Yaqub al-Mansur

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(Redirected from
Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur
)

Yaqub Al-Mansur
Almohad
FatherAbu Yaqub Yusuf
ReligionIslam

Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (

Caliph.[3] Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 1184 to 1199. His reign was distinguished by the flourishing of trade, architecture, philosophy and the sciences, as well as by victorious military campaigns in which he was successful in repelling the tide of the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula
.

Military actions

Al-Mansur's father was killed in Portugal on 29 July 1184; upon reaching Seville with his father's body on 10 August, he was immediately proclaimed the new caliph.[3] Al-Mansur vowed revenge for his father's death, but fighting with the Banu Ghaniya, delayed him in Africa. After inflicting a new defeat on the Banu Ghaniya, he set off for the Iberian Peninsula to avenge his father's death.

His 13 July 1190 siege of

Paderne Castle and the surrounding territory near Albufeira, in the Algarve – which had been controlled by the Portuguese army of King Sancho I
since 1182. Having inflicted other defeats on the Christians and captured major cities, he returned to the Maghreb with three thousand Christian captives.

Upon Al-Mansur's return to Africa, however, Christians in

Vera, and Beja
.

When Al-Mansur heard this news, he returned to the Iberian Peninsula, and defeated the Christians again. This time, many were taken in chained groups of fifty each, and later sold in Africa as slaves.

While Al-Mansur was away in Africa, the Christians mounted the largest army of that period, of over 300,000 men, to defeat Al-Mansur. However, immediately upon hearing this, Al-Mansur returned again to Iberia and defeated Castilian King Alfonso VIII Alfonso's army in the Battle of Alarcos, on 18 July 1195. It was said that Al-Mansur's forces killed 150,000 and took money, valuables and other goods "beyond calculation". It was after this victory that he took the title al-Mansur Billah ("Made Victorious by God").[3]

Internal policy

Bab Udaya was added to Qasbat al-Awdaya under al-Mansūr's reign.

Architectural patronage

During his reign, Al-Mansur undertook several major construction projects. He added a monumental gate to the

Kasbah Mosque (or El-Mansuriyya Mosque) in Marrakesh and was accessed via the monumental gate of Bab Agnaou, both dating from al-Mansur's time. He also embarked on the construction of an even bigger fortified capital in Rabat, where he attempted to build what would have been the world's largest mosque. However, construction on the mosque and on this new citadel stopped after his death. Only the beginnings of the mosque had been completed, including a large part of its massive minaret now known as the Hassan Tower
.

Some of Rabat's historic gates, most notably Bab er-Rouah, also date from this time,[4][5][6] one of Al-Mansur's famous works is the Bimaristan of Marrakesh, the first hospital in Morocco to be ever built, Al-Mansur embellished it with luxurious ornaments and sculptures, it had gardens, water canals attached to it and it was Funded personally by Almohad's government, it is said that Averroes worked there for some time.[7][8]

Philosophy and religion

"The Disgrace of Averroes": al-Mansur banishes Averroes from his court (Louis Figuier, 1867 illustration)

Al-Mansur protected the philosopher

Almohad reforms;[10] Mansur was not satisfied, and when he inherited the throne he ordered Ibn Maḍāʾ to actually undertake the burning of such books.[11]

Death and legacy

He died on 23 January 1199 in Marrakesh.

Tinmal, where previous Almohad caliphs and Ibn Tumart were also buried.[6]
: 109 

His victory in Alarcos was remembered for centuries later, when the tide of war turned against the Muslim side. It is recounted by the historian Ibn Abi Zar in his 1326 Rawd al-Qirtas ("History of the Rulers of the Maghreb").[13]

The town of

Fez, Morocco, is named after Al-Mansur,[citation needed
] and is best known for its therapeutic hot springs.

Preceded by
Abu Ya'qub Yusuf
Almohad Caliph
1184–1199
Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ al-Fāsī, ʻAlī ibn ʻAbd Allāh Ibn Abī Zarʻ; al-Gharnāṭī, Ṣāliḥ ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm (1860). Roudh el-Kartas: Histoire des souverains du Maghreb (Espagne et Maroc) et annales de la ville de Fès (in French). Impr. impériale. p. 326. ...had as mother a legitime wife (of his father) Ammet Allah (servant of God), daughter of the sid Abou Ishac ben Abd el-Moumen ben Aly
  2. ^ al-Fāsī, ʻAlī ibn ʻAbd Allāh Ibn Abī Zarʻ; al-Gharnāṭī, Ṣāliḥ ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm (1860). Roudh el-Kartas: Histoire des souverains du Maghreb (Espagne et Maroc) et annales de la ville de Fès (in French). Impr. impériale. p. 355. His mother... Safya ... daughter of emir Abou Abd Allah ben Merdnych
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ Deverdun, Gaston (1959). Marrakech: Des origines à 1912. Rabat: Éditions Techniques Nord-Africaines.
  5. ^ Salmon, Xavier (2018). Maroc Almoravide et Almohade: Architecture et décors au temps des conquérants, 1055-1269. Paris: LienArt.
  6. ^ a b Bennison, Amira K. (2016). The Almoravid and Almohad Empires. Edinburgh University Press.
  7. ^ 'Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi, al-mujib fi talkhis akhbar ahl al-Maghrib, p. 287 [1]
  8. ^ Moussaoui، Driss؛ Glick، Ira D. (2015). "The Maristan "Sidi Fredj" in Fez, Morocco". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 172 (9): 838–839. [2]
  9. ^ Kojiro Nakamura, "Ibn Mada's Criticism of Arab Grammarians." Orient, v. 10, pgs. 89-113. 1974
  10. ^ Shawqi Daif, Introduction to Ibn Mada's Refutation of the Grammarians, pg. 6. Cairo, 1947.
  11. .
  12. ^ French translation by A. Beaumier, 1860