Sheikh Merin I (Yarmuk)

Sheikh Merin (1090-1137), a somewhat trivial character in this timeline, was a wealthy merchant in Algeria during the latter stages of Almoravid rule over the Maghreb. An anti-monarchist and reformer, it was the influence of Sheikh Merin that allowed the ascendancy of young Muwahhid Abdul Yusuf and the Almohad Kingdom.

Beginnings
Sheikh Merin started his life as the son of an unimportant Berber chieftain from a strain of the Merinids - sympathisers of the old Mauretanian regime which was extinguished in 1061. Leaving his ancestral home aged 16, he ventured into the world of finance in Algeria's finest cities. He was so successful that before long, his name was known by almost every financial mind in the Maghreb.

Influences in the Civil War
Merin had no quarrel with his Almoravid rulers until the pinnacle of the reign of Murabit Yusuf Tariq II, whose extreme incompetence had caused widespread corruption in the administration and the guilds of the cities. It was here that Merin became agitated, and set on the course for reform, which was ultimately ended with his assassination.