When a Berber reform movement emerged from the fringes of the western Sahara in the 11th century, few could have predicted it would grow into a medieval empire stretching from North Africa to Iberia. Yet the Almoravids did just that—combining Islamic zeal, military expansion, and control of the trans-Saharan gold trade to build one of the most powerful states in the Middle Ages. A new study by Jeannette Plummer Sires and Gonzalo J. Linares Matás offers a fresh lens on their rise, using gold coins to explore the mechanisms of Almoravid imperialism and its wide-reaching impact.
Published in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, their article traces how coinage, conquest, and trade networks enabled the Almoravids to exert power across continents, shaping the political and economic landscape of the medieval western Mediterranean.
From the Desert: Reform, Faith, and Tribal Alliances
The Almoravid empire at its greatest extent (early 12th century). Map by Flaspec / Wikimedia Commons
The Almoravid movement began among the Sanhaja Berbers of present-day Mauritania and southern Morocco. These were not people one would expect to forge an empire—they were mostly small-scale herders and farmers. However, around the mid-11th century, a religious scholar named ʿAbd Allāh b. Yāsin united disparate Berber clans under a strict interpretation of Islam.
Initially a fringe movement, the Almoravids quickly gained strength through their alliance with the Lamtuna tribe, a powerful Sanhaja group. Their religious mission and military success helped them carve out a base of power across southern Morocco, at a time when drought, political instability, and shifting trade patterns were transforming the region.
Gold and Conquest: Building an Empire
Almoravid coin minted in 1126/7 – Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com
Sires and Matás argue that central to Almoravid expansion was their control over the gold trade. West African goldfields, particularly along the Niger and Senegal rivers, had supplied Mediterranean markets for centuries. The Almoravids seized control of key trade hubs like Sijilmasa, allowing them to dominate the trans-Saharan routes and mint gold dinars in large quantities.
“These coins served not only as a medium of exchange but also as a form of propaganda and a symbol of sovereignty, representing imperial authority and legitimacy within and beyond the Almoravid empire,” the authors explain. “In this regard, the strategic increase in coin-minting bearing the names of Almoravid leaders, such as Abu Bakr ibn ‘Umar, Yūsuf b. Tāshfīn and Ali ibn Yūsuf, illustrated their desire to portray a rightful claim to leadership and their ability to control social, economic, political and religious affairs. This was part of a wider legitimising strategy for the implantation of Islamic ideals of statehood, such as the Maliki notion of a ‘Commander of Truth and Law’ (amir al-haqq) within pre-existing socio-philosophical practices of charismatic leadership among the indigenous Berber population of North Africa.”
The wealth from this trade enabled the Almoravids to fund military campaigns and expand their reach. After consolidating Morocco, they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar at the request of Andalusian rulers. In 1086, they defeated the Christian forces of Alfonso VI at the Battle of Sagrajas, halting Christian advances and paving the way for Almoravid rule over much of Islamic Spain. At the same time, their armies conquered lands southwards to Ghana.
Consolidating Imperial Rule
The Almoravids soon established Marrakech as their imperial capital, a city that became a centre for governance, trade, and religious scholarship. They sponsored Islamic scholars, especially Mālikī jurists, and used legal frameworks to integrate their empire.
They also used architecture and material culture to assert power. The Almoravids famously transported ornate elements from older Umayyad sites in al-Andalus, such as the marble minbar from Madīnat al-Zahraʾ, to their mosques in Marrakech and Fez. These acts were not just symbolic—they demonstrated continuity with Islamic prestige traditions and reinforced their imperial identity.
Another aspect to the Almoravids success was their taxation policy – with wealth coming from their gold mints, they were able to reduce onerous taxes throughout their empire.
