Almoravides

Almoravides (Arabic al murabathin, 'dedicated to the service of God'), the name of an Arab dynasty that ruled in Africa and Spain in the 11th and 12th centuries of the Christian era. The sect took its rise about the middle of the 11th century among the Arab and Berber tribes which dwelt on the slopes of the Atlas range facing the Atlantic, and was founded by a Moslem teacher called Abdallah-ben-Yasin. The new proselytes soon exhibited the fruits of his teaching by descending from their hills, under the leadership of a chief named Abubekr, and conquering the kingdom of Fez. The adjoining kingdom of Morocco shared the same fate; and the victorious fanatics, under the famous Yussuf-ben-Tasfin, the cousin of Abubekr, next crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and subdued Spain to the Tagus on one side, and to the Ebro on the other. During the reign of Ali, the son of Yussuf, the Almoravides fell before the sect of the Almohades (q.v.), which first expelled them from Africa, and next subdued their power in Spain. It was the Almoravide princes who introduced the Maravedi (q.v.) into Spain, and in that and the word Marabouts (q.v.) their name is still preserved. See Dozy, Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne (4 vols. 1861).