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Algiers | Algerian War | Algerian War
thumb|right|The "tense truce" between Algerian rebels, French army and the OAS in 1962
Algiers also played a pivotal role in the Algerian War (1954–1962), a bloody independence struggle in which hundreds of thousands (estimates range between 350,000 and 1,500,000) died (mostly Algerians but also French and pieds-noirs). In particular, it saw the Battle of Algiers when the 10th Parachute Division of the French Army, starting on January 7, 1957, and on the orders of the French Minister of Justice François Mitterrand (who authorized any means "to eliminate the insurrectionists"), led attacks against the Algerian fighters for independence. Algiers remains marked by this battle, which was characterized by merciless fighting between FLN forces which carried out a guerrilla campaign against the French military and police and pro-French Algerian soldiers, and the French Army which responded with a bloody repression, torture and blanket terrorism against the native population. The demonstrations of May 13 during the crisis of 1958 provoked the fall of the Fourth Republic in France, as well as the return of General de Gaulle to power. |
Algiers | Independence | Independence
Algeria achieved independence on July 5, 1962, with Algiers as its capital. Since then, despite losing its entire pied-noir population, the city has expanded massively. It now has about five million inhabitants, or 10 percent of Algeria's population—and its suburbs now cover most of the surrounding Mitidja plain. Run by the FLN that had secured independence, Algiers became a member of Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. In October 1988, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Algiers was the site of demonstrations demanding the end of the single-party system and the creation of a real democracy baptized the "Spring of Algiers". The demonstrators were repressed by the authorities (more than 300 dead), but the movement constituted a turning point in the political history of modern Algeria. The 1989 Algerian constitutional referendum took place and a new constitution was adopted that put an end to the one-party rule and saw the creation of more than fifty political parties, as well as official freedom of the press. |
Algiers | Crisis of the 1990s | Crisis of the 1990s
The city became the theatre of many political demonstrations of all descriptions until 1993. In 1991, a political entity dominated by religious conservatives called the Islamic Salvation Front engaged in a political test of wills with the authorities. In the 1992 elections for the Algerian National Assembly, the Islamists garnered a large amount of support in the first round. Fearing an eventual win by the Islamists, the army canceled the election process, setting off the civil war between the State and armed religious conservatives which would last for a decade.
On December 11, 2007, two car bombs exploded in Algiers. One bomb targeted two United Nations office buildings and the other targeted a government building housing the Supreme Court of Algeria. The death toll was at least 62, with over two hundred injured in the attacks. However, only 26 remained hospitalized the following day. , it is speculated that the attack was carried out by the Al Qaeda cell within the city.
Indigenous terrorist groups have been actively operating in Algeria since around 2002. |
Algiers | Geography | Geography |
Algiers | Location | Location
thumb|Satellite image of Algiers
Algiers is located in the north-central part of Algeria, extending along the Bay of Algiers and into the Mitidja plain and on top of and around the "Sahel of Algiers" and the Bouzaréah massif. It sits at roughly 2 m above sea level, while the highest point is at 407 m. The Oued El Harrach meets the sea while crossing near El Harrach, a neighbourhood of the city hence the name, while Mazafran River ends near the far western suburbs dividing Algiers Province and Tipaza Province; Both of these are called "Widan" which help in supplying agricultural needs in "Mitidja" which borders the Tell Atlas mountain range which could be spotted from the city. |
Algiers | Districts of Algiers | Districts of Algiers
thumb|Notre Dame d'Afrique, built by European settlers in 1872
The Casbah (of Al Qasbah, "the Citadel"), 1st District of Algiers: called Al-Djazaïr Al Mahroussa ("Well Kept Algiers"), is founded on the ruins of old Icosium. It is a small city of picturesque winding lanes built on a hill and descending towards the sea, divided into two sections: the High City and the Low City. It includes 17th-century buildings: Ketchaoua Mosque (rebuilt in the 18th century by the Dey Baba Hassan), El Djedid Mosque (built in 1660, at the time of Turkish regency), El Kebir Mosque (oldest of the mosques, built by Almoravid Youssef Ibn Tachfin and rebuilt in 1794), the Ali Bitchin Mosque (Raïs, 1623), and Dar Aziza, formerly part of the Palace of Jénina.
Bab El Oued: Literally the River's Gate, the popular district which extends from the Casbah beyond "the gate of the river". It is the capital's darling and best liked borough. Famous for its square with "the three clocks" and for its "market Triplet", it is also a district of workshops and manufacturing plants.
Edge of sea: from 1840, the architects Pierre-August Guiauchain and Charles Frédéric Chassériau designed new buildings apart from the Casbah, town hall, law courts, buildings, theatre, palace of the Governor, and casino, to form an elegant walk bordered by arcades which is today the boulevard Che Guevara (formerly the Boulevard of the Republic).
Kouba (will daira of Hussein-dey): Kouba is an old village which was absorbed by the expansion of the town of Algiers. Kouba quickly developed under the French colonial era then continued growing due to formidable demographic expansion that Algiers saw after the independence of Algeria in 1962. It is today a district of Algiers which is largely made up of houses, villas, and buildings not exceeding five stories.
El Harrach, a suburb of Algiers, is located about to the east of the city.
The communes of Hydra, Ben Aknoun, El-Biar and Bouzaréah form what the inhabitants of Algiers call the "Heights of Algiers". These communes shelter the majority of the foreign embassies of Algiers, of many ministries and university centres, which makes it one of the administrative and policy centres of the country.
The Didouche Mourad street is located in the 3rd district Of Algiers. It extends from the Grande Post office to the Heights of Algiers. It crosses in particular the place Audin, the Faculty of Algiers, The Crowned Heart and the Freedom Park (formerly Galland). It is bordered by smart stores and restaurants along most of its length. It is regarded as the heart of the capital. |
Algiers | Climate | Climate
Algiers has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). Its proximity to the Mediterranean aids in moderating the city's temperatures. As a result, Algiers usually does not see the extreme temperatures that are experienced in the adjacent interior. Algiers on average receives roughly of rain per year, the bulk of which is seen between October and April. The precipitation is higher than in most of coastal Mediterranean Spain, and similar to most of coastal Mediterranean France, as opposed to the interior North African semi-arid or arid climate.
Snow is very rare; in 2012, the city received of snowfall, its first snowfall in eight years. |
Algiers | Climate change | Climate change
A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5, a "moderate" scenario of climate change where global warming reaches ~ by 2100, the climate of Algiers in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Perth in Australia. The annual temperature would increase by , and the temperature of the warmest month by , while the temperature of the coldest month would be higher. According to Climate Action Tracker, the current warming trajectory appears consistent with , which closely matches Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5.
Moreover, according to the 2022 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Algiers is one of 12 major African cities (Abidjan, Alexandria, Algiers, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Lagos, Lomé, Luanda and Maputo) which would be the most severely affected by the future sea level rise. It estimates that they would collectively sustain cumulative damages of U$65 billion under RCP 4.5 and US$86.5 billion for the high-emission scenario RCP 8.5 by the year 2050. Additionally, RCP 8.5 combined with the hypothetical impact from marine ice sheet instability at high levels of warming would involve up to US$137.5 billion in damages, while the additional accounting for the "low-probability, high-damage events" may increase aggregate risks to $187 billion for the "moderate" RCP 4.5, $206 billion for RCP 8.5 and $397 billion under the high-end ice sheet instability scenario. Since sea level rise would continue for about 10,000 years under every scenario of climate change, future costs of sea level rise would only increase, especially without adaptation measures. The Casbah is on a list of 10 African World Heritage Site most threatened by sea level rise.Trisos, C.H., I.O. Adelekan, E. Totin, A. Ayanlade, J. Efitre, A. Gemeda, K. Kalaba, C. Lennard, C. Masao, Y. Mgaya, G. Ngaruiya, D. Olago, N.P. Simpson, and S. Zakieldeen 2022: Chapter 9: Africa . In Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA, pp. 2043–2121 |
Algiers | Government | Government
The city (and province) of Algiers is composed of 13 administrative districts, sub-divided into 57 communes listed below with their populations at the 1998 and 2008 Censuses:
Name Name in Arabic Population(1998)Census of 25 June 1998: Office National des Statistiques de l'Algérie (web). Population(2008) Bab El Oued باب الوادي 87,557 64,732 Bologhine بولوغين 43,283 43,835 Casbah القصبة 50,453 36,762 Oued Koriche وادي قريش 53,378 46,182 Raïs Hamidou الرايس حميدو 21,518 28,451 Bab El Oued District 256,189 219,962 Baraki براقي 95,247 116,375 Les Eucalyptus الكليتوس 96,310 116,107 Sidi Moussa سيدي موسى 27,888 40,750 Baraki District 219,445 273,232 Bir Mourad Raïs بئر مراد رايس 43,254 45,345 Birkhadem بئر خادم 55,084 77,749 Djasr Kasentina جسر قسنطينة 82,729 133,247 Hydra حيدرة 35,727 31,133 Saoula سحاولة 31,388 41,690 Bir Mourad Raïs District 248,182 329,164 Birtouta بئر توتة 21,808 30,575 Ouled Chebel أولاد الشبل 16,335 20,006 Tessala El Merdja تسالة المرجى 10,792 15,847 Birtouta District 48,935 66,428 Ben Aknoun بن عكنون 19,404 18,838 Béni Messous بني مسوس 17,490 36,191 Bouzaréah بوزريعة 69,153 83,797 El Biar الأبيار 52,582 47,332 Bouzaréah District 158,629 186,158 Aïn Bénian عين البنيان 52,343 68,354 Chéraga الشراقة 60,374 80,824 Dély Ibrahim دالي إبرهيم 30,576 35,230 El Hammamet الحمامات الرومانية 19,651 23,990 Ouled Fayet أولاد فايت 15,209 27,593 Chéraga District 178,153 235,991 Aïn Taya عين طاية 29,515 34,501 Bab Ezzouar باب الزوار 92,157 96,597 Bordj El Bahri برج البحري 27,905 52,816 Bordj El Kiffan برج الكيفان 103,690 151,950 Dar El Beïda الدار البيضاء 44,753 80,033 El Marsa المرسى 8,784 12,100 Mohammedia المحمدية 42,079 62,543 Dar El Beïda District 348,883 490,540 Baba Hassen بابا حسن 13,827 23,756 Douéra دويرة 41,804 56,998 Draria درارية 23,050 44,141 El Achour العاشور 19,524 41,070 Khraïcia خراسية 17,690 27,910 Draria District 115,895 193,875 Bachdjerrah باش جراح 90,073 93,289 Bourouba بوروبة 77,498 71,661 El Harrach الحراش 48,167 48,869 Oued Smar وادي سمار 21,397 32,062 El Harrach District 237,135 245,881 El Magharia المغارية 30,457 31,453 Hussein Dey حسين داي 49,921 40,698 Kouba القبة 105,253 104,708 Mohamed Belouizdad (Hamma Annassers) الحامة العناصر 59,248 44,050 Hussein Dey District 244,879 220,909 H'raoua الهراوة 18,167 27,565 Reghaïa رغاية 66,215 85,452 Rouïba الرويبة 49,881 61,984 Rouïba District 134,263 175,001 Alger Centre الجزائرالوسطى 96,329 75,541 El Madania المدنية 51,404 40,301 El Mouradia المرادية 29,503 22,813 Sidi M'Hamed سيدي امحمد 90,455 67,873 Sidi M'Hamed District 267,691 206,528 Mahelma محالمة 14,810 20,758 Rahmania الرحمانية 5,759 7,396 Souidania سويدانية 11,620 17,105 Staouéli سطاوالي 38,915 47,664 Zéralda زرالدة 33,047 51,552 Zéralda District 104,151 144,475 Totals الجزائر 2,562,428 2,988,145 |
Algiers | Local architecture | Local architecture
thumb|upright=1.65|Algiers waterfront
thumb|Cosmopolitan Algiers
There are many public buildings of interest, including the whole Kasbah quarter, Martyrs Square (Sahat ech-Chouhada ساحة الشهداء), the government offices (formerly the British consulate), the "Grand", "New", and Ketchaoua Mosques, the Roman Catholic cathedral of Notre Dame d'Afrique, the Bardo Museum, the old Bibliothèque Nationale d'Alger—a moorish palace built in 1799–1800 and the new National Library, built in a style reminiscent of the British Library.
The main building in the Kasbah was begun in 1516 on the site of an older building, and served as the palace of the deys until the French conquest. A road has been cut through the centre of the building, the mosque turned into barracks, and the hall of audience allowed to fall into ruin. There still remain a minaret and some marble arches and columns. Traces exist of the vaults in which were stored the treasures of the dey.
Djamaa el Kebir (Jamaa-el-Kebir الجامع الكبير) is the oldest mosque in Algiers. It was first built by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, but reconstructed many times. The pulpit (minbar منبر) bears an inscription showing that the building existed in 1097. The minaret was built by the sultan of Tlemcen, in 1324. The interior of the mosque is square and is divided into aisles by columns joined by Moorish arches.
The New Mosque (Jamaa-el-Jedid الجامع الجديد), dating from the 17th century, is in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by a large white cupola, with four small cupolas at the corners. The minaret is high. The interior resembles that of the Grand Mosque.
The church of the Holy Trinity (built in 1870) stands at the southern end of the rue d'Isly near the site of the demolished Fort Bab Azoun باب عزون. The interior is richly decorated with various coloured marbles. Many of these marbles contain memorial inscriptions relating to the British residents (voluntary and involuntary) of Algiers from the time of John Tipton, the first English consul, in 1580 (NB Some sources give 1585). One tablet records that in 1631 two Algerine pirate crews landed in Ireland, sacked Baltimore, and enslaved its inhabitants.
thumb|left|upright|The Ketchaoua Mosque
thumb|right | Mosque in the City of Algiers.
The Ketchaoua Mosque (Djamaa Ketchaoua جامع كتشاوة), at the foot of the Casbah, was before independence in 1962 the cathedral of St Philippe, itself made in 1845 from a mosque dating from 1612. The principal entrance, reached by a flight of 23 steps, is ornamented with a portico supported by four black-veined marble columns. The roof of the nave is of Moorish plaster work. It rests on a series of arcades supported by white marble columns. Several of these columns belonged to the original mosque. In one of the chapels was a tomb containing the bones of Geronimo. The building seems a curious blend of Moorish and Byzantine styles.
Algiers possesses a college with schools of law, medicine, science and letters. The college buildings are large and handsome. The Bardo Museum holds some of the ancient sculptures and mosaics discovered in Algeria, together with medals and Algerian money.
The port of Algiers is sheltered from all winds. There are two harbours, both artificial—the old or northern harbour and the southern or Agha harbour. The northern harbour covers an area of . An opening in the south jetty affords an entrance into Agha harbour, constructed in Agha Bay. Agha harbour has also an independent entrance on its southern side. The inner harbour was begun in 1518 by Khair-ad-Din Barbarossa (see History, below), who, to accommodated his pirate vessels, caused the island on which was Fort Penon to be connected with the mainland by a mole. The lighthouse which occupies the site of Fort Penon was built in 1544.
Algiers was a walled city from the time of the deys until the close of the 19th century. The French, after their occupation of the city (1830), built a rampart, parapet and ditch, with two terminal forts, Bab Azoun باب عزون to the south and Bab-el-Oued اد to the north. The forts and part of the ramparts were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century, when a line of forts occupying the heights of Bouzaréah بوزريعة (at an elevation of above the sea) took their place.
Notre Dame d'Afrique, a church built (1858–1872) in a mixture of the Roman and Byzantine styles, is conspicuously situated overlooking the sea, on the shoulder of the Bouzaréah hills,
to the north of the city. Above the altar is a statue of the Virgin depicted as a black woman. The church also contains a solid silver statue of the archangel Michael, belonging to the confraternity of Neapolitan fishermen.
Villa Abd-el-Tif, former residence of the dey, was used during the French period, to accommodate French artists, chiefly painters, and winners of the Abd-el-Tif prize, among whom Maurice Boitel, for a while of two years. Nowadays, Algerian artists are back in the villa's studios. |
Algiers | Monuments | Monuments
thumb|alt=Basilica of Our Lady of Africa|Basilica of Our Lady of Africa – Algiers
thumb|right|The Monument of the Martyrs (Maquam E'chahid)
thumb|right|Grand Post Office
Notre Dame d'Afrique, accessible by one cable car, is one of the city's most outstanding monuments: located in the district of Z' will ghara, the basilica was built around 1858.
Monument des Martyrs (Marquand E' chahid): an iconic concrete monument commemorating the Algerian war for independence. The monument was opened in 1982 on the 20th anniversary of Algeria's independence. It is fashioned in the shape of three standing palm leaves which shelter the "Eternal Flame" beneath. At the edge of each palm leaf stands a statue of a soldier, each representing a stage of Algeria's struggle.
thumb|left|upright|The El Jedid mosque at the Place des Martyrs
The El Jedid mosque at the Place des Martyrs near the port.
Place of the Emir Abdelkader (formerly Bugeaud): in memory of the famous emir Abd El-Kader, resistant during French conquest of Algeria.
Grand Post Office (1910, by Voinot and Tondoire): construction of the neo-Moorish type which is in full centre town of Algiers.
The Jardin d'essai (Garden of Test; El-Hamma): situated in the east of Algiers, it extends over and contains exotic plants and gardens. It was created in 1832 by A. Hardy.
Villa Abd-el-Hair, with the top of the Garden of test, one of the old residences of the dey, where until 1962, were placed the artists prizes winner of Price Abd-el-Hair, and in particular Maurice Boitel and Andre Hamburg.
Citadel.
Riadh El-Feth (shopping centre and art gallery).
Ketchaoua Mosque (This mosque became the Saint-Philippe cathedral during colonization before becoming again a mosque).
National Library, is in the district of El HAMMA and was built in the 1990s.
Djamaa el Kebir at the Rue de la Marine. It is the oldest mosque of Algiers and was built during the reign of the Almoravid sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin.
Le Bastion 23 – Palais des Rais, built in 1576 by Dey Ramdhan Pacha and located in the lower Casbah in the Bab El Oued neighborhood. |
Algiers | Demographics | Demographics
Year Population 1977 (Census) 1,523,000 1987 (Census) 1,507,241 1998 (Census) 2,086,212 2008 (Census) 2,364,230
As of 2012, Algiers has a population of about 3,335,418.
The ethnic distribution is 53% from an Arabic-speaking background, 44% from a Berber-speaking background and 3% foreign-born. |
Algiers | Economy | Economy
thumb|Ministry of Finance of Algeria
Algiers is an important economic, commercial and financial center, with a stock exchange capitalized at 60 million euros. Algiers contributes to 20% of Algeria's GDP (51 Billions $ in 2024.) The city has the highest cost of living of any city in North Africa, as well as the 50th highest worldwide, as of March 2007, having gained one position compared to the previous year.
Mohamed Ben Ali El Abbar, president of the Council of Administration of the Emirate Group EMAAR, presented five "megaprojects" to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, during a ceremony which took place Saturday, July 15, in the People's Palace of Algiers. These projects will transform the city of Algiers and its surroundings by equipping them with a retail area and restoration and leisure facilities.
The first project will concentrate on the reorganization and the development of the infrastructures of the railway station "Aga" located in the downtown area. The ultramodern station intended to accommodate more than 80.000 passengers per day, will become a centre of circulation in the heart of the grid system, surrounded by commercial offices and buildings and hotels intended for travellers in transit. A shopping centre and three high-rise office buildings rising with the top of the commercial zone will accompany the project.
