Everything about Yusuf Ibn Tashfin totally explained
Yusuf ibn Tashfin or
Tashafin (reigned c. 1061 - 1106) (
Arabic: يوسف بن تاشفين or يوسف بن تشفين) was the
Berber Almoravid ruler in
North Africa and
Al-Andalus (
Moorish Iberia).
Succession to power
Yusuf ibn Tashfin emerged from a line of military rulers.
Abu Bakr ibn Umar, one of the original disciples of
ibn Yasin, a natural leader of
Sanajha extraction who served as a spiritual liaison for followers of the
Maliki school of thought, was appointed general after the death of his brother
Yahya ibn Ibrahim. His brother oversaw the military for ibn Yasin but was killed in a
Saharan revolt in 1056. Ibn Yasin, too, would die in battle with the
Barghawata three years later. Abu-Bakr was an able general, taking the fertile
Sūs and its capital
Aghmāt a year after his brother's death, and would go on to suppress numerous revolts in the
Sahara himself, on one such occasion delegating permanent governorship of Sūs and thus the whole of his northern provinces to his pious cousin Yusuf, who had received such authority in the interm; even going so far as to giving him his wife,
Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyat, purportedly the richest woman of Aghmāt. This sort of trust and favor on part of a seasoned veteran and savvy politician reflected the general esteem in which Yusuf was held, not to mention the power he attained as a military figure in his absence. Daunted by Yusuf's newfound power, Abu Bakr saw any attempts at recapturing his post politically unfeasible and returned to the fringes of the Sahara to settle the unrest of the southern frontier.
Taifa appeal
In the year 1091 the last sovereign king of al-Andalusia,
al-Mutamid, saw his
Abbadid-inherited dominion of
Seville, controlled since 1069, in jeopardy of being taken by the increasingly stronger king of
Castile-León,
Alfonso VI. The
Taifa period followed the demise of the
Umayyad Caliphate. Previously, the
emir launched a series of aggressive attacks on neighboring kingdoms, as to garner more territory for himself, but his military aspirations and capabilities paled in comparison to the
Castilian king, who was on a tear in the name of
Christendom, in 1085, capturing a culturally refined
Toledo and inducing
parias, or tribute, from proud
Muslim princes in places like
Granada; al-Mutamid of Seville being no exception. The tribute of the emirs bolstered the economy of the
Christian kingdom. These are the circumstances that led to the al-Murabitun conquest and the famous quote, rebuffing his son, Rashid, who advised him not to call on Yusuf ibn Tashfinn, where al-Mutamid said:
"I have no desire to be branded by my descendants as the man who delivered al-Andalus as prey to the infidels. I'm loath to have my name cursed in every Muslim pulpit. And, for my part, I'd rather be a camel-driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile."
Military exploits
Yusuf was an effective general and administrator, evidenced by his ability to organize and maintain the loyalty of the hardened desert warriors and the territory of Abu Bakr, as well as his ability to expand the empire, cross the
Atlas Mountains onto the plains of
Morocco, reaching the Mediterranean and capturing
Fez in 1075,
Tangier in 1079,
Tlemcen in 1080,
Ceuta in 1083, as well as
Algiers,
Ténès and
Oran in 1082-83. He is regarded as the co-founder of the famous Moroccan city
Marrakech (in Arabic
Murakush, corrupted to
Morocco in English). The site had been chosen and work started by Abu Bakr in 1070. The work was completed by Yusuf, who then made it the capital of his empire, in place of the former capital
Aghmāt. By the time Abu Bakr died in 1087, after a skirmish in the Sahara as result of a poison arrow, Yusuf had crossed over into
al-Andalus and also achieved victory at the
Battle of Sagrajas, also known as the
Battle of az-Zallaqah. He came to al-Andalus with a force of 15,000 men, armed with
javelins,
daggers,
Indian swords and shields covered in animal hide, as well as
drummers for psychological combat. Yusuf's
cavalry was said to have included 6,000
shock troops from
Senegal mounted on white
Arabian horses.
Camels were also put to use. On
October 23,
1086, the
al-Murabitun forces, accompanied by 10,000 Andalusian fighters from local
Muslim provinces, decisively checked the
Reconquista, defeating the largest Christian army ever assembled up to that point, significantly outnumbered. The death of Yusuf's heir, however, prompted his speedy return to
Africa.
