Ancient regions of Asia Minor.

The Hittite Kingdom at the height of its power (red), bordering on the Egyptian Empire (green).

Asia Minor (from Greek: Μικρὰ Ἀσία, Mikrá Asía, small Asia) is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. It is a peninsula bounded by the Black Sea to the north, Georgia to the north-east, the Armenian Highland to the east, Mesopotamia to the south-east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west.

From the neolithic age Asia Minor was the route of the forward-Asiatic cultural stream which moved from the Near East to the west and spread the agriculture to the east coasts of Greece and Crete during the 5th millennium BC and then to the Balkan region and the whole of Europe. Later the use of bronze-working was transmitted through the Anatolian primary-cultures.^[1] The Hittites smelted rather brittle iron from the 15th century BC and the new metal was introduced in Greece.^[2] During the 20th century BC the Indo-European Hittites entered the region and gradually established a great empire which was destroyed by invaders in the 12th century. Greek-speaking populations moved to the west coasts and established cities up to the Black Sea. In the 6th century BC the kingdom of Lydia almost expanded to the whole of Asia Minor, until it became a satrapy of the Persian Empire. After the end of the Greek-Persian wars the cities on the coasts became part of the Delian League, which was, however, later dissolved.^[3] In the 4th century BC Alexander the Great conquered the peninsula, defeating the Persians. Following his death and the organisational deterioration of his empire, Asia Minor was ruled by a series of Hellenistic kingdoms which came under Roman control two hundred years later. The Kingdom of Pontus was independent from the 3rd century BC, until the middle of the 1st century BC.

The ancient history of Asia Minor is very important for the history of the Western civilization because it was the region where the mythic way of thought changed gradually to the rational way of thought. It seems that the Greeks took advantage of the observations of some older civilizations in the East and managed to work them up rationally.^[4] The first Western literature, including the Hurrian–Hittite literature, the first Greek polis and the two main schools of Ancient Greek philosophy seem to originate in this region. A lot of religious elements including the inspiration oracular-cult were transmitted from the Hittites to the Greeks and then to the west.^[5] The Ionian School of philosophers were the first natural philosophers (φυσιολόγοι:physiologoi) who tried to explain phenomena according to non-supernatural laws, and Pythagoras introduced the abstract mathematical-relations which formed the basis of the science of mathematics. These theories were built on a coherent building of argument from assumed or accepted beginnings.^[6]

Etymology[link]

The Delian League under the leadership of Athens, in 431 BC.

The earliest attested name is the Hittite Assuwa^[7] a region in central-western Anatolia which seems to be connected with the Mycenean Greek epithet a-si-wi-ja in Linear B inscriptions found at Pylos. The Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia concluding a wide-ranging array of minor Anti-Hittite powers across the region. The Greek cognate of Assuwa first describes a plain near the Kayster river in Homer. In early Greek testimonial Asia indicated central-western Anatolia.^[8] In Greek mythology Asia was a Titan goddess in Lydia.^[9] The region became a province of the Roman Empire, with the same name Asia.

The name Asia Minor was given by the Latin author Orosios in the 4th century AD. Konstantinos Porphyrogennetos, the fourth emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century AD, referred to Asia Minor as East thema, "ανατολικόν θέμα" (from the Greek words anatoli: east, thema: administrative division),^[10] placing this region to the East of Byzantium, while Europe was lying to the West. In that regard the Turks named this region Anadolu, which led to Anatolia. The European sailors and merchants gave the name Levant to the west and south coasts of Asia Minor, including Syria. Levant is derived from the French verb lever meaning "to rise"^[11] indicating that part of the world where the sun rises.

.

References[link]

Areti Ketime (Greek: Αρετή Κετιμέ), born July 26, 1989, is a singer and a santouri player from Greece who performs a broad spectrum of Greek traditional music.

Growing-up in a family originally from Pontus, Ketime was closely connected to the traditional music and was thus exposed to music from the age of 6. From 1999, she has participated in the Syme Festival. In 2002 she met noted musician George Dalaras and made a common appearance in several concerts. Areti also participated in Dalaras' album «Από Καρδιάς» singing the folk song «Μαραίνομ΄ ο Καημένος».