The second project will not relate to the bay of Algiers and aims to revitalize the sea front. The development of the sea front will include marinas, channels, luxury hotels, offices, apartments of great standing, luxury stores and leisure amenities. A crescent-shaped peninsula will be set up on the open sea. The project of the bay of Algiers will also comprise six small islands, of which four of round form, connected to each other by bridges and marinas and will include tourist and residential complexes.
thumb|left|Air Algérie head office in Place Audin near the University of Algiers, in Alger-Centre
The third project will relate to restructuring an area of Algiers, qualified by the originators of the project of "city of wellness". El Abbar indicated to the journalists that the complex would be "agreeable for all those which will want to combine tourism and well-being or tourism and relaxation". The complex will include a university, a research center and a medical centre. It should also include a hospital complex, a care centre, a hotel zone, an urban centre and a thermal spa with villas and apartments. The university will include a medical school and a school for care male nurses which will be able to accommodate 500 students. The university campus will have the possibility of seeing setting up broad ranges of buildings of research laboratories and residences.
Another project relates to technological implantation of a campus in Sidi Abdellah, south-east from Algiers. This site will include shopping centres, residential zones with high standard apartments and a golf course surrounded by villas and hotels. Two other residential zones, including 1.800 apartments and 40 high standard villas, will be built on the surrounding hills.
The fifth project is that of the tourist complex Colonel Abbès, which will be located west from Algiers. This complex will include several retail zones, meeting places, and residential zones composed of apartments and villas with views of the sea.
There is another project under construction, by the name of Algiers Medina. The first step of the project is nearly complete.
A Hewlett-Packard office for French-speaking countries in Africa is in Algiers. |
Algiers | Tourist attractions | Tourist attractions
the most notable of which are Algiers Opera House, the Algerian National Theater Mahieddine Bachtarzi, Bardo National Museum (Algiers), the National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers, The National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art; the "National Museum of Miniatures, Illumination and Calligraphy" located inside of Dar Mustapha Pacha; "Palais des Rais"; Algerian Admiralty Museum; the Central Military Museum adjacent to Maqam Echahid (Martyrs Memorial), a breathtaking monument that sits above the Martyrs National Museum. Other landmarks include Djamaa el Djazaïr, the 3rd biggest mosque in the world; Botanical Garden Hamma; Culture Palace Moufdi Zakaria; Grande Poste d'Alger, located adjacent to Kilometre zero; Ketchaoua Mosque; Notre-Dame d'Afrique; Emir Abdelkader Square as well as Martyr's Square. The city also contains a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Casbah or citadel,UNESCO, Decision Text , World Heritage Centre, retrieved 21 July 2017. that is a prominent example of Casbah and Medina.
thumb|Panorama of the city as seen from Bologhine district
thumb|Morning view of Algiers
Some to the west of Algiers are such seaside resorts as Sidi Fredj (ex-Sidi Ferruch), Palm Beach, Douaouda, Zéralda, and the Club of the Pines (residence of State); there are tourist complexes, Algerian and other restaurants, souvenir shops, supervised beaches, and other amenities. The city is also equipped with important hotel complexes such as the hotel Hilton, El-Aurassi or El Djazair. Algiers also has the first water park in the country. The tourism of Algiers is growing but is not as developed as that of the larger cities in Morocco or Tunisia. |
Algiers | Education | Education
The presence of a large diplomatic community in Algiers prompted the creation of multiple international educational institutions. These schools include :
American International School of Algiers;
British School Algiers
El Kalimat School (English-language school);
Lycée International Alexandre-Dumas d'Alger (French school);
Roma Italian School of Algiers;
Russian Embassy School in Algiers.
There was formerly the École japonaise d'Alger (アルジェ日本人学校 Aruje Nihonjin Gakkō), a school for Japanese children.Kobori, Iwao (Conseiller aupres del'Universite des Nations Unies). "L'Algerie et moi" ( ). Japan-Algeria Center. Retrieved on 16 January 2015."過去に指定・認定していた在外教育施設" ( ). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Retrieved on January 15, 2015. |
Algiers | Public transport | Public transport
thumb|left|Public transport of Algiers
thumb|Various means of transport in Algiers
ETUSA (urban and suburban bus transportation for Algiers) operates bus service in Algiers and the surrounding suburbs. 54 lines are operating, with service from 5:30 a.m. to 12:45 a.m.
SNTF (national railroad company) operates commuter-rail lines connecting the capital to the surrounding suburbs.
Algiers Metro, opened November 1, 2011.
Algiers tramway, opened on May 8, 2011.
Houari Boumediene Airport is located from the city. The airport serves domestics, many European cities, West Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North America. On July 5, 2006, a new international air terminal was opened for service. The terminal is managed by Aéroports de Paris.
4 urban beltways:
El Madania – Belouizdad
Notre Dame d'Afrique – Bologhine
Memorial des Martyres/Riad el Feth – Jardin d'essais
Palais de la culture – Oued Kniss |
Algiers | Sports | Sports
Algiers is the sporting centre of Algeria. The city has a number of professional clubs in the variety of sports, which have won national and international titles. Among the sports facilities within the city, there is an enormous sporting complex – Complex of OCO – Mohamed Boudiaf. This includes the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 (capacity ), a venue for athletics, an Olympic swimming pool, a multisports room (the Cupola), an 18-hole golf course, and several tennis courts.
The following major sporting events have been held in Algiers (not-exhaustive list): |
Algiers | Football clubs | Football clubs
Major association football club based in Algiers include: |
Algiers | International relations | International relations |
Algiers | Twin towns – sister cities | Twin towns – sister cities
Algiers is twinned with:
Montreal, Canada
Sofia, Bulgaria
In addition, many of the wards and cities within Algiers maintain sister-city relationships with other foreign cities. |
Algiers | Cooperation agreements | Cooperation agreements
Algiers has cooperation agreements with:
Lisbon, Portugal
Paris, France |
Algiers | Films about Algiers | Films about Algiers
thumb|The Battle of Algiers (1966), Italian-Algerian movie by Gillo Pontecorvo.
Algiers, 1938, starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, and directed by John Cromwell;
The Battle of Algiers, 1966, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo;
Tahya ya Didou, Alger Insolite, 1970, Mohammed Zinet;
Bab El-Oued City, 1994, directed by Merzak Allouache;
Viva Laldjérie, 2003, directed by Nadir Moknèche, with Biyouna and Lubna Azabal;
Bab el Web, 2004, directed by Merzak Allouache, with Samy Naceri, Julie Gayet, Faudel;
Once upon a time in the Oued, 2005, directed by Djamel Bensalah;
Beur, White, Red, 2005, directed by Mahmoud Zemmouri.
Délice Paloma, 2007, directed by Nadir Moknèche, with Biyouna and Nadia Kaci.
Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, 1950, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
Carry On Spying 1964, directed by Gerald Thomas with Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Barbara Windsor & Renée Houston |
Algiers | Notable people | Notable people |
Algiers | See also | See also
Barbary pirates
Botanical Garden Hamma
List of Ottoman governors of Algiers
Bologhine Forest
Réghaïa forest |
Algiers | Notes | Notes |
Algiers | References | References |
Algiers | Citations | Citations |
Algiers | Bibliography | Bibliography
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Algiers | Further reading | Further reading
Carroll, David. Albert Camus the Algerian (Columbia University Press, 2007).
Emerson, Charles. 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War (2013) compares Algiers to 20 major world cities; pp 267–79.
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Algiers | External links | External links
Category:944 establishments
Category:Barbary Wars
Category:Capitals in Africa
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Ibn al-Haytham | Short description | Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham (Latinized as Alhazen; ; full name ; ) was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq.Also Alhacen, Avennathan, Avenetan, etc.; the identity of "Alhazen" with Ibn al-Haytham al-Basri "was identified towards the end of the 19th century". (): "Ibn al-Haytham (d. 1039), known in the West as Alhazan, was a leading Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. His optical compendium, Kitab al-Manazir, is the greatest medieval work on optics."For the description of his main fields, see e.g. ("He is one of the principal Arab mathematicians and, without any doubt, the best physicist.") , ("Ibn al-Ḥaytam was an eminent eleventh-century Arab optician, geometer, arithmetician, algebraist, astronomer, and engineer."), ("Ibn al-Haytham (d. 1039), known in the West as Alhazan, was a leading Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. His optical compendium, Kitab al-Manazir, is the greatest medieval work on optics.") Referred to as "the father of modern optics", he made significant contributions to the principles of optics and visual perception in particular. His most influential work is titled Kitāb al-Manāẓir (Arabic: , "Book of Optics"), written during 1011–1021, which survived in a Latin edition.: "The three most recognizable Islamic contributors to meteorology were: the Alexandrian mathematician/ astronomer Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen 965–1039), the Arab-speaking Persian physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna 980–1037), and the Spanish Moorish physician/jurist Ibn Rushd (Averroes; 1126–1198)." He has been dubbed the "father of modern optics" by the UNESCO. .
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. Specifically, he was the first to explain that vision occurs when light bounces on an object and then enters an eye. The works of Alhazen were frequently cited during the scientific revolution by Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Christiaan Huygens, and Galileo Galilei.
Ibn al-Haytham was the first to correctly explain the theory of vision, and to argue that vision occurs in the brain, pointing to observations that it is subjective and affected by personal experience. He also stated the principle of least time for refraction which would later become Fermat's principle. He made major contributions to catoptrics and dioptrics by studying reflection, refraction and nature of images formed by light rays. Ibn al-Haytham was an early proponent of the concept that a hypothesis must be supported by experiments based on confirmable procedures or mathematical reasoningan early pioneer in the scientific method five centuries before Renaissance scientists,Haq, Syed (2009). "Science in Islam". Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. . Retrieved 22 October 2014.G. J. Toomer. , Toomer's 1964 review of Matthias Schramm (1963) Ibn Al-Haythams Weg Zur Physik] Toomer p. 464: "Schramm sums up [Ibn Al-Haytham's] achievement in the development of scientific method." he is sometimes described as the world's "first true scientist". He was also a polymath, writing on philosophy, theology and medicine.Roshdi Rashed, Ibn al-Haytham's Geometrical Methods and the Philosophy of Mathematics: A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics, Volume 5, Routledge (2017), p. 635
Born in Basra, he spent most of his productive period in the Fatimid capital of Cairo and earned his living authoring various treatises and tutoring members of the nobilities.According to Al-Qifti. . Ibn al-Haytham is sometimes given the byname al-Baṣrī after his birthplace, or al-Miṣrī ("the Egyptian").Disputed: . Al-Haytham was dubbed the "Second Ptolemy" by Abu'l-Hasan BayhaqiNoted by Abu'l-Hasan Bayhaqi (c. 1097–1169), and by
Sabra 1994 p. 197
Carl Boyer 1959 p. 80 and "The Physicist" by John Peckham.:"Peckham continually bows to the authority of Alhazen, whom he cites as "the Author" or "the Physicist"." Ibn al-Haytham paved the way for the modern science of physical optics. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Biography | Biography
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) was born c. 965 to a family of Arab"Alhazen Arab mathematician and physicist who was born around 965 in what is now Iraq." Critical Companion to Chaucer: A Literary Reference to His Life and WorkEsposito (2000)، The Oxford History of Islam، Oxford University Press، p. 192. : "Ibn al-Haytham (d. 1039), known in the West as Alhazan, was a leading Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. His optical compendium, Kitab al-Manazir, is the greatest medieval work on optics" or Persian, , Understanding History by John Child, Paul Shuter, David Taylor, p. 70. "Alhazen, a Persian scientist, showed that the eye saw light from other objects. This started optics, the science of light. The Arabs also studied astronomy, the study of the stars. " origin in Basra, Iraq, which was at the time part of the Buyid emirate. His initial influences were in the study of religion and service to the community. At the time, society had a number of conflicting views of religion that he ultimately sought to step aside from religion. This led to him delving into the study of mathematics and science. He held a position with the title of vizier in his native Basra, and became famous for his knowledge of applied mathematics, as evidenced by his attempt to regulate the flooding of the Nile..
Upon his return to Cairo, he was given an administrative post. After he proved unable to fulfill this task as well, he contracted the ire of the caliph Al-Hakim,The Prisoner of Al-Hakim. Clifton, NJ: Blue Dome Press, 2017. and is said to have been forced into hiding until the caliph's death in 1021, after which his confiscated possessions were returned to him.Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, vol. 1 (1898), p. 469.
Legend has it that Alhazen feigned madness and was kept under house arrest during this period. During this time, he wrote his influential Book of Optics. Alhazen continued to live in Cairo, in the neighborhood of the famous University of al-Azhar, and lived from the proceeds of his literary productionFor Ibn al-Haytham's life and works, recommends until his death in c. 1040. (A copy of Apollonius' Conics, written in Ibn al-Haytham's own handwriting exists in Aya Sofya: (MS Aya Sofya 2762, 307 fob., dated Safar 415 A.H. [1024]).)
Among his students were Sorkhab (Sohrab), a Persian from Semnan, and Abu al-Wafa Mubashir ibn Fatek, an Egyptian prince.Sajjadi, Sadegh, "Alhazen", Great Islamic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Article No. 1917 |
Ibn al-Haytham | ''Book of Optics'' | Book of Optics
Alhazen's most famous work is his seven-volume treatise on optics Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics), written from 1011 to 1021.. In it, Ibn al-Haytham was the first to explain that vision occurs when light reflects from an object and then passes to one's eyes, and to argue that vision occurs in the brain, pointing to observations that it is subjective and affected by personal experience.
Optics was translated into Latin by an unknown scholar at the end of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th century..
This work enjoyed a great reputation during the Middle Ages. The Latin version of De aspectibus was translated at the end of the 14th century into Italian vernacular, under the title De li aspecti.. On this version, see .
It was printed by Friedrich Risner in 1572, with the title Opticae thesaurus: Alhazeni Arabis libri septem, nuncprimum editi; Eiusdem liber De Crepusculis et nubium ascensionibus (English: Treasury of Optics: seven books by the Arab Alhazen, first edition; by the same, on twilight and the height of clouds).
Risner is also the author of the name variant "Alhazen"; before Risner he was known in the west as Alhacen..
Works by Alhazen on geometric subjects were discovered in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris in 1834 by E. A. Sedillot. In all, A. Mark Smith has accounted for 18 full or near-complete manuscripts, and five fragments, which are preserved in 14 locations, including one in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and one in the library of Bruges.. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Theory of optics | Theory of optics
thumb|upright|Front page of the Opticae Thesaurus, which included the first printed Latin translation of Alhazen's Book of Optics. The illustration incorporates many examples of optical phenomena including perspective effects, the rainbow, mirrors, and refraction.
Two major theories on vision prevailed in classical antiquity. The first theory, the emission theory, was supported by such thinkers as Euclid and Ptolemy, who believed that sight worked by the eye emitting rays of light. The second theory, the intromission theory supported by Aristotle and his followers, had physical forms entering the eye from an object. Previous Islamic writers (such as al-Kindi) had argued essentially on Euclidean, Galenist, or Aristotelian lines. The strongest influence on the Book of Optics was from Ptolemy's Optics, while the description of the anatomy and physiology of the eye was based on Galen's account.. Alhazen's achievement was to come up with a theory that successfully combined parts of the mathematical ray arguments of Euclid, the medical tradition of Galen, and the intromission theories of Aristotle. Alhazen's intromission theory followed al-Kindi (and broke with Aristotle) in asserting that "from each point of every colored body, illuminated by any light, issue light and color along every straight line that can be drawn from that point".. This left him with the problem of explaining how a coherent image was formed from many independent sources of radiation; in particular, every point of an object would send rays to every point on the eye.
What Alhazen needed was for each point on an object to correspond to one point only on the eye. He attempted to resolve this by asserting that the eye would only perceive perpendicular rays from the objectfor any one point on the eye, only the ray that reached it directly, without being refracted by any other part of the eye, would be perceived. He argued, using a physical analogy, that perpendicular rays were stronger than oblique rays: in the same way that a ball thrown directly at a board might break the board, whereas a ball thrown obliquely at the board would glance off, perpendicular rays were stronger than refracted rays, and it was only perpendicular rays which were perceived by the eye. As there was only one perpendicular ray that would enter the eye at any one point, and all these rays would converge on the centre of the eye in a cone, this allowed him to resolve the problem of each point on an object sending many rays to the eye; if only the perpendicular ray mattered, then he had a one-to-one correspondence and the confusion could be resolved. He later asserted (in book seven of the Optics) that other rays would be refracted through the eye and perceived as if perpendicular. His arguments regarding perpendicular rays do not clearly explain why only perpendicular rays were perceived; why would the weaker oblique rays not be perceived more weakly? His later argument that refracted rays would be perceived as if perpendicular does not seem persuasive. However, despite its weaknesses, no other theory of the time was so comprehensive, and it was enormously influential, particularly in Western Europe. Directly or indirectly, his De Aspectibus (Book of Optics) inspired much activity in optics between the 13th and 17th centuries. Kepler's later theory of the retinal image (which resolved the problem of the correspondence of points on an object and points in the eye) built directly on the conceptual framework of Alhazen..
Alhazen showed through experiment that light travels in straight lines, and carried out various experiments with lenses, mirrors, refraction, and reflection.. His analyses of reflection and refraction considered the vertical and horizontal components of light rays separately..
Alhazen studied the process of sight, the structure of the eye, image formation in the eye, and the visual system. Ian P. Howard argued in a 1996 Perception article that Alhazen should be credited with many discoveries and theories previously attributed to Western Europeans writing centuries later. For example, he described what became in the 19th century Hering's law of equal innervation. He wrote a description of vertical horopters 600 years before Aguilonius that is actually closer to the modern definition than Aguilonius'sand his work on binocular disparity was repeated by Panum in 1858.. Craig Aaen-Stockdale, while agreeing that Alhazen should be credited with many advances, has expressed some caution, especially when considering Alhazen in isolation from Ptolemy, with whom Alhazen was extremely familiar. Alhazen corrected a significant error of Ptolemy regarding binocular vision, but otherwise his account is very similar; Ptolemy also attempted to explain what is now called Hering's law. In general, Alhazen built on and expanded the optics of Ptolemy.; .
In a more detailed account of Ibn al-Haytham's contribution to the study of binocular vision based on Lejeune. and Sabra,. Raynaud. showed that the concepts of correspondence, homonymous and crossed diplopia were in place in Ibn al-Haytham's optics. But contrary to Howard, he explained why Ibn al-Haytham did not give the circular figure of the horopter and why, by reasoning experimentally, he was in fact closer to the discovery of Panum's fusional area than that of the Vieth-Müller circle. In this regard, Ibn al-Haytham's theory of binocular vision faced two main limits: the lack of recognition of the role of the retina, and obviously the lack of an experimental investigation of ocular tracts.
left|thumb|upright|The structure of the human eye according to Ibn al-Haytham. Note the depiction of the optic chiasm. —Manuscript copy of his Kitāb al-Manāẓir (MS Fatih 3212, vol. 1, fol. 81b, Süleymaniye Mosque Library, Istanbul)
Alhazen's most original contribution was that, after describing how he thought the eye was anatomically constructed, he went on to consider how this anatomy would behave functionally as an optical system.. His understanding of pinhole projection from his experiments appears to have influenced his consideration of image inversion in the eye,. which he sought to avoid. He maintained that the rays that fell perpendicularly on the lens (or glacial humor as he called it) were further refracted outward as they left the glacial humor and the resulting image thus passed upright into the optic nerve at the back of the eye.. He followed Galen in believing that the lens was the receptive organ of sight, although some of his work hints that he thought the retina was also involved.
