ShmoopTube

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Okay, Shmoopers, time to head north.

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But uh…we're still talking Africa, so…don’t pack your skis. [Skies fly off]

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'Cause when you think North Africa, you should be thinking desert sand, camels, caravans,

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and killer suntans…literally killer suntans. [People turn red]

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The Arabic Umayyad Caliphate conquered most of North Africa by 750 CE.

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The Umayyad rule was generally great for wealthy merchants, lords, and urban citizens, but

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significantly less great for desert nomads on the fringes of society. [Drinks coffee]

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Turns out being on the fringe of society kinda sucked in every society.

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Go figure.

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Back in medieval times, Morocco, in the northwest corner of Africa, was the Wild West and the

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fringiest part of the African Islamic world.

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It was dry, depopulated, and undeveloped, but worth mountains of cash…

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Or should we say great big sand dunes of cash? [Piles of money]

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Nah, we’ll go with mountains.

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As the gateway between Western Europe and Africa, the trade routes through Morocco were

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worth more than the land taxes of most of North Africa put together.

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However, lots of bandits, nomads, pirates, and local lords all fought each other for

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their cut.

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And by 740 CE, the Umayyads let their Wild West slip from their fingers.

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Oopsies.

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When Umayyad armies were like, "forget this…",

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Morocco was taken over by a gang of nomad lords.

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As the western frontier of the Islamic world in the 900s CE, Morocco was the place where

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Islamic soldiers occasionally crossed the sea to bump heads with Christian Spaniards.

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Luckily, their mom’s made them wear helmets.

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It was natural that such a rough place would breed some rebels.

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In the 10th century, a new type of rebel leader went into hiding among the nomads.

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This guy was Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah , the 12th Imam ,

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whom Shi'a Muslims believed was a prophesized leader of the Islamic world.

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Sounds nerve-wracking.

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We bet he stress ate.

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The 12th Imam won over the nomads and conquered the rest of Islamic Africa from 909 to 934

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CE, creating the Fatimid Caliphate .

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Don’t call it fat, though, if you value being alive and unconquered.

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The Fatimid Caliphate was a big deal.

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Arabic became an everyday language for everyone, even working stiffs, and that's still the

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case today.

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Instead of being colonized and exploited by the Middle East, like under the Umayyads,

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North Africa became a center of power unto itself.

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Yeah, it was an Arabic culture, but it had a truly African flavor.

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For the rest of the European Middle Ages, North Africa's rulers were some of the strongest

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in the Muslim world.

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Hm…guess they worked out.

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