In 2003, she participated in a festival dedicated to Asia Minor along with Glykeria, Dalaras and Estudiantina of New Ionia. Dalaras produced her debut CD, To Tragoudi tis Aretis, Greek: Tο τραγούδι της Αρετής- ('Virtue's Song') with four tracks on the Parlophone label (MINOS/EMI). Ketime, accompanying herself on the santouri, performed at the opening ceremony for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Ketime turned professional in 2005, and began playing with her own group of musicians. She has appeared in many concerts themed on traditional Greek music, performing in a broad spectrum of both Greek traditional music (singing and playing), as well as classical.

Trivia[link]

Areti means Virtue in Greek.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Areti Ketime performing "Nanourisma" (Lullaby)

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (May 2009)

Syed Zaiduzzaman Hamid, better known as Zaid Hamid, is a Pakistani security consultant and political commentator.^[1][2] His byline in newspaper articles has been Zaid Zaman.^[2]

Early life and education[link]

Zaid was born in Karachi, in 1964. His father, Col. Zaman Hamid (Retd), served in the Pakistan Army. Zaid spent his early life in Karachi. He received a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Computer Systems Engineering from NED University, Karachi in 1980's.^[3]

Political views[link]

Through his TV programmes, Hamid has claimed that a nexus between India's RAW, the CIA and is responsible for the destabilization of Pakistan. He also claims that the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, were part of a plan hatched by "Hindu Zionists"", and that it was an attempt by the Indians to stage an attack just like the Americans executed the September 11 attacks.^[1][2][4][3]

Criticism[link]

A number of noted Pakistani journalists, writers and Islamic scholars^[5] have criticized Hamid and have described his views on politics and security as conspiracy theories.^[6][7][8][9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• BrassTacks website
• Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2011)

Battle of Manzikert

Alp Arslan (Persian: آلپ ارسلان‎ ālp arslān; Arabic: الب ارسلان‎ alb arslān or آلب آرسلان ālb ārslān; 1029 – 15 December 1072) was the third sultan of the Seljuq dynasty and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. His real name was Muhammad bin Da'ud Chaghri, and for his military prowess, personal valour, and fighting skills he obtained the surname آلپ ارسلان Alp Arslan, which means "Heroic Lion"^[1] in Turkic.

Career[link]

Alp Arslan led Seljuq Turks to victory against the Byzantines in 1071.

He succeeded his father Çağrı Bey as governor of Khorasan in 1059. When his uncle Tughril died he was succeeded by Suleiman, Alp Arslan's brother. Alp Arslan and his uncle Kutalmish both contested this succession. Alp Arslan defeated Kutalmish for the throne and succeeded on 27 April 1064 as sultan of Great Seljuq, and thus became sole monarch of Persia from the river Oxus to the Tigris.

In consolidating his empire and subduing contending factions he was ably assisted by Nizam ul-Mulk, his vizier, and one of the most eminent statesmen in early Muslim history. With peace and security established in his dominions, he convoked an assembly of the states and declared his son Malik Shah I his heir and successor. With the hope of capturing Caesarea Mazaca, the capital of Cappadocia, he placed himself at the head of the Turkish cavalry, crossed the Euphrates and entered and invaded the city. He then marched into Armenia and Georgia, which he conquered in 1064.

Byzantine struggle[link]

In 1068, en route to Syria, Alp Arslan Oush invaded the Byzantine Empire. The Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, assuming the command in person, met the invaders in Cilicia. In three arduous campaigns, the first two of which were conducted by the emperor himself while the third was directed by Manuel Comnenos (great-uncle of Emperor Manuel Comnenos), the Turks were defeated in detail in 1070 and driven across the Euphrates. In 1071 Romanos again took the field and advanced with possibly 30,000 men, including a contingent of the Cuman Turks as well as contingents of Franks and Normans, under Ursel de Baieul, into Armenia.

At Manzikert, on the Murat River, north of Lake Van, Diogenes was met by Alp Arslan. The sultan proposed terms of peace, which were rejected by the emperor, and the two forces met in the Battle of Manzikert. The Cuman mercenaries among the Byzantine forces immediately defected to the Turkish side; and, seeing this, "the Western mercenaries rode off and took no part in the battle."^[2] The Byzantines were totally routed.

Emperor Romanos IV was himself taken prisoner and conducted into the presence of Alp Arslan, who treated him with generosity, and, terms of peace having been agreed to, dismissed him, loaded with presents and respectfully attended by a military guard. The following conversation is said to have taken place after Romanos was brought as a prisoner before the Sultan^[3]:

Alp Arslan: "What would you do if I was brought before you as a prisoner?"

