1.
Coronation
–
The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
Coronation
–
The coronation of
Charles VII of France (1429), detail of the painting Jeanne d'Arc (1886–1890) by
Jules Eugène Lenepveu.
Coronation
–
.
Miniature of
Charlemagne crowned emperor by
Pope Leo III, from Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, vol. 1; France, second quarter of 14th century.
Coronation
–
Roger II of Sicily receiving his crown directly from
Jesus Christ, mosaic from
Martorana, Palermo
Coronation
–
An ancient coronation from India
2.
Al-Rashid of Morocco
–
Mulai al-Rashid was Sultan of Morocco from 1666 to 1672. He has been called the founder of the Alaouite Dynasty and it was his father Moulay Ali Cherif who took power in Tafilalt around 1630. In 1635 al-Rashids brother Ismail Ibn Sharif succeeded their still living father, after the death of their father, Mulai Mohammed brought Tafilalt, the Draa River valley and the Sahara region under Alaouite power. However due to internal feuding war broke out between the brothers and Mohammed was killed by troops of al-Rashid in 1664, with a small army al-Rashid ruled the east of Morocco. He was able to expand his power and seize Taza, in 1666 he marched into Fes and ended the rule of the zaouia of Dila, a Berber movement which ruled the northern part of Morocco. After subjugating the northern areas of Morocco he also succeeded in capturing Marrakech in 1669. He occupied the Sus and the Little Atlas, which solidified Alaouite control over the entirety of Morocco and he died in Marrakech in 1672 after a fall from his horse, and was succeeded by his half-brother Ismail Ibn Sharif. Al-Rashid was sometimes known as Tafiletta by the English, list of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco
Al-Rashid of Morocco
–
Al-Rashid of Morocco
3.
Rissani
–
Rissani is a town in Errachidia Province in eastern Morocco, located near Erfoud. It is the closest town of significant size to the Erg Chebbi and its population in 2004 was 20,469. The mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, third great-grandfather of Moulay Cherif, Rissani is the ancient capital of Tafilalet. Its location as a crossroads between north and south gave the city a certain importance in previous times, a former major caravan center, Rissani remains a major commercial center in the region, with a large souk, particularly lively on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. It is noted for its leather and goat skin trading
Rissani
–
Western city gate of Rissani
4.
Meknes
–
Meknes is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids as a settlement, Meknes became a capital under the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismaïl. The urban population is estimated at more than 650,000 with the population close to 1,000,000. It is the seat of Meknès Prefecture and an important economic pole in the region of Fès-Meknès, Meknes is named after a Berber tribe which, was known as Miknasa in the medieval North African documents. The Almoravids founded a fortress in Meknes during the 11th century and it resisted the Almohads rise, and was thus destroyed by them, only to be rebuilt in a larger size with mosques and large fortifications. Under the Merinids it received further madrasas, kasbahs and mosques in the early 14th century, Meknes saw its golden age as the imperial capital of Moulay Ismail following his accession to the Sultanate of Morocco. His many building projects were possible by a large number of European slaves taken at sea. As much as 30000 slaves were working on his every day. According to the ICOMOS Heritage at Risk report of 2000, the city of Meknes contains insufficient drainage systems. To the west are the two largest metropolitan areas of Morocco, Casablanca and Rabat, to the north is the mountainous north of Morocco with the cities of Tangier and Tétouan. East of Meknes includes a number of cities of which Oujda. Meknes has a Mediterranean climate with continental influences and its climate is similar to some areas of southern Spain and inland southern Portugal. The temperatures shifts from cool and cold in winter to hot days in the months of June–September. The nights, however, are cool, with daytime temperatures generally rising 10-14C above the low every day. The winter highs typically reach only 15.5 °C in December–January, Meknes is the seat of the prefecture of Meknès, which consists of 6 municipalities and 15 rural communes. The following map depicts some of the monuments in the old Medina, Volubilis This site is one of the most famous sites in Meknes. It is a site of Roman construction and it is located on a hill where tourists can see the spread out countryside and also see the pieces of the once tall and grandeur Roman villa. Many artifacts from this site are located in the Rabats Archaeology Museum
Meknes
–
Meknès مكناس
Meknes
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Meknes
–
Medresa Bou Inania in Meknes.
Meknes
–
Dar El Makhzen royal palace.
5.
