Editing History of Algeria (section)

=== Almohad Caliphate ===
The Almohad Caliphate ({{IPAc-en|IPA|ˈ|æ|l|m|ə|h|æ|d}}; {{langx|ar|خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ}} or {{lang|ar|دَوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ}} or {{lang|ar|ٱلدَّوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِيَّةُ}} from

{{langx|ar|ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ|translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn|lit=those who profess the [[Tawhid|unity of God]]}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of ALMOHAD |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Almohad |access-date=2021-01-09 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Almohad definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/almohad |access-date=2021-01-09 |website=www.collinsdictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Bennison-2016a">{{cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19JVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 |title=Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-7486-4682-1 |pages=299–300, 306}}</ref>{{Rp|246}}) was a [[North Africa]]n [[Berbers|Berber]] [[Muslim]] empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] ([[Al Andalus]]) and [[North Africa]] (the [[Maghreb]]).<ref name="EB-2021">{{Cite web |title=Almohads {{!}} Berber confederation |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Almohads |access-date=2021-05-05 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref name="BoweringCrone2013">{{cite book |author1=Gerhard Bowering |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1I0pcrFFSUC&pg=PA34 |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought |author2=Patricia Crone |author3=Mahan Mirza |author4=Wadad Kadi |author5=Muhammad Qasim Zaman |author6=Devin J. Stewart |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-691-13484-0 |page=34}}</ref><ref name="Oxford Bibliographies 2020">{{cite web |date=6 Jan 2020 |title=Almohads - Islamic Studies |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0217.xml |access-date=11 Feb 2020 |website=Oxford Bibliographies}}</ref>

The [[Almohad doctrine|Almohad docrtine]] was founded by [[Ibn Tumart]] among the Berber [[Masmuda]] tribes, but the Almohad caliphate and its ruling dynasty were founded after his death by [[Abd al-Mu'min|Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi]],{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|pp=87, 94, and others}}<ref name="Bennison-2016b">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-7486-4682-1 |location= |pages=58 and after}}</ref><ref name="Hopkins-1986">{{Cite book |last=Hopkins |first=J.F.P. |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/ibn-tumart-SIM_3078 |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |publisher=Brill |year=1986 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |volume=3 |location= |pages=958–960 |chapter=Ibn Tūmart |orig-date=1971 |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor2-first=Th. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor3-first=C.E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor4-first=E. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor5-first=W.P.}}</ref><ref name="Levi-Provencal-1986">{{Cite book |last=Lévi-Provençal |first=Évariste |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/abd-al-mumin-SIM_0109 |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |publisher=Brill |year=1986 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |volume=1 |location= |pages=78–80 |chapter='Abd al- Mu'min |orig-date=1960 |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor2-first=Th. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor3-first=C.E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor4-first=E. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor5-first=W.P.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xowm255qOzQC&pg=PA180 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52069-0 |editor-last=Adamson |editor-first=Peter |language=en |editor-last2=Taylor |editor-first2=Richard C.}}</ref> which was born in the [[Hammadid dynasty|Hammadid]] region of [[Tlemcen]], [[Algeria]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fierro |first=Maribel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bMbEAAAQBAJ |title='Abd al-Mu'min: Mahdism and Caliphate in the Islamic West |date=2021-11-04 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-86154-192-8 |language=en}}</ref> Around 1120, Ibn Tumart first established a Berber state in [[Tinmel]] in the [[Atlas Mountains]].<ref name="EB-2021" /> Under Abd al-Mu'min (r. 1130–1163) they succeeded in overthrowing the ruling [[Almoravid dynasty]] governing Morocco in 1147, when he conquered [[Marrakesh]] and declared himself [[caliph]]. They then extended their power over all of the [[Maghreb]] by 1159. Al-Andalus soon followed, and all of Muslim [[Iberia]] was under Almohad rule by 1172.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buresi |first1=Pascal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hl5_--mK8q4C |title=Governing the Empire: Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate (1224–1269) |last2=El Aallaoui |first2=Hicham |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-23333-1 |series=Studies in the History and Society of the Maghrib |volume=3 |location=Leiden}}</ref>

The turning point of their presence in the Iberian Peninsula came in 1212, when [[Muhammad an-Nasir|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 forces from [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] and [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]]. Much of the remaining territories of al-Andalus were lost in the ensuing decades, with the cities of [[Córdoba, Spain|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 [[Marinid]]s, from northern Morocco in 1215. The last representative of the line, [[Idris al-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.

