Almohad Caliphate

Morocco, 1121–1269. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Almohad Caliphate was a North African Muslim empire ruled by a Berber dynasty from 1130 to 1269, which at its height controlled much of the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula. Under Abd al-Mu'min, the Almohads overthrew the Almoravids, captured Marrakesh in 1147, and established control over the western Maghreb. The decisive turning point of Almohad power in Iberia came in 1212, when caliph Muhammad al-Nasir was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa by an alliance of forces from Castile, Aragon, and Navarre.

Seat of power: Tinmel

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The Almohad period was marked by significant developments in philosophy and architecture.
• Among the major intellectual figures associated with the period were Ibn Ṭufayl, Ibn Rushd, and Ibn ʿArabī.
• The minaret of the mosque, 77 metres high, likely inspired the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat.

Picture

The Kutubiyya Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakesh, was founded in 1147 by the Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min right after he conquered Marrakesh from the Almoravids.

Image: Rol1000, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Sources

• Almohad Caliphate (Wikipedia)
• Almohad Caliphate (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.