← Explore on the interactive map

Almoravid Crisis and Almohad Reorganization (1130s)

Type Event Region Morocco Time 1131–1140

In May 1130 at the Battle of Buhaira, Almoravid forces defeated the Almohad besiegers outside Marrakesh; Ibn Tumart died months later.

Timeline

  1. 1131–1135Southern foothills of the Atlas Mountains · MoroccoIn May 1130, after about forty days of Almohad siege of Marrakesh, the Almoravid army sallied out and routed them near the Buhaira gardens (the Almohads were defeated and Ibn Tumart died shortly after). The Almoravids still held the capital; the real reversal came in the 1140s.
  2. 1133–1138Fez · MoroccoThe spread of Almohad doctrine undermined the orthodoxy of the Almoravid Maliki school; scholars in cities like Fez and local chieftains turned to the new movement, and central control over the provinces declined markedly.
  3. 1138–1140Sidi Jamal (western Algeria) · AlgeriaBy around 1140, Abd al-Mu'min had consolidated Almohad bases in the High Atlas, Middle Atlas, and Rif, but Tlemcen, Oran, and Marrakesh only changed hands in 1144-1147. Before Ali ibn Yusuf's death in 1143, the Almoravid regime was not yet defunct in name.

Sources