The Almohads and the Banū Ghāniya by Amar S. Baadj

Abstract

The Maghreb Review, Vol. 42, 3, 2017 © The Maghreb Review 2017 This publication is printed on FSC Mix paper from responsible sources BOOK REVIEWS / COMPTES RENDUS Books reviewed in The Maghreb Review can be ordered from The Maghreb Bookshop. Our catalogue is also available on our website: www.maghrebbookshop.com AMAR S. BAADJ, SALADIN, THE ALMOHADS AND THE BANŪ GHĀNIYA. THE CONTEST FOR NORTH AFRICA (12TH AND 13TH CENTURIES). LEIDEN: BRILL, 2015. In the 1180s, an unusual alliance was forged in North Africa. ʿAlī ibn Ghāniya, leader of the Majorca-based Banū Ghāniya, who were loyal to the Almoravids, joined forces with a man named Qarāqūsh (‘black bird’ in Turkish), an officer who served Saladin and the Ayyubids who had taken over Egypt from the Fatimids in 1171. The opponents of this coalition were the Almohads who would prevail and install the Hafsids in Ifrīqiya. These events, which are the main subject of the present monograph, illustrate a common limitation in the study of Islamic history: scholars tend to specialize either in the Maghrib or the Mashriq. Although Saladin has attracted a fair amount of attention, for the most part the Maghribi episode in his career appears to have fallen between the cracks. Other protagonists of this period in North African history have hardly received their share of the limelight. As the author points out in the introduction, the last in-depth treatment of the Banū Ghāniya in a western European language is Alfred Bel’s 1903 monograph, Les Benou Ghânya. The ambition of the present book is twofold. First, the author seeks to offer a new survey of the history of the Banū Ghāniya and the involvement of the Ayyubids in North Africa, taking into account recent scholarship in both Arabic and western European languages, as well as medieval Arabic sources that have not been fully exploited. Apart from offering a more detailed account, the author also corrects what he criticizes as a romanticized view of Saladin. Instead of endorsing his role as a pan-Islamic hero, he argues that pragmatic and even cynical motivations led Saladin to support the Banū Ghāniya against the Almohads, who sometimes occupy the role of villains in modern Arabic scholarship. For although Saladin would later pretend otherwise, he must have endorsed or commanded Qarāqūsh’s attack on fellow Sunnis. Such skewed views of Saladin and his Maghribi contemporaries constitute just one of the misrepresentations the author tackles throughout the book. He also redresses the reputation of the Banū Hilāl and Banū Sulaym as barbarian invaders, unleashed by the Fatimids as a scourge against the renegade Zirids. Baadj argues instead for localized disruptions, notably the sack of Qayrawan in 1057, and for a more continuous decline of agricultural production. Another BOOK REVIEWS / COMPTES RENDUS 371 challenge to understanding this period is the confusing nature of the events. The twelfth century reads as a never-ending series of battles, rebellions, of allegiances forged and dissolved, of sieges and invasions, of ‘near-constant turmoil’ (p. 3). The protagonists too are confusing: apart from Almoravids, Almohads, Banū Ghāniya and Ayyubids, there are Arab tribes relocated to the West, local tribes and the inhabitants of various cities, all with their own interests that were subject to change. The main contribution of this book is to offer a sustained and detailed account of the rise and fall of these diverse players in North Africa, especially Ifrīqiya. While the scope extends from the Fatimids to the Hafsides, the focus lies on the twelfth century. The book is organized mainly in a chronological order. It begins with a detailed description of the natural, social, economic and political landscape in which the events took place, and the organization and movement of tribes; the strategic significance of trade routes, mostly for gold and slaves, receives particular attention. The dramatis personae also include Christian powers, mostly the Italian traders who were gaining a foothold in North Africa, but also proto-Spanish reconquistadores and Sicilian Normans as well as Levantine Crusaders. The second chapter opens with the aftermath of the Hilālian invasions, which left behind a fragmented political landscape...