The Umayyad Empire
Andrew Marsham
£31.00
About this book
A comprehensive account of two of the most important empires in medieval North Africa
This is the first book in English to provide a comprehensive account of the rise and fall of the Almoravids and the Almohads, the two most important Berber dynasties of the medieval Islamic west, an area that encompassed southern Spain and Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The Ṣanhāja Almoravids emerged from the Sahara in the 1050s to conquer vast territories and halt the Christian advance in Iberia. They were replaced a century later by their rivals, the Almohads, supported by the Maṣmūda Berbers of the High Atlas. Although both have often been seen as uncouth, religiously intolerant tribesmen who undermined the high culture of al-Andalus, this book argues that the eleventh to thirteenth centuries were crucial to the Islamisation of the Maghrib, its integration into the Islamic cultural sphere, and its emergence as a key player in the western Mediterranean, and that much of this was due to these oft-neglected Berber empires.
Key features- The first work in English to give a full account of the Almoravids and Almohads
- Features numerous translated quotes and anecdotes from Arabic primary sources
- Provides an intimate portrait of the daily lives and material culture of people living within the empires, as well as delivering a clear dynastic history
- Uses maps, genealogical tables, illustrations and a chronology
Reviews
Given the importance of the subject, it is astonishing that this is the first full length study in English of these two empires. Bennison’s thoughtful and well researched book marks a major advance in our understanding of this important period in the history of the Maghreb and the Iberian peninsula. It will be widely appreciated by scholars and students alike.
Every scholar of the Islamic West should read this. Most importantly, the book is free of the various biases that have up to now conspired to marginalise the history of these two important medieval dynasties: these are dynasties which deserve to be studied in their own right, and not as mere appendages to Islamic or European history. Bennison does them justice in a book that will certainly remain for some time the standard English-language treatment of the subject.
Bennison bases her book on three particular premises: that the Almoravids and Almohads should be considered major contributors to Islamic civilization more broadly; that they were in many ways quite distinct groups and should not be lumped together simply as two examples of Berber empires; and that the relationship between Andalusia and Maghrebi parts of their empires was much more complex than has often been presented. She succeeds on all fronts over the course of the book, and gives a sense of the scale of the Almoravids’ and Almohads’ achievements together with the complexities of their distinct endeavors.'
Table of contents
List of Figures; List of Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Note on Transliteration; Chapter 1. Introduction; Chapter 2. The Almoravids: Striving in the path of God; Chapter 3. The Almohads: Revelation, revolution and empire; Chapter 4. Society in the Almoravid and Almohad eras, 1050-1250; Chapter 5. Economy and trade within and beyond imperial frontiers, 1050-1250; Chapter 6. Malikism, Mahdism and Mysticism: Religion and learning, 1050-1250; Chapter 7. ‘The most wondrous artifice’: Art and Architecture of the Berber empires; Chapter 8. Conclusion; Chronological Outline; List of Place Names in Latin and Arabic forms; Glossary of Arabic terms; Bibliography; Index.
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