Alhazen's synthesis of light and vision adhered to the Aristotelian scheme, exhaustively describing the process of vision in a logical, complete fashion.
His research in catoptrics (the study of optical systems using mirrors) was centred on spherical and parabolic mirrors and spherical aberration. He made the observation that the ratio between the angle of incidence and refraction does not remain constant, and investigated the magnifying power of a lens. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Law of reflection | Law of reflection
Alhazen was the first physicist to give complete statement of the law of reflection. He was first to state that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface all lie in a same plane perpendicular to reflecting plane. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Alhazen's problem | Alhazen's problem
thumb|The theorem of Ibn Haytham
His work on catoptrics in Book V of the Book of Optics contains a discussion of what is now known as Alhazen's problem, first formulated by Ptolemy in 150 AD. It comprises drawing lines from two points in the plane of a circle meeting at a point on the circumference and making equal angles with the normal at that point. This is equivalent to finding the point on the edge of a circular billiard table at which a player must aim a cue ball at a given point to make it bounce off the table edge and hit another ball at a second given point. Thus, its main application in optics is to solve the problem, "Given a light source and a spherical mirror, find the point on the mirror where the light will be reflected to the eye of an observer." This leads to an equation of the fourth degree., . This eventually led Alhazen to derive a formula for the sum of fourth powers, where previously only the formulas for the sums of squares and cubes had been stated. His method can be readily generalized to find the formula for the sum of any integral powers, although he did not himself do this (perhaps because he only needed the fourth power to calculate the volume of the paraboloid he was interested in). He used his result on sums of integral powers to perform what would now be called an integration, where the formulas for the sums of integral squares and fourth powers allowed him to calculate the volume of a paraboloid.. Alhazen eventually solved the problem using conic sections and a geometric proof. His solution was extremely long and complicated and may not have been understood by mathematicians reading him in Latin translation.
Later mathematicians used Descartes' analytical methods to analyse the problem.. An algebraic solution to the problem was finally found in 1965 by Jack M. Elkin, an actuarian. Other solutions were discovered in 1989, by Harald Riede and in 1997 by the Oxford mathematician Peter M. Neumann.
Recently, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) researchers solved the extension of Alhazen's problem to general rotationally symmetric quadric mirrors including hyperbolic, parabolic and elliptical mirrors.. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Camera Obscura | Camera Obscura
The camera obscura was known to the ancient Chinese, and was described by the Han Chinese polymath Shen Kuo in his scientific book Dream Pool Essays, published in the year 1088 C.E. Aristotle had discussed the basic principle behind it in his Problems, but Alhazen's work contained the first clear description of camera obscura.: "The first clear description of the device appears in the Book of Optics of Alhazen." and early analysis: "The principles of the camera obscura first began to be correctly analysed in the eleventh century, when they were outlined by Ibn al-Haytham." of the device.
Ibn al-Haytham used a camera obscura mainly to observe a partial solar eclipse.German physicist Eilhard Wiedemann first provided an abridged German translation of On the shape of the eclipse: The work is now available in full: .
In his essay, Ibn al-Haytham writes that he observed the sickle-like shape of the sun at the time of an eclipse. The introduction reads as follows: "The image of the sun at the time of the eclipse, unless it is total, demonstrates that when its light passes through a narrow, round hole and is cast on a plane opposite to the hole it takes on the form of a moonsickle."
It is admitted that his findings solidified the importance in the history of the camera obscura but this treatise is important in many other respects.
Ancient optics and medieval optics were divided into optics and burning mirrors. Optics proper mainly focused on the study of vision, while burning mirrors focused on the properties of light and luminous rays. On the shape of the eclipse is probably one of the first attempts made by Ibn al-Haytham to articulate these two sciences.
Very often Ibn al-Haytham's discoveries benefited from the intersection of mathematical and experimental contributions. This is the case with On the shape of the eclipse. Besides the fact that this treatise allowed more people to study partial eclipses of the sun, it especially allowed to better understand how the camera obscura works. This treatise is a physico-mathematical study of image formation inside the camera obscura. Ibn al-Haytham takes an experimental approach, and determines the result by varying the size and the shape of the aperture, the focal length of the camera, the shape and intensity of the light source.
In his work he explains the inversion of the image in the camera obscura, the fact that the image is similar to the source when the hole is small, but also the fact that the image can differ from the source when the hole is large. All these results are produced by using a point analysis of the image. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Refractometer | Refractometer
In the seventh tract of his book of optics, Alhazen described an apparatus for experimenting with various cases of refraction, in order to investigate the relations between the angle of incidence, the angle of refraction and the angle of deflection. This apparatus was a modified version of an apparatus used by Ptolemy for similar purpose. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Unconscious inference | Unconscious inference
Alhazen basically states the concept of unconscious inference in his discussion of colour before adding that the inferential step between sensing colour and differentiating it is shorter than the time taken between sensing and any other visible characteristic (aside from light), and that "time is so short as not to be clearly apparent to the beholder." Naturally, this suggests that the colour and form are perceived elsewhere. Alhazen goes on to say that information must travel to the central nerve cavity for processing and:the sentient organ does not sense the forms that reach it from the visible objects until
after it has been affected by these forms; thus it does not sense color as color or light as light until after it has been affected by the form of color or light. Now the affectation received by the sentient organ from the form of color or of light is a certain change; and change must take place in time; .....and it is in the time during which the form extends from the sentient organ's surface to the cavity of the common nerve, and in (the time) following that, that the sensitive faculty, which exists in the whole of the sentient body will perceive color as color...Thus the last sentient's perception of color as such and of light as such takes place at a time following that in which the form arrives from the surface of the sentient organ to the cavity of the common nerve. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Color constancy | Color constancy
Alhazen explained color constancy by observing that the light reflected from an object is modified by the object's color. He explained that the quality of the light and the color of the object are mixed, and the visual system separates light and color. In Book II, Chapter 3 he writes:Again the light does not travel from the colored object to the eye unaccompanied by the color, nor does the form of the color pass from the colored object to the eye unaccompanied by the light. Neither the form of the light nor that of the color existing in the colored object can pass except as mingled together and the last sentient can only
perceive them as mingled together. Nevertheless, the sentient perceives that the visible object is luminous and that the light seen in the object is other than the color and that these are two properties. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Other contributions | Other contributions
The Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics) describes several experimental observations that Alhazen made and how he used his results to explain certain optical phenomena using mechanical analogies. He conducted experiments with projectiles and concluded that only the impact of perpendicular projectiles on surfaces was forceful enough to make them penetrate, whereas surfaces tended to deflect oblique projectile strikes. For example, to explain refraction from a rare to a dense medium, he used the mechanical analogy of an iron ball thrown at a thin slate covering a wide hole in a metal sheet. A perpendicular throw breaks the slate and passes through, whereas an oblique one with equal force and from an equal distance does not.. He also used this result to explain how intense, direct light hurts the eye, using a mechanical analogy: Alhazen associated 'strong' lights with perpendicular rays and 'weak' lights with oblique ones. The obvious answer to the problem of multiple rays and the eye was in the choice of the perpendicular ray, since only one such ray from each point on the surface of the object could penetrate the eye..
Sudanese psychologist Omar Khaleefa has argued that Alhazen should be considered the founder of experimental psychology, for his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception and optical illusions. Khaleefa has also argued that Alhazen should also be considered the "founder of psychophysics", a sub-discipline and precursor to modern psychology. Although Alhazen made many subjective reports regarding vision, there is no evidence that he used quantitative psychophysical techniques and the claim has been rebuffed..
Alhazen offered an explanation of the Moon illusion, an illusion that played an important role in the scientific tradition of medieval Europe.. Many authors repeated explanations that attempted to solve the problem of the Moon appearing larger near the horizon than it does when higher up in the sky. Alhazen argued against Ptolemy's refraction theory, and defined the problem in terms of perceived, rather than real, enlargement. He said that judging the distance of an object depends on there being an uninterrupted sequence of intervening bodies between the object and the observer. When the Moon is high in the sky there are no intervening objects, so the Moon appears close. The perceived size of an object of constant angular size varies with its perceived distance. Therefore, the Moon appears closer and smaller high in the sky, and further and larger on the horizon. Through works by Roger Bacon, John Pecham and Witelo based on Alhazen's explanation, the Moon illusion gradually came to be accepted as a psychological phenomenon, with the refraction theory being rejected in the 17th century.. Although Alhazen is often credited with the perceived distance explanation, he was not the first author to offer it. Cleomedes ( 2nd century) gave this account (in addition to refraction), and he credited it to Posidonius ( 135–50 BCE).. Ptolemy may also have offered this explanation in his Optics, but the text is obscure.. Alhazen's writings were more widely available in the Middle Ages than those of these earlier authors, and that probably explains why Alhazen received the credit. |
Ibn al-Haytham | Scientific method | Scientific method
An aspect associated with Alhazen's optical research is related to systemic and methodological reliance on experimentation (i'tibar)(Arabic: اختبار) and controlled testing in his scientific inquiries. Moreover, his experimental directives rested on combining classical physics (ilm tabi'i) with mathematics (ta'alim; geometry in particular). This mathematical-physical approach to experimental science supported most of his propositions in Kitab al-Manazir (The Optics; De aspectibus or Perspectivae)See, for example,De aspectibus Book 7 , for his experiments in refraction and grounded his theories of vision, light and colour, as well as his research in catoptrics and dioptrics (the study of the reflection and refraction of light, respectively)..
According to Matthias Schramm, Alhazen "was the first to make a systematic use of the method of varying the experimental conditions in a constant and uniform manner, in an experiment showing that the intensity of the light-spot formed by the projection of the moonlight through two small apertures onto a screen diminishes constantly as one of the apertures is gradually blocked up." G. J. Toomer expressed some skepticism regarding Schramm's view, partly because at the time (1964) the Book of Optics had not yet been fully translated from Arabic, and Toomer was concerned that without context, specific passages might be read anachronistically. While acknowledging Alhazen's importance in developing experimental techniques, Toomer argued that Alhazen should not be considered in isolation from other Islamic and ancient thinkers. Toomer concluded his review by saying that it would not be possible to assess Schramm's claim that Ibn al-Haytham was the true founder of modern physics without translating more of Alhazen's work and fully investigating his influence on later medieval writers.G. J. Toomer. Review at Toomer's 1964 review of Matthias Schramm (1963) Ibn Al-Haythams Weg Zur Physik Toomer p. 464: "Schramm sums up [Ibn Al-Haytham's] achievement in the development of scientific method.", p. 465: "Schramm has demonstrated .. beyond any dispute that Ibn al-Haytham is a major figure in the Islamic scientific tradition, particularly in the creation of experimental techniques." p. 465: "Only when the influence of ibn al-Haytam and others on the mainstream of later medieval physical writings has been seriously investigated can Schramm's claim that ibn al-Haytam was the true founder of modern physics be evaluated." |
Ibn al-Haytham | Other works on physics | Other works on physics |
Ibn al-Haytham | Optical treatises<!--Linked from [[Treatise on Light]]--> | Optical treatises
Besides the Book of Optics, Alhazen wrote several other treatises on the same subject, including his Risala fi l-Daw (Treatise on Light). He investigated the properties of luminance, the rainbow, eclipses, twilight, and moonlight. Experiments with mirrors and the refractive interfaces between air, water, and glass cubes, hemispheres, and quarter-spheres provided the foundation for his theories on catoptrics..
Celestial physics
Alhazen discussed the physics of the celestial region in his Epitome of Astronomy, arguing that Ptolemaic models must be understood in terms of physical objects rather than abstract hypothesesin other words that it should be possible to create physical models where (for example) none of the celestial bodies would collide with each other. The suggestion of mechanical models for the Earth centred Ptolemaic model "greatly contributed to the eventual triumph of the Ptolemaic system among the Christians of the West". Alhazen's determination to root astronomy in the realm of physical objects was important, however, because it meant astronomical hypotheses "were accountable to the laws of physics", and could be criticised and improved upon in those terms..
He also wrote Maqala fi daw al-qamar (On the Light of the Moon).
Mechanics
In his work, Alhazen discussed theories on the motion of a body.
Astronomical works
On the Configuration of the World
In his On the Configuration of the World Alhazen presented a detailed description of the physical structure of the earth:
The book is a non-technical explanation of Ptolemy's Almagest, which was eventually translated into Hebrew and Latin in the 13th and 14th centuries and subsequently had an influence on astronomers such as Georg von Peuerbach. during the European Middle Ages and Renaissance.; .
Doubts Concerning Ptolemy
In his Al-Shukūk ‛alā Batlamyūs, variously translated as Doubts Concerning Ptolemy or Aporias against Ptolemy, published at some time between 1025 and 1028, Alhazen criticized Ptolemy's Almagest, Planetary Hypotheses, and Optics, pointing out various contradictions he found in these works, particularly in astronomy. Ptolemy's Almagest concerned mathematical theories regarding the motion of the planets, whereas the Hypotheses concerned what Ptolemy thought was the actual configuration of the planets. Ptolemy himself acknowledged that his theories and configurations did not always agree with each other, arguing that this was not a problem provided it did not result in noticeable error, but Alhazen was particularly scathing in his criticism of the inherent contradictions in Ptolemy's works.. He considered that some of the mathematical devices Ptolemy introduced into astronomy, especially the equant, failed to satisfy the physical requirement of uniform circular motion, and noted the absurdity of relating actual physical motions to imaginary mathematical points, lines and circles:
Having pointed out the problems, Alhazen appears to have intended to resolve the contradictions he pointed out in Ptolemy in a later work. Alhazen believed there was a "true configuration" of the planets that Ptolemy had failed to grasp. He intended to complete and repair Ptolemy's system, not to replace it completely. In the Doubts Concerning Ptolemy Alhazen set out his views on the difficulty of attaining scientific knowledge and the need to question existing authorities and theories:
He held that the criticism of existing theorieswhich dominated this bookholds a special place in the growth of scientific knowledge.
Model of the Motions of Each of the Seven Planets
Alhazen's The Model of the Motions of Each of the Seven Planets was written 1038. Only one damaged manuscript has been found, with only the introduction and the first section, on the theory of planetary motion, surviving. (There was also a second section on astronomical calculation, and a third section, on astronomical instruments.) Following on from his Doubts on Ptolemy, Alhazen described a new, geometry-based planetary model, describing the motions of the planets in terms of spherical geometry, infinitesimal geometry and trigonometry. He kept a geocentric universe and assumed that celestial motions are uniformly circular, which required the inclusion of epicycles to explain observed motion, but he managed to eliminate Ptolemy's equant. In general, his model didn't try to provide a causal explanation of the motions, but concentrated on providing a complete, geometric description that could explain observed motions without the contradictions inherent in Ptolemy's model..
Other astronomical works
Alhazen wrote a total of twenty-five astronomical works, some concerning technical issues such as Exact Determination of the Meridian, a second group concerning accurate astronomical observation, a third group concerning various astronomical problems and questions such as the location of the Milky Way; Alhazen made the first systematic effort of evaluating the Milky Way's parallax, combining Ptolemy's data and his own. He concluded that the parallax is (probably very much) smaller than Lunar parallax, and the Milky way should be a celestial object. Though he was not the first who argued that the Milky Way does not belong to the atmosphere, he is the first who did quantitative analysis for the claim.
The fourth group consists of ten works on astronomical theory, including the Doubts and Model of the Motions discussed above..
Mathematical works
thumb|upright|Alhazen's geometrically proven summation formula
In mathematics, Alhazen built on the mathematical works of Euclid and Thabit ibn Qurra and worked on "the beginnings of the link between algebra and geometry". Alhazen made developments in conic sections and number theory.:
In seventeenth century Europe the problems formulated by Ibn al-Haytham (965–1041) became known as 'Alhazen's problem'. ... Al-Haytham's contributions to geometry and number theory went well beyond the Archimedean tradition. Al-Haytham also worked on analytical geometry and the beginnings of the link between algebra and geometry. Subsequently, this work led in pure mathematics to the harmonious fusion of algebra and geometry that was epitomised by Descartes in geometric analysis and by Newton in the calculus. Al-Haytham was a scientist who made major contributions to the fields of mathematics, physics and astronomy during the latter half of the tenth century.
He developed a formula for summing the first 100 natural numbers, using a geometric proof to prove the formula., Chapter 1.
Geometry
thumb|upright|The lunes of Alhazen. The two blue lunes together have the same area as the green right triangle.
Alhazen explored what is now known as the Euclidean parallel postulate, the fifth postulate in Euclid's Elements, using a proof by contradiction,. and in effect introducing the concept of motion into geometry.: "In effect, this method characterised parallel lines as lines always equidistant from one another and also introduced the concept of motion into geometry." He formulated the Lambert quadrilateral, which Boris Abramovich Rozenfeld names the "Ibn al-Haytham–Lambert quadrilateral".. He was criticised by Omar Khayyam who pointed that Aristotle had condemned the use of motion in geometry.
In elementary geometry, Alhazen attempted to solve the problem of squaring the circle using the area of lunes (crescent shapes), but later gave up on the impossible task.. The two lunes formed from a right triangle by erecting a semicircle on each of the triangle's sides, inward for the hypotenuse and outward for the other two sides, are known as the lunes of Alhazen; they have the same total area as the triangle itself..
Number theory
Alhazen's contributions to number theory include his work on perfect numbers. In his Analysis and Synthesis, he may have been the first to state that every even perfect number is of the form 2n−1(2n − 1) where 2n − 1 is prime, but he was not able to prove this result; Euler later proved it in the 18th century, and it is now called the Euclid–Euler theorem.
Alhazen solved problems involving congruences using what is now called Wilson's theorem. In his Opuscula, Alhazen considers the solution of a system of congruences, and gives two general methods of solution. His first method, the canonical method, involved Wilson's theorem, while his second method involved a version of the Chinese remainder theorem.
Calculus
Alhazen discovered the sum formula for the fourth power, using a method that could be generally used to determine the sum for any integral power. He used this to find the volume of a paraboloid. He could find the integral formula for any polynomial without having developed a general formula.
Other works
Influence of Melodies on the Souls of Animals
Alhazen also wrote a Treatise on the Influence of Melodies on the Souls of Animals, although no copies have survived. It appears to have been concerned with the question of whether animals could react to music, for example whether a camel would increase or decrease its pace.
Engineering
In engineering, one account of his career as a civil engineer has him summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile River. He carried out a detailed scientific study of the annual inundation of the Nile River, and he drew plans for building a dam, at the site of the modern-day Aswan Dam. His field work, however, later made him aware of the impracticality of this scheme, and he soon feigned madness so he could avoid punishment from the Caliph., Pt. II, p. 459.
Philosophy
In his Treatise on Place, Alhazen disagreed with Aristotle's view that nature abhors a void, and he used geometry in an attempt to demonstrate that place (al-makan) is the imagined three-dimensional void between the inner surfaces of a containing body.. Abd-el-latif, a supporter of Aristotle's philosophical view of place, later criticized the work in Fi al-Radd 'ala Ibn al-Haytham fi al-makan (A refutation of Ibn al-Haytham's place) for its geometrization of place.
Alhazen also discussed space perception and its epistemological implications in his Book of Optics. In "tying the visual perception of space to prior bodily experience, Alhazen unequivocally rejected the intuitiveness of spatial perception and, therefore, the autonomy of vision. Without tangible notions of distance and size for
correlation, sight can tell us next to nothing about such things.".
