Who were the Almoravids and where did they come from?

The Almoravids were a confederation of Berber tribes—specifically the Lamtūnah, Gudālah, and Massūfah clans of the Ṣanhājah people—who originated as desert dwellers from the Sahara.1

Driven by religious zeal and a desire to reform Islamic practice, these military ascetics expanded from their Saharan roots to build an empire across northwestern Africa, including modern-day Morocco and western Algeria, establishing their capital at Marrakech in 1062.1

In 1086, the Almoravids launched a major invasion of Spain from North Africa to support Muslim territories against the Christian reconquest. While they eventually brought most of Muslim Spain under their rule, they remained a Berber minority governing a complex Spanish-Arab society until they were eventually displaced by the Almohads in the 12th century.12