A Fragile Dominance
A 14th century depiction(Catalan Atlas) of the 11th century Almoravid general Abu Bakr ibn Umar (“Rex Bubecar”) near the Senegal River – Wikimedia Commons
Despite their success, the Almoravids’ grip on power was far from secure. Their leadership remained concentrated among a small Berber elite, and their rigid political structure left little room for adaptability. Military setbacks—such as their failure to retake Toledo—and unrest in cities like Córdoba began to strain their authority. Sires and Matás write:
Their capacity to uphold their image as defenders of Islam became increasingly tenuous, thereby challenging their legitimacy. Furthermore, the sustainability of their fiscal system proved fragile during the latter phases of their presence in the Iberian Peninsula, when they were forced to engage in defensive warfare, leading to the perpetration of fiscal abuses that mirrored the very practices they had sought to eradicate.
By the 1130s, the Almohads, a rival reformist movement from the Atlas Mountains, began challenging Almoravid rule. Led by Ibn Tumart, the Almohads called for a stricter form of Islam and gained support from Berber groups previously excluded from Almoravid leadership. They gradually conquered Almoravid strongholds, culminating in the fall of Marrakech in 1147. Within a few years, the Almoravids were driven from al-Andalus.
Even after their empire collapsed, Almoravid dinars continued to circulate. Archaeological finds from Cluny Abbey in France, a shipwreck off the coast of England, and sites across the Mediterranean show that these coins remained valuable long after the fall of the dynasty. They were respected for their high gold content and became models for imitation in Europe.
Sires and Matás concludes:
The historical trajectory of the Almoravid empire highlights the relevance of controlling access and distribution of highly prized raw materials along the main trans-Saharan trade routes, particularly gold, given its significance for underpinning the political economy and fiscal policy behind their territorial expansion. Another relevant dimension of trans-continental imperial dynamics beyond flows of material goods is the potential for intentional (and unintentional) biological exchanges through species translocation. Lastly, the decline of the Almoravid empire also underscores the dynamic nature of power struggles and the difficulties faced by nomadic empires with revenue streams contingent on continued territorial expansion in sustaining their dominance in settled regions.
The authors also criticize how museums have treated their collections of Almoravid coins, finding that they often fail when it comes to tracking their provenance or offering accurate information about them. Their article, ‘“Those who were bound together”: illuminating Almoravid imperial entanglements,” appears in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. Click here to read it.
When a Berber reform movement emerged from the fringes of the western Sahara in the 11th century, few could have predicted it would grow into a medieval empire stretching from North Africa to Iberia. Yet the Almoravids did just that—combining Islamic zeal, military expansion, and control of the trans-Saharan gold trade to build one of the most powerful states in the Middle Ages. A new study by Jeannette Plummer Sires and Gonzalo J. Linares Matás offers a fresh lens on their rise, using gold coins to explore the mechanisms of Almoravid imperialism and its wide-reaching impact.
Published in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, their article traces how coinage, conquest, and trade networks enabled the Almoravids to exert power across continents, shaping the political and economic landscape of the medieval western Mediterranean.
From the Desert: Reform, Faith, and Tribal Alliances
The Almoravid movement began among the Sanhaja Berbers of present-day Mauritania and southern Morocco. These were not people one would expect to forge an empire—they were mostly small-scale herders and farmers. However, around the mid-11th century, a religious scholar named ʿAbd Allāh b. Yāsin united disparate Berber clans under a strict interpretation of Islam.
Initially a fringe movement, the Almoravids quickly gained strength through their alliance with the Lamtuna tribe, a powerful Sanhaja group. Their religious mission and military success helped them carve out a base of power across southern Morocco, at a time when drought, political instability, and shifting trade patterns were transforming the region.
Gold and Conquest: Building an Empire
Sires and Matás argue that central to Almoravid expansion was their control over the gold trade. West African goldfields, particularly along the Niger and Senegal rivers, had supplied Mediterranean markets for centuries. The Almoravids seized control of key trade hubs like Sijilmasa, allowing them to dominate the trans-Saharan routes and mint gold dinars in large quantities.