Theology
Alhazen was a Muslim and most sources report that he was a Sunni and a follower of the Ash'ari school.Ishaq, Usep Mohamad, and Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud. "Tinjauan biografi-bibliografi Ibn al-haytham." Historia : Jurnal Program Studi Pendidikan Sejarah 5.2 (2017): 107–124.Kaminski, Joseph J. "The Trajectory of the Development of Islamic ThoughtA Comparison Between Two Earlier and Two Later Scholars." The Contemporary Islamic Governed State. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017. 31–70. "For example, Ibn al-Haytham and Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī were among the most important medieval scholars who used the scientific method in their approach to natural science, and they were both Ash'arites" Ziauddin Sardar says that some of the greatest Muslim scientists, such as Ibn al-Haytham and Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, who were pioneers of the scientific method, were themselves followers of the Ashʿari school of Islamic theology. Like other Ashʿarites who believed that faith or taqlid should apply only to Islam and not to any ancient Hellenistic authorities,Anwar, Sabieh (October 2008), "Is Ghazālī really the Halagu of Science in Islam?", Monthly Renaissance, 18 (10), retrieved 14 October 2008 Ibn al-Haytham's view that taqlid should apply only to prophets of Islam and not to any other authorities formed the basis for much of his scientific skepticism and criticism against Ptolemy and other ancient authorities in his Doubts Concerning Ptolemy and Book of Optics.Rashed, Roshdi (2007), "The Celestial Kinematics of Ibn al-Haytham", Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, 17 (1): 7–55 [11],
Alhazen wrote a work on Islamic theology in which he discussed prophethood and developed a system of philosophical criteria to discern its false claimants in his time., Pt. II, p. 464
He also wrote a treatise entitled Finding the Direction of Qibla by Calculation in which he discussed finding the Qibla, where prayers (salat) are directed towards, mathematically..
There are occasional references to theology or religious sentiment in his technical works, e.g.
in Doubts Concerning Ptolemy:
In The Winding Motion:
Regarding the relation of objective truth and God:
Legacy
upright|thumb|Cover page of the Latin translation of Kitāb al-Manāẓir
Alhazen made significant contributions to optics, number theory, geometry, astronomy and natural philosophy. Alhazen's work on optics is credited with contributing a new emphasis on experiment.
His main work, Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics), was known in the Muslim world mainly, but not exclusively, through the thirteenth-century commentary by Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī, the Tanqīḥ al-Manāẓir li-dhawī l-abṣār wa l-baṣā'ir.. In al-Andalus, it was used by the eleventh-century prince of the Banu Hud dynasty of Zaragossa and author of an important mathematical text, al-Mu'taman ibn Hūd. A Latin translation of the Kitab al-Manazir was made probably in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century.. notes the Book of Optics has also been denoted as Opticae Thesaurus Alhazen Arabis, as De Aspectibus, and also as Perspectiva This translation was read by and greatly influenced a number of scholars in Christian Europe including: Roger Bacon,, passim. Robert Grosseteste,: "Alhazen's works in turn inspired many scientists of the Middle Ages, such as the English bishop, Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175–1253), and the English Franciscan, Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294), Erazmus Ciolek Witelo, or Witelon (c. 1230* 1280), a Silesian-born Polish friar, philosopher and scholar, published in c. 1270 a treatise on optics, Perspectiva, largely based on Alhazen's works." Witelo, Giambattista della Porta,: "Roger Bacon, John Peckham, and Giambattista della Porta are only some of the many thinkers who were influenced by Alhazen's work." Leonardo da Vinci,: "The Latin translation of Alhazen's work influenced scientists and philosophers such as (Roger) Bacon and da Vinci, and formed the foundation for the work by mathematicians like Kepler, Descartes and Huygens..." Galileo Galilei,: "This [Latin] version of Ibn al-Haytham's Optics, which became available in print, was read and consulted by scientists and philosophers of the caliber of Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Huygens as discussed by Nader El-Bizri." Christiaan Huygens,: "Sabra discusses in detail the impact of Alhazen's ideas on the optical discoveries of such men as Descartes and Christiaan Huygens; see also ." René Descartes,. and Johannes Kepler.: "Even Kepler, however, used some of Alhazen's ideas, for example, the one-to-one correspondence between points on the object and points in the eye. It would not be going too far to say that Alhazen's optical theories defined the scope and goals of the field from his day to ours." Meanwhile, in the Islamic world, Alhazen's work influenced Averroes' writings on optics, and his legacy was further advanced through the 'reforming' of his Optics by Persian scientist Kamal al-Din al-Farisi (died c. 1320) in the latter's Kitab Tanqih al-Manazir (The Revision of [Ibn al-Haytham's] Optics). Alhazen wrote as many as 200 books, although only 55 have survived. Some of his treatises on optics survived only through Latin translation. During the Middle Ages his books on cosmology were translated into Latin, Hebrew and other languages.
H. J. J. Winter, a British historian of science, summing up the importance of Ibn al-Haytham in the history of physics wrote:
After the death of Archimedes no really great physicist appeared until Ibn al-Haytham. If, therefore, we confine our interest only to the history of physics, there is a long period of over twelve hundred years during which the Golden Age of Greece gave way to the era of Muslim Scholasticism, and the experimental spirit of the noblest physicist of Antiquity lived again in the Arab Scholar from Basra.
Although only one commentary on Alhazen's optics has survived the Islamic Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer mentions the work in The Canterbury Tales:
"They spoke of Alhazen and Vitello,
And Aristotle, who wrote, in their lives,
On strange mirrors and optical instruments."
The impact crater Alhazen on the Moon is named in his honour, Appendix 3, [ p. 129]. as was the asteroid 59239 Alhazen.. In honour of Alhazen, the Aga Khan University (Pakistan) named its Ophthalmology endowed chair as "The Ibn-e-Haitham Associate Professor and Chief of Ophthalmology".
The 2015 International Year of Light celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the works on optics by Ibn Al-Haytham.
alt=Frontispiece of book showing two persons in robes, one holding a geometrical diagram, the other holding a telescope.|thumb|upright|Hevelius's Selenographia, showing Alhasen representing reason, and Galileo representing the senses
In 2014, the "Hiding in the Light" episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, presented by Neil deGrasse Tyson, focused on the accomplishments of Ibn al-Haytham. He was voiced by Alfred Molina in the episode.
Over forty years previously, Jacob Bronowski presented Alhazen's work in a similar television documentary (and the corresponding book), The Ascent of Man. In episode 5 (The Music of the Spheres), Bronowski remarked that in his view, Alhazen was "the one really original scientific mind that Arab culture produced", whose theory of optics was not improved on till the time of Newton and Leibniz.
UNESCO declared 2015 the International Year of Light and its Director-General Irina Bokova dubbed Ibn al-Haytham 'the father of optics'. Amongst others, this was to celebrate Ibn Al-Haytham's achievements in optics, mathematics and astronomy. An international campaign, created by the 1001 Inventions organisation, titled 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham featuring a series of interactive exhibits, workshops and live shows about his work, partnering with science centers, science festivals, museums, and educational institutions, as well as digital and social media platforms. The campaign also produced and released the short educational film 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham.
Ibn al-Haytham appears on the 10,000 dinar banknote of the Iraqi dinar, series 2003.
List of works
According to medieval biographers, Alhazen wrote more than 200 works on a wide range of subjects, of which at least 96 of his scientific works are known. Most of his works are now lost, but more than 50 of them have survived to some extent. Nearly half of his surviving works are on mathematics, 23 of them are on astronomy, and 14 of them are on optics, with a few on other subjects.. Not all his surviving works have yet been studied, but some of the ones that have are given below.;
Book of Optics (كتاب المناظر)
Analysis and Synthesis (مقالة في التحليل والتركيب)
Balance of Wisdom (ميزان الحكمة)
Corrections to the Almagest (تصويبات على المجسطي)
Discourse on Place (مقالة في المكان)
Exact Determination of the Pole (التحديد الدقيق للقطب)
Exact Determination of the Meridian (رسالة في الشفق)
Finding the Direction of Qibla by Calculation (كيفية حساب اتجاه القبلة)
Horizontal Sundials (المزولة الأفقية)
Hour Lines (خطوط الساعة)
Doubts Concerning Ptolemy (شكوك على بطليموس)
Maqala fi'l-Qarastun (مقالة في قرسطون)
On Completion of the Conics (إكمال المخاريط)
On Seeing the Stars (رؤية الكواكب)
On Squaring the Circle (مقالة فی تربیع الدائرة)
On the Burning Sphere (المرايا المحرقة بالدوائر)
On the Configuration of the World (تكوين العالم)
On the Form of Eclipse (مقالة فی صورة الکسوف)
On the Light of Stars (مقالة في ضوء النجوم)Ibn Al-Haytham, W. 'Arafat and H. J. J. Winter (1971) (c. 1027–1038) The Light of the Stars: A Short Discourse by Ibn Al-Haytham The British Journal for the History of Science Vol. 5, No. 3 (Jun., 1971), pp. 282–288
On the Light of the Moon (مقالة في ضوء القمر)
On the Milky Way (مقالة في درب التبانة)
On the Nature of Shadows (كيفيات الإظلال)
On the Rainbow and Halo (مقالة في قوس قزح)
Opuscula (Minor Works)
Resolution of Doubts Concerning the Almagest (تحليل شكوك حول الجست)
Resolution of Doubts Concerning the Winding Motion
The Correction of the Operations in Astronomy (تصحيح العمليات في الفلك)
The Different Heights of the Planets (اختلاف ارتفاع الكواكب)
The Direction of Mecca (اتجاه القبلة)
The Model of the Motions of Each of the Seven Planets (نماذج حركات الكواكب السبعة)
The Model of the Universe (نموذج الكون)
The Motion of the Moon (حركة القمر)
The Ratios of Hourly Arcs to their Heights
The Winding Motion (الحركة المتعرجة)
Treatise on Light (رسالة في الضوء)Alhacen (c.1035) Treatise on Light (رسالة في الضوء) as cited in Shmuel Sambursky, ed. (1975) Physical thought from the Presocratics to the quantum physicists : an anthology, p.137
Treatise on Place (رسالة في المكان)
Treatise on the Influence of Melodies on the Souls of Animals (تأثير اللحون الموسيقية في النفوس الحيوانية)
كتاب في تحليل المسائل الهندسية (A book in engineering analysis)
الجامع في أصول الحساب (The whole in the assets of the account)
قول فی مساحة الکرة (Say in the sphere)
القول المعروف بالغریب فی حساب المعاملات (Saying the unknown in the calculation of transactions)
خواص المثلث من جهة العمود (Triangle properties from the side of the column)
رسالة فی مساحة المسجم المکافی (A message in the free space)
شرح أصول إقليدس (Explain the origins of Euclid)
المرايا المحرقة بالقطوع (The burning mirrors of the rainbow)
مقالة في القرصتن (Treatise on Centers of Gravity)
Lost works
A Book in which I have Summarized the Science of Optics from the Two Books of Euclid and Ptolemy, to which I have added the Notions of the First Discourse which is Missing from Ptolemy's BookFrom Ibn Abi Usaibia's catalog, as cited in 91(vol. 1), p. xv.
Treatise on Burning Mirrors
Treatise on the Nature of [the Organ of] Sight and on How Vision is Achieved Through It
See also
Ibn Sufi
"Hiding in the Light"
History of mathematics
Theoretical physics
History of optics
History of physics
History of science
History of scientific method
Hockney–Falco thesis
Mathematics in medieval Islam
Physics in medieval Islam
Science in the medieval Islamic world
Fatima al-Fihri
Islamic Golden Age
Notes
References
Sources
Reprinted in
(Books I-III (2001) Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text ; Vol 2 English translation I: TOC pp. 339–41, II: TOC pp. 415–16, III: TOC pp. 559–60, Notes 681ff, Bibl. )
(Books 4–5 (2006) 95 4 – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text ; 95 5 – Vol 2 English translation IV: TOC pp. 289–94, V: TOC pp. 377–84, Notes, Bibl. )
(Book 6 (2008) 98 (#1, section 1) – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text ; 98 (#1, section 2) – Vol 2 English translation VI:TOC pp. 155–160, Notes, Bibl. )
(Book 7 (2010) 100(#3, section 1) – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text ; 100(#3, section 2) – Vol 2 English translation VII: TOC pp. 213–18, Notes, Bibl. )
Further reading
Primary
2 vols: . (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society), 2006 – 95(#2) Books 4–5 Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text ; 95(#3) Vol 2 English translation, Notes, Bibl.
Smith, A. Mark, ed. and trans. (2008) Alhacen on Image-formation and distortion in mirrors : a critical edition, with English translation and commentary, of Book 6 of Alhacen's De aspectibus, [the Medieval Latin version of Ibn al-Haytham's Kitāb al-Manāzir], Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 2 vols: Vol 1 98(#1, section 1 – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text); 98(#1, section 2 – Vol 2 English translation). (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society), 2008. Book 6 (2008) Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text ; Vol 2 English translation, Notes, Bibl.
Smith, A. Mark, ed. and trans. (2010) Alhacen on Refraction : a critical edition, with English translation and commentary, of Book 7 of Alhacen's De aspectibus, [the Medieval Latin version of Ibn al-Haytham's Kitāb al-Manāzir], Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 2 vols: 100(#3, section 1 – Vol 1, Introduction and Latin text); 100'''(#3, section 2 – Vol 2 English translation). (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society), 2010. Book 7 (2010) Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text ;Vol 2 English translation, Notes, Bibl.
Secondary
Belting, Hans, Afterthoughts on Alhazen's Visual Theory and Its Presence in the Pictorial Theory of Western Perspective, in: Variantology 4. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies in the Arabic-Islamic World and Beyond, ed. by Siegfried Zielinski and Eckhard Fürlus in cooperation with Daniel Irrgang and Franziska Latell (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2010), pp. 19–42.
Graham, Mark. How Islam Created the Modern World. Amana Publications, 2006.
Roshdi Rashed, Optics and Mathematics: Research on the history of scientific thought in Arabic, Variorum reprints, Aldershot, 1992.
Roshdi Rashed, Geometry and Dioptrics the tenth century: Ibn Sahl al-Quhi and Ibn al-Haytham (in French), Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 1993
Roshdi Rashed, Infinitesimal Mathematics, vols. 1–5, al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, London, 1993–2006
Siegfried Zielinski & Franziska Latell, How One Sees'', in: Variantology 4. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies in the Arabic-Islamic World and Beyond, ed. by Siegfried Zielinski and Eckhard Fürlus in cooperation with Daniel Irrgang and Franziska Latell (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2010), pp. 19–42. Buchhandlung Walther-König - KWB 45: Variantology 4 |
Ibn al-Haytham | External links | External links
(PDF version)
'A Brief Introduction on Ibn al-Haytham' based on a lecture delivered at the Royal Society in London by Nader El-Bizri
Ibn al-Haytham on two Iraqi banknotes
The Miracle of Light – a UNESCO article on Ibn al-Haytham
Biography from Malaspina Global Portal
Short biographies on several "Muslim Heroes and Personalities" including Ibn al-Haytham
Biography from Trinity College (Connecticut)
Biography from Molecular Expressions
The First True Scientist from BBC News
Over the Moon From The UNESCO Courier on the occasion of the International Year of Astronomy 2009
The Mechanical Water Clock Of Ibn Al-Haytham, Muslim Heritage
Alhazen's (1572) Opticae thesaurus (English) – digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library
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Category:1040 deaths
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Category:Medieval physicists
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Category:Scientists who worked on qibla determination
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Category:History of scientific method
Category:History of optics
Category:11th-century inventors
Category:Muslim critics of atheism |
Ibn al-Haytham | Table of Content | Short description, Biography, ''Book of Optics'', Theory of optics, Law of reflection, Alhazen's problem, Camera Obscura, Refractometer, Unconscious inference, Color constancy, Other contributions, Scientific method, Other works on physics, Optical treatises<!--Linked from [[Treatise on Light]]-->, External links |
Alessandro Allori | short description | Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori (Florence, 31 May 153522 September 1607) was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist Florentine school. |
Alessandro Allori | Biography | Biography
After the death of his father in 1541, Allori was brought up and trained in art by the mannerist painter Agnolo Bronzino, a close friend of the family. Both Alessandro and his son Cristofano sometimes used the name "Bronzino" in adulthood.Pilliod, Elizabeth. “Bronzino’s Household.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 134, no. 1067, 1992, pp. 92–100. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/884993. Accessed 15 June 2024. Allori supplemented his training with a study trip to Rome, between 1554 and 1560, and with anatomical research which included the dissection of human corpses, provided by the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova.
In the prime of his career, Allori headed one of the "two most important workshops in Florence in the second half of the 16th century" (the other was led by Santi di Tito). He served as First Consul of the Accademia del Disegno in 1573, and was made head of the Arazzeria Medicea, Florence's state-owned tapestry workshop, in 1581. Allori also worked, under the guidance of Giorgio Vasari, among the team of artists who decorated the Studiolo of Francesco I. He contributed four painted panels: a Banquet of Cleopatra, a landscape with figures diving for pearls, and portraits of Cosimo I de' Medici and Eleanor of Toledo, the parents of Francesco I. Between 1578 and 1582 he worked in the Medici Villa di Poggio a Caiano, expanding a fresco of Tribute to Caesar which Andrea del Sarto had painted in the 1520s. Allori modified his style and copied figures to harmonize with the work of del Sarto, who was revered by the artists of Florence. In the same way, Allori expanded Franciabigio's fresco Triumph of Cicero in the same hall with figures copied from his frescoes in the Chiostro dello Scalzo, Florence.Van der Windt, Hans. “New Light on Alessandro Allori's Additions to the Frescoes at Poggio a Caiano.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 142, no. 1164, 2000, pp. 170–175. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/888694. Accessed 8 September 2024.
thumb|left|Portrait of Grand Duchess Bianca Capello de Medici, by Allori, Dallas Museum of Art
S. J. Freedberg derides Allori as derivative, claiming he illustrates "the ideal of Maniera by which art (and style) are generated out of pre-existing art." The cold and polished appearance of his painted figures makes them resemble statues as much as living beings. The art historian Simona Lecchini Giovannoni is more positive, remarking that Allori gives life to these "grandiose, introverted figures" by surrounding them with realistic depictions of plants and flowers, household furniture, and textiles; the paintings "approach the spectator, not with dialogue and sentiment, but through the tangible evidence of objects and details".
Among his collaborators was Giovanni Maria Butteri and his main pupil was Giovanni Bizzelli. Cristofano dell'Altissimo, Cesare Dandini, Aurelio Lomi, John Mosnier, Alessandro Pieroni, Giovanni Battista Vanni, and Monanni also were his pupils.Hobbes J.R. page 5 He was the father of the painter Cristofano Allori (1577–1621).
