The Almoravids originated among the Sanhaja Berber tribes of the western Sahara. During the 11th century, they established an extensive Empire encompassing Morocco, parts of Algeria and much of Islamic Iberia. Their capital was Marrakesh, which developed into an important political, commercial and religious centre.
ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf succeeded his father, Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn, in 1106. During the early part of his long reign, the Almoravid Empire reached its greatest territorial extent. In later years, however, Almoravid authority came under increasing pressure from the Christian kingdoms in Iberia and the emerging Almohad movement in North Africa.
Small silver fractions such as this ¼ qirat were intended for modest everyday transactions. Because of their extremely limited surface area, their inscriptions were necessarily abbreviated. This type bears only the name and title al-Amīr ʿAlī (“The Emir ʿAlī”) in ornamental Kufic script, while the reverse was deliberately left blank.
The coin carries neither a date, mint name nor the name of an heir. It can therefore only be assigned generally to the reign of ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf, 500–537 AH (1106–1143 AD). The exact classification of these small fractions is sometimes complicated by their variable weights and by the use of essentially the same inscription on different fractional denominations.
