saadien -Dynastie saadienne (1554-1659

Map of the Empire saadien
The Saadian Zaydanides45 sometimes called, is a native Arab dynasty Sharifian the Draa Valley. She came to power in 1511 with Sultan Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah chose Marrakech for final capital after Taroudant. From 1554 she has full control over Morocco, while the central and eastern Maghreb is under the dominion of the Ottomans. Muhammad al-Sheikh is a staunch opponent of the Ottoman sultan-caliph Suleiman the Magnificent. To ward off the threat posed by the Turkish governors of Algiers, the Saadian sultan did not hesitate to seek the alliance of Spaniards who occupied Oran and allow him to seize Tlemcen. Despite a devastating raid against Fez Ottoman troops really do not penetrate inside the Moroccan territory, and Saadian can extend their occupation of north-western Algeria. Diplomacy Muhammad al-Shaikh earned him the enmity of the Sublime Porte tenacious. Indeed, in 1557 the assassins in the pay of Hasan pasha of Algiers Corso behead the Moroccan Sultan and sent his head as a trophy in Istanbul, where can contemplate Soliman and his implacable enemy Ouest46. The murder, however, did not affect the military front and even strengthens the foundation of the Saadian dynasty.
Designated by the mystical brotherhoods including the Chadilya and Jazoulya, Saadiens have the difficult task of reuniting Morocco and fight the young King Sebastian I of Portugal willing to carry his personal crusade in Africa. In 1578 Ksar el Kebir (Battle of the Three Kings), a large Portuguese army composed largely of mercenaries from almost all Christendom Western Catholic (Portuguese knights, militia Spanish provinces lansquenets German and Flemish and Italian troops halberdiers Papal) is completely destroyed by the military forces of the Empire of Morocco Saadian which offer a victory considérable47 impact. After this battle, the dynasty focuses on the north-east of Morocco to protect the country from Ottoman ambitions.
Despite their political opposition to the Sublime Porte, the Saadian Makhzen organize their army and the Ottoman model. The Board shall adopt the titles of pashas and beys, and sultans to equip an elite guard composed of peiks and solaks, taking the discipline and costume characteristic of Turkish janissaries. A representative of the Sultan with the title "khalifa" 48exerce power viceroy from Fez on the northern and eastern. Many pashas and bosses are renegades and Andalusians responsible for collecting taxes, raising troops and monitor the tribes to prevent revolt against the Makhzen saadien.


The inner courtyard of the Ben Youssef Medersa period saadienne
The influence turque49 be explained by the exiled princes Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik and Ahmed (Ahmed future Saadi al-Mansur) in Algiers and Istanbul during the reign of their half-brother Moulay Abdallah al-Ghalib, who had wanted to eliminate in order to be the sole representative of the dynasty. Support of the Ottoman Sultan Murad III to the claims of both Saadian princes may seem paradoxical because of the adversarial nature of Turkish-Moroccan relations, but Abd al-Malik and his brother know how to use this support to intelligently reclaim the throne and eliminate their nephew Mohammed el-Mottouakil (son of al-Ghalib) which in turn was allied with Portugal. Murad III's death in 1595 put an end also to hegemonic appetites of the Sublime Porte and strengthens the independence marocaine50.