In his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Vasari says that the relationships between Jacopo Pontormo and his pupil Bronzino, and between Bronzino and Allori, resembled those between fathers and sons; he consequently describes the three as a kind of artistic dynasty, despite the lack of literal family ties. In some ways, Allori is the last of the line of prominent Florentine painters, of generally undiluted Tuscan artistic heritage: Andrea del Sarto worked with Fra Bartolomeo (as well as Leonardo da Vinci), Pontormo briefly worked under Andrea, and trained Bronzino, who trained Allori. Subsequent generations in the city would be strongly influenced by the tide of Baroque styles pre-eminent in other parts of Italy. |
Alessandro Allori | Main works | Main works
thumb|Christ with Mary and Martha, oil on wood, 125 x 118 cmKunsthistorisches Museum
Portrait of a Young Man (1561; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)
Christ and the Samaritan Woman (Altarpiece, 1575, Santa Maria Novella, now Prato)
Road to Calvary (1604, Rome)
Dead Christ and Angels, (Museum Fine Arts, Budapest)Web Gallery of Art, image collection, virtual museum, searchable database of European fine arts (1100-1850)
Portrait of Piero de Médici, (São Paulo Art Museum, São Paulo)
Pearl Fishing (1570–72, Studiolo of Francesco I, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence)
Susanna and the Elders (202 × 117 cm, Musée Magnin, Dijon)
Allegory of Human Life
The Miracle of St. Peter Walking on Water
Venus and Cupid, (Musée Fabre, Montpellier)
Additions to Andrea del Sarto's Tribute to Caesar (1582; Villa di Poggio a Caiano)
In 2006 the BBC foreign correspondent Sir Charles Wheeler returned an original Alessandro Allori painting to the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. He had been given it in Germany in 1952, but only recently realized its origin and that it must have been looted in the wake of World War II. The work is possibly a portrait of Eleonora (Dianora) di Toledo de' Medici, niece of Eleonora di Toledo, and measures 12 cm x 16 cm. |
Alessandro Allori | Gallery | Gallery |
Alessandro Allori | References | References
Alessandro Allori in the "History of Art"
Painting in Italy 1500-1600, Freedberg, S.J. (Penguin History of Art, 2nd Edition, 1983).
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Alessandro Allori | External links | External links
Alessandro Allori Paintings Gallery (Public Domain Paintings - www.art.onilm.com)
Category:1535 births
Category:1607 deaths
Category:16th-century Italian painters
Category:Italian male painters
Category:17th-century Italian painters
Category:Italian Roman Catholics
Category:Painters from Florence
Category:Italian Mannerist painters
Category:Italian portrait painters
Category:Catholic painters |
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Almoravid dynasty | Short description | The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco.G. Stewart, Is the Caliph a Pope?, in: The Muslim World, Vol. 21, Iss. 2, pp. 185–196, April 1931: "The Almoravid dynasty, among the Berbers of North Africa, founded a considerable empire, Morocco being the result of their conquests"Sadiqi, Fatima, The place of Berber in Morocco, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 123.1 (2009): 7–22 : "The Almoravids were the first relatively recent Berber dynasty that ruled Morocco. The leaders of this dynasty came from the Moroccan deep south." It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almohads in 1147.
The Almoravids emerged from a coalition of the Lamtuna, Gudala, and Massufa, nomadic Berber tribes living in what is now Mauritania and the Western Sahara, traversing the territory between the Draa, the Niger, and the Senegal rivers.Extract from Encyclopedia Universalis on Almoravids. During their expansion into the Maghreb, they founded the city of Marrakesh as a capital, . Shortly after this, the empire was divided into two branches: a northern one centered in the Maghreb, led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin and his descendants, and a southern one based in the Sahara, led by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and his descendants.
The Almoravids expanded their control to al-Andalus (the Muslim territories in Iberia) and were crucial in temporarily halting the advance of the Christian kingdoms in this region, with the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086 among their signature victories. This united the Maghreb and al-Andalus politically for the first time and transformed the Almoravids into the first major Berber-led Islamic empire in the western Mediterranean. Their rulers never claimed the title of caliph and instead took on the title of Amir al-Muslimīn ("Prince of the Muslims") while formally acknowledging the overlordship of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad. The Almoravid period also contributed significantly to the Islamization of the Sahara region and to the urbanization of the western Maghreb, while cultural developments were spurred by increased contact between Al-Andalus and Africa.
After a short apogee, Almoravid power in al-Andalus began to decline after the loss of Zaragoza in 1118. The final cause of their downfall was the Masmuda-led Almohad rebellion initiated in the Maghreb by Ibn Tumart in the 1120s. The last Almoravid ruler, Ishaq ibn Ali, was killed when the Almohads captured Marrakesh in 1147 and established themselves as the new dominant power in both North Africa and Al-Andalus. |
Almoravid dynasty | Name | Name
The term "Almoravid" comes from the Arabic "" (), through the . The transformation of the in "" to the in is an example of betacism in Spanish.
In Arabic, "" literally means "one who is tying" but figuratively means "one who is ready for battle at a fortress". The term is related to the notion of , a North African frontier monastery-fortress, through the root r-b-t ( "": to tie, to unite or "": to encamp).Nehemia Levtzion, "Abd Allah b. Yasin and the Almoravids", in: John Ralph Willis, Studies in West African Islamic History, p. 54.P. F. de Moraes Farias, "The Almoravids: Some Questions Concerning the Character of the Movement", Bulletin de l'IFAN, series B, 29: 3–4 (794–878), 1967.
The name "Almoravid" was tied to a school of Malikite law called "Dar al-Murabitin" founded in Sus al-Aksa, modern day Morocco, by a scholar named Waggag ibn Zallu. Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar (present-day Mauritania). Hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, "the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God."
It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation. Al-Bakri, writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them the al-Murabitun, but does not clarify the reasons for it. Writing three centuries later, Ibn Abi Zar suggested it was chosen early on by Abdallah ibn YasinIbn Abi Zar, p. 81. because, upon finding resistance among the Gudala Berbers of Adrar (Mauritania) to his teaching, he took a handful of followers to erect a makeshift ribat (monastery-fortress) on an offshore island (possibly Tidra island, in the Bay of Arguin).Ibn Abi Zar's account is translated in N. Levtzion and J. F. P. Hopkins, eds (2000), Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, University of Ghana, pp. 239ff. For tentative identification of the ribat, see Moraes Farias (1967). Ibn 'Idhari wrote that the name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the "persevering in the fight" sense, to boost morale after a particularly hard-fought battle in the Draa valley , in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, partly with the conscious goal of forestalling any tribal or ethnic identifications.
The name might be related to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu (near present-day Tiznit), where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. The 13th-century Moroccan biographer Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili, and Qadi Ayyad before him in the 12th century, note that Waggag's learning center was called Dar al-Murabitin (The house of the Almoravids), and that might have inspired Ibn Yasin's choice of name for the movement. |
Almoravid dynasty | History | History |
Almoravid dynasty | Origins | Origins
thumb|Possible depiction of Abu Bakr ibn Umar (labelled "Rex Bubecar"), in the 1413 portolan chart of Mecia de Viladestes
The Almoravids, sometimes called "al-mulathamun" ("the veiled ones", from , Arabic for "veil".) trace their origins back to several Saharan Sanhaja nomadic tribes, dwelling in an area that stretches between the Senegal River in the south and the Draa river in the north. The first and main Almoravid founding tribe was the Lamtuna. It occupied the region around Awdaghust (Aoudaghost) in the southern Sahara according to contemporary Arab chroniclers such as al-Ya'qubi, al-Bakri and Ibn Hawqal. According to French historian Charles-André Julien: "The original cell of the Almoravid empire was a powerful Sanhaja tribe of the Sahara, the Lamtuna, whose place of origin was in the Adrar in Mauritania." The Tuareg people are believed to be their descendants.
These nomads had been converted to Islam in the 9th century. They were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of new converts, launched several campaigns against the "Sudanese" (pagan peoples of sub-Saharan Africa). Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected (or captured) the citadel of Awdaghust, a critical stop on the trans-Saharan trade route. After the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdaghust passed over to the Ghana Empire; and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmasa. The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous and Draa valleys. Around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat (alias Tarsina), tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years.
Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, a chieftain of the Gudala (and brother-in-law of the late Tarsina), went on pilgrimage to Mecca. On his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya, where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi, a native of Fez and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school. At this time, Ifriqiya was in ferment. The Zirid ruler, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, was openly contemplating breaking with his Shi'ite Fatimid overlords in Cairo, and the jurists of Kairouan were agitating for him to do so. Within this heady atmosphere, Yahya and Abu Imran fell into conversation on the state of the faith in their western homelands, and Yahya expressed his disappointment at the lack of religious education and negligence of Islamic law among his southern Sanhaja people. With Abu Imran's recommendation, Yahya ibn Ibrahim made his way to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zelu in the Sous valley of southern Morocco, to seek out a Maliki teacher for his people. Waggag assigned him one of his residents, Abdallah ibn Yasin.
Abdallah ibn Yasin was a Gazzula Berber, and probably a convert rather than a born Muslim. His name can be read as "son of Ya-Sin" (the title of the 36th surah of the Quran), suggesting he had obliterated his family past and was "re-born" of the Holy Book.M. Brett and E. Fentress (1996), The Berbers, Oxford: Blackwell, p. 100. Revealingly, the 36th surah begins the salutation "You are one of messengers" and the imperative duty to set people "on the straight path". Ibn Yasin's choice of name was probably not a coincidence. Ibn Yasin certainly had the ardor of a puritan zealot; his creed was mainly characterized by a rigid formalism and a strict adherence to the dictates of the Quran, and the Orthodox tradition. (Chroniclers such as al-Bakri allege Ibn Yasin's learning was superficial.) Ibn Yasin's initial meetings with the Guddala people went poorly. As he had more ardor than depth, Ibn Yasin's arguments were disputed by his audience. He responded to questioning with charges of apostasy and handed out harsh punishments for the slightest deviations. The Guddala soon had enough and expelled him almost immediately after the death of his protector, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, sometime in the 1040s.
Ibn Yasin, however, found a more favorable reception among the neighboring Lamtuna people. Probably sensing the useful organizing power of Ibn Yasin's pious fervor, the Lamtuna chieftain Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni invited the man to preach to his people. The Lamtuna leaders, however, kept Ibn Yasin on a careful leash, forging a more productive partnership between them. Invoking stories of the early life of Muhammad, Ibn Yasin preached that conquest was a necessary addendum to Islamicization, that it was not enough to merely adhere to God's law, but necessary to also destroy opposition to it. In Ibn Yasin's ideology, anything and everything outside of Islamic law could be characterized as "opposition". He identified tribalism, in particular, as an obstacle. He believed it was not enough to urge his audiences to put aside their blood loyalties and ethnic differences, and embrace the equality of all Muslims under the Sacred Law, it was necessary to make them do so. For the Lamtuna leadership, this new ideology dovetailed with their long desire to refound the Sanhaja union and recover their lost dominions. In the early 1050s, the Lamtuna, under the joint leadership of Yahya ibn Umar and Abdallah ibn Yasin—soon calling themselves the al-Murabitin (Almoravids)—set out on a campaign to bring their neighbors over to their cause. |
Almoravid dynasty | Early conquests | Early conquests
In the early 1050s, a kind of triumvirate emerged in leading the Almoravid movement, including Abdallah Ibn Yasin, Yahya Ibn Umar and his brother Abu Bakr Ibn Umar. The movement was now dominated by the Lamtuna rather than the Guddala. During the 1050s, the Almoravids began their expansion and their conquest of the Saharan tribes. Their first major targets were two strategic cities located at the northern and southern edges of the desert: Sijilmasa in the north and Awdaghust in the south. Control of these two cities would allow the Almoravids to effectively control the trans-Saharan trade routes. Sijilmasa was controlled by the Maghrawa, a part of the northern Zenata Berber confederation, while Awdaghust was controlled by the Soninke. Both cities were captured in 1054 or 1055. Sijilmasa was captured first and its leader, Mas'ud Ibn Wannudin, was killed, along with other Maghrawa leaders. According to historical sources, the Almoravid army rode on camels and numbered 30,000, though this number may be an exaggeration. Strengthened with the spoils of their victory, they left a garrison of Lamtuna tribesmen in the city and then turned south to capture Awdaghust, which they accomplished that same year. Although the town was mainly Muslim, the Almoravids pillaged the city and treated the population harshly on the basis that they recognized the pagan king of Ghana.
Not long after the main Almoravid army left Sijilmasa, the city rebelled and the Maghrawa returned, slaughtering the Lamtuna garrison. Ibn Yasin responded by organizing a second expedition to recapture it, but the Guddala refused to join him and returned instead to their homelands in the desert regions along the Atlantic coast. Historian Amira Bennison suggests that some Almoravids, including the Guddala, were unwilling to be dragged into a conflict with the powerful Zanata tribes of the north and this created tension with those, like Ibn Yasin, who saw northern expansion as the next step in their fortunes. While Ibn Yasin went north, Yahya Ibn Umar remained in the south in the Adrar, the heartland of the Lamtuna, in a defensible and well-provisioned place called Jabal Lamtuna, about 10 kilometres northwest of modern Atar.: "The Bani Gudala chose this moment to break away from the Sanhaja confederation. This open revolt of the Bani Gudala is linked with their rejection of Ibn Yasin; but it could also have something to do with their desire to seek their own fortune, now, along the salt routes to Awlil on the coast of the Atlantic. Regardless, it forced the Almoravids to split their forces. Ibn Yasin went north with a small detachment of Almoravid warriors. He added to his army as he went, recruiting tribesmen from the Bani Sarta and the Bani Tarja. He joined his forces to those of Abu Bakr Ibn Umar, Yahya's brother, who was already in the region of the Draa to the southwest of Sijilmasa. Yahya Ibn Umar, meanwhile, remained with part of the army in the Adrar, in the heartland of the Bani Lamtuna. He established his base at a place called Jabal Lamtuna. These mountains were surrounded by some 20,000 date palms. There was abundant water and pasturage. Most importantly, the place was easily defensible. He held up in a fortress called Azuggi, which his brother Yannu had built." His stronghold there was a fortress called Azuggi (also rendered variably as Azougui or Azukki), which had been built earlier by his brother Yannu ibn Umar al-Hajj. Some scholars, including Attilio Gaudio, Christiane Vanacker, and Brigitte Himpan and Diane Himpan-Sabatier describe Azuggi as the "first capital" of the Almoravids. Yahya ibn Umar was subsequently killed in battle against the Guddala in 1055 or 1056, or later in 1057.
Meanwhile, in the north, Ibn Yasin had ordered Abu Bakr to take command of the Almoravid army and they soon recaptured Sijilmasa. By 1056, they had conquered Taroudant and the Sous Valley, continuing to impose Maliki Islamic law over the communities they conquered. When the campaign concluded that year, they retired to Sijilmasa and established their base there. It was around this time that Abu Bakr appointed his cousin, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, to command the garrison of the city.
In 1058, they crossed the High Atlas and conquered Aghmat, a prosperous commercial town near the foothills of the mountains, and made it their capital. They then came in contact with the Barghawata, a Berber tribal confederation who followed an Islamic "heresy" preached by Salih ibn Tarif three centuries earlier. The Barghawata occupied the region northwest of Aghmat and along the Atlantic coast. They resisted the Almoravids fiercely and the campaign against them was bloody. Abdullah ibn Yasin was killed in battle with them in 1058 or 1059, at a place called Kurīfalalt or Kurifala. By 1060, however, they were conquered by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and were forced to convert to orthodox Islam. Shortly after this, Abu Bakr had reached as far as Meknes.
Towards 1068, Abu Bakr married a noble and wealthy Berber woman, Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah, who would become very influential in the development of the dynasty. Zaynab was the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Kairouan who had settled in Aghmat. She had been previously married to Laqut ibn Yusuf ibn Ali al-Maghrawi, the ruler of Aghmat, until the latter was killed during the Almoravid conquest of the city. |
Almoravid dynasty | Founding of Marrakesh and internal division | Founding of Marrakesh and internal division
It was around this time that Abu Bakr ibn Umar founded the new capital of Marrakesh. Historical sources cite a variety of dates for this event ranging from 1062, given by Ibn Abi Zar and Ibn Khaldun, to 1078 (470 AH), given by Muhammad al-Idrisi. The year 1070, given by Ibn Idhari, is more commonly used by modern historians, although 1062 is still cited by some writers. Shortly after founding the new city, Abu Bakr was compelled to return south to the Sahara in order to suppress a rebellion by the Guddala and their allies which threatened the desert trade routes, in either 1060 or 1071. His wife Zaynab appears to have been unwilling to follow him south and he granted her a divorce. Apparently on Abu Bakr's instructions, she was then married to Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. Before leaving, Abu Bakr appointed Ibn Tashfin as his deputy in charge of the new Almoravid territories in the north. According to Ibn Idhari, Zaynab became his most important political advisor.
A year later, after suppressing the revolt in the south, Abu Bakr returned north toward Marrakesh, expecting to resume his control of the city and of the Almoravid forces in North Africa. Ibn Tashfin, however, was now unwilling to give up his own position of leadership. While Abu Bakr was still camped near Aghmat, Ibn Tashfin sent him lavish gifts but refused to obey his summons, reportedly on the advice of Zaynab. Abu Bakr recognized that he was unable to force the issue and was unwilling to fight a battle over control of Marrakesh, so he decided to voluntarily recognize Ibn Tashfin's leadership in the Maghreb. The two men met on neutral ground between Aghmat and Marrakesh to confirm the arrangement. After a short stay in Aghmat, Abu Bakr returned south to continue his leadership of the Almoravids in the Sahara.
Following this, the Almoravid Empire was divided into two distinct but co-dependent parts: one led by Ibn Tashfin in the north, and another led by Abu Bakr in the south. Abu Bakr continued to be formally acknowledged as the supreme leader of the Almoravids until his death in 1087. Historical sources give no indication that the two leaders treated each other as enemies and Ibn Tashfin continued to mint coins in Abu Bakr's name until the latter's death. Following Abu Bakr's departure, Ibn Tashfin was largely responsible for building the Almoravid state in the Maghreb over the next two decades. One of Abu Bakr's sons, Ibrahim, who served as the Almoravid leader in Sijilmasa between 1071 and 1076 (according to the coinage minted there), did develop a rivalry with Ibn Tashfin and attempted to confront him toward 1076. He marched to Aghmat with the intention of reclaiming his father's position in the Maghreb. Another Almoravid commander, Mazdali ibn Tilankan, who was related to both men, defused the situation and convinced Ibrahim to join his father in the south rather than start a civil war. |
Almoravid dynasty | Further conquests in the Maghreb | Further conquests in the Maghreb
Ibn Tashfin had in the meantime helped to bring the large area of what is now Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania under Almoravid control. He spent at least several years capturing each fort and settlement in the region around Fez and in northern Morocco. After most of the surrounding region was under his control, he was finally able to conquer Fez definitively. However, there is some contradiction and uncertainty among historical sources regarding the exact chronology of these conquests, with some sources dating the main conquests to the 1060s and others dating them to the 1070s. Some modern authors cite the date of the final conquest of Fez as 1069 (461 AH). Historian Ronald Messier gives the date more specifically as 18 March 1070 (462 AH). Other historians date this conquest to 1074 or 1075.
In 1079, Ibn Tashfin sent an army 20,000 strong from Marrakesh to push towards what is now Tlemcen to attack the Banu Ya'la, the Zenata tribe occupying the area. Led by Mazdali Ibn Tilankan, the army defeated the Banu Ya'la in battle near the valley of the Moulaya River and executed their commander, Mali Ibn Ya'la, the son of Tlemcen's ruler. However, Ibn Tilankan did not push to Tlemcen right away as the city of Oujda, occupied by the Bani Iznasan, was too strong to capture. Instead, Ibn Tashfin himself returned with an army in 1081 that captured Oujda and then conquered Tlemcen, massacring the Maghrawa forces there and their leader, al-Abbas Ibn Bakhti al-Maghrawi. He pressed on and by 1082 he had captured Algiers. Ibn Tashfin subsequently treated Tlemcen as his eastern base. At that time, the city had consisted of an older settlement called Agadir, but Ibn Tashfin founded a new city next to it called Takrart, which later merged with Agadir in the Almohad period to become the present city.
