• DOI:10.1080/13629380108718421
• Corpus ID: 145567635

Re-thinking the Almoravids, re-thinking Ibn Khaldun

@article{Messier2001RethinkingTA,
  title={Re-thinking the Almoravids, re-thinking Ibn Khaldun},
  author={Ronald A. Messier},
  journal={The Journal of North African Studies},
  year={2001},
  volume={6},
  pages={59 - 80}
}

• R. Messier
• Published 1 January 2001
• History
• The Journal of North African Studies

The rise and fall of the Almoravids is sometimes seen as conforming to Ibn Khaldun's paradigm for the rise and fall of dynasties. As the Almoravids moved from desert to city, a virtue to corruption narrative seems to unfold and, to some degree, their story does fit the pattern. According to Ibn Khaldun, dynasties originate among desert tribes because the desert breeds those qualities that a ruler needs: the virtues of discipline and endurance, courage and combat, temperance and loyalty. These were the virtues for which Yahya Ibn 'Umar and his brother Abu Bakr were chosen to be the first commanders of the Almoravids. The tribe provides both the need for royal authority and its base of authority. During its first generation, royal authority relies on the tribe for protection and shares its glory with the tribe. 'Asabiya (tribal solidarity) is preserved. The second generation moves from the desert to the city, from privation to luxury and plenty. But since the second generation had direct contact with the first, and with the desert, it retains many of its virtues. Royalty, at this point, moves beyond its struggle for basic needs toward maturity. It seeks sedentary or urban existence, luxury and ease and the security of city walls. In this phase of Almoravid development, the ruler Yusuf Ibn Tashfin built the walled city of Marrakesh. The wealth of this urban civilisation and the power of the dynasty peak simultaneously. The dynasty claims glory for itself, and the vigour of 'asabiya is strained. The third generation among the Almoravids, that of Ali Ibn Yusuf has no contact with the desert. It has forgotten desert life and toughness and knows only the luxury and ease of city life which corrupt desert virtues and contribute to the dynasty's decline. The drive for affluence eventually exhausts resources and corrupts the regime itself. It then narrows its base in hopes of holding on to what it has; 'asabiya is lost. Ibn Khaldun explains the decline of dynastic states in terms of this loss.