The Almoravid And Almohad Empires

By (author) Bennison Amira K.
Short description/annotation:
A comprehensive account of two of the most important empires in medieval North Africa.
Description:
The first combined history of two of the great Islamic empires of the 10th-13th centuriesAfrican invaders of Spain? Berber nationalists who destroyed the convivencia between Muslims, Christians and Jews? Or key contributors to the maturation of Islamic society in the Maghrib?The Almoravid and Almohad empires ruled substantial parts of the Maghrib and al-Andalus between the 10th and mid-13th centuries. This is the first survey of the rise and fall of these two hugely powerful empires whose rule fostered the emergence of the Islamic society which endured, in Morocco especially, until the early 20th century. Amira K. Bennison focuses on these dynasties from a positive perspective, placing them in their proper context of medieval Mediterranean and Islamic history.Key Features:*Places the Almoravids and Almohads within the broader sweep of Islamic history*Presents chapters on politics, society, economy & trade, religion & knowledge and art & architecture*Includes 50 illustrations: maps, genealogical tables, photographs, plans and diagramsKeywords: Almoravid, Almohad, Empire, the Maghrib, al-Andalus, Mediterranean. From the APF: This is the first book in English to provide a comprehensive account of the rise and fall of the Almoravids and the Almohads, the two most important Berber dynasties of the medieval Islamic west, an area that encompassed southern Spain and Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The Ṣanhāja Almoravids emerged from the Sahara in the 1050s to conquer vast territories and halt the Christian advance in Iberia. They were replaced a century later by their rivals, the Almohads, supported by the Maṣmūda Berbers of the High Atlas. Although both have often been seen as uncouth, religiously intolerant tribesmen who undermined the high culture of al-Andalus, this book argues that the eleventh to thirteenth centuries were crucial to the Islamisation of the Maghrib, its integration into the Islamic cultural sphere, and its emergence as a key player in the western Mediterranean, and that much of this was due to these oft-neglected Berber empires.
Table of contents:
List of Figures; List of Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Note on Transliteration; Chapter 1. Introduction; Chapter 2. The Almoravids: Striving in the path of God; Chapter 3. The Almohads: Revelation, revolution and empire; Chapter 4. Society in the Almoravid and Almohad eras, 1050-1250; Chapter 5. Economy and trade within and beyond imperial frontiers, 1050-1250; Chapter 6. Malikism, Mahdism and Mysticism: Religion and learning, 1050-1250; Chapter 7. ‘The most wondrous artifice’: Art and Architecture of the Berber empires; Chapter 8. Conclusion; Chronological Outline; List of Place Names in Latin and Arabic forms; Glossary of Arabic terms; Bibliography; Index.
Review quote:
Given the importance of the subject, it is astonishing that this is the first full length study in English of these two empires. Bennison’s thoughtful and well researched book marks a major advance in our understanding of this important period in the history of the Maghreb and the Iberian peninsula. It will be widely appreciated by scholars and students alike.
Review quote:
Every scholar of the Islamic West should read this. Most importantly, the book is free of the various biases that have up to now conspired to marginalise the history of these two important medieval dynasties: these are dynasties which deserve to be studied in their own right, and not as mere appendages to Islamic or European history. Bennison does them justice in a book that will certainly remain for some time the standard English-language treatment of the subject.
Review quote:
Bennison bases her book on three particular premises: that the Almoravids and Almohads s