Yusuf ibn Tashfin was a Berber from the Banu Turgut, a branch of the Lamtuna, a Tuareg tribe belonging to the Sanhaja group. The Sanhaja were linked by medieval Muslim genealogists with the Yemeni tribe … See more

Yusuf was an effective general and strategist who put together a formidable army comprising Sudanese contingents, Christian mercenaries and the Saharan tribes of the Gudala, Lamtuna and Masufa, which enabled him to expand the empire, crossing the See more

"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. Unlike many other See more

In the year 1091, the last sovereign king of al-Andalus, al-Mu'tamid, saw his Abbadid-inherited taifa of Seville, controlled since 1069, in jeopardy of … See more

Although the Almoravids had not gained much in the way of territory from the Christians, rather than merely offsetting the See more

His son and successor, Ali ibn Yusuf, was viewed as just as devout a Muslim as his father. Córdoba, in about 1119, served as the launch pad for Andalusian insurrection. Christians on … See more

• In the 1961 movie El Cid, Yusuf ibn Tashfin is portrayed, under the name "Ben Yussuf", by Herbert Lom.
• Yusuf appears in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors See more