was founder of the Zanata Berber Zayyanid dynasty and leader of the Banu ʿAbd al-Wad people, which ruled over portions of modern Algeria from the mid-thirteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. Although not as well known as their cousins, the Marinids, who ruled Morocco during roughly the same time period, the Banu ʿAbd al-Wad built a sophisticated capital in Tlemcen, whose cultural life, scholarship, and architecture are said to have rivaled that of the Marinid capital in Fez.
Yaghmurasan’s political fortunes arose as Almohad power declined in the central Maghreb. Following their 1212 defeat at Las Navas de Tolosa in southern Spain the Almohads began to lose control over their North African empire As central governance weakened the Almohads were replaced by regional Berber allies the Almohads were Berbers as well who were increasingly able to exercise independent authority the Hafsids in Ifriqiya present day Tunisia the Marinids in ...