==== Origins ====
[[File:Abdalmumin ben ali nedroma statue.jpg|thumb|Statue of Abd al Mumin in [[Tlemcen]], [[Algeria]]]]
The Almohad movement originated with [[Ibn Tumart]], a member of the [[Masmuda]], a [[Berber people|Berber]] tribal confederation of the [[Atlas Mountains]] of southern Morocco. At the time, [[Morocco]], western [[Algeria]] and Spain ([[al-Andalus]]), were under the rule of the [[Almoravids]], a [[Sanhaja]] Berber dynasty. Early in his life, Ibn Tumart went to Spain to pursue his studies, and thereafter to [[Baghdad]] to deepen them. In Baghdad, Ibn Tumart attached himself to the theological school of [[al-Ash'ari]], and came under the influence of the teacher [[al-Ghazali]]. He soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters. Ibn Tumart's main principle was a strict unitarianism (''[[tawhid]]''), which denied the independent existence of the [[God in Islam#Other attributes|attributes of God]] as being incompatible with His unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart represented a revolt against what he perceived as [[anthropomorphism]] in Muslim orthodoxy. His followers would become known as the ''al-Muwaḥḥidūn'' ("Almohads"), meaning those who affirm the unity of God.

After his return to the [[Maghreb]] c.&nbsp;1117, Ibn Tumart spent some time in various [[Ifriqiya]]n cities, preaching and agitating, heading riotous attacks on wine-shops and on other manifestations of laxity. He laid the blame for the latitude on the ruling dynasty of the Almoravids, whom he accused of obscurantism and impiety. He also opposed their sponsorship of the [[Maliki]] school of jurisprudence, which drew upon consensus (''[[ijma]]'') and other sources beyond the [[Qur'an]] and [[Sunnah]] in their reasoning, an anathema to the stricter [[Zahiri]]sm favored by Ibn Tumart. His antics and fiery preaching led fed-up authorities to move him along from town to town. After being expelled from [[Bejaia]], Ibn Tumart set up camp in Mellala, in the outskirts of the city, where he received his first disciples – notably, al-Bashir (who would become his chief strategist) and [[Abd al-Mu'min]] (a Zenata Berber, who would later become his successor).

In 1120, Ibn Tumart and his small band of followers proceeded to [[Morocco]], stopping first in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], where he briefly engaged the Maliki scholars of the city in debate. He even went so far as to assault the sister{{citation needed|date=December 2009}} of the [[Almoravid]] emir ʿAli ibn Yusuf, in the streets of [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], because she was going about unveiled, after the manner of Berber women. After being expelled from Fez, he went to [[Marrakesh]], where he successfully tracked down the Almoravid emir [[Ali ibn Yusuf]] at a local mosque, and challenged the emir, and the leading scholars of the area, to a doctrinal debate. After the debate, the scholars concluded that Ibn Tumart's views were blasphemous and the man dangerous, and urged him to be put to death or imprisoned. But the emir decided merely to expel him from the city.

Ibn Tumart took refuge among his own people, the Hargha, in his home village of Igiliz (exact location uncertain), in the [[Sous]] valley. He retreated to a nearby cave, and lived out an ascetic lifestyle, coming out only to preach his program of puritan reform, attracting greater and greater crowds. At length, towards the end of [[Ramadan]] in late 1121, after a particularly moving sermon, reviewing his failure to persuade the Almoravids to reform by argument, Ibn Tumart 'revealed' himself as the true [[Mahdi]], a divinely guided judge and lawgiver, and was recognized as such by his audience. This was effectively a declaration of war on the Almoravid state.