Abd el-Wahed ben Messaoud, ambassador of Sultan al-Mansur in England, circa 1600


Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur Saadi, whose reign marked the apogee of the Saadian dynasty.
If the Turks are mostly found in the General Staff and artillery, most of the Saadian army is composed of European renegades and tribes Cheragas Arab military contingents as well as the Souss (Souss the Ehl-el, constitutes the backbone of the military dynasty). This considerable force, estimated at 40,000 men by the historian Henri Terrasse, is the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur's most powerful political and military leader of this part of Africa. He proves it by launching one of its most brilliant officers, General Yuder Pasha to conquer Songhai Empire of Mali becomes Tondibi after the battle of the Moroccan pashalik of Timbuktu and Bilad as-Sudan (Sudan western Niger as opposed to Eastern Nilotic Sudan), including the prestigious cities of Gao and Djenné. On the religious level, the rule of the Caliphate is recognized until saadien Chad Idriss Alaoma III, ruler of the kingdom of Kanem-Bornou51. This spiritual allegiance marks an undeniable victory for the Sultan al-Mansur on the African scene to the detriment of the Ottoman Empire who also intends to use its status as a caliphate.
The Songhai Empire and destroyed his sovereign Askia Ishaq II overthrown, the gold of the Niger River valley on its way to Marrakech Moroccan oasis then the circuit caravans under heavy armed escort. With this Malian gold, Sultan al-Mansur embarked on a policy of prestige, completes his huge and luxurious El Badi Palace seat of a very luxurious court life, and we see even the Queen of France Catherine de Medici attempt to use a loan of 20,000 ducats to the wealthy saadien52 caliph.
In turn Queen Elizabeth I of England wants to establish a strategic alliance with the Spanish anti-powerful caliphate saadien to counter the ambitions of Philip II. This policy is embodied by the Anglo-Moroccan joint attack against Cadiz (1596) and the exchange of ambassadors between the courts of London and Marrakech in 1600. But this brilliant page ends with the death of Ahmed in Fez in 1603. In 1612, the pashas of Timbuktu behave in independent princes of Mali and gold continues to reach Marrakech. The dynasty died in 1659 in the death of Sultan Ahmed el-Abbas, who ended a long war between the various dynastic heirs of the family saadienne53.

On the eve of the disappearance of the Saadian dynasty, Morocco breaks up into several local authorities, some of whom aspire to transcend their regional context and to impose nationwide. Among these powers, the most notable are the zaouia Dila, based in the Middle Atlas, whose strength lies in the Berber tribes of the mountains, including Sanhadjas and the zaouia of Illigh who founded the kingdom of Tazeroualt in Souss and control of important caravan routes from the Sahara. In addition to these theocratic states Sufis, the warlord El Ayyachi champion of jihad in the Atlantic provinces, is size an important fief in the Gharb. Coastal cities predominantly Andalusian erect also independent political entities, such as the Republic of Salé and the Principality of Naqsides in Tetouan. Finally, in Marrakech and the Haouz emerges lordship former bosses Saadian palace. But all these players involved, it is the Alawites, emirs who Tafilalet necessary through a gradual and methodical conquest of Morocco, leveraging internal weaknesses and divisions of their opponents. The Alawite dynasty comes to power and on throughout the middle of the seventeenth century.



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Marinids : Mérinides.

Marinids : Mérinides.


Map of the Empire and its extensions Merinid
Unlike the two previous dynasties, the rise of Mérinides is not put on the account of a personal associable to an individual but to the collective affirmation of a tribe. Another break that mark the accession to power of Mérinides leitmotiv is the abandonment of the religious purification in favor of a conception of the conquest of power more classical in accordance with the tribal identity of the protagonists.


