"The Almoravids (Arabic: al Murabitun), in Berber (Imrabden), "the people of the Ribat", were a Berber Moorish dynasty, originally from the Adrar region, who nomadized between present-day Senegal and southern Morocco. In the 11th century, they formed an empire encompassing the western Sahara, the western part of the Maghreb and part of the Iberian Peninsula. The origins and development of the Almoravid movement can be traced back to the Almoravids of the south-western Sahara. This movement, championed by the Almoravids, revived the policy of expansion advocated by the Sanhadjian Awdaghost dynasty, whose aim was to found a powerful emirate. A religious conflict ensued, as the Almoravids, led by the reformer and proselytizer Ibn Yasin, launched a counter-offensive to retake their territory from the animist Soninke emperors. Their primary objective was to spread the Malékite ideology, and then to drive the Zenata out of their territory, as Awdaghost had become the hub of Kharidjite Ibadism under the authority of an animist king: the king of Ghana, hence the sacking of the town in 1077...".