On the advice of one of his followers, Omar Hintati, a prominent chieftain of the [[Hintata]], Ibn Tumart abandoned his cave in 1122 and went up into the [[High Atlas]], to organize the Almohad movement among the highland [[Masmuda]] tribes. Besides his own tribe, the Hargha, Ibn Tumart secured the adherence of the Ganfisa, the Gadmiwa, the Hintata, the Haskura, and the Hazraja to the Almohad cause. Around 1124, Ibn Tumart erected the [[ribat]] of [[Tinmel]], in the valley of the Nfis in the High Atlas, an impregnable fortified complex, which would serve both as the spiritual center and military headquarters of the Almohad movement.

For the first eight years, the Almohad rebellion was limited to a guerilla war along the peaks and ravines of the High Atlas. Their principal damage was in rendering insecure (or altogether impassable) the roads and mountain passes south of Marrakesh – threatening the route to all-important [[Sijilmassa]], the gateway of the [[trans-Saharan trade]]. Unable to send enough manpower through the narrow passes to dislodge the Almohad rebels from their easily defended mountain strong points, the Almoravid authorities reconciled themselves to setting up strongholds to confine them there (most famously the fortress of [[Tasghîmût]] that protected the approach to Aghmat, which was conquered by the Almohads in 1132<ref name="Bennison-2016a" />), while exploring alternative routes through more easterly passes.

Ibn Tumart organized the Almohads as a commune, with a minutely detailed structure. At the core was the ''Ahl ad-dār'' ("House of the Mahdi:), composed of Ibn Tumart's family. This was supplemented by two councils: an inner Council of Ten, the Mahdi's privy council, composed of his earliest and closest companions; and the consultative Council of Fifty, composed of the leading ''sheikh''s of the Masmuda tribes. The early preachers and missionaries (''ṭalaba'' and ''huffāẓ'') also had their representatives. Militarily, there was a strict hierarchy of units. The Hargha tribe coming first (although not strictly ethnic; it included many "honorary" or "adopted" tribesmen from other ethnicities, e.g. Abd al-Mu'min himself). This was followed by the men of Tinmel, then the other Masmuda tribes in order, and rounded off by the black fighters, the ''ʻabīd''. Each unit had a strict internal hierarchy, headed by a ''mohtasib'', and divided into two factions: one for the early adherents, another for the late adherents, each headed by a ''mizwar'' (or ''amzwaru''); then came the ''sakkakin'' (treasurers), effectively the money-minters, tax-collectors, and bursars, then came the regular army (''jund''), then the religious corps – the [[muezzin]]s, the ''hafidh'' and the ''hizb'' – followed by the archers, the conscripts, and the slaves.{{sfn|Julien|1994|p=100}} Ibn Tumart's closest companion and chief strategist, al-Bashir, took upon himself the role of "[[political commissar]]", enforcing doctrinal discipline among the Masmuda tribesmen, often with a heavy hand.

[[File:Almohad_Expansion.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Phases of the expansion of the Almohad state]]
In early 1130, the Almohads finally descended from the mountains for their first sizeable attack in the lowlands. It was a disaster. The Almohads swept aside an Almoravid column that had come out to meet them before [[Aghmat]], and then chased their remnant all the way to [[Marrakesh]]. They laid siege to Marrakesh for forty days until, in April (or May) 1130, the Almoravids sallied from the city and crushed the Almohads in the bloody [[Battle of al-Buhayra]] (named after a large garden east of the city). The Almohads were thoroughly routed, with huge losses. Half their leadership was killed in action, and the survivors only just managed to scramble back to the mountains.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPsUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA592 |title=The Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume 6, Fascicules 107–108 |publisher=Brill |year=1989 |isbn=978-90-04-09082-8 |series=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |page=592 |access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref>

