The Almoravids, also known as the Murabits, were a fundamentalist Islamic movement of the 11th and 12th Centuries. Founded by Ibn Yasin, in southern Morocco, they combined devotion to Islam with a fierce military tradition, and a desire to conquer. In 1070, the Almoravids established their capital city at Marrakesh, which at the time, was little more than a mosque in the desert surrounded by the tents of the faithful.