Alaouite Dynasty
–
The Alaouite dynasty, or Alawite dynasty, is the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his son Mulay Al-Rashid was able to unite and pacify the country. The Alaouite family claim descent from Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭimah az-Zahrah and they were hoping that, as he was a descendant of Muhammad, his presence would help to improve their date palm crops thanks to his barakah blessing, an Arabic term meaning a sense of charisma. His descendants began to increase their power in southern Morocco after the death of the Saʻdī ruler Ahmad al-Mansur, in 1669, the last Saʻdī sultan was overthrown in the conquest of Marrakesh by Mulay al-Rashid. After the victory over the zāwiya of Dila, who controlled northern Morocco, he was able to unite, the organization of the sultanate developed under Ismail Ibn Sharif, who, against the opposition of local tribes began to create a unified state. Because the Alaouites had difficult relations with many of the countrys Berber and Bedouin-Arab tribes, Ismaīl formed a new army of black slaves, however, the unity of Morocco did not survive his death—in the ensuing power struggles the tribes became a political and military force once again. Only with Muhammad III could the kingdom be pacified again and the administration reorganized, a renewed attempt at centralization was abandoned, and the tribes were allowed to preserve their autonomy. Under Abderrahmane Morocco fell under the influence of the European powers, when Morocco supported the Algerian independence movement of Emir Abd al-Qadir, it was defeated by the French in 1844 at the Battle of Isly and made to abandon its support. During the reigns of Muhammad IV and Hassan I, the Alaouites tried to foster trading links, above all with European countries, the army and administration were also modernised to improve control over the Berber and Bedouin tribes. With the war against Spain came direct involvement in European affairs, although the independence of Morocco was guaranteed at the Conference of Madrid, the French gained ever greater influence. German attempts to counter growing influence led to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905–1906. Eventually the Moroccans were forced to recognise the French Protectorate through the Treaty of Fez, at the same time the Rif area of northern Morocco was raised under Spanish control. Under the protectorate, infrastructure was invested in heavily in order to link the Atlantic coastal cities to the hinterland, the Protectorate regime faced opposition from the tribes. In 1930, the Berbers were placed under the jurisdiction of French courts, in 1944, the Istiqlāl was founded and was supported by Sultan Muhammad V. From 1631 to 1666 as princes of Tafilalt, proclaimed at Taza, on the death of his elder half-brother as Sultan of Tafilalt,2 August 1664. Proclaimed as Sultan of Morocco, etc. at Fez,1666, commander of the Faithful Royal Ark Morocco Alaoui dynasty
Alaouite Dynasty
–
Alaouite Dynasty
6.
Arabic language
–
Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
Arabic language
–
The Galland Manuscript of
One Thousand and One Nights, 14th century
Arabic language
–
al-ʿArabiyyah in written Arabic (
Naskh script)
Arabic language
–
Bilingual traffic sign in
Qatar.
Arabic language
–
Examples of how the Arabic root and form system works.
7.
Alaouite dynasty
–
The Alaouite dynasty, or Alawite dynasty, is the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his son Mulay Al-Rashid was able to unite and pacify the country. The Alaouite family claim descent from Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭimah az-Zahrah and they were hoping that, as he was a descendant of Muhammad, his presence would help to improve their date palm crops thanks to his barakah blessing, an Arabic term meaning a sense of charisma. His descendants began to increase their power in southern Morocco after the death of the Saʻdī ruler Ahmad al-Mansur, in 1669, the last Saʻdī sultan was overthrown in the conquest of Marrakesh by Mulay al-Rashid. After the victory over the zāwiya of Dila, who controlled northern Morocco, he was able to unite, the organization of the sultanate developed under Ismail Ibn Sharif, who, against the opposition of local tribes began to create a unified state. Because the Alaouites had difficult relations with many of the countrys Berber and Bedouin-Arab tribes, Ismaīl formed a new army of black slaves, however, the unity of Morocco did not survive his death—in the ensuing power struggles the tribes became a political and military force once again. Only with Muhammad III could the kingdom be pacified again and the administration reorganized, a renewed attempt at centralization was abandoned, and the tribes were allowed to preserve their autonomy. Under Abderrahmane Morocco fell under the influence of the European powers, when Morocco supported the Algerian independence movement of Emir Abd al-Qadir, it was defeated by the French in 1844 at the Battle of Isly and made to abandon its support. During the reigns of Muhammad IV and Hassan I, the Alaouites tried to foster trading links, above all with European countries, the army and administration were also modernised to improve control over the Berber and Bedouin tribes. With the war against Spain came direct involvement in European affairs, although the independence of Morocco was guaranteed at the Conference of Madrid, the French gained ever greater influence. German attempts to counter growing influence led to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905–1906. Eventually the Moroccans were forced to recognise the French Protectorate through the Treaty of Fez, at the same time the Rif area of northern Morocco was raised under Spanish control. Under the protectorate, infrastructure was invested in heavily in order to link the Atlantic coastal cities to the hinterland, the Protectorate regime faced opposition from the tribes. In 1930, the Berbers were placed under the jurisdiction of French courts, in 1944, the Istiqlāl was founded and was supported by Sultan Muhammad V. From 1631 to 1666 as princes of Tafilalt, proclaimed at Taza, on the death of his elder half-brother as Sultan of Tafilalt,2 August 1664. Proclaimed as Sultan of Morocco, etc. at Fez,1666, commander of the Faithful Royal Ark Morocco Alaoui dynasty
Alaouite dynasty
–
Alaouite Dynasty
8.