When Yusuf returned to al-Andalus in 1090, he saw the lax behavior of the taifa kings, both spiritually and militarily, as a breach of
Islamic law and principles, and left Africa with the expressed purpose of usurping the power of all the Muslim principalities, under the auspices of the
Abbasid caliph of
Baghdad, who he'd shared correspondence with and under the shibboleth
"The spreading of righteousness, the correction of injustice and the abolition of unlawful taxes." The emirs in such cities as
Seville,
Badajoz,
Almeria, and
Granada had grown accustomed to the extravagant ways of the east. On top of doling out tribute to the
Christians and giving Andalusian
Jews unprecedented freedoms and authority, they'd levied burdensome taxes on the populace to maintain this lifestyle. After a series of
fatwas and careful deliberation, Yusuf saw the implementation of orthodoxy as long overdue. That year he exiled the emirs 'Abd Allah and his brother Tamim from Granada and
Málaga, respectively, to
Aghmāt, and a year later
al-Mutamid of Seville would suffer the same fate. When all was said and done, Yusuf united all of the Muslim dominions of the
Iberian Peninsula, with the exception of
Zaragoza, to the
Kingdom of Morocco, and situated his royal court at
Marrakech. He took the title of
amir al-muslimin (
Commander of the Muslims), seeing himself as humbly serving the caliph of Baghdad, but for all intents and purposes he was considered the caliph of the western
Islamic empire. The military might of the
al-Murabitun was at its peak.
The
Sanhaja confederation, which consisted of a hierarchy of Lamtuna, Musaffa and Djudalla
Berbers, represented the military's top brass. Amongst them were
Andalusian
Christians and heretic Africans, taking up duties as
diwan al-gund, Yusuf's own personal bodyguard; including 2,000 black
horsemen, whose tasks also included registering soldiers and making sure they were compensated financially. The occupying forces of the
al-Murabitun were made up largely horsemen, totaling no less than 20,000. Into the major cities of al-Andalus,
Seville (7,000),
Granada (1,000),
Cordoba (1,000), 5,000 bordering
Castile and 4,000 in western Andalusia, succeeding waves of horsemen in conjunction with the garrisons that had been left there after the
Battle of Sagrajas, made responding, for the
Taifa emirs, difficult. Soldiers on foot used
bows &
arrows,
sabres,
pikes and
Indian
javelins, each protected by a
cuirass of
Moroccan leather and bearing shields made of
antelope hide. During the siege of the fort-town Aledo, in
Murcia, captured by the
Spaniard Garcia Giménez previously,
al-Murabitun and Andalusian hosts are said to have used
catapults, in addition to their customary
drum beat. Yusuf also established naval bases in
Cadiz,
Almeria and neighboring ports along the
Mediterranean.
Ibn-Maymun, the governor of Almeria, had a fleet at his disposal. Another such example is the
Banu-Ganiya fleet based off the
Balearic Islands that dominated the affairs of the western Mediterranean for much of the 12th century.
The siege of Valencia
Although the al-Murabitun hadn't gained much in the way of territory from the
Christians, rather they merely offset the
Reconquista, Yusuf did succeed in capturing
Valencia. A city divided between
Muslims and Christians, under the waffling rule of a petty
emir paying tribute to the Christians, including the famous
El Cid, Valencia proved to be an obstacle for the al-Murabitun military, despite their untouchable reputation.
Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim ibn Tashfin and Yusuf's nephew
Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad both failed in defeating the Cid. Yusuf then sent
Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali al-Hajj but he wasn't successful either. In 1097, upon his fourth trip to
al-Andalus, Yusuf sought to personally dig down and fight the armies of
Alfonso VI, making way toward the all but abandoned, but historically important,
Toledo. Such a concerted effort was meant to draw the Christian forces, including those laying siege to Valencia, into the center of Iberia. On
August 15,
1097, the al-Murabitun delivered yet another blow to Alphonso VI's forces, a battle in which the Cid's son was killed.
