page_title: History of North Africa
section_title: Almoravids
hierarchical_section_title: History of North Africa / The Muslim Berber dynasties / Almoravids
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Maurische Fürsten English: Moorish Princes (Maurische Fürsten) From "Zur Geschichte der Kostüme", 1880, a German book with expired copyright.
context_page_description: North Africa is a relatively thin strip of land between the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean, stretching from Moroccan Atlantic coast to Egypt. Currently, the region comprises five countries, from west to east: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. The region has been influenced by many diverse cultures. The development of sea travel firmly brought the region into the Mediterranean world, especially during the classical period. In the 1st millennium AD, the Sahara became an equally important area for trade as camel caravans brought goods and people from the south. The region also has a small but crucial land link to the Middle East, and that area has also played a key role in the history of North Africa.
context_section_description: In the 11th century, Berbers of the Sahara began a jihad to reform Islam in North Africa and remove any trace of cultural or religious pluralism.  This movement created an empire encompassing parts of Spain and North Africa.  At its greatest extent, it appears to have included southern and eastern Iberia and roughly all of present-day Morocco.  This movement seems to have assisted the southern penetration of Africa, one that was continued by later groups. In addition, the Almoravids are traditionally believed to have attacked and brought about the destruction of the West African Ghana Empire.
   However, this interpretation has been questioned. Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources while Dierke Lange agrees but argues that this doesn't preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that Ghana's demise owed much to the latter.
caption: Moorish Princes.
exif: {}