Romanos: "Perhaps I'd kill you, or exhibit you in the streets of Constantinople."

Alp Arslan: "My punishment is far heavier. I forgive you, and set you free."

Alp Arslan's victories changed the balance in near Asia completely in favour of the Seljuq Turks and Sunni Muslims. While the Byzantine Empire was to continue for nearly another four centuries, and the Crusades would contest the issue for some time, the victory at Manzikert signalled the beginning of Turkish ascendancy in Anatolia. Most historians, including Edward Gibbon, date the defeat at Manzikert as the beginning of the end of the Eastern Roman Empire. Certainly the entry of Turkic farmers following their horsemen ended the themes in Anatolia which had furnished the Empire with men and treasure.

State organization[link]

Alp Arslan humiliating Emperor Romanos IV after the Battle of Manzikert. From a 15th-century illustrated French translation of Boccacio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium.

Alp Arslan's strength lay in the military realm. Domestic affairs were handled by his able vizier, Nizam al-Mulk, the founder of the administrative organization which characterized and strengthened the sultanate during the reigns of Alp Arslan and his son, Malik Shah. Military fiefs, governed by Seljuq princes, were established to provide support for the soldiery and to accommodate the nomadic Turks to the established Anatolian agricultural scene. This type of military fiefdom enabled the nomadic Turks to draw on the resources of the sedentary Persians, Turks and other established cultures within the Seljuq realm, and allowed Alp Arslan to field a huge standing army, without depending on tribute from conquest to pay his soldiery. He not only had enough food from his subjects to maintain his military, but the taxes collected from traders and merchants added to his coffers sufficiently to fund his continuous wars.

According to the poet Saadi Shirazi: Arslan possessed a fort, which raised at the height of Alwand, from all were those within its walls, for its roads were a labyrinth, like the curls of a bride. From a learned traveler Arslan once inquired: "Didst thou ever, in thy wanderings, see a fort as strong as this?". "Splendid it is," was the travelers reply, "but methinks not it confers much strength. Before thee, did not other kings possess it for a while, then pass away? After thee, will not other kings assume control, and eat the fruits of the tree of thy hope?"

In the estimation of the wise, the world is a false gem that passes each moment from one hand to another. (the fort was sacked by the Mongols led by Hulagu).

Suleiman ibn Kutalmish was the son of the contender for Arslan's throne; he was appointed governor of the north-western provinces and assigned to completing invasion of Anatolia. An explanation for this choice can only be conjectured from Ibn al-Athir’s account of the battle between Alp-Arslan and Kutalmish, in which he writes that Alp-Arslan wept for the latter's death and greatly mourned the loss of his kinsman.

Death[link]

The dominion of Alp Arslan after Manzikert extended over much of western Asia. He soon prepared to march to the conquest of Turkestan, the original seat of his ancestors. With a powerful army he advanced to the banks of the Oxus. Before he could pass the river with safety, however, it was necessary to subdue certain fortresses, one of which was for several days vigorously defended by the governor, Yussuf el-Harezmi, a Khwarezmian. He was, however, obliged to surrender and was carried a prisoner before the sultan, who condemned him to death. Yussuf, in desperation, drew his dagger and rushed upon the sultan. Alp Arslan, who took great pride in his reputation as the foremost archer of his time, motioned to his guards not to interfere and drew his bow, but his foot slipped, the arrow glanced aside and he received the assassin's dagger in his breast. Alp Arslan died four days later from this wound on 25 November 1072 in his 42nd year, and was taken to Merv to be buried next to his father Chaghri Beg. Upon his tomb lies the following inscription:

“O those who saw the sky-high grandeur of Alp Arslan, behold! He is under the black soil now...”

As he lay dying, Alp Arslan whispered to his son that his vanity had killed him. "Alas," he is recorded to have said, "surrounded by great warriors devoted to my cause, guarded night and day by them, I should have allowed them to do their job. I had been warned against trying to protect myself, and against letting my courage get in the way of my good sense. I forgot those warnings, and here I lie, dying in agony. Remember well the lessons learned, and do not allow your vanity to overreach your good sense..."

Legacy[link]

Alp Arslan's conquest of Anatolia from the Byzantines is also seen as one of the pivotal precursors to the launch of the crusades.