The Almoravids subsequently clashed with the Hammadids to the east multiple times, but they did not make a sustained effort to conquer the central Maghrib and instead focused their efforts on other fronts. Eventually, in 1104, they signed a peace treaty with the Hammadids. Algiers became their easternmost outpost.
By the 1080s, local Muslim rulers in al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula) were requesting Ibn Tashfin's help against the encroaching Christian kingdoms to the north. Ibn Tashfin made the capture of Ceuta his primary objective before making any attempt to intervene there. Ceuta, controlled by Zenata forces under the command of Diya al-Dawla Yahya, was the last major city on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar that still held out against him. In return for a promise to help him, Ibn Tashfin demanded that al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, the ruler of Seville, provide assistance in besieging the city. Al-Mu'tamid obliged and sent a fleet to blockade the city by sea, while Ibn Tashfin's son Tamim led the siege by land. The city finally surrendered in June–July 1083 or in August 1084.
Ibn Tashfin also made efforts to organize the new Almoravid realm. Under his rule, the western Maghreb was divided into well-defined administrative provinces for the first time—prior to this, it had been mostly tribal territory. A developing central government was established in Marrakesh, while he entrusted key provinces to important allies and relatives. The nascent Almoravid state was funded in part by the taxes allowed under Islamic law and by the gold that came from Ghana in the south, but in practice it remained dependent on the spoils of new conquests. The majority of the Almoravid army continued to be composed of Sanhaja recruits, but Ibn Tashfin also began recruiting slaves to form a personal guard (ḥashm), including 5000 black soldiers ('abid) and 500 white soldiers (uluj, likely of European origin).
At some point, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin moved to acknowledge the Abbasids caliphs in Baghdad as overlords. While the Abbasids themselves had little direct political power by this time, the symbolism of this act was important and enhanced Ibn Tashfin's legitimacy. According to Ibn Idhari, it was at the same time as this that Ibn Tashfin also took the title of ('Commander of the Muslims'). Ibn Idhari dates this to 1073–74, but some authors, including modern historian Évariste Lévi-Provençal, have dated this political decision to later, most likely when the Almoravids were in the process of securing control of al-Andalus. According to Amira Bennison, the recognition of the Abbasid caliph must have been established by the 1090s at latest. When Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi visited Baghdad between 1096 and 1098, possibly as part of an Almoravid embassy to Caliph al-Mustazhir, he claimed that the Friday prayers were already being given in the Abbasid caliph's name across the territories ruled by Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. |
Almoravid dynasty | Southern Almoravids and the Ghana Empire | Southern Almoravids and the Ghana Empire
After leaving Yusuf Ibn Tashfin in the north and returning south, Abu Bakr Ibn Umar reportedly made Azuggi his base. The town acted as the capital of the southern Almoravids under him and his successors.: "Nor did Abu Bakr interfere with Yusuf's free hand in Morocco or Spain. The old amir ruled in the Sahara in the same way that tribal chiefs among the Sanhaja had done for generations, through a combination nation of tribal loyalties, religious appeal, and military strength. He had every intention to continue the religious revival in the vein of strict Malikite Islam. He brought to the desert a teacher from the city of Aghmat, the Imam al-Hadrami. The latter had studied Malikite law in both Qayrawan and Andalusia. Abu Bakr made him qadi, judge, in Azuggi. From there, Imam al-Hadrami went out to preach among the unbelievers.": "The Arabic narrative, such as it is, posits that Abu Bakir b. 'Umar returned to the Almoravids' southern base or capital at Azuggi in modern Mauritania with a handful of Maliki jurists, including Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Muradi from Qayrawan, to orchestrate the Almoravid advance south against the Soninke kingdom of Ghana, which was successfully conquered around 1076–77 and subsequently collapsed. (...) The nature of the Almoravid encounter with Ghana—conquest or partnership—and the ethnic and religious origins of those involved is impossible to determine in the absence of new sources. However, the Almoravids clearly achieved control of the salt trade and the gold flow north, their primary economic objective, and Islam did take root among the population of Ghana, their religious objective. Abu Bakr maintained Almoravid control of the Sahara at least in the vicinity of Azuggi, and the expansion of the Sanhaja eastwards appears to have been led by the Almoravid Masufa, a group with strong marriage and maternal connections to the Lamtuna, who migrated into the vast zone between Sijilmasa and Waraqlan, led quite possibly by Abu Bakr's son, Yahya, known as al-Masufi due to his maternal lineage." Despite the importance of the Saharan trade routes to the Almoravids, the history of the southern wing of the empire is not well documented in Arabic historical sources and is often neglected in histories of the Maghreb and al-Andalus. This has also encouraged a division in modern studies about the Almoravids, with archeology playing a greater role in the study of the southern wing, in the absence of more textual sources. The exact nature and impact of the Almoravid presence in the Sahel is a strongly debated topic among Africanists.
According to Arab tradition, the Almoravids under Abu Bakr's leadership conquered the Ghana Empire, founded by the Soninke, sometime around 1076–77. An example of this tradition is the record of historian Ibn Khaldun, who cited Shaykh Uthman, the faqih of Ghana, writing in 1394. According to this source, the Almoravids weakened Ghana and collected tribute from the Sudan, to the extent that the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away, and they were subjugated and absorbed by the Sosso, a neighboring people of the Sudan.Ibn Khaldun in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and transl. Corpus, p. 333. Traditions in Mali related that the Sosso attacked and took over Mali as well, and the ruler of the Sosso, Sumaouro Kanté, took over the land.Nehemia Levtzion, Ancient Ghana and Mali (New York, 1973), pp. 51–52, 58–60.
However, criticism from Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources. According to Professor Timothy Insoll, the archaeology of ancient Ghana simply does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests.
Dierke Lange agreed with the original military incursion theory but argues that this doesn't preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that the main factor of the demise of the Ghana Empire owed much to the latter. According to Lange, Almoravid religious influence was gradual, rather than the result of military action; there the Almoravids gained power by marrying among the nation's nobility. Lange attributes the decline of ancient Ghana to numerous unrelated factors, one of which is likely attributable to internal dynastic struggles instigated by Almoravid influence and Islamic pressures, but devoid of military conquest..
This interpretation of events has been disputed by later scholars like Sheryl L. Burkhalter, who argued that, whatever the nature of the "conquest" in the south of the Sahara, the influence and success of the Almoravid movement in securing west African gold and circulating it widely necessitated a high degree of political control.
The Arab geographer Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri wrote that the Almoravids ended Ibadi Islam in Tadmekka in 1084 and that Abu Bakr "arrived at the mountain of gold" in the deep south. Abu Bakr finally died in Tagant in November 1087 following an injury in battle—according to oral tradition, from an arrowP. Semonin (1964) "The Almoravid Movement in the Western Sudan: A review of the evidence" Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, v. 7: p. 58—while fighting in the historic region of the Sudan.
After the death of Abu Bakr (1087), the confederation of Berber tribes in the Sahara was divided between the descendants of Abu Bakr and his brother Yahya, and would have lost control of Ghana.The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600 Sheryl Burkhalter suggests that Abu Bakr's son Yahya was the leader of the Almoravid expedition that conquered Ghana in 1076, and that the Almoravids would have survived the loss of Ghana and the defeat in the Maghreb by the Almohads, and would have ruled the Sahara until the end of the 12th century. Some local oral histories support this, describing a southern Almoravid dynasty that lasted 200 years after Abu Bakr's death. When it finally split apart in the 13th century, one branch (by now thoroughly integrated into the local culture of Takrur) may have been led by the legendary Ndiadiane Ndiaye, founder of the Jolof Empire. |
Almoravid dynasty | Expansion into al-Andalus | Expansion into al-Andalus
Initially, it appears Ibn Tashfin had little interest in involving the Almoravids in the politics of al-Andalus (the Muslim territories on the Iberian Peninsula). After the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century, al-Andalus had split into small kingdoms or city-states known as the Taifas. These states constantly fought with each other but were unable to raise large armies of their own, so they became reliant instead on the Christian kingdoms of the north for military support. This support was secured through the regular payment of parias (tributes) to the Christian kings, but the payments became a fiscal burden that drained the treasuries of these local rulers. In turn, the Taifa rulers burdened their subjects with increased taxation, including taxes and tariffs that were not considered legal under Islamic law. As the payments of tribute began to falter, the Christian kingdoms resorted to punitive raids and eventually to conquest. The Taifa kings were unwilling or unable to unite to counter this threat, and even the most powerful Taifa kingdom, Seville, was unable to resist Christian advances.
After the Almoravid capture of Ceuta (1083) on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, the way was now open for Ibn Tashfin to intervene in al-Andalus. It was in this same year that Alfonso VI, king of Castile and León, led a military campaign into southern al-Andalus to punish al-Mu'tamid of Seville for failing to pay him tribute. His expedition penetrated all the way to Tarifa, the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula. A couple of years later, in May 1085, he seized control of Toledo, previously one of the most powerful city-states in al-Andalus. Soon after, he also began a siege of Zaragoza. These dramatic events forced the Taifa kings to finally consider seeking an external intervention by the Almoravids. According to the most detailed Arabic source, it was al-Mu'tamid, the ruler of Seville, who convened a meeting with his neighbours, al-Mutawwakil of Badajoz and Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada, where they agreed to send an embassy to Ibn Tashfin to appeal for his assistance. The Taifa kings were aware of the risks that came with an Almoravid intervention but considered it the best choice among their bad options. Al-Mu'tamid is said to have remarked bitterly: "Better to pasture camels than to be a swineherd"—meaning that it was better to submit to another Muslim ruler than to end up as subjects of a Christian king.
As a condition for his assistance, Ibn Tashfin demanded that Algeciras (a city on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, across from Ceuta) be surrendered to him so he could use it as a base for his troops. Al-Mu'tamid agreed. Ibn Tashfin, wary of the hesitation of the Taifa kings, immediately sent an advance force of 500 troops across the strait to take control of Algeciras. They did so in July 1086 without encountering resistance. The rest of the Almoravid army, numbering around 12,000, soon followed. Ibn Tashfin and his army then marched to Seville, where they met up with the forces of al-Mu'tamid, al-Mutawwakil, and Abdallah ibn Buluggin. Alfonso VI, hearing of this development, lifted his siege of Zaragoza and marched south to confront them. The two sides met at a place north of Badajoz, called Zallaqa in Arabic sources and Sagrajas in Christian sources. In the Battle of Sagrajas (or Battle of Zallaqa), on 23 October 1086, Alfonso was soundly defeated and forced to retreat north in disorder. Al-Mu'tamid recommended that they press their advantage, but Ibn Tashfin did not pursue the Christian army further, returning instead to Seville and then to North Africa. It is possible he was unwilling to be away from his home base for too long or that the death of his eldest son, Sir, encouraged him to return.
After Ibn Tashfin's departure, Alfonso VI quickly resumed his pressure on the Taifa kings and forced them to send tribute payments again. He captured the fortress of Aledo, cutting off eastern al-Andalus from the other Muslim kingdoms. Meanwhile, Ibn Rashiq, the ruler of Murcia, was embroiled in a rivalry with al-Mu'tamid of Seville. As a result, this time it was the elites or notables () of al-Andalus who now called for help from the Almoravids, rather than the kings. In May–June 1088, Ibn Tashfin landed at Algeciras with another army, soon joined by al-Mu'tamid of Seville, by Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada, and by other troops sent by Ibn Sumadih of Almería and Ibn Rashiq of Murcia. They then set out to retake Aledo. The siege, however, was undermined by rivalries and disunity among the Taifa kings. News eventually reached the Muslims that Alfonso VI was bringing an army to help the Castilian garrison. In November 1088, Ibn Tashfin lifted the siege and returned to North Africa again, having achieved nothing. Alfonso VI sent his trusted commander, Alvar Fañez, to pressure the Taifa kings again. He succeeded in forcing Abdallah ibn Buluggin to resume tribute payments and began to pressure al-Mu'tamid in turn.
In 1090, Ibn Tashfin returned to al-Andalus yet again, but by this point he seemed to have given up on the Taifa kings and now intended to take direct control of the region. The Almoravid cause benefited from the support of the Maliki (Islamic jurists) in Al-Andalus, who extolled the Almoravid devotion to jihad while criticizing the Taifa kings as impious, self-indulgent, and thus illegitimate. In September 1090, Ibn Tashfin forced Granada to surrender to him and sent Abdallah ibn Buluggin into exile in Aghmat. He then returned to North Africa again, but this time he left his nephew, Sir ibn Abu Bakr, in charge of Almoravid forces in al-Andalus. Al-Mu'tamid, seeking to salvage his position, resorted to striking an alliance with Alfonso VI, which further undermined his own popular support. In early 1091, the Almoravids took control of Cordoba and turned towards Seville, defeating a Castilian force led Alvar Fañez that came to help al-Mu'tamid. In September 1091, al-Mu'tamid surrendered Seville to the Almoravids and was exiled to Aghmat. In late 1091, the Almoravids captured Almería. In late 1091 or January 1092, Ibn Aisha, one of Ibn Tashfin's sons, seized control of Murcia. |
Almoravid dynasty | Campaigns against Valencia | Campaigns against Valencia
The capture of Murcia brought the Almoravids within reach of Valencia, which was officially under the control of al-Qadir, the former Taifa ruler of Toledo. He had been installed here in 1086 by the Castilians after they took control of Toledo. Al-Qadir's unpopular rule in Valencia was supported by a Castilian garrison headed by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, a Castilian noble and mercenary better known today as El Cid. In October 1092, when El Cid was away from the city, there was an insurrection and coup d'état led by the qadi (judge) Abu Ahmad Ja'far Ibn Jahhaf. The latter called for help from the Almoravids in Murcia, who sent a small group of warriors to the city. The Castilian garrison was forced to leave and al-Qadir was captured and executed.
However, the Almoravids did not send enough forces to oppose El Cid's return and Ibn Jahhaf undermined his popular support by proceeding to install himself as ruler, acting like yet another Taifa king. El Cid began a long siege of the city, completely surrounding it, burning nearby villages, and confiscating the crops of the surrounding countryside. Ibn Jahhaf agreed at one point to pay tribute to El Cid in order to end the siege, which resulted in the Almoravids in the city being escorted out by El Cid's men. For reasons that remain unclear, an Almoravid relief army led by Ibn Tashfin's nephew, Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim, approached Valencia in September 1093 but then retreated without engaging El Cid. Ibn Jahhaf continued negotiations. In the end, he refused to pay El Cid's tribute and the siege continued. By April 1094, the city was starving and he decided to surrender it shortly after. El Cid re-entered Valencia on 15 June 1094, after 20 months of siege. Rather than ruling through a puppet again, he now took direct control as king.
Meanwhile, also in 1094, the Almoravids seized control of the entire Taifa kingdom of Badajoz after its ruler, al-Mutawwakil, sought his own alliance with Castile. The Almoravid expedition was led by Sir ibn Abu Bakr, who had been appointed as governor of Seville. The Almoravids then returned their attention to Valencia, where another of Ibn Tashfin's nephews, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, was ordered to take the city. He arrived outside its walls in October 1094 and began attacks on the city. The siege ended when El Cid launched a two-sided attack: he sent a sortie from one city gate that posed as his main force, occupying the Almoravid troops, while he personally led another force from a different city gate and attacked their undefended camp. This inflicted the first major defeat on the Almoravids on the Iberian Peninsula. After his victory, El Cid executed Ibn Jahhaf by burning him alive in public, perhaps in retaliation for treachery.
El Cid fortified his new kingdom by building fortresses along the southern approaches to the city to defend against future Almoravid attacks. In late 1096, Ibn Aisha led an army of 30,000 men to besiege the strongest of these fortresses, Peña Cadiella (just south of Xativa). El Cid confronted them and called on Aragon for reinforcements. When the reinforcements approached, the Almoravids lifted the siege, but laid a trap for El Cid's forces as they marched back to Valencia. They successfully ambushed the Christians in a narrow pass located between the mountains and the sea, but El Cid managed to rally his troops and repel the Almoravids yet again. In 1097, the Almoravid governor of Xativa, Ali ibn al-Hajj, led another incursion into Valencian territory but was quickly defeated and pursued to Almenara, which El Cid then captured after a three-month siege.
In 1097, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin himself led another army into al-Andalus. Setting out from Cordoba with Muhammad ibn al-Hajj as his field commander, he marched against Alfonso VI, who was in Toledo at the time. The Castilians were routed at the Battle of Consuegra. El Cid was not involved, but his son, Diego, was killed in the battle. Soon after, Alvar Fañez was also defeated near Cuenca in another battle with the Almoravids, led by Ibn Aisha. The latter followed up this victory by ravaging the lands around Valencia and defeated another army sent by El Cid. Despite these victories in the field, the Almoravids did not capture any major new towns or fortresses.
El Cid attempted to Christianize Valencia, converting its main mosque into a church and establishing a bishopric, but ultimately failed to attract many new Christian settlers to the city. He died on 10 July 1099, leaving his wife, Jimena, in charge of the kingdom. She was unable to hold off Almoravid pressures, which culminated in a siege of the city by the veteran Almoravid commander, Mazdali, in the early spring of 1102. In April–May, Jimena and the Christians who wished to leave the city were evacuated with the help of Alfonso VI. The Almoravids occupied the city after them.
That same year, with the capture of Valencia counting as another triumph, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin celebrated and arranged for his son, Ali ibn Yusuf, to be publicly recognized as his heir. The Taifa king of Zaragoza, the only other Muslim power left in the peninsula, sent an ambassador on this occasion and signed a treaty with the Almoravids. By the time Ibn Tashfin died in 1106, the Almoravids were thus in control of all of al-Andalus except for Zaragoza. In general, they had not reconquered any of the lands lost to the Christian kingdoms in the previous century. |
Almoravid dynasty | Early reign of Ali ibn Yusuf | Early reign of Ali ibn Yusuf
thumb|An Almoravid dinar coin from Seville, 1116. (British Museum); the Almoravid gold dinar would set the standard of the Iberian maravedí.
Ali Ibn Yusuf () was born in Ceuta and educated in the traditions of al-Andalus, unlike his predecessors, who were from the Sahara. According to some scholars, Ali ibn Yusuf represented a new generation of leadership that had forgotten the desert life for the comforts of the city.North Africa, Islam and the Mediterranean World: From the Almoravids to the Algerian War (History & Society in the Islamic World), p. 59 By Julia Ann Clancy-Smith His long reign of 37 years is historically overshadowed by the defeats and deteriorating circumstances that characterized the later years, but the first decade or so, prior to 1118, was characterized by continuing military successes, enabled in large part by skilled generals. While the Almoravids remained dominant in field battles, military shortcomings were becoming apparent in their relative inability to sustain and win long sieges. In these early years, the Almoravid state was also wealthy, minting more gold than ever before, and Ali ibn Yusuf embarked on ambitious building projects, especially in Marrakesh.
Upon his enthronement, Ali ibn Yusuf was accepted as the new ruler by most Almoravid subjects, except for his nephew, Yahya ibn Abu Bakr, the governor of Fes. Ali ibn Yusuf marched his army to the gates of Fes, causing Yahya to flee to Tlemcen. There, the veteran Almoravid commander, Mazdali, convinced Yahya to reconcile with his uncle. Yahya agreed, went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and upon his return he was allowed to rejoin Ali Ibn Yusuf's court in Marrakesh.