Medersa Merinid Salé, built by Sultan Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman in 1341
The tribe is a tribe zénète whose origins are from of Wassin 35. Still, the Beni Merin (or Bani Marin) are throughout the twelfth century the archetype of a typical Berber tribe, nomad between the basin of the Upper Moulouya west (between Guercif and Missouri) and Tell the Algerian south of Sidi Bel Abbes east. The first occurrence of the tribe of Beni Merin in Moroccan historiography coincides with their participation as a group in the Battle of Alarcos (1196), battle eventually won by the Almohad camp. It was at this occasion that illustrates Abd al-Haqq considered the real founder of the Marinids. Back home, the tribe falls in relative anonymity until the crushing defeat Almohad of Las Navas de Tolosa after which troops will undo Mérinides 10,000 soldiers Almohads. Following this success, Mérinides temporarily settled in the Rif, supported by Miknassas settled north of Taza.
From 1216, they were paid tribute by the cities of Fez and Taza. The Almohads anxious to restore their authority over their entire territory-launch offensives against many, mostly futile. It was during one of these maneuvers dies Abd al-Haqq. His son Uthman ibn Abd al-Haqq succeeded him. From 1227, all the tribes between the Bouregreg and Moulouya have pledged allegiance to Mérinides. In 1240, Uthman ibn Abd al-Haqq dies, murdered by his Christian slave. It was his brother Muhammad ibn Abd al-Haqq who succeeded him, besieging with relative success Meknes. He died in 1244, killed by Christian militia in the service of the Almohads. In the middle of the decade 1240, the Almohad troops are set to rout Guercif. Mérinides then pass the very strategic Taza Gap, springboard which allowed them to undertake the siege of Fez in August 1248 and to consider taking the entire northern half of Morocco. But the southern half is not far behind. Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq having previously succeeded plays traditional friendships with Beni Beni Merin Ouarain Middle Atlas and other tribes for control Tafilalet oasis and divert revenues from trans-Saharan trade Marrakech to Fez, designated as Merinid capital.
In 1258, Abu Yusuf Yaqub bin Abd Al-Haqq succeeded his brother buried in the ancient Necropolis of Chella he started réhabiliter36. The beginning of his reign was marked by a struggle with his nephew who claimed the succession. It manages to take Salé. The location at the mouth of Bouregreg benefits Castile who will the city hostage for two weeks. The western Rif is also prey to many uprisings Ghomaras while Ceuta and Tangier are then in the hands of an independent sultan, a man named El Asefi. Quickly the new sovereign expressed his desire to do battle with the Almohads quickly entrenched in the Haouz is Doukkala and part of Souss. A first attempt in this direction ended in failure in 1262. Then press the Almohads Abdalwadides attack their rivals Mérinides by surprise. Yghomracen famous ruler abdalwadide was defeated in 1268. The following year, Marrakech is definitely prise37.


Medersa Bou Inania Fez
During the years that followed, he boute the Castilians out of all their establishments Atlantic to Tangier. In 1276, Fez, the new capital of the kingdom sees increased by a new district administrative and military away from the old city, which combines including the new Royal Palace and the Mellah. This is Fes El Jadid. Overall, the city will know in the era Merinid a second golden age after that known as Idrissides. After total pacification of the territory and taking the Sijilmassa Abdalwadides, Sultan crossed the strait and tries to reconstruct large Muslim Andalusia Almohads. Spanish companies Merinids are complex but that deliver little results. Following the siege of sherry, a peace treaty stipulating the return of many documents and works of art Andalucian (fallen into the hands of the Christians when taking Seville and Cordoba) to Fez. In 1286, Abu Yusuf Yaqub bin Abd Al-Haqq dies in Algeciras. He was buried in Chella.