From 2002 to July 2008 under Turkmen calendar reform, the month of August was named after Alp Arslan.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alp Arslan

References[link]

Yusef ibn Tashfin also, Tashafin, or Teshufin; or Yusuf; (Full name: Yûsuf bnu Tâšfîn Nâçereddîn bnu Tâlâkâkîn as-Sanhâjî, Arabic: يوسف بن تاشفين ناصر الدين بن تالاكاكين الصنهاجي ‎; reigned c. 1061 - 1106) was a king of the Almoravid empire, he founded the city of Marrakech and led the Muslim forces in the Battle of Zallaqa.

Succession to power[link]

Yusuf ibn Tashfin emerged from a line of Berber military leaders. Abu Bakr ibn Umar, a natural leader of Lamtuna extraction, a branch of the Branès, one of the original disciples of ibn Yasin who served as a spiritual liaison for followers of the Maliki school of thought, was appointed general after the death of his brother Yahya ibn Ibrahim. His brother oversaw the military for ibn Yasin but was killed in a Saharan revolt in 1056. Ibn Yasin, too, would die in battle against the Barghawata three years later. Abu-Bakr was an able general, taking the fertile Sūs and its capital Aghmāt a year after his brother's death. And would go on to suppress numerous revolts in the Sahara himself, on one such occasion entrusting his pious cousin Yusuf with the stewardship of Sūs and thus the whole of his northern provinces. He appears to have handed him this authority in the interim but even went as far as to give Yusuf his wife, Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyat, purportedly the richest woman of Aghmāt.^[1] This sort of trust and favor on part of a seasoned veteran and savvy politician reflected the general esteem in which Yusuf was held, not to mention the power he attained as a military figure in his absence. Daunted by Yusuf's newfound power, Abu Bakr saw any attempts at recapturing his post politically unfeasible and returned to the fringes of the Sahara to settle the unrest of the southern frontier.

Taifa appeal[link]

In the year 1091 the last sovereign king of al-Andalusia, al-Mu'tamid, saw his Abbadid-inherited taifa of Seville, controlled since 1069, in jeopardy of being taken by the increasingly stronger king of Castile-León, Alfonso VI. The Taifa period followed the demise of the Umayyad Caliphate. Previously, the emir launched a series of aggressive attacks on neighboring kingdoms, as to garner more territory for himself, but his military aspirations and capabilities paled in comparison to the Castilian king, who in the name of Christendom, in 1085, capturing a culturally refined Toledo and inducing parias, or tribute, from proud Muslim princes in places like Granada; al-Mu'tamid of Seville being no exception. The tribute of the emirs bolstered the economy of the Christian kingdom. These are the circumstances that led to the Almoravid conquest and the famous quote, rebuffing his son, Rashid, who advised him not to call on Yusef ibn Tashfin, where al-Mu'tamid said

I have no desire to be branded by my descendants as the man who delivered al-Andalus as prey to the infidels. I am loath to have my name cursed in every Muslim pulpit. And, for my part, I would rather be a camel-driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile.^[2]

Military exploits[link]

Yusef was an effective general and administrator, evidenced by his ability to organize and maintain the loyalty of the hardened desert warriors and the territory of Abu Bakr, as well as his ability to expand the empire, cross the Atlas Mountains onto the plains of Morocco, reaching the Mediterranean and capturing Fez in 1075, Tangier in 1079, Tlemcen in 1080, Ceuta in 1083, as well as Algiers, Ténès and Oran in 1082-83. He is regarded as the co-founder of the famous Moroccan city Marrakech (in Berber Murakush, corrupted to Morocco in English). The site had been chosen and work started by Abu Bakr in 1070. The work was completed by Yusef, who then made it the capital of his empire, in place of the former capital Aghmāt. By the time Abu Bakr died in 1087, after a skirmish in the Sahara as result of a poison arrow, Yusef had crossed over into al-Andalus and also achieved victory at the Battle of az-Zallaqah, also known as the Battle of Sagrajas in the west. He came to al-Andalus with a force of 15,000 men, armed with javelins, daggers, most of his soldiers carried two swords, shields, cuirass of the finest leather and animal hide, as well as drummers for psychological combat. Yusef's cavalry was said to have included 6,000 shock troops from Senegal mounted on white Arabian horses. Camels were also put to use. On October 23, 1086, the Almoravid forces, accompanied by 10,000 Andalusian fighters from local Muslim provinces, decisively checked the Reconquista, defeating the largest Christian army ever assembled up to that point, significantly outnumbered. The death of Yusef's heir, however, prompted his speedy return to Africa.