Ali ibn Yusuf visited al-Andalus for the first time of his reign in 1107. He organized the Almoravid administration there and placed his brother Tamim as overall governor, with Granada acting as the administrative capital. The first major offensive in al-Andalus during his reign took place in the summer of 1108. Tamim, assisted by troops from Murcia and Cordoba, besieged and captured the small fortified town of Uclés, east of Toledo. Alfonso VI sent a relief force, led by the veteran Alvar Fañez, that was defeated on 29 May in the Battle of Uclés. The result was made worse for Alfonso VI because his son and heir, Sancho, died in the battle. In the aftermath, the Castilians abandoned Cuenca and Huete, which opened the way for an Almoravid invasion of Toledo. This came in the summer of 1109, with Ali Ibn Yusuf crossing over to lead the campaign in person. The death of Alfonso VI in June must have provided another advantage to the Almoravids. Talavera, west of Toledo, was captured on 14 August. Toledo itself, however, resisted under the leadership of Alvar Fañez. Unable to overcome the city's formidable defenses, Ali ibn Yusuf eventually retreated without capturing it.
thumb|The Almoravid empire at its height stretched from the city of Aoudaghost to Zaragoza in Al-AndalusMeanwhile, the Taifa king of Zaragoza, al-Musta'in, was a capable ruler but faced conflicting pressures. Like the previous Taifa rulers, he continued to pay parias to the Christian kingdoms to keep the peace, but popular sentiment within the city opposed this policy and increasingly supported the Almoravids. To appease this sentiment, al-Musta'in embarked on an expedition against the Christians of Aragon, but it failed. He died in battle in January 1110 at Valtierra. His son and successor, Imad al-Dawla, was unable to establish his authority and, faced with the threat of revolt, fled the city. Ali ibn Yusuf seized the opportunity and gave Muhammad ibn al-Hajj the task of capturing Zaragoza. On 30 May, Ibn al-Hajj entered the city with little opposition, ending the last independent Taifa kingdom.
The Almoravids remained on the offensive in the following years, but some of their best generals died during this time. In 1111, Sir ibn Abu Bakr (governor of Seville) campaigned in the west, occupying Lisbon and Santarém and securing the frontier along the Tagus River. Muhammad ibn al-Hajj continued to be active in the east. His expedition to Huesca in 1112 was the last time that Muslim forces operated near the Pyrenees. In 1114, he campaigned in Catalonia and raided across the region, aided by Ibn Aisha from Valencia. On their return march, however, the Almoravids were ambushed and both commanders were killed. In late 1113, Sir ibn Abu Bakr died. In 1115, it was Mazdali, one of the most veteran and loyal allies of Yusuf ibn Tashfin's family, who died in battle while serving as governor of Cordoba and campaigning to the north of it. Together, these deaths represented a major loss of senior and capable commanders for the Almoravids.
In 1115, the new governor of Zaragoza, Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim ibn Tifilwit, besieged Barcelona for 27 days while Count Ramon Berengar III was in Majorca. They lifted the siege when the Count returned, but in that same year the Almoravids captured the Balearic Islands, which had been temporarily occupied by the Catalans and Pisans. The Almoravids occupied Majorca without a fight after the death of the last local Muslim ruler, Mubashir al-Dawla.
Ali ibn Yusuf made his third crossing into al-Andalus in 1117 to lead an attack on Coimbra. After only a short siege, however, he withdrew. His army raided along the way back to Seville and won significant spoils, but it was a further sign that Almoravid initiative was being depleted. |
Almoravid dynasty | Decline | Decline
Almoravid fortunes began to turn definitively after 1117. While Léon and Castile were in disarray following the death of Alfonso VI, other Christian kingdoms exploited opportunities to expand their territories at the expense of the Almoravids. In 1118, Alfonso I El Batallador ('The Battler'), king of Aragon, launched a successful attack on Zaragoza with the help of the French crusader Gaston de Béarn. The siege of the city began on 22 May and, after no significant reinforcements arrived, it surrendered on 18 December. Ali ibn Yusuf ordered a major expedition to recover the loss, but it suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Cutanda in 1120.
The crisis is evidence that Almoravid forces were over-extended across their vast territories. When the Almoravid governor of Zaragoza, Abd Allah ibn Mazdali, had died earlier in 1118, no replacement was forthcoming and the Almoravid garrison left in the city prior to the siege seems to have been very small. It is possible that Yusuf ibn Tashfin had understood this problem and had intended to leave Zaragoza as a buffer state between the Almoravids and the Christians, as suggested by an apocryphal story in the Hulul al-Mawshiya, a 14th-century chronicle, which reports that Ibn Tashfin, while on his deathbed, advised his son to follow this policy. Alfonso I's capture of Zaragoza in 1118, along with the union of Aragon with the counties of Catalonia in 1137, also transformed the Kingdom of Aragon into a major Christian power in the region. To the west, Afonso I of Portugal asserted his independent authority and effectively created the Kingdom of Portugal. The growing power of these kingdoms added to the political difficulties Muslims now faced in the Iberian Peninsula.
This major reversal precipitated a decline in popular support for the Almoravids, at least in al-Andalus. Andalusi society largely cooperated with the Almoravids on the understanding that they could keep the aggressive Christian kingdoms at bay. Once this was no longer the case, their authority became increasingly hollow. Their legitimacy was further undermined by the issue of taxation. One of the main appeals of early Almoravid rule had been its mission to eliminate non-canonical taxes (i.e. those not sanctioned by the Qur'an), thus relieving the people of a major fiscal burden. However, it was not feasible to finance Almoravid armies in the fight against multiple enemies across a large empire with the funding from Quranic taxes alone. Ali ibn Yusuf was thus forced to reintroduce non-canonical taxes while the Almoravids were losing ground.
These developments may have been factors in sparking an uprising in Cordoba in 1121. The Almoravid governor was besieged in his palace and the rebellion became so serious that Ali ibn Yusuf crossed over into al-Andalus to deal with it himself. His army besieged Cordoba but, eventually, a peace was negotiated between the Almoravid governor and the population. This was the last time Ali ibn Yusuf visited al-Andalus.
Alfonso I of Aragon inflicted further humiliations upon the Almoravids in the 1120s. In 1125, he marched down the eastern coast, reached Granada (though he refrained from besieging it), and devastated the countryside around Cordoba. In 1129, he raided the region of Valencia and defeated an army sent to stop him. The Almoravid position in al-Andalus was only shored up in the 1130s. In 1129, following Alfonso I's attacks, Ali ibn Yusuf sent his son (and later successor), Tashfin ibn Ali, to re-organize the military structure in al-Andalus. His governorship grew to include Granada, Almeria, and Cordoba, becoming in effect the governor of al-Andalus for many years, where he performed capably. The Banu Ghaniya clan, relatives of the ruling Almoravid dynasty, also became important players during this period. Yahya ibn Ali ibn Ghaniya was governor of Murcia up to 1133, while his brother was governor of the Balearic Islands after 1126. For much of the 1130s, Tashfin and Yahya led the Almoravid forces to a number of victories over Christian forces and reconquered some towns. The most significant was the Battle of Fraga in 1134, where the Almoravids, led by Yahya, defeated an Aragonese army besieging the small Muslim town of Fraga. Notably, Alfonso I El Batallor was wounded and died shortly after.
The greatest challenge to Almoravid authority came from the Maghreb, in the form of the Almohad movement. The movement was founded by Ibn Tumart in the 1120s and then continued after his death (c. 1130) under his successor, Abd al-Mu'min. They established their base at Tinmal, in the High Atlas mountains south of Marrakesh, and from here they progressively rolled back Almoravid territories. The struggle against the Almohads was immensely draining on Almoravid resources and contributed to their shortage of manpower elsewhere, including in al-Andalus. It also required the construction of large fortresses in the Almoravid heartlands in present-day Morocco, such as the fortress of Tasghimut. On Ali ibn Yusuf's orders, defensive walls were built around the capital of Marrakesh for the first time in 1126. In 1138, he recalled his son, Tashfin, to Marrakesh in order to assist in the fight against the Almohads. Removing him from al-Andalus only further weakened the Almoravid position there.
In 1138, the Almoravids suffered a defeat at the hands of Alfonso VII of León and Castile. In the Battle of Ourique (1139), they were defeated by Afonso I of Portugal, who thereby won his crown. During the 1140s, the situation grew steadily worse.
After Ali ibn Yusuf's death in 1143, his son Tashfin ibn Ali lost ground rapidly before the Almohads. In 1146, he was killed in a fall from a precipice while attempting to escape after a defeat near Oran. The Muridun staged a major revolt in southwestern Iberia in 1144 under the leadership of the Sufi mystic Ibn Qasi, who later passed to the Almohads. Lisbon was conquered by the Portuguese in 1147.
Tashfin's two successors were Ibrahim ibn Tashfin and Ishaq ibn Ali, but their reigns were short. The conquest of Marrakesh by the Almohads in 1147 marked the fall of the dynasty, though fragments of the Almoravids continued to struggle throughout the empire. Among these fragments, there was the rebel Yahya Al-Sahrāwiyya, who resisted Almohad rule in the Maghreb for eight years after the fall of Marrakesh before surrendering in 1155. Also in 1155, the remaining Almoravids were forced to retreat to the Balearic Islands and later Ifriqiya under the leadership of the Banu Ghaniya, who were eventually influential in the downfall of their conquerors, the Almohads, in the eastern part of the Maghreb. |
Almoravid dynasty | Emblem | Emblem
thumb|Black banners raised in the Battle of Sagrajas (1899 illustration by Alfredo Roque Gameiro)
The Almoravids adopted the Black standard, both to mark a religious character to their political and military movement as well as their religious and political legitimacy, which was demonstrated through their connection to the Abbasid Caliphate. According to some authors, the black color marked "the fight against impiety and error", it was also considered a representation of prophet Muhammad's flag. However, most sources indicate a clear affiliation with the Abbasid Caliphs, regarded as the supreme religious and secular authority of Sunni Islam. Historian Tayeb El-Hibri writes:
Thus, the Almoravids adopted all the symbols of the Abbasids, including the color black (), which would take part in the social and cultural life of the Almoravid tribes in their peace and war time. The desert tribes of Lamtuna and Massufa would adopt the black color for their veil when wrapped around the head, and for war banners in their battles in Al-Andalus.
Later on, the Black banner would be attested in clashes and uprisings opposing Almoravid and Almohad movements. The Almohads would adopt the white flag against Almoravid authority, while major anti-Almohad rebellions unleashed by the Banu Ghaniya in the Maghreb and Hudids in Al-Andalus would confirm their affiliation to the Abbasids in the same manner as the early Almoravid movement did. |
Almoravid dynasty | Culture | Culture |
Almoravid dynasty | Religion | Religion
The Almoravid movement started as a conservative Islamic reform movement inspired by the Maliki school of jurisprudence. The writings of Abu Imran al-Fasi, a Moroccan Maliki scholar, influenced Yahya Ibn Ibrahim and the early Almoravid movement. |
Almoravid dynasty | Art | Art
thumb|The Pisa Griffin, believed to have originated in 11th century Iberia.
Amira Bennison describes the art of the Almoravid period as influenced by the "integration of several areas into a single political unit and the resultant development of a widespread Andalusi–Maghribi style", as well as the tastes of the Sanhaja rulers as patrons of art. Bennison also challenges Robert Hillenbrand's characterization of the art of al-Andalus and the Maghreb as provincial and peripheral in consideration of Islamic art globally, and of the contributions of the Almoravids as "sparse" as a result of the empire's "puritanical fervour" and "ephemerality."
At first, the Almoravids, subscribing to the conservative Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, rejected what they perceived as decadence and a lack of piety among the Iberian Muslims of the Andalusi taifa kingdoms. However, monuments and textiles from Almería from the late Almoravid period indicate that the empire had changed its attitude with time.
Artistic production under the Almoravids included finely constructed minbars produced in Córdoba; marble basins and tombstones in Almería; fine textiles in Almería, Málaga, Seville; and luxury ceramics. |
Almoravid dynasty | Marble work | Marble work
thumb|A stele found at Gao-Saney believed to have been created in Almería during the Almoravid period. Now located at the National Museum of Mali.
A large group of marble tombstones have been preserved from the first half of the 12th century. They were crafted in Almería in Al-Andalus, at a time when it was a prosperous port city under Almoravid control. The tombstones were made of Macael marble, which was quarried locally, and carved with extensive Kufic inscriptions that were sometimes adorned with vegetal or geometric motifs. These demonstrate that the Almoravids not only reused Umayyad marble columns and basins, but also commissioned new works. The inscriptions on them are dedicated to various individuals, both men and women, from a range of different occupations, indicating that such tombstones were relatively affordable. The stones take the form of either rectangular stelae or of long horizontal prisms known as mqabriyyas (similar to the ones found in the much later Saadian Tombs of Marrakesh). They have been found in many locations across West Africa and Western Europe, which is evidence that a wide-reaching industry and trade in marble existed. A number of pieces found in France were likely acquired from later pillaging. Some of the most ornate tombstones found outside Al-Andalus were discovered in Gao-Saney in the African Sahel, testament to the reach of Almoravid influence into the African continent.
Two Almoravid-period marble columns have also been found reused as spolia in later monuments in Fes. One is incorporated into the window of the Dar al-Muwaqqit (timekeeper's house) overlooking the courtyard of the Qarawiyyin Mosque, built in the Marinid period. The other is embedded into the decoration of the exterior southern façade of the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II, a structure which was rebuilt by Ismail Ibn Sharif. |
Almoravid dynasty | Textiles | Textiles
The fact that Ibn Tumart, leader of the Almohad movement, is recorded as having criticized Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf for "sitting on a luxurious silken cloak" at his grand mosque in Marrakesh indicates the important role of textiles under the Almoravids.
thumb|Fragment of the shroud of San Pedro de Osma, early 12th century: the imagery features pairs of lions and harpies, surrounded by men holding griffins
Many of the remaining fabrics from the Almoravid period were reused by Christians, with examples in the reliquary of San Isidoro in León, a chasuble from Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, the Chasuble of San Juan de Ortega in the church of Quintanaortuña (near Burgos), the shroud of San Pedro de Osma, and a fragment found at the church of Thuir in the eastern Pyrenees. Some of these pieces are characterized by the appearance of Kufic or "Hispano-Kufic" woven inscriptions, with letters sometimes ending in ornamental vegetal flourishes. The Chasuble of San Juan de Ortega is one such example, made of silk and gold thread and dating to the first half of the 12th century. The Shroud of San Pedro de Osma is notable for its inscription stating "this was made in Baghdad", suggesting that it was imported. However, more recent scholarship has suggested that the textile was instead produced locally in centres such as Almeria, but that they were copied or based on eastern imports. It is even possible that the inscription was knowingly falsified in order to exaggerate its value to potential sellers; Al-Saqati of Málaga, a 12th-century writer and market inspector, wrote that there were regulations designed to prohibit the practice of making such false inscriptions. As a result of the inscription, many of these textiles are known in scholarship as the "Baghdad group", representing a stylistically coherent and artistically rich group of silken textiles seemingly dating to reign of Ali ibn Yusuf or the first half of the 12th century. Aside from the inscription, the shroud of San Pedro de Osma is decorated with images of two lions and harpies inside roundels that are ringed by images of small men holding griffins, repeating across the whole fabric. The chasuble from Saint-Sernin is likewise decorated with figural images, in this case a pair of peacocks repeating in horizontal bands, with vegetal stems separating each pair and small kufic inscriptions running along the bottom.
The decorative theme of having a regular grid of roundels containing images of animals and figures, with more abstract motifs filling the spaces in between, has origins traced as far back as Persian Sasanian textiles. In subsequent periods, starting with the Almohads, these roundels with figurative imagery are progressively replaced with more abstract roundels, while epigraphic decoration becomes more prominent than before. |
Almoravid dynasty | Calligraphy and manuscript illumination | Calligraphy and manuscript illumination
thumb|An illuminated Quran manuscript in florid Kufic and Maghrebi script.
In early Islamic manuscripts, Kufic was the main script used for religious texts. Western or Maghrebi Kufic evolved from the standard (or eastern) Kufic style and was marked by the transformation of the low swooping sections of letters from rectangular forms to long semi-circular forms. It is found in 10th century Qurans before the Almoravid period. Almoravid Kufic is the variety of Maghrebi Kufic script that was used as an official display script during the Almoravid period.
Eventually, Maghrebi Kufic gave rise to a distinctive cursive script known as "Maghrebi", the only cursive script of Arabic derived from Kufic, which was fully formed by the early 12th century under the Almoravids. This style was commonly used in Qurans and other religious works from this period onward, but it was rarely ever used in architectural inscriptions. One version of this script during this early period is the Andalusi script, which was associated with Al-Andalus. It was usually finer and denser, and while the loops of letters below the line are semi-circular, the extensions of letters above the line continue to use straight lines that recall its Kufic origins. Another version of the script is rounder and larger, and is more associated with the Maghreb, although it is nonetheless found in Andalusi volumes too.
The oldest known illuminated Quran from the western Islamic world (i.e. the Maghreb and Al-Andalus) dates from 1090, towards the end of the first Taifas period and the beginning of the Almoravid domination in Al-Andalus. It was produced either in the Maghreb or Al-Andalus and is now kept at the Uppsala University Library. Its decoration is still in the earliest phases of artistic development, lacking the sophistication of later volumes, but many of the features that were standard in later manuscripts are present: the script is written in the Maghrebi style in black ink, but the diacritics (vowels and other orthographic signs) are in red or blue, simple gold and black roundels mark the end of verses, and headings are written in gold Kufic inside a decorated frame and background. It also contains a frontispiece, of relatively simple design, consisting of a grid of lozenges variously filled with gold vegetal motifs, gold netting, or gold Kufic inscriptions on red or blue backgrounds.
More sophisticated illumination is already evident in a copy of a sahih dated to 1120 (during the reign of Ali ibn Yusuf), also produced in either the Maghreb or Al-Andalus, with a rich frontispiece centered around a large medallion formed by an interlacing geometric motif, filled with gold backgrounds and vegetal motifs. A similarly sophisticated Quran, dated to 1143 (at the end of Ali ibn Yusuf's reign) and produced in Córdoba, contains a frontispiece with an interlacing geometric motif forming a panel filled with gold and a knotted blue roundel at the middle. |
Almoravid dynasty | Ceramics | Ceramics
The Almoravid conquest of al-Andalus caused a temporary rupture in ceramic production, but it returned in the 12th century. There is a collection of about 2,000 Maghrebi-Andalusi ceramic basins or bowls (bacini) in Pisa, where they were used to decorate churches from the early 11th to fifteenth centuries. There were a number of varieties of ceramics under the Almoravids, including cuerda seca pieces. The most luxurious form was iridescent lustreware, made by applying a metallic glaze to the pieces before a second firing. This technique came from Iraq and flourished in Fatimid Egypt. |
Almoravid dynasty | Minbars | Minbars
thumb|Detail of the Almoravid minbar, commissioned by Ali Bin Yusuf Bin Tashfin al-Murabiti 1137 for his great mosque in Marrakesh.
The Almoravid minbars—such as the minbar of the Grand Mosque of Marrakesh commissioned by Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf (1137), or the minbar for the University of al-Qarawiyyin (1144)—expressed the Almoravids' Maliki legitimacy, their "inheritance of the Umayyad imperial role", and the extension of that imperial power into the Maghreb. Both minbars are exceptional works of marquetry and woodcarving, decorated with geometric compositions, inlaid materials, and arabesque reliefs. |
Almoravid dynasty | Architecture | Architecture
The Almoravid period, along with the subsequent Almohad period, is considered one of the most formative stages of Moroccan and Moorish architecture, establishing many of the forms and motifs of this style that were refined in subsequent centuries. Manuel Casamar Perez remarks that the Almoravids scaled back the Andalusi trend towards heavier and more elaborate decoration which had developed since the Caliphate of Córdoba and instead prioritized a greater balance between proportions and ornamentation.
