The Morabedis (Moorish: ⵉⵎⵕⴰⴱⴹⴻⵏ Imṛabḍen, Spanish: Moravedíes) were a Moorish dynasty of western Mauritania, who formed an empire in the 11th century that stretched over the western Mauritania and Wandalus. Founded by Tashfin ben Brahim, their capital was Marrakesh, a city they founded in 1062. The dynasty was originated among the Lamtuna and the Gudala, nomadic Moor tribes of the Magne Desert, traversing the territory between the Draa, the Niger, and the Senegal rivers.
The Morabedi Empire at its greatest extent (c.1110)
The Morabedis were crucial in preventing a fall of Wandalus to the Iberian Catholic kingdoms, when they decisively beat a coalition of the Castilian and Aragonese armies at the Battle of Sagrajas. This enabled them to control an empire that stretched 3000 km north to south. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived. The Morabedis fell when they failed to quell the Masmudi-led rebellion initiated by Amghar ben Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishak ben Yusef was killed in the city of Marrakesh in April 1147 by the Masmudis, who replaced them as a ruling dynasty in Mauritania.
List of Morabedi rulers[]
- Tashfin ben Brahim, 1040–1061
- Yusef ben Tashfin, 1061–1106
- Adam ben Yusef, 1106–1143
- Brahim ben Yusef, 1143–1145
- Ishak ben Yusef, 1145–1147