Ali ibn Yusuf

Ali ibn Yusuf
Sultan of Morocco
Reign	1106-1143
Predecessor	Yusuf ibn Tashfin
Successor	Tashfin ibn Ali
Born	1084 Ceuta, Spain
Died	26 January 1143
Full name Ali ibn Yusuf
Dynasty	Almoravid
Father	Yusuf ibn Tashfin
Religion	Islam

Ali ibn Yusuf (Arabic: علي بن يوسف‎‎) (born 1084 died 26 January 1143) was the 5th Almoravid king he reigned 1106–1143.

Biography

Gold coin minted during the reign of Ali ibn Yusef

Ali was recognized as the heir of his father Yusuf ibn Tashfin in 1102. He succeeded his father upon his death in 1106. Ali ruled from Morocco and appointed his brother Tamin ibn Yusuf as governor of Al-Andalus. Ali expanded his territories in the Iberian Peninsula by capturing Zaragoza in 1110, but eventually lost it again to Alfonso I, King of Aragon, in 1118. Cordoba rebelled against the Almoravids in 1121.

In 1139, he lost the Battle of Ourique against the Portuguese forces led by the count Afonso Henriques, which allow Afonso to proclaim himself an independent King.

Ali was succeeded by his son Tashfin ibn Ali in 1143.

Sargasso Sea

According to the Muslim cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi the Mugharrarin (also translated as "the adventurers") sent by Ali ibn Yusuf, led by his admiral Ahmad ibn Umar, better known under the name of Raqsh al-Auzz reached the Sargasso Sea, a part of the ocean covered by seaweed which is very close to Bermuda.

Family

Ali was the son of Yusuf ibn Tashfin. He had at least two sons:

• Tashfin ibn Ali, governor of Granada and Almeria in 1129 and Cordoba in 1131. Succeeded his father in 1143.
• Ishaq ibn Ali. Died in 1147.

References

Preceded by Yusuf ibn Tashfin

Almoravids 1106–1143

Succeeded by Tashfin ibn Ali