When Yusef returned to al-Andalus in 1090, he saw the lax behavior of the taifa kings, both spiritually and militarily, as a breach of Islamic law and principles, and left Africa with the express purpose of usurping the power of all the Muslim principalities, under the auspices of the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, who he had shared correspondence with and under the shibboleth "The spreading of righteousness, the correction of injustice and the abolition of unlawful taxes."^[3] The emirs in such cities as Seville, Badajoz, Almeria and Granada had grown accustomed to the extravagant ways of the east. On top of doling out tribute to the Christians and giving Andalusian Jews unprecedented freedoms and authority, they had levied burdensome taxes on the populace to maintain this lifestyle. After a series of fatwas and careful deliberation, Yusef saw the implementation of orthodoxy as long overdue. That year he exiled the emirs 'Abdallah and his brother Tamim from Granada and Málaga, respectively, to Aghmāt, and a year later al-Mutamid of Seville would suffer the same fate. When all was said and done, Yusef united all of the Muslim dominions of the Iberian Peninsula, with the exception of Zaragoza, to the Kingdom of Morocco, and situated his royal court at Marrakech. He took the title of amir al-muslimin (Prince of the Muslims), seeing himself as humbly serving the caliph of Baghdad, but for all intents and purposes he was considered the caliph of the western Islamic empire. The military might of the Almoravids was at its peak.

The Sanhaja confederation, which consisted of a hierarchy of Lamtuna, Musaffa and Djudalla Berbers, represented the military's top brass. Amongst them were Andalusian Christians and heretic Africans, taking up duties as diwan al-gund, Yusef's own personal bodyguard; including 2,000 black horsemen, whose tasks also included registering soldiers and making sure they were compensated financially. The occupying forces of the Almoravids were made up largely horsemen, totaling no less than 20,000. Into the major cities of al-Andalus, Seville (7,000), Granada (1,000), Cordoba (1,000), 5,000 bordering Castile and 4,000 in western Andalusia, succeeding waves of horsemen in conjunction with the garrisons that had been left there after the Battle of Sagrajas, made responding, for the Taifa emirs, difficult. Soldiers on foot used bows & arrows, sabres, pikes, javelins, each protected by a cuirass of Moroccan leather and iron piked shields. During the siege of the fort-town Aledo, in Murcia, previously captured by the Spaniard Garcia Giménez, Almoravid and Andalusian hosts are said to have used catapults, in addition to their customary drum beat. Yusef also established naval bases in Cadiz, Almeria and neighboring ports along the Mediterranean. Ibn-Maymun, the governor of Almeria, had a fleet at his disposal. Another such example is the Banu-Ganiya fleet based off the Balearic Islands that dominated the affairs of the western Mediterranean for much of the 12th century.^[4]

Siege of Valencia[link]

Although the Almoravids had not gained much in the way of territory from the Christians, rather they merely offset the Reconquista, Yusef did succeed in capturing Valencia. A city divided between Muslims and Christians, under the waffling rule of a petty emir paying tribute to the Christians, including the famous El Cid, Valencia proved to be an obstacle for the Almoravid military, despite their untouchable reputation. Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim ibn Tashfin and Yusef's nephew Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad both failed in defeating the El Cid. Yusef then sent Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali al-Hajj but he was not successful either. In 1097, upon his fourth trip to al-Andalus, Yusef sought to personally dig down and fight the armies of Alfonso VI, making way toward the all but abandoned, yet historically important, Toledo. Such a concerted effort was meant to draw the Christian forces, including those laying siege to Valencia, into the center of Iberia. On August 15, 1097, the Almoravids delivered yet another blow to Alfonso's forces, a battle in which the El Cid's son was killed.

