so i had to do this video over due to copyright issues my deepest apologies for the unintended infringement anyway if you've already seen this video please forgive me for the repost but i think it's an important discussion on african history morris history is probably top three as it concerns mainstream african history the african diaspora can't seem to get enough of it the moors represent so many different things to us as aphrodisiac people but perhaps the most valuable thing this history achieves for us is a sense that afro-descended people achieved glory why well because moore's history simply demands respect and cannot be ignored however despite all this moore's history for afro-descended people has always carried an asterix a blemish if you will because the identity of the moors is constantly challenged so today i wanted us to get a better understanding about who the moors were and talk about our role as afro-descended people in establishing moore's legacy [Music] what about from world islamic here and welcome back to another video of african history culture and world view by supporting this channel on patreon you're helping in the creation of these videos and supporting this content if you'd like access to full courses and sources or you simply want to show your support you may do so by clicking the patreon link in the description box below the term more itself consistently referred to muslims from north africa whether they were referring to the various amazigh populations or other africans who originated further south in places like senegal guinea or mali despite what we in the diaspora may think the term more is very broad and it's been used interchangeably between these two populations and was never used exclusively to refer to either of them in the literature in some occasions you'd even hear europeans differentiating between the so-called white moors and blackmores there are many morris dynasties we can discuss but my focus will be the alma ravids and the almohads so please keep that in mind when the african diaspora thinks about or more they tend to think of the black soldiers or rulers who conquered spain but we hardly ever refer to the names of the actual dynasties who accomplish this it's important to be specific when speaking about moore's history when islam spread across north africa in the 7th century many africans converted and created their own islamic armies to further the cause these armies later became known as the moors to various europeans it may surprise some of us to learn that black soldiers have been used in the middle east since ancient times they were not new it was only because of the mobilization of islam and the great number in which various africans joined forces that they then became known as moors later on in history under various persian rulers africans were employed as mercenaries and armies to help conquer and control new regions africans in nubia specifically had a world renowned reputation for being excellent archers and their services were in high demand even before the arabs swept across north africa black soldiers were present in their armies one of the earliest mentions of a black soldier or what europeans would later refer to as amor was named washi washi lived during the time of muhammad and it was said that he distinguished himself in battle especially during the capture of mecca the truth is in the early days of islam arabs began to extend their hand to enslave people whether they were from the middle east or north africa they began to entice them to join their armies and in return they would gain freedom this was an excellent strategy by the arabs to gain a huge loyal following and it greatly diversified their military ranks over time this strategy began to be used amongst the amazigh populations who converted to islam in the 9th century north african slave armies became more desirable as ambitious amazigh governors sought them out to create autonomous principalities they believed these soldiers from inner africa would be loyal to them in totality because they didn't come from the ethnic group of the governor and so was not invested in the needs and concerns of the majority population the north african caliphs themselves began to adopt this tradition to comfortably enforce their power and not worry about any arab or amazigh dissidents in other words the recruitment of black men further south became the very backbone of moorish supremacy now it's important to understand that black soldiers were always used in islamic armies even before the 9th century but they did not become supreme if you will until about this time for example under the umayya dynasty the first emir of cordoba in spain abed al-rahman the first who came to the throne in 756 was known to have kept a large personal guard of black troops he founded the muslim dynasty that ruled a large portion of spain for nearly three centuries and all his successors used black soldiers especially to maintain order now here is where a lot of the confusion comes in people may look at early morris history and say well the moors were black people however we can't ignore the presence of arab or amazigh soldiers in fact at various times in morse history there were more arab and amazigh soldiers than black soldiers especially before the 9th century if there is to be any value in the statement of saying the moors were black people we have to keep in mind that it's time sensitive because when discussing events before the 9th century we can only use it to express how black soldiers were used to reinforce the sultan's power when the 9th century arose the face of the moors began to change fairly quickly ahmad tulan who came to power in 884 the first independent rule of muslim egypt began to rely heavily on black soldiers most of which came from sudan many of them nubian upon his death he's said to have possessed 24 000 so-called white soldiers and 45 000 black soldiers in essence his army consisted of black men his son was protected by a thousand black soldiers alone one chronicler had this to say wearing black cloaks and black turbans so that a watcher could fancy them to be a black sea spreading over the face of the earth because of the blackness of their color and of their garments with the glitter of their shields of the chasing on their swords and of the helmets under their turbans they made a really splendid sight so it would seem as though the 9th century really ushered in the power of black soldiers giving moorish armies its distinction any european army who had never seen black soldiers in such great numbers would have certainly spoken about it and identified them as being the power of the muslims and if we look throughout the literature this is indeed the case this is why europeans in their artwork often times represented the power of the moors with an image of a black man this is why the focus on the amaravats and the almohads is significant when speaking about our contribution as afro-descended people to maurice history because these two moorish ruling dynasties in spain arguably used the most black soldiers and had rulers who were indistinguishable from the various african ethnic groups further south like in the case of jacob al-manzur of the amohats whom i consider the greatest moorish leader in the history of muslim spain his mother was a black woman believed to be from either mali or senegal one of the primary reasons for the rapid growth of black soldiers was the need for north african amazigh rulers to have complete control over their soldiers and not be challenged by any intermediate power or opposing ethnic loyalties that would come from arabs or other amazigh clans it would be very difficult for black soldiers originating from the interior of africa to rally up the local arab or amazigh populace because of the ideological social and political divisions between them it was black men who served to maintain the ruler in his palace protect the capital and uphold imperial authority the moorish tradition of black soldiers continued to develop in morocco centuries after their expulsion from spain in 1492 in the 17th century to the early 18th century the sultan of morocco malay ismail made great use of black soldiers to solidify his power he himself was the son of an arab prince and a black woman male ismail felt the immediate threat to his rule would come from the arabs amazigs and the turks in algeria he assembled the largest army in moroccan history consisting of 250 000 black soldiers allowing him to exert great authority through which he was able to undermine the power and influence of local tribal groups in his nation malay went even further by demanding that the other moroccan ethnic groups turn over their weapons and their horses to his all-black moorish army our agency in moore's history as afro-descent people cannot be denied as it so often has there just needs to be balance when speaking about the moors we need to be specific about time periods and dynasties because diversity did indeed exist moore's history is akin to a blanket we just have to identify our specific threat that makes up a part of the whole well i'm all out guys if you like these videos and want to helping us continue production consider supporting the home team on patreon.com the link is in the description box below no lots of remember your ancestors peace