The Establishment of Almohad Rule in Al-Maghrib al-Awsaṭ and Al-Maghrib al-Adnā and Almohad Policy Towards the Arab Tribes

Abstract

This article begins with a study of the conquest of the Central and Eastern Maghrib by the Almohads during the middle of the 6th century A.H./12th century A.D. and the incorporation of both regions into the Almohad state. It includes a critical analysis of the sources for the decisive battle of Setif in 548 A.H./1153 A.D. leading to some new conclusions about the battle. It also discusses the various strategies employed by the Almohads to subdue and pacify the various Hilālī and Sulaymī tribes that inhabited the Central and Eastern Maghrib and which constituted the main source of resistance to the eastwards expansion of Almohad rule. These methods included resettlement, recruitment into the Almohad army, payment of stipends, and military repression