Ibn Tumart died shortly after, in August 1130. That the Almohad movement did not immediately collapse after such a devastating defeat and the death of their charismatic Mahdi, is likely due to the skills of his successor, Abd al-Mu'min.<ref name="Bennison-2016c">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2016}}</ref>{{Rp|70}} Ibn Tumart's death was kept a secret for three years, a period which Almohad chroniclers described as a ''[[Occultation (Islam)|ghayba]]'' or "occultation". This period likely gave Abd al-Mu'min time to secure his position as successor to the political leadership of the movement.<ref name="Bennison-2016c" />{{Rp|70}} Although a [[Zenata]] Berber from Tagra (Algeria),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CurSh3Sh_KMC&pg=PA4 Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages - Page 4]</ref> and thus an alien among the Masmuda of southern Morocco, Abd al-Mu'min nonetheless saw off his principal rivals and hammered wavering tribes back to the fold. In an ostentatious gesture of defiance, in 1132, if only to remind the emir that the Almohads were not finished, Abd al-Mu'min led an audacious night operation that seized Tasghîmût fortress and dismantled it thoroughly, carting off its great gates back to Tinmel.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} Three years after Ibn Tumart's death he was officially proclaimed "Caliph".<ref name="Brill-1873">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year= |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=Almohads |issn=1873-9830 |editor2-last=Krämer |editor2-first=Gudrun |editor3-last=Matringe |editor3-first=Denis |editor4-last=Nawas |editor4-first=John |editor5-last=Rowson |editor5-first=Everett}}</ref>

In order to neutralise the Masmudas, to whom he was a stranger, Abd al-Mumin relied on his tribe of origin, the Kumiyas (a Berber tribe from [[Oran Province|Orania]]), which he integrated massively into the army and within the Almohad power.{{sfn|Fage|Oliver|1975|p=344}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Remaoun |first=Hassan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzhyAAAAMAAJ&q=l'organisation+almohade,+en+s'appuyant+sur+sa+tribu+d'origine,+les+Koumya+de+Nedroma,+et+sur+les+Hilaliens+qu'il+int%C3%A9gra+dans+l'arm%C3%A9e+r%C3%A9guli%C3%A8re. |title=L'Algérie: histoire, société et culture |date=2000 |publisher=Casbah |isbn=978-9961-64-189-7 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Larousse |first=Éditions |title=Almohades en arabe al-Muwaḥḥidūn - LAROUSSE |url=https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/groupe-personnage/Almohades/104942 |access-date=2021-08-20 |website=www.larousse.fr |language=fr}}</ref> He thus appointed his son as his successor and his other children as governors of the provinces of the Caliphate.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank Northen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CurSh3Sh_KMC&dq=hilalian+almohads&pg=PA5 |title=Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages |last2=Aves |first2=Alison |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-57958-041-4 |language=en}}</ref> The Kumiyas would later form the bodyguard of Abd al Mumin and his successor.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=94}} In addition, he also relied on Arabs, representatives of the great [[Banu Hilal|Hilalian]] families, whom he deported to Morocco to weaken the influence of the Masmuda sheikhs. These moves have the effect of advancing the Arabisation of the future Morocco.{{sfn|Meynier|2010|p={{page needed|date=April 2023}}}}
[[File:Almohad1200.png|thumb|Almohad dynasty and surrounding states, c. 1200.]]

==== Al-Andalus ====
Abd al-Mu'min then came forward as the lieutenant of the Mahdi Ibn Tumart. Between 1130 and his death in 1163, Abd al-Mu'min not only rooted out the Almoravids, but extended his power over all northern Africa as far as [[Egypt]], becoming amir of [[Marrakesh]] in 1147.

