Almohad Caliphate

Almohad Caliphate

The Almohad Dynasty (Berber: Imweḥḥden, from Arabic الموحدون al-Muwaḥḥidun, "the monotheists" or "the unitarians"), was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.

The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his death in 1163, the Almohads defeated the ruling Almoravids, extending their power over all of the Maghreb. Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia (southern Portugal and southern Spain) under the Almoravid dynasty, followed the fate of Africa.

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 Córdoba and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.

The Almohads continued to rule in Africa until the piecemeal loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies, the Marinids in 1215. The last representative of the line, Idris II, "El Wathiq"' was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269; the Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western Maghreb.

The holy place and the tomb of the Almohads remains in Morocco, along with the tomb of their rivals and enemies, the Almoravids.