“These coins served not only as a medium of exchange but also as a form of propaganda and a symbol of sovereignty, representing imperial authority and legitimacy within and beyond the Almoravid empire,” the authors explain. “In this regard, the strategic increase in coin-minting bearing the names of Almoravid leaders, such as Abu Bakr ibn ‘Umar, Yūsuf b. Tāshfīn and Ali ibn Yūsuf, illustrated their desire to portray a rightful claim to leadership and their ability to control social, economic, political and religious affairs. This was part of a wider legitimising strategy for the implantation of Islamic ideals of statehood, such as the Maliki notion of a ‘Commander of Truth and Law’ (amir al-haqq) within pre-existing socio-philosophical practices of charismatic leadership among the indigenous Berber population of North Africa.”
The wealth from this trade enabled the Almoravids to fund military campaigns and expand their reach. After consolidating Morocco, they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar at the request of Andalusian rulers. In 1086, they defeated the Christian forces of Alfonso VI at the Battle of Sagrajas, halting Christian advances and paving the way for Almoravid rule over much of Islamic Spain. At the same time, their armies conquered lands southwards to Ghana.
Consolidating Imperial Rule
The Almoravids soon established Marrakech as their imperial capital, a city that became a centre for governance, trade, and religious scholarship. They sponsored Islamic scholars, especially Mālikī jurists, and used legal frameworks to integrate their empire.
They also used architecture and material culture to assert power. The Almoravids famously transported ornate elements from older Umayyad sites in al-Andalus, such as the marble minbar from Madīnat al-Zahraʾ, to their mosques in Marrakech and Fez. These acts were not just symbolic—they demonstrated continuity with Islamic prestige traditions and reinforced their imperial identity.
Another aspect to the Almoravids success was their taxation policy – with wealth coming from their gold mints, they were able to reduce onerous taxes throughout their empire.
A Fragile Dominance
Despite their success, the Almoravids’ grip on power was far from secure. Their leadership remained concentrated among a small Berber elite, and their rigid political structure left little room for adaptability. Military setbacks—such as their failure to retake Toledo—and unrest in cities like Córdoba began to strain their authority. Sires and Matás write:
Their capacity to uphold their image as defenders of Islam became increasingly tenuous, thereby challenging their legitimacy. Furthermore, the sustainability of their fiscal system proved fragile during the latter phases of their presence in the Iberian Peninsula, when they were forced to engage in defensive warfare, leading to the perpetration of fiscal abuses that mirrored the very practices they had sought to eradicate.
By the 1130s, the Almohads, a rival reformist movement from the Atlas Mountains, began challenging Almoravid rule. Led by Ibn Tumart, the Almohads called for a stricter form of Islam and gained support from Berber groups previously excluded from Almoravid leadership. They gradually conquered Almoravid strongholds, culminating in the fall of Marrakech in 1147. Within a few years, the Almoravids were driven from al-Andalus.
Even after their empire collapsed, Almoravid dinars continued to circulate. Archaeological finds from Cluny Abbey in France, a shipwreck off the coast of England, and sites across the Mediterranean show that these coins remained valuable long after the fall of the dynasty. They were respected for their high gold content and became models for imitation in Europe.
Sires and Matás concludes:
The historical trajectory of the Almoravid empire highlights the relevance of controlling access and distribution of highly prized raw materials along the main trans-Saharan trade routes, particularly gold, given its significance for underpinning the political economy and fiscal policy behind their territorial expansion. Another relevant dimension of trans-continental imperial dynamics beyond flows of material goods is the potential for intentional (and unintentional) biological exchanges through species translocation. Lastly, the decline of the Almoravid empire also underscores the dynamic nature of power struggles and the difficulties faced by nomadic empires with revenue streams contingent on continued territorial expansion in sustaining their dominance in settled regions.
The authors also criticize how museums have treated their collections of Almoravid coins, finding that they often fail when it comes to tracking their provenance or offering accurate information about them. Their article, ‘“Those who were bound together”: illuminating Almoravid imperial entanglements,” appears in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. Click here to read it.
Jeannette Plummer Sires is an Intercultural Archaeologist and Museum Specialist. Gonzalo J. Linares Matás is a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
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