Muhammad ibn 'A'isha, Yusuf's son, who he'd appointed governor of
Murcia, succeeded in delivering an effective pounding to the Cid's personnel at
Alcira, still not capturing the city, but satisfied with the results of his campaigns, Yusuf left for his court at
Marrakesh only to return two years later on a new effort to take the provinces of eastern Andalusia. The Cid had died in the same year, 1099, and his wife had been ruling until the coming of another al-Murabitun campaign at the tail end of 1100, led by Yusuf's trusted lieutenant
Mazdali ibn Banlunka. After a seven month siege, Alphonso and
Chimena (Cid's wife), hopeless to the prospects of staving off the
Muslims, set fire to the great
mosque and abandoned the city. Yusuf had finally conquered
Valencia and exerted complete dominance over the east of al-Andalus, now unquestionably the most powerful ruler in
western Europe. He receives mention in the
Spanish epic
Poema del Cid, also known as
El Cantar del Mio Cid, the oldest of its kind.
Description and character
"A wise and shrewd man, neither too prompt in his determinations, nor too slow in carrying them into effect", Yusuf was very much adapted to the rugged terrain of the
Sahara and had no interests in the pomp of the Andalusian courts. According to Abd Allah's
"Roudh el-Kartas" (History of the Rulers of Morocco) and A.Beaumier's French translation of the 14th century work, Yusuf was of
"teint brun, taille moyenne, maigre, peu de barbe, voix douce, yeux noirs, nez aquilin, meche de Mohammed retombant sur le bout de l'oreille, sourcils joints l'un a l'autre, cheveux crepus"; meaning -
"Brown color, middle height, thin, little beard, soft voice, black eyes, straight nose, lock of Muhammaed falling on the top of his ear, eye brow joined, wooly hair"[http://www.vitaminedz.com/articlesfiche/1006_toute_l_algerie_roudh_el_kartas
articles.pdf]
He went on to reach the 100 years old mark and, unlike his predecessors, not die in battle.
Legacy of the Almoravids
Since Yusuf's reign represented the apogee of the al-Murabitun dynasty, something has to be said for its certain demise after his death. His son and successor,
Ali ibn Yusuf, was viewed just as devout a
Muslim but he neither commanded the same respect nor retained the
clientela of his father. As he prayed and fasted the empire crumbled about him.
Córdoba, in about 1119, served as the launch pad for Andalusian insurrection.
Christians on the northern frontier gained momentum shortly after his father's death, and the
Almohads, beginning about 1120, were to engulf the southern frontier; both respective hosts seeing to the ultimate disintegration of Yusuf's hard-fought territories by the time of
Ibrahim ibn Tashfin (1146) and
Ishaq ibn Ali (1146-1147), the last of the al-Murabitun dynasty.
Much of the disparaging things written about the al-Murabitun, whether it be from
Almohad or
Christian sources, was true enough. While Yusuf was the most honorable of
Muslim rulers, he spoke
Arabic poorly, wore skins and "reeked of camels". Synthesizing his legacy, and thus that of the al-Murabitun dynasty, with the outstanding achievement that's
Moorish Spain, in spite of their pivotal role, is difficult. While it's true they didn't try to reinvent the wheel and more or less maintained previous cosmopolitan customs, like the
Party Kings, they fell into the trappings of the sensual
Mediterranean life. In the tail end of their reign, these puritan men of the
veil began wearing gold and silk and continued to take more than four wives at a time; an obvious breach of Islamic law.
To the credit of some of Yusuf's successors, namely
Ali ibn Yusuf, in 1135 he exercised good stewardship by attending to the
University of Al-Karaouine and ordering the extension of the mosque from 18 to 21 aisles, expanding the structure to more than 3,000 square meters. Some accounts suggest that Ali Ibn Yusuf hired two
Andalusian architects to carry out this work who also built the central aisle of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1136.
To further quote Richard Fletcher's classic "
Moorish Spain":
The Almoravids had never been liked in al-Andalus outside the limited circles of the rigorist critics of the taifa rulers. They had come as deliverers but they behaved like conquerors. The leadership may have been sincerely devout but the rank and file were not. Almoravid rule has been described by a modern authority as 'an extended looting expedition' ... To the end of the Almoravid regime there wasn't a single traceable Berber among its civil servants: instead, Andalusi clerks were shipped over to Morocco. The Almoravids indulged in all the luxuries and delights of al-Andalus but failed to do the job they'd been called into do: the lost territories in the Tagus and Ebro valleys remained in Christian hands.Further Information
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