The two centers of artistic production in the Islamic west before the rise of the Almoravids were Kairouan and Córdoba, both former capitals in the region which served as sources of inspiration. The Almoravids were responsible for establishing a new imperial capital at Marrakesh, which became a major center of architectural patronage thereafter. The Almoravids adopted the architectural developments of al-Andalus, such as the complex interlacing arches of the Great Mosque in Córdoba and of the Aljaferia palace in Zaragoza, while also introducing new ornamental techniques from the east such as muqarnas ("stalactite" or "honeycomb" carvings).
thumb|In their North African constructions, the Almoravids explored the use of cusping to make arches more decorative, as seen here in the Almoravid Qubba in Marrakesh.
After taking control of Al-Andalus in the Battle of Sagrajas, the Almoravids sent Muslim, Christian and Jewish artisans from Iberia to North Africa to work on monuments.Parker, R. (1981). A Practical Guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco. Charlottesville, Virginia: Baraka Press. p. 14 The Great Mosque in Algiers (), the Great Mosque of Tlemcen (1136) and al-Qarawiyyin (expanded in 1135) in Fez are important examples of Almoravid architecture. The Almoravid Qubba is one of the few Almoravid monuments in Marrakesh surviving, and is notable for its highly ornate interior dome with carved stucco decoration, complex arch shapes, and minor muqarnas cupolas in the corners of the structure. The central nave of the expanded Qarawiyyin Mosque notably features the earliest full-fledged example of muqarnas vaulting in the western Islamic world. The complexity of these muqarnas vaults at such an early date—only several decades after the first simple muqarnas vaults appeared in distant Iraq—has been noted by architectural historians as surprising. Another high point of Almoravid architecture is the intricate ribbed dome in front of the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, which likely traces its origins to the 10th-century ribbed domes of the Great Mosque of Córdoba. The structure of the dome is strictly ornamental, consisting of multiple ribs or intersecting arches forming a twelve-pointed star pattern. It is also partly see-through, allowing some outside light to filter through a screen of pierced and carved arabesque decoration that fills the spaces between the ribs.
Aside from more ornamental religious structures, the Almoravids also built many fortifications, although most of these in turn were demolished or modified by the Almohads and later dynasties. The new capital, Marrakesh, initially had no city walls but a fortress known as the Ksar el-Hajjar ("Fortress of Stone") was built by the city's founder, Abu Bakr ibn Umar, in order to house the treasury and serve as an initial residence. Eventually, circa 1126, Ali Ibn Yusuf also constructed a full set of walls, made of rammed earth, around the city in response to the growing threat of the Almohads. These walls, although much restored and partly expanded in later centuries, continue to serve as the walls of the medina of Marrakesh today. The medina's main gates were also first built at this time, although many of them have since been significantly modified. Bab Doukkala, one of the western gates, is believed to have best preserved its original Almoravid layout. It has a classic bent entrance configuration, of which variations are found throughout the medieval period of the Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Elsewhere, the archaeological site of Tasghîmût, southeast of Marrakesh, and Amargu, northeast of Fes, provide evidence about other Almoravid forts. Built out of rubble stone or rammed earth, they illustrate similarities with older Hammadid fortifications, as well as an apparent need to build quickly during times of crisis. The walls of Tlemcen (present-day Algeria) were likewise partly built by the Almoravids, using a mix of rubble stone at the base and rammed earth above.
In domestic architecture, none of the Almoravid palaces or residences have survived, and they are known only through texts and archaeology. During his reign, Ali Ibn Yusuf added a large palace and royal residence on the south side of the Ksar el-Hajjar (on the present site of the Kutubiyya Mosque). This palace was later abandoned and its function was replaced by the Almohad Kasbah, but some of its remains have been excavated and studied in the 20th century. These remains have revealed the earliest known example in Morocco of a riad garden (an interior garden symmetrically divided into four parts). In 1960 other excavations near Chichaoua revealed the remains of a domestic complex or settlement dating from the Almoravid period or even earlier. It consisted of several houses, two hammams, a water supply system, and possibly a mosque. On the site were found many fragments of architectural decoration which are now preserved at the Archeological Museum of Rabat. These fragments are made of deeply-carved stucco featuring Kufic and cursive Arabic inscriptions as well as vegetal motifs such as palmettes and acanthus leaves. The structures also featured painted decoration in red ochre, typically consisting of border motifs composed of two interlacing bands. Similar decoration has also been found in the remains of former houses excavated in 2006 under the 12th-century Almoravid expansion of the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fes. In addition to the usual border motifs were larger interlacing geometric motifs as well as Kufic inscriptions with vegetal backgrounds, all executed predominantly in red. |
Almoravid dynasty | Literature | Literature
thumb|A plaque at the burial place of the Poet King Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, interred 1095 in Aghmat, Morocco.
The Almoravid movement has its intellectual origins in the writings and teachings of Abu Imran al-Fasi, who first inspired Yahya Ibn Ibrahim of the Guddala tribe in Kairouan. Ibn Ibrahim then inspired Abdallah ibn Yasin to organize for jihad and start the Almoravid movement.
The Moroccan historian noted that there were 104 paper mills in Fez under Yusuf ibn Tashfin in the 11th century.
Moroccan literature flourished in the Almoravid period. The political unification of Morocco and al-Andalus under the Almoravid dynasty rapidly accelerated the cultural interchange between the two continents, beginning when Yusuf ibn Tashfin sent al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, former poet king of the Taifa of Seville, into exile in Tangier and ultimately Aghmat.
The historians Ibn Hayyan, Al-Bakri, Ibn Bassam, and al-Fath ibn Khaqan all lived in the Almoravid period. Ibn Bassam authored , Al-Fath ibn Khaqan authored Qala'idu l-'Iqyan,ابن خاقان, الفتح بن محمد [Ibn Khāqān, al-Fatḥ ibn Muḥammad]. قلائد العقيان للفتح بن خاقان [Qalāʾid al-ʿiqyān lil-Fatḥ ibn Khāqān]. Edited by سليمان بن علي حرائري [Sulaymān ibn ʿAlī Ḥarāʾirī], مطبعة بولاق , [1866] . Early Arabic Printed Books-BL: Literature, Grammar, Language, Catalogues and Periodicals, tinyurl.gale.com/tinyurl/DrMjD3. Accessed 31 Oct. 2021. and Al-Bakri authored al-Masālik wa ’l-Mamālik (Book of Roads and Kingdoms).
In the Almoravid period, two writers stand out: Qadi Ayyad and Avempace. Ayyad is known for having authored Kitāb al-Shifāʾ bī Taʾrif Ḥuqūq al-Muṣṭafá.ʿA'isha Bint ʿAbdurrahman Bewley, Muhammad Messenger of Allah: ash-Shifa' of Qadi ʿIyad (Granada: Madinah Press, 1992) Many of the Seven Saints of Marrakesh were men of letters. |
Almoravid dynasty | Poetry | Poetry
The muwashshah was an important form of poetry and music in the Almoravid period. Great poets from the period are mentioned in anthologies such as ,Imad al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad Katib al-Isfahani, Kharidat al-qasr wa-jaridat al-asr: Fi dhikr fudala ahl Isfahan (Miras-i maktub) Rawd al-Qirtas, and Mu'jam as-Sifr.cited in: Mohammed Berrada, La Grande Encyclopédie du Maroc, 1987, p. 41
In the European portion of the Almoravid domain, poets such as Ibn Quzman produced popular zajal strophic poetry in vernacular Andalusi Arabic. In the Almoravid period, several Andalusi poets expressed contempt for the city of Seville, the European capital of the Almoravids. |
Almoravid dynasty | Military organization | Military organization
Abdallah ibn Yasin imposed very strict disciplinary measures on his forces for every breach of his laws.al-Bakri, pp. 169–72. The Almoravids' first military leader, Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni, gave them a good military organization. Their main force was infantry, armed with javelins in the front ranks and pikes behind, which formed into a phalanx,al-Bakri, p. 166. and was supported by camelmen and horsemen on the flanks. They also had a flag carrier at the front who guided the forces behind him; when the flag was upright, the combatants behind would stand and when it was turned down, they would sit.
Al-Bakri reports that, while in combat, the Almoravids did not pursue those who fled in front of them. Their fighting was intense and they did not retreat when disadvantaged by an advancing opposing force; they preferred death over defeat. These characteristics were possibly unusual at the time. |
Almoravid dynasty | Legends | Legends
After the death of El Cid, Christian chronicles reported a legend of a Turkish woman leading a band of 300 "Amazons", black female archers. This legend was possibly inspired by the ominous veils on the faces of the warriors and their dark skin colored blue by the indigo of their robes. |
Almoravid dynasty | List of rulers | List of rulers
Sanhaja tribal leaders recognizing the spiritual authority of Abdallah ibn Yasin (d. 1058 or 1059):
Yahya Ibn Ibrahim al-Jaddali (also referred to as al-Jawhar ibn Sakkum)
Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni (d. 1055 or 1056)
Abu Bakr ibn Umar (d. 1087)
Subsequent rulers:
Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1061–1106, initially as Abu Bakr's lieutenant in the north)
Ibrahim ibn Abu Bakr (ruler of Sijilmasa, 1070–1075)
Ali ibn Yusuf (1106–1143)
Tashfin ibn Ali (1143–1145)
Ibrahim ibn Tashfin (1145, dethroned quickly)
Ishaq ibn Ali (1145–1147) |
Almoravid dynasty | Family tree | Family tree |
Almoravid dynasty | Timeline | Timeline |
Almoravid dynasty | Notes | Notes |
Almoravid dynasty | References | References |
Almoravid dynasty | Citations | Citations |
Almoravid dynasty | Bibliography | Bibliography
Brett, M. and E. Fentress (1996), The Berbers. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hrbek, I. and J. Devisse (1988), "The Almoravids", in M. Elfasi, ed., General History of Africa, Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, UNESCO. 1992 edition, Ch. 13, pp. 336–366.
Levtzion, N. and J. F. P. Hopkins, eds (1981), Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2000 edition.
Moraes Farias, P. F. de (1967), "The Almoravids: Some Questions Concerning the Character of the Movement", Bulletin de l’IFAN, series B, 29:3–4, pp. 794–878.
Category:11th century in al-Andalus
Category:12th century in al-Andalus
Category:Medieval history of Algeria
Category:Political history of Mauritania
Category:History of Western Sahara
Category:11th-century establishments in Africa
Category:1147 disestablishments
Category:12th-century disestablishments in Morocco
Category:States and territories established in 1040
Category:States and territories disestablished in 1147
Category:Historical transcontinental empires
Category:Former empires in Africa
Category:Almoravid Empire |
Almoravid dynasty | Table of Content | Short description, Name, History, Origins, Early conquests, Founding of Marrakesh and internal division, Further conquests in the Maghreb, Southern Almoravids and the Ghana Empire, Expansion into al-Andalus, Campaigns against Valencia, Early reign of Ali ibn Yusuf, Decline, Emblem, Culture, Religion, Art, Marble work, Textiles, Calligraphy and manuscript illumination, Ceramics, Minbars, Architecture, Literature, Poetry, Military organization, Legends, List of rulers, Family tree, Timeline, Notes, References, Citations, Bibliography |
Aloe | Short description | thumb|180px|Succulent plants, such as this aloe, store water in their enlarged fleshy leaves, stems, or roots, as shown in this split aloe leaf. This allows them to survive in arid environments.
thumb|alt=Aloe Vera houseplant|Spikes on an Aloe Vera houseplant
Aloe (; also written Aloë) is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as Aloe ferox, are also cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications.
The APG IV system (2016) places the genus in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. Within the subfamily it may be placed in the tribe Aloeae.Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards). "Asphodelaceae". Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Retrieved 2016-06-09. In the past, it has been assigned to the family Aloaceae (now included in the Asphodeloidae) or to a broadly circumscribed family Liliaceae (the lily family). The plant Agave americana, which is sometimes called "American aloe", belongs to the Asparagaceae, a different family.
The genus is native to tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula, and various islands in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Réunion, Comoros, etc.). A few species have also become naturalized in other regions (Mediterranean, India, Australia, North and South America, Hawaiian Islands, etc.). |
Aloe | Etymology | Etymology
The genus name Aloe is derived from the Arabic word al'uluh, meaning "bitter and shiny substance" or from Hebrew ahalim, plural of ahal. |
Aloe | Description | Description
Most Aloe species have a rosette of large, thick, fleshy leaves. Aloe flowers are tubular, frequently yellow, orange, pink, or red, and are borne, densely clustered and pendant, at the apex of simple or branched, leafless stems. Many species of Aloe appear to be stemless, with the rosette growing directly at ground level; other varieties may have a branched or unbranched stem from which the fleshy leaves spring. They vary in color from grey to bright-green and are sometimes striped or mottled. Some aloes native to South Africa are tree-like (arborescent). |
Aloe | Systematics | Systematics
The APG IV system (2016) places the genus in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. In the past it has also been assigned to the families Liliaceae and Aloeaceae, as well as the family Asphodelaceae sensu stricto, before this was merged into the Asphodelaceae sensu lato.
The circumscription of the genus has varied widely. Many genera, such as Lomatophyllum, have been brought into synonymy. Species at one time placed in Aloe, such as Agave americana, have been moved to other genera. Molecular phylogenetic studies, particularly from 2010 onwards, suggested that as then circumscribed, Aloe was not monophyletic and should be divided into more tightly defined genera. In 2014, John Charles Manning and coworkers produced a phylogeny in which Aloe was divided into six genera: Aloidendron, Kumara, Aloiampelos, Aloe, Aristaloe and Gonialoe. |
Aloe | Species | Species
Over 600 species are accepted in the genus Aloe, plus even more synonyms and unresolved species, subspecies, varieties, and hybrids. Some of the accepted species are:
Aloe aculeata Pole-Evans
Aloe africana Mill.
Aloe albida (Stapf) Reynolds
Aloe albiflora Guillaumin
Aloe arborescens Mill.
Aloe arenicola Reynolds
Aloe argenticauda Merxm. & Giess
Aloe bakeri Scott-Elliot
Aloe ballii Reynolds
Aloe ballyi Reynolds
Aloe brevifolia Mill.
Aloe broomii Schönland
Aloe buettneri A.Berger
Aloe camperi Schweinf.
Aloe capitata Baker
Aloe comosa Marloth & A.Berger
Aloe cooperi Baker
Aloe corallina Verd.
Aloe dewinteri Giess ex Borman & Hardy
Aloe erinacea D.S.Hardy
Aloe excelsa A.Berger
Aloe ferox Mill.
Aloe forbesii Balf.f.
Aloe helenae Danguy
Aloe hereroensis Engl.
Aloe inermis Forssk.
Aloe inyangensis Christian
Aloe jawiyon S.J.Christie, D.P.Hannon & Oakman ex A.G.Mill.
Aloe jucunda Reynolds
Aloe khamiesensis Pillans
Aloe kilifiensis Christian
Aloe maculata All.
Aloe marlothii A.Berger
Aloe mubendiensis Christian
Aloe namibensis Giess
Aloe nyeriensis Christian & I.Verd.
Aloe pearsonii Schönland
Aloe peglerae Schönland
Aloe perfoliata L.
Aloe perryi Baker
Aloe petricola Pole-Evans
Aloe polyphylla Pillans
Aloe rauhii Reynolds
Aloe reynoldsii Letty
Aloe scobinifolia Reynolds & Bally
Aloe sinkatana Reynolds
Aloe squarrosa Baker ex Balf.f.
Aloe striata Haw.
Aloe succotrina Lam.
Aloe suzannae Decary
Aloe thraskii Baker
Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f.
Aloe viridiflora Reynolds
Aloe wildii (Reynolds) Reynolds
In addition to the species and hybrids between species within the genus, several hybrids with other genera have been created in cultivation, such as between Aloe and Gasteria (× Gasteraloe), and between Aloe and Astroloba (×Aloloba).
thumb|Multiple Aloe species with a variety of growth forms. UCLA Botanical Garden |
Aloe | Uses | Uses
Aloe species are frequently cultivated as ornamental plants both in gardens and in pots. Many aloe species are highly decorative and are valued by collectors of succulents. Aloe vera is used both internally and externally on humans as folk or alternative medicine. The Aloe species is known for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. Around 75% of Aloe species are used locally for medicinal uses. The plants can also be made into types of special soaps or used in other skin care products (see natural skin care).
Numerous cultivars with mixed or uncertain parentage are grown. Of these, Aloe 'Lizard Lips' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Aloe variegata has been planted on graves in the belief that this ensures eternal life. |
Aloe | Historical uses | Historical uses
thumb|Depiction of Aloe, labeled in Greek "ΑΛΟΗ" (Aloë) from the Juliana Anicia Codex, a copy, written in Constantinople in 515 AD, of Dioscorides' 1st century AD work.Folio 15 Juliana Anicia Codex
Historical use of various aloe species is well documented. Documentation of the clinical effectiveness is available, although relatively limited.
Of the 500+ species, only a few were used traditionally as herbal medicines, Aloe vera again being the most commonly used species. Also included are A. perryi and A. ferox. The Ancient Greeks and Romans used Aloe vera to treat wounds. In the Middle Ages, the yellowish liquid found inside the leaves was favored as a purgative. Unprocessed aloe that contains aloin is generally used as a laxative, whereas processed juice does not usually contain significant aloin.
According to Cancer Research UK, a potentially deadly product called T-UP is made of concentrated aloe, and promoted as a cancer cure. They say "there is currently no evidence that aloe products can help to prevent or treat cancer in humans". |
Aloe | Aloin in OTC laxative products | Aloin in OTC laxative products
On May 9, 2002, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule banning the use of aloin, the yellow sap of the aloe plant, for use as a laxative ingredient in over-the-counter drug products. Most aloe juices today do not contain significant aloin. |
Aloe | Chemical properties | Chemical properties
According to W. A. Shenstone, two classes of aloins are recognized: (1) nataloins, which yield picric and oxalic acids with nitric acid, and do not give a red coloration with nitric acid; and (2) barbaloins, which yield aloetic acid (C7H2N3O5), chrysammic acid (C7H2N2O6), picric and oxalic acids with nitric acid, being reddened by the acid. This second group may be divided into a-barbaloins, obtained from Barbados Aloe, and reddened in the cold, and b-barbaloins, obtained from Aloe Socotrina and Zanzibar Aloe, reddened by ordinary nitric acid only when warmed or by fuming acid in the cold. Nataloin (2C17H13O7·H2O) forms bright-yellow scales, barbaloin (C17H18O7) prismatic crystals. Aloe species are used in essential oils as a safety measure to dilute the solution before they are applied to the skin. |
Aloe | Flavoring | Flavoring
Aloe perryi, A. barbadensis, A. ferox, and hybrids of this species with A. africana and A. spicata are listed as natural flavoring substances in the US government Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Aloe socotrina is said to be used in yellow Chartreuse.John Tellman (1900) The Practical Hotel Steward, The Hotel Monthly, Chicago |
Aloe | Gallery | Gallery |
Aloe | See also | See also
List of Aloe species
List of ineffective cancer treatments
List of Southern African indigenous trees |
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