When did the Almohad Caliphate exist?

The Almohad Caliphate existed 1121 – 1269. On this map it is drawn 1139–1343.

How large was the Almohad Caliphate?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Almohad Caliphate covered about 949,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Africa · The Sahelian empires

Almohad Caliphate

Caliphate · 1121 – 1269

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Type: Caliphate
Existed: 1121 – 1269
Shown on the map: 1139–1343
Peak area: 949k km²
Region: Africa

Overview

The Almohad Caliphate (al-Muwaḥḥidūn, "those who affirm God's unity") was a Berber Muslim empire that ruled the Maghreb and al-Andalus in the 12th and 13th centuries, at its height controlling everything from the Atlantic to Tripolitania and all of Muslim Iberia. The movement was founded by Ibn Tumart, a Masmuda Berber of the High Atlas who, after studies in Baghdad under Ash'ari and Ghazalian influence, returned to preach a strict unitarianism (tawhid) against Almoravid "anthropomorphism" and Maliki legalism. Expelled from Fez and Marrakesh for his agitation, he took refuge among the mountain tribes and, in late 1121, proclaimed himself the Mahdi, establishing his headquarters at the defensible stronghold of Tinmel around 1124. A disastrous defeat at the Battle of al-Buhayra outside Marrakesh and Ibn Tumart's death in 1130 nearly destroyed the movement, but his successor Abd al-Mu'min — a Zenata Berber proclaimed caliph in 1133 after concealing the Mahdi's death for three years — rebuilt it into the Mu'minid dynasty.

History

Abd al-Mu'min swept the Almoravids aside, taking Tlemcen (1144), Fez (1146), and Marrakesh (1147), then annexed the Hammadid east (Béjaïa, 1152) and expelled the Normans from Ifriqiya, taking Mahdia in 1160 — unifying the entire Maghreb for the only time in its medieval history. Between 1146 and 1173 the Almohads absorbed the Iberian taifas, making Seville their Andalusi capital and erecting the Giralda (1184). Under Yusuf I and the formidable Yaqub al-Mansur — victor over Castile at Alarcos (1195) and patron of the philosopher Averroes — the caliphate reached its apogee: a centralized dynastic state with a tribal-caste army of Masmuda, Arab Hilalian cavalry, Christian mercenaries, and black slave troops; an official Almohad creed; and a monumental architecture (Kutubiyya, Tinmel, Seville's Giralda, Rabat's Hassan Tower) that defined Maghrebi style.

Decline and legacy

The turning point was the catastrophic defeat of Caliph al-Nasir at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 by the combined kings of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre. Dynastic coups after 1224 shattered the realm: al-Andalus dissolved into local strongmen and fell piecemeal to the Reconquista (Córdoba 1236, Seville 1248), while in Africa the Marinids, Hafsids, and Zayyanids carved away the empire. Reduced to Marrakesh, the last Almohad caliph, Idris al-Wathiq, was murdered by a slave in 1269. Almohad legacies endure in the Maghreb's monumental skyline, in the rural Arabization of Morocco through resettled Hilalian tribes, and in the three successor kingdoms that shaped North Africa's modern states.

Common questions

What was the Almohad Caliphate?: The Almohad Caliphate (al-Muwaḥḥidūn, "those who affirm God's unity") was a Berber Muslim empire that ruled the Maghreb and al-Andalus in the 12th and 13th centuries, at its height controlling everything from the Atlantic to Tripolitania and all of Muslim Iberia.
When did the Almohad Caliphate exist?: The Almohad Caliphate existed 1121 – 1269. On this map it is drawn 1139–1343.
How large was the Almohad Caliphate?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Almohad Caliphate covered about 949,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Almohad Caliphate?: Abd al-Mu'min swept the Almoravids aside, taking Tlemcen (1144), Fez (1146), and Marrakesh (1147), then annexed the Hammadid east (Béjaïa, 1152) and expelled the Normans from Ifriqiya, taking Mahdia in 1160 — unifying the entire Maghreb for the only time in its medieval history. Between 1146 and 1173 the Almohads absorbed the Iberian taifas, making Seville their Andalusi capital and erecting the Giralda (1184).
How did the Almohad Caliphate end?: The turning point was the catastrophic defeat of Caliph al-Nasir at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 by the combined kings of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre. Dynastic coups after 1224 shattered the realm: al-Andalus dissolved into local strongmen and fell piecemeal to the Reconquista (Córdoba 1236, Seville 1248), while in Africa the Marinids, Hafsids, and Zayyanids carved away the empire.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Almohad Caliphate — Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almohad_Caliphate

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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