and lush gardens and cleaning up the city’s act with running water and hammams.
1082
Almoravid control stretches south to Ghana and Timbuktu, east to Algiers, and north from
Lisbon to Spain’s Ebro River, near Barcelona.
1121–30
Almohad spiritual leader Ibn Tumart loudly condemns Almoravid indulgence in music and
wine, but also champions scientific reasoning and political organisation based on a written
constitution.
1147
The Almohads finally defeat the Almoravids and destroy Marrakesh after a two-year siege,
paving the way for Yacoub el-Mansour and his architects to outdo the Almoravids with an all-
new Marrakesh.
1199
A vast swath of prime Mediterranean commercial real estate from Tripoli to Spain is
consolidated under Almohad control.
1276
Winds of change blow in from the Atlas with the Zenata Berbers, who oust the Almohads and
establish the Merenid dynasty with strategic military manoeuvres and even more strategic
marriages.
1324–52
Tangier-born adventurer Ibn Battuta picks up where Marco Polo left off, travelling from Mali
to Sumatra and Mongolia and publishing Rihla – an inspired though not entirely reliable travel
guide.
1348
Bubonic plague strikes Mediterranean North Africa; Merenid alliances and kingdoms crumble.
Rule of law is left to survivors and opportunists to enforce, with disastrous consequences.
1377
At Kairaouine University in Fez, Ibn Khaldun examines Middle Eastern history in his
groundbreaking Muqaddimah , explaining how religious propaganda, taxation and revisionist
history make and break states.
1415
In search of gold and the fabled kingdom of Prester John – location of the Fountain of Youth
– Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator begins his conquests of Moroccan seaports.
1480–92
Ferdinand and Isabella conquer Spain, and persecution of Muslims and Jews escalates.