TAIFA OF ZARAGOZA
The taifa of Zaragoza was an independent Muslim state in Moorish Al-Andalus, in the Pyrenean Isthmus, which was established in 1018 as one of the taifa kingdoms, with its capital in islamic Saraqusta (Zaragoza) city. The zaragoza's taifa emerged in the 11th century following the destruction of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the Moorish Iberian Peninsula.
During the first three decades of this period (1018–1038) the city was ruled by the Banu Tujibi. They were replaced by the Banu Hud, who had to deal with a complicated alliance with El Cid of Valencia and his Castilian Masters against the Almoravids who managed to bring the Taifas Emirates under their control. After the death of El Cid, his kingdom was conquered by the Almoravids, and by 1100 they had crossed the Ebro into Barbastro, which brought into direct contact with Aragon.
The Banu Hud stubbornly resisted the Almoravid dynasty and ruled until they were eventually defeated by the Almoravids in May 1110. The last sultan of the Banu Hud, Abd-al-Malik, and Imad ad-Dawla of Saraqusta, was forced to abandon the capital. Abd-al-Malik allied himself with the Christian Aragonese under Alfonso I of Aragon and from the time the Muslims of Saraqusta became military regulars within the Aragonese forces. They were knowed as Almogavars.
The Almoravids (Berber: ⵉⵎⵕⴰⴱⴹⴻⵏ Imṛabḍen, Arabic: المرابطون Al-Murābiṭūn) were a Berber dynasty of Morocco, who formed an empire in the 11th-century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Their capital was Marrakesh, a city which they founded in 1062 CE. The dynasty originated amongst the Lamtuna and the Gudala, which were nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara traversing the territory between southern Morocco, the Niger river and the Senegal river.
| Taifa of Zaragoza | ||||
|
||||
 |
||||
| Capital | Zaragoza | |||
| Language(s) | Arabic, Mozarabic , Hebrew | |||
| Religion | Islam, Roman Catholicism, Judaism | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||
| - Downfall of Caliphate of Cordoba | 1013 | |||
| - Conquered by the Almoravids | 1110 | |||
| Currency | Dirham and Dinar | |||
The Almoravids were crucial in avoiding a precipitated fall of Al-Andalus to the Iberian Christian kingdoms, when they decisively beat a coalition of the Castilian and Aragonese armies at the Battle of Sagrajas. This enabled them to control an empire that stretched 3,000 kilometers north to south. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived and the Almoravids fell - at the height of their power - when they failed to quell the Masmuda-led rebellion initiated by Ibn Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishaq ibn Ali was killed in Marrakesh in April 1147 CE by the Almohads who replaced them as a ruling dynasty both in Morocco and Al-Andalus.
The Almohad Dynasty ("the monotheists" or "the Unitarians"), was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.
The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his death in 1163, the Almohads defeated the ruling Almoravids, extending their power over all of the Maghreb. Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia (modern Portugal and southern Spain) under the Almoravid dynasty, followed the fate of Africa.
The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when 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 princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of 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 Marinids in 1215. The last representative of the line, Idris II, "El 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.
The holy place and the tomb of the Almohads remains in Morocco, along with the tomb of their rivals and enemies, the Almoravids.
