48. Yusuf ibn Tashifin of the Almoravides (ruled c.1061-1106) Founder of the Almoravid Dynasty that ruled in Africa and Spain Yusuf Ibn TashifinSometime in the latter half of 1082 AD hundreds of Moors and Arabs streamed into Africa, fleeing the campaigns of the Christians. In the following year, Al-Mutammed, the governor of Seville, joined them. Visiting Yusuf, he begged him to assist the Muslims in Spain against the Christian onslaught. Yusuf responded. He raised an army that was said to have included every ethnic group in the western Sahara desert and sent them across the sea into Spain. Armed with Indian swords and mounted on camels, the African army faced the Christians at Zalakah in 1086. They triumphed and pushed the Christians out of southern Spain. In time Yusufs forces seized Seville and dethroned its Islamic rulers. Apparently they had become sunk in pleasure and sloth. The Almoravid Empire had a court in Africa centred in Marrakech and a court in Spain centred in Seville. This, according to Lady Lugard, established once more a supreme sultan upon the throne of Andalusia. Furthermore, Yusufs conquest and the dynasty which he founded must be regarded as an African conquest and an African dynasty. Incidentally, there is a traditional image of Yusuf that appears on the Catalan Atlas, a famous Spanish map of a slightly later period. Not only is he clearly depicted as a Negro but he is portrayed as darker in complexion than Mansa Musa, incongruously drawn on the same map. The territory ruled by the Almoravides in Africa and Spain was extensive. Under their sway were the lands of Senegal, Morocco, Algeria and Spain. It was a larger area than that of Western Europe. Thirteen kings acknowledged the overlordship of Yusuf. In Africa Yusuf had great monuments built. Three great mosques date from his time, the mosque of Tlemcen, the mosque of Nedroma, and the mosque of Algiers. He also built an imposing stone fortress in Marrakech when other buildings at the time were of clay. Natascha Kubisch notes that: [He] founded the city of Marrakech in 1062 and laid out the great palm grove, but then handed over the further developments of the city to his son. Marrakech remained the capital of the empire under the Almohads and is one of the four royal cities of Morocco, alongside Rabat, Fez and Meknes. It is still a fascinating city today because of its African character and its surviving medieval buildings.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 04:08:23 +0000
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