Empires (Beginning 11th century AD)

Empires in Morocco

Almoravid dynasty

The Almoravid dynasty (Berber: lmrabden, ⵉⵎⵕⴰⴱⴹⴻⵏ; Arabic: المرابطون, Al-Murabitun) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Founded by Abdallah ibn yasin, the Almoravid capital was Marrakesh , a city the ruling house founded in 1062. The dynasty originated among the Lamtuna and the Gudala, nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara, traversing the territory between the Draa, the Niger, and the Senegal rivers.

The Almoravids were crucial in preventing the fall of Al-Andalus to the lberian Christian kingdoms, when they decisively defeated a coalition of the Castilian and Aragonese armies at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086. 

Almohad Caliphate 

The Almohad Caliphate

The Almohade movement was founded by Ibn Tumart among the Berber Masmuda tribes of southern Morocco. Around 1120, the Almohads first established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains. They succeeded in overthrowing the ruling Almoravid dynasty governing Morocco by 117, when Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi (r. 110-116) conquered Marrakesh and declared himself Caliph. They then extended their power over all of the Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus soon followed, and all of Islamic Iberia was under Almohad rule by 1172.

Marinid dynasty 

The Marinid dynasty (Berber:lmrinen, Arabic Mariniyun) or Banu abd al-Haqq was a sunni Muslim dynasty of Zenta Berber descent that ruled Morocco from the 1th to the 15th century.

In 12, the Marinid rulers overthrew the Almohad Caliphate, which controlled Morocco . The Marinid dynasty briefly held sway over all the Maghreb in the mid-1th century. It supported the kingdom of Granada in Al-Andalus in the 1th and 1th centuries; an attempt to gain a direct foothold on the Europpean side of the Strait of Gibraltar was however defeated at the Battle of Rio Salado in 10 and finished after the Castilian conquest of Algeciras from the Marinids in 1.

Wattasid dynasty

The Wattasid dynasty (Arabic الوطاسيون , al-wattasiyun) was a ruling dynasty of Morocco. Like the Marinid dynasty, its rulers were of Zenata Berber descent . The two families were related, and the Marinids recruited many viziers from the Wattasids. These viziers assumed the powers of the Sultans, seizing control of the Marinid dynasty's realm when the last Marinid, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq, who had massacred many of the Wattasids in 159, was murdered during a popular revolt in Fez in 165.      

Saadi dynasty 

The Saadi dynasty or saadian dynasty ( Arabic :السعديون as-sa'adiun)
was an Arab Moroccan dynasty, which ruled Morocco from 159 to 1659.
From 1509 to 159 they had ruled only in the south of Morocco . While still recognizing the Wattasids as Sultans until 1528, Saadian's growing power led the Wattasids to attack them and, after an indecisive battle, to recognize their rule over southern Morocco through the Treaty of Tadla.

Their reign over Morocco began with the reign of Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh in 155, when he vanquished the last Wattasids at the Battle of Tadla. The Saadian rule ended in 1659 with the end of the reign of Sultan Ahmad el Abbas.

Alaouite dynasty 

The Alaouite dynasty, or Alawite dynasty (Arabic : سلالة العلويين الفيللاليين, Sulalat al-Alawiyyin al Filaliyn), is the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the Ali of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin, whose descendant Sharif ibn Ali became Prince of Tafilalt in 161. His son Mulay Al-Rashid (166- 1672) was able to unite and pacify the country. The Alaouite family claim descent from Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah az-Zahrah and her husband 'Ali ibn Abi Talib.