the name used in literature for the dynasty and feudal state (1121 or 1122 to 1269) which came into being as a result of the religious and political movement of the Berber tribes of North Africa against the Almoravides. This movement arose in protest against heavy taxation, social oppression, and religious intolerance at the hands of the Almoravides. The founder and exponent of the movement, ibn-Tumart, preached the idea of strict Unitarianism, and thus his followers are known in Arabic as al-Muwahidun (in Spanish, Almohads), which means “Unitarians.” Around 1121 and 1122 the Almohads began an open struggle against the Almoravides. Ibn-Tumart was proclaimed Mahdi. After his death in 1128, Abd-al-Mumin, his closest fellow champion, became caliph. In 1146 he took Marrakech and made it the capital of the new state. As a result of the first (1151–52) and second (1160) campaigns against Ithrikia, the Almohads liquidated the local dynasties and chased the Normans from the coastal cities that the latter had captured. The state of the Almohads reached its maximum size toward 1161 under Abd-al-Mumin (who ruled 1128–63). It comprised all of North Africa and southern Spain. Under Abd-al-Mumin land registration was carried out, and the tribes were obliged to pay taxes and to perform military service.
After the death of Abd-al-Mumin the principle of hereditary transmission of authority became firmly established. The leadership of the Almohads quickly became feudalized. Under the pretext of defending the true faith, religious oppression and persecution were practiced. This gave rise to dissatisfaction among the masses and undermined the power of the Almohads. During the period of the reconquista the united forces of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre utterly defeated the army of the Almohads at Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), and by 1248 the Almohads had lost all lands in Spain except Granada. One after the other the eastern provinces separated from their state. Local dynasties began in 1228 in Tunis and in 1235 in Tlemcen (the territory of Algeria). In 1269 the emirs of the Marinid dynasty seized Marrakech and put an end to the Almohad dynasty.
N. A. IVANOV