Yusuf ibn Tashufin (1061-1106 AD) was a ruler of the Muslim Almoravid Empire, which he and his cousin Abu Bakr spread from the Senegal River in West Africa all the way up to what are now Morocco and Algeria. Under Yusuf’s leadership, the Almoravids even crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and took control of Muslim Spain, and Yusuf even defeated the Christian king Alfonso VI of Castile at the battle of Sagrajas in 1086 AD. Pictured alongside him here is his wife and queen Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah, with whom he would have shared power as if she were a co-ruler. They are known to have produced at least three sons together, one of whom was Yusuf’s successor Ali ibn Yusuf.