Muhammad ibn 'A'isha, Yusef's son, who he had appointed governor of Murcia, succeeded in delivering an effective pounding to the Cid's personnel at Alcira, still not capturing the city, but satisfied with the results of his campaigns, Yusef left for his court at Marrakesh only to return two years later on a new effort to take the provinces of eastern Andalusia. El Cid had died in the same year, 1099, and his wife, Jimena, had been ruling until the coming of another Almoravid campaign at the tail end of 1100, led by Yusef's trusted lieutenant Mazdali ibn Banlunka. After a seven month siege, Alfonso and Jimena, hopeless to the prospects of staving off the Almoravids, set fire to the great mosque in anger and abandoned the city. Yusef had finally conquered Valencia and exerted complete dominance over the east of al-Andalus, now unquestionably the most powerful ruler in western Europe.^[5] He receives mention in the Spanish epic Poema del Cid, also known as El Cantar del Mio Cid, the oldest of its kind.

Description and character[link]

"A wise and shrewd man, neither too prompt in his determinations, nor too slow in carrying them into effect", Yusef was very much adapted to the rugged terrain of the Sahara and had no interests in the pomp of the Andalusian courts.^[6] According to Abd Allah's "Roudh el-Kartas" (History of the Rulers of Morocco) and A.Beaumier's French translation of the 14th century work, Yusef was of "Brown color, middle height, thin, little beard, soft voice, black eyes, straight nose, lock of Muhammad falling on the top of his ear, eyebrow joined, wooly hair"[1] He went on to live to 100 years old and, unlike his predecessors, not die in battle.

Legacy[link]

His son and successor, Ali ibn Yusuf, was viewed just as devout a Muslim as his father.Córdoba, in about 1119, served as the launch pad for Andalusian insurrection. Christians on the northern frontier gained momentum shortly after his father's death, and the Almohads, beginning about 1120, were to engulf the southern frontier. This ultimately led to the disintegration of Yusef's hard-fought territories by the time of Ibrahim ibn Tashfin (1146) and Ishaq ibn Ali (1146–1147), the last of the Almoravid dynasty.

While Yusef was the most honorable of Muslim rulers, he spoke Arabic poorly. Ali ibn Yusef in 1135 exercised good stewardship by attending to the University of Al-Karaouine and ordering the extension of the mosque from 18 to 21 aisles, expanding the structure to more than 3,000 square meters. Some accounts suggest that Ali ibn Yusef hired two Andalusian architects to carry out this work who also built the central aisle of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1136.

According to Richard Fletcher's Moorish Spain:

The Almoravids had never been liked in al-Andalus outside the limited circles of the rigorist critics of the taifa rulers. They had come as deliverers but they behaved like conquerors. The leadership may have been sincerely devout but the rank and file were not. Almoravid rule has been described by a modern authority as "an extended looting expedition" ... To the end of the Almoravid regime there was not a single traceable Berber among its civil servants: instead, Andalusi clerks were shipped over to Morocco. The Almoravids indulged in all the luxuries and delights of al-Andalus but failed to do the job they had been called into do: the lost territories in the Tagus and Ebro valleys remained in Christian hands.

In popular culture[link]

• Ben Yussuf is the name of Yusef ibn Tashfin in El Cid.
• Yusef appears in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors as one of the primary antagonists in the "El Cid" campaign. However, he is described as "never showing his face", always covering it with a cloth.
• Yusef ibn Tashfin appears as Hero in the Drama Serial "Pukaar" presented by Pakistan Television Center in 1995, Pakistan. In this series the main characters were Yousaf bin Tashfin,(played by Asal Din Khan), Zainab (Yousaf's wife), Ali (Yousaf's son), Alfonso VI (played by Ayub Khosa), Mutamid bin abi abbad (played by Hissam Qazi(Late)), and princesses of Leon (played by Laila Wasti).

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Richard Fletcher, Moorish Spain, (University of California Press, 1992)
• Ibn Idhari, Al-bayan al-mughrib Part III, annotated Spanish translation by A. Huici Miranda, Valencia, 1963.
• N. Levtzion & J.F.P. Hopkins, Corpus of early Arabic sources for West African history, Cambridge University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-521-22422-5 (reprint: Markus Wiener, Princeton, 2000, ISBN 1-55876-241-8). Contains English translations of extracts from medieval works dealing with the Almoravids; the selections cover some (but not all) of the information above.
• E. A. Freeman, History and Conquests of the Saracens, (Oxford, 1856)
• Codera, Decadencia y desaparicion de los Almoravides en España (1889)
• H. R. Idris, Regierung und Verwaltung des vorderen Orients in islamischer Zeit, (Brill Academic Publishers, 1997)