Minaret ruins of Mansura in Tlemcen in Algeria, mosque built under Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr.
His son Abu Yaqub Yusuf36 later told An-Nasr, succeeded him and is confronted at his induction hardening of revolts in the Draa and Marrakech and a disavowal of certain members of his family, sometimes combining with Abdalwadides or rebellious. He went to Cadiz Nasrid Granada as a goodwill but six years later, in 1291, they allied with the Castilians they are vassals undertake Mérinides definitely kick the Iberian Peninsula. After four months of siege, Tarifa is taken by the Castilians. But the eyes of Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr are rather fixed on Tlemcen, capital of Beni Merin eternal rivals that are Abdalwadides. He goes to Tlemcen head of an army composed of mercenaries cosmopolitan puisqu'essentiellement Christians (mainly Castilians and Aragonese), Oghuz Turkmen and Kurds. The siege lasted eight years and will continue until the assassination of the sovereign hands of one of his harem eunuchs, in 1307.
Until the advent of Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman in 1331, the dynasty is marked by a form of decadence whose main symptoms are multiplication:
- Disputes over succession;
- Popular uprisings (difficulties in the Rif, Ceuta and Tangier surajoutèrent climate growing insurgency in Marrakech and in the Souss);
- Military revolts (uprisings) ...
So in 1331, Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman (nicknamed the "Sultan black") succeeded his father, a few months after receiving his forgiveness. Quickly, the obsession of his elders to Tlemcen catches him. He started a new seat on the city will prove vain. It displaces those in his immediate family but the jealous knows how to show great dexterity in managing tribal ambitions. Tlemcen finally falls in 1337. Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman is crowned with glory. This victory opened the way Maghreb median but before disappearing into the breach opened in the direction of Ifriqiya, the sovereign wishes to avenge the death of his son Abu Malik, surprised by the Castilians after his success in Gibraltar in 1333. The battle of Tarifa, October 30, 1340 ended in a defeat that marked the end of definitive ambitions Moroccan Spanish soil. Seven years later, the sultan and his army manage to submit Ifriqiya. The following year, however, the Merinids wipe a crushing defeat in Kairouan. The echo of the disappointment is great, to the point that arises and spreads a crazy rumor that Abu Hassan died in the battle. In Tlemcen, Abu Inan Faris is then inducted. It is his desire qu'émanera building Inania Medersa Bou Fez.
He also also completed the construction of the Medersa Bou Inania Meknes, begun by his predecessor. This vain attempt a return via Algiers and Sijilmassa. He was finally defeated and killed by the armies of his son on the shores of Umm Errabiaa. Abu Inan Faris, deeply grieved by the death, then attempt to assert its authority over the whole kingdom, weakened by the new upsurge of wills insurgency. It surrounds the purposes of Ibn Khaldun, a thinker of genius and a true pioneer of modern sociology. His nephew, master of Fez is executed, but during this trip to Morocco is Tlemcen rises. An intense campaign allows a renewed vigor Merinids but Abu Inan is strangled at the hands of one of his viziers, some al-Foudoudi, December 3, 1358, just nine years after his accession to power.


Gold coin of Sultan Abu Inan Faris (1348-1358)
Lawlessness is at its peak. This is the first major decline of the dynasty. Each Vizier tries to carry the pretender to the throne and the lower handle. Wealth patiently accumulated by previous sovereigns are looted. Claiming a first come Castile manages to escape for a time to the diktat of viziers. His name is Muhammad bin Abu Ziyan Ya `qub simply called Muhammad ibn Yaqub. Recognized and acclaimed in the north of Morocco, kingdom from 1362 of a kingdom which only the northern half (of the Tadla the southern foothills of the Rif) remained loyal to the authority Merinid. Throughout his brief reign, he will try to squeeze one by one the viziers considered bulky but it is the hands of one of these, the Grand Vizier Omar, he will die in 1366.
Omar désincarcère then the son of Abu Hasan Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz Ali bin or simply Abd al Aziz. After successfully completing the feat of ousting many viziers including one that brought him to power, he managed to subdue the parallel power up in Marrakech (to say the Abu Fadel, defeated in 1368). He manages to assert its authority in Hintata country and in the Souss and Sijilmassa. In 1370, Tlemcen, where the power was restored abdalwadide, falls into the hands of Mérinides. But only two years later, he died. The kingdom is again divided into two, zaouias taking power in Marrakech. The plague is devastating.
Ensuing 21 years of decline during which multiply dynastic intrigue, coups different policies viziers interference Nasrid and vain attempts to bang against military Tlemcen. During the two periods of decline, the practice of race develops, both in the north, around Tangiers and Ceuta, on the Atlantic coast.
In 1399, while Morocco is experiencing a more total anarchy, King Henry III of Castile weapon for a naval expedition to destroy the practice of the race from Tetouan. In fact, the city is not only sacked but also completely emptied of its population (half are deported Castile). In 1415, it was the turn of Ceuta fell to the ships of John I, King of Portugal, also on a crusade against the run.