[[Al-Andalus]] followed the fate of Africa. Between 1146 and 1173, the Almohads gradually wrested control from the Almoravids over the Moorish principalities in Iberia. The Almohads transferred the capital of Muslim Iberia from [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]] to [[Seville]]. They founded a great mosque there; its tower, the [[Giralda]], was erected in 1184 to mark the accession of Ya'qub I. The Almohads also built a palace there called Al-Muwarak on the site of the modern day [[Alcázar of Seville]].
[[File:Sevilla_Almohade.JPG|thumb|The Almohads transferred the capital of Al-Andalus to [[Seville]].]]
The Almohad princes had a longer and more distinguished career than the Almoravids. The successors of Abd al-Mumin, [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf]] (Yusuf I, ruled 1163–1184) and [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur]] (Yaʻqūb I, ruled 1184–1199), were both able men. Initially their government drove many Jewish and Christian subjects to take refuge in the growing Christian states of Portugal, Castile, and [[Aragon]]. Ultimately they became less fanatical than the Almoravids, and Ya'qub al-Mansur was a highly accomplished man who wrote a good [[Arabic language|Arabic]] style and protected the philosopher [[Averroes]]. In 1190–1191, he [[Almohad campaign against Portugal (1190–1191)|campaigned in southern Portugal]] and won back territory lost in 1189. His title of "''al-Manṣūr''" ("the Victorious") was earned by his victory over [[Alfonso VIII of Castile]] in the [[Battle of Alarcos]] (1195).

From the time of [[Yusuf II]], however, the Almohads governed their co-religionists in Iberia and central North Africa through lieutenants, their dominions outside [[Morocco]] being treated as provinces. When Almohad emirs crossed the Straits it was to lead a [[jihad]] against the Christians and then return to Morocco.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barton |first=Simon |title=A History of Spain |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-230-20012-8 |location=London |pages=63–66}}</ref>

==== Holding years ====
[[File:Abu_Yaqub_Yusef_Coin.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Coin minted during the reign of [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf]]]]
In 1212, the Almohad Caliph [[Muhammad an-Nasir|Muhammad 'al-Nasir']] (1199–1214), the successor of al-Mansur, after an initially successful advance north, was defeated by an alliance of the four Christian kings of [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], [[Aragón]], [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]], and Portugal, at the [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in the [[Sierra Morena]]. The battle broke the Almohad advance, but the Christian powers remained too disorganized to profit from it immediately.

Before his death in 1213, al-Nasir appointed his young ten-year-old son as the next [[caliph]] [[Yusuf II, Almohad Caliph|Yusuf II "al-Mustansir"]]. The Almohads passed through a period of effective [[Regent|regency]] for the young caliph, with power exercised by an oligarchy of elder family members, palace bureaucrats and leading nobles. The Almohad ministers were careful to negotiate a series of truces with the Christian kingdoms, which remained more-or-less in place for next fifteen years (the [[Siege of Alcácer do Sal|loss of Alcácer do Sal]] to the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] in 1217 was an exception).

In early 1224, the youthful caliph died in an accident, without any heirs. The palace bureaucrats in [[Marrakesh]], led by the ''[[Vizier|wazir]]'' Uthman ibn Jam'i, quickly engineered the election of his elderly grand-uncle, [[Abdul-Wahid I, Almohad Caliph|Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu']], as the new Almohad caliph. But the rapid appointment upset other branches of the family, notably the brothers of the late al-Nasir, who governed in [[al-Andalus]]. The challenge was immediately raised by one of them, then governor in [[Murcia]], who declared himself Caliph [[Abdallah al-Adil]]. With the help of his brothers, he quickly seized control of al-Andalus. His chief advisor, the shadowy Abu Zayd ibn Yujjan, tapped into his contacts in Marrakesh, and secured the [[Deposition (politics)|deposition]] and assassination of Abd al-Wahid I, and the expulsion of the al-Jami'i [[clan]].

This [[coup]] has been characterized as the pebble that finally broke al-Andalus. It was the first internal coup among the Almohads. The Almohad clan, despite occasional disagreements, had always remained tightly knit and loyally behind dynastic precedence. Caliph al-Adil's murderous breach of dynastic and constitutional propriety marred his acceptability to other Almohad ''[[sheikh]]s''. One of the recusants was his cousin, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi ("the [[Baeza, Spain|Baezan]]"), the Almohad governor of [[Jaén, Spain|Jaén]], who took a handful of followers and decamped for the hills around Baeza. He set up a rebel camp and forged an alliance with the hitherto quiet [[Ferdinand III of Castile]]. Sensing his greater priority was Marrakesh, where recusant Almohad ''sheikh''s had rallied behind Yahya, another son of al-Nasir, al-Adil paid little attention to this little band of misfits.