling dynasty of Morocco; Caliphate (since 1147) |
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The Almohad empire at its greatest extent, c. 1180–1212
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Capital |
Tinmel (1121–1147) Marrakesh (1147–1269) In Al-Andalus: Seville (1147–1162) Córdoba (1162–1163) Seville (1163–1248) |
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Languages | Arabic, Berber, Mozarabic | ||||
Religion | Sunni Islam (Creed: Ash'ari; Madhab: Zahiri) | ||||
Government | Caliphate | ||||
Caliph | |||||
• | 1121–1130 | Ibn Tumart (first, under title of "Mahdi") | |||
• | 1130–1163 | Abd al-Mu'min (first, under title of "Caliph" from 1147) | |||
• | 1266–1269 | Abu al-Ula al-Wathiq Idris (last) | |||
History | |||||
• | Established | 1121 | |||
• | Almoravids overthrown | 1147 | |||
• | Marinid suzerainty | 1248 | |||
• | Disestablished | 1269 | |||
Area | |||||
• | 1150 est. | 2,300,000 km2 (890,000 sq mi) | |||
Currency | Dinar | ||||
Today part of |
Algeria Gibraltar (UK) Libya Morocco Portugal Spain Tunisia Western Sahara |
The Almohad Caliphate (British English: /almə(ʊ)ˈhɑːd/, U.S. English: /ɑlməˈhɑd/; Berber: ⵉⵎⵡⴻⵃⵃⴷⴻⵏ (Imweḥḥden), from Arabic الموحدون (al-Muwaḥḥidūn), "the monotheists" or "the unifiers") was a MoroccanBerber Muslim movement founded in the 12th century.
The Almohad movement was founded by Ibn Tumart among the Berber Masmuda tribes of southern Morocco. Around 1120, the Almohads first established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains. They succeeded in overthrowing the ruling Almoravid dynasty governing Morocco by 1147, when Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi (r. 1130–1163) conquered Marrakesh and declared himself Caliph. They then extended their power over all of the Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus soon followed, and all of Islamic Iberia was under Almohad rule by 1172.
The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Cordova and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.