Ibn Battuta, a great traveler Tangier era Merinid who visited three continents
The Marinids knows a tragic déclin38. Abu Said Uthman bin Ahmad Abu Said said succeeds Abu Amir Abd Allah in unclear circumstances. In 1421 Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq succeeds Abu Said when he was one year, the accession to the throne called of course a regency. The viziers Wattassides will prove essential and will account for power for nearly 40 years, after which they will be killed in 1459 by Abd al-Haqq who regains power by the occasion. A popular revolt broke out in 1465 in Fez, however, and 'Abd a-Haqq is slaughtered, this episode marks the end of the reign of Mérinides.
Merinid anarchy and restore Idrisid (1465-1471) [edit]
Related article: Period wattasside anarchy.
In 1465, following the fall of the Merinid after the revolt of Fez, Sharif Muhammad ibn Ali proclaimed himself sultan is a descendant of Idrissides, branch of Jouti-Amrani, the power of Sultan Mohammed is limited to the region Fès39, plunging the whole country into anarchy and exposure to European expansionist tendencies. Meanwhile, Mohammed al-Shaykh, one of two survivors of the massacre of 1459, prepares his return to power, he finally accomplished in 1471 ending the short-lived government idrisside


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Wattassides. (1471-1554)

Wattassides.


Morocco in the early sixteenth century: in red, the field of Wattasides
Wattassides or Wattasids or Banu Watâs are a tribe of Berbers as Zenata Mérinides. This tribe, which would initially originated in present-day Libya, was established in the Rif, bordering the Mediterranean. Their fortress Tazouta between Melilla and Moulouya, Beni Wattas gradually extended their power at the expense of the ruling family Merinid (see detailed article on Wattassides). These two families are related, Mérinides recruited many viziers in Wattassides. The viziers Wattassides necessary gradually to power. The last sultan was dethroned in 1465 Merinid. It follows a period of confusion which lasted until 1472. Morocco is divided into two with the south, an Arab dynasty emerging Saadiens and north a sultanate wattasside decline.
In 1472, the Sultan of Fez Wattassides lost all their strategic territories and have no control of the Strait of Gibraltar. The Portuguese took possession of Tangier in 1471 41puis cede the city to England in 1661 as dowry for Catherine of Braganza brought her husband Charles II of England. English domination of Tangier, relatively short (1661-1684), will be challenged constantly by the British Parliament despite the granting of a charter to the colony by Charles II, and because of the financial hardship that the maintenance of the garrison permanently subjected to the pressure of Moroccan attacks. The evacuation of Tangier is finally decided and assigned to Admiral Lord Dartmouth 42, Moulay Ismail troops take possession of the city after 193 years of foreign domination triple (Portuguese, Spanish, English).


Former Portuguese colony of Mazagan in El Jadida, Morocco recovered in 1769 by the
During the Portuguese rule (1471-1661, with a Spanish interlude between 1580 and 1640), Tangier is the capital of the Algarve in Africa, because there exist two Algarves, one in Europe and one in Africa, both considered personally territories under the house of Aviz and of the House of Braganza (King of Portugal also bears the title of King of the Algarves). Under the successive reigns of Alfonso V, John II and Manuel I (period marking the climax of Portuguese expansion) Algarve encompasses virtually all African Moroccan Atlantic coast, with the exception of Rabat and Salé. The Portuguese controlled the coastal portion extending from Agadir to Ceuta and Boujdour, with points milestone strongholds of Tangier, Asilah, Larache, Azemmour, Mazagan, Safi and Castelo Real de Mogador. On Azemmour originated Estevanico (real name Mustapha Zemmouri), a Moroccan enslaved by the Portuguese and then resold to the Spaniards, and which will be illustrated by its exploration and appreciation of America to the borders of Mexico and of Arizona in the ranks of Hispanic conquistadors.
Possessions of the Crown Lusitane fronteiras are equivalent Portuguese Spanish presidios, and are used as stops on the sea route from Brazil and Portuguese India. However most of Morocco conquered by the Portuguese in 1541 Saadiens. The last fronteira is the Mazagan, recovered by the Moroccans in 1769. Spaniards for their part, attribute the Mediterranean coast with the presidios of Melilla and rock Vélez de la Gomera, as well as the region of Tarfaya facing the Canary Islands. They also take control of Ceuta after the debacle Portuguese in the Battle of the Three Kings which results in the establishment of the Iberian Union (1580) 43.
Wattassides weakened finally give power to a dynasty claiming an Arab origin Sharifian (Saadiens) in 1554



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