Almoravid movement gains momentum in the western Sahara

1049

Abdullah ibn Yasin's desert warriors, drilling at their ribat on the Senegal River, had grown from a handful of zealots into a formidable army of Sanhaja Berbers bound by strict Maliki discipline. They captured the oasis of Sijilmasa on the northern edge of the Sahara, seizing control of the trans-Saharan gold trade's most crucial waystation.