Sous
–
The Suss is a region in southern Morocco. Geologically, it is the basin of the Oued Sous. The natural vegetation in the Suss is savanna dominated by the Argan, a well irrigated area, this has been one of Moroccos most fertile regions for centuries, known since at least the eleventh century for its cultivation and export of sugar. The centre for trade during this time was Agadir, a city 10 km north of the mouth of the Sous river. The Berber Literary Tradition of the Sous, with an edition and translation of The Ocean of Tears by Muḥammad Awzal, Leiden, les Berbères et le Makhzen dans le sud du Maroc, essai sur la transformation politique des Berbères sédentaires. Rabat, Dar Al-Aman,2013 ISBN 9954-561-35-8, UNESCO Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve Euratlas Periodis Web - Map of Suss in Year 1600
Sous
–
The Sous, here northeast of
Taroudant, with
Argan trees interplanted with cereal crops
9.
Barbary pirates
–
This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber inhabitants. The main purpose of their attacks was to capture Christian slaves for the Ottoman slave trade as well as the general Muslim slavery market in North Africa and the Middle East. In that period Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli came under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, similar raids were undertaken from Salé and other ports in Morocco. Corsairs captured thousands of ships and repeatedly raided coastal towns, as a result, residents abandoned their former villages of long stretches of coast in Spain and Italy. The raids were such a problem coastal settlements were seldom undertaken until the 19th century, from the 16th to 19th century, corsairs captured an estimated 800,000 to 1.25 million people as slaves. Some corsairs were European outcasts and converts such as John Ward, Hayreddin Barbarossa and Oruç Reis, Turkish Barbarossa Brothers, who took control of Algiers on behalf of the Ottomans in the early 16th century, were also notorious corsairs. The European pirates brought advanced sailing and shipbuilding techniques to the Barbary Coast around 1600, the effects of the Barbary raids peaked in the early to mid-17th century. However, the ships and coasts of Christian states without such effective protection continued to suffer until the early 19th century. Following the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15, European powers agreed upon the need to suppress the Barbary corsairs entirely and the threat was largely subdued. Occasional incidents occurred, including two Barbary wars between the United States and the Barbary States, until terminated by the French conquest of Algiers in 1830. Piracy by Muslim populations had been known in the Mediterranean since at least the 9th century, in the 14th century Tunisian corsairs became enough of a threat to provoke a Franco-Genoese attack on Mahdia in 1390, also known as the Barbary Crusade. The Barbary pirates had long attacked English and other European shipping along the North Coast of Africa and they had been attacking English merchant and passengers ships since the 1600s. Regular fundraising for ransoms was undertaken generally by families and local church groups, the government did not ransom ordinary persons. The English became familiar with captivity narratives written by Barbary pirates prisoners and ransomed captives, during the American Revolution the pirates attacked American ships. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as the U. S. s oldest non-broken friendship treaty with a foreign power, in 1778 Morocco became the first nation to recognize the new United States. As late as 1798, an islet near Sardinia was attacked by the Tunisians, throughout history, geography was on the pirates side on the Northern coast of Africa. The coast was ideal for their wants and needs, with natural harbours often backed by lagoons, it provided a haven for guerrilla warfare, such as attacks on shipping vessels venturing through their territory. On the coast, mountainous areas provided ample reconnaissance for the corsairs as well, ships were spotted from afar, the pirates had time to prepare their attacks and surprise the ships
Barbary pirates
–
A Sea Fight with Barbary Corsairs by
Laureys a Castro, c. 1681
Barbary pirates
–
British sailors boarding an Algerine pirate ship
Barbary pirates
–
A man from the Barbary states
Barbary pirates
–
A Barbary pirate,
Pier Francesco Mola 1650
10.
Fes, Morocco
–
Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, with a population of 1.1 million. Fez was the city of modern Morocco until 1925 and is now the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. The city has two old medina quarters, the larger of which is Fes el Bali and it is listed as a World Heritage Site and is believed to be one of the worlds largest urban pedestrian zones. University of Al Quaraouiyine, founded in 859, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the world, the city has been called the Mecca of the West and the Athens of Africa. The Arabic word فأس Faʾs means pickaxe, which legends say Idris I of Morocco used when he created the lines of the city, one noticeable thing was that the pickaxe was made from silver and gold. During the rule of the Idrisid dynasty, Fez consisted of two cities, Fas Elbali, founded by Idris I, and al-ʿĀliyá, founded by his son and it is not known whether the name al-ʿĀliyá ever referred to both urban areas. It wasnt until 1070 that the two agglomerations were united and the name Fas was used for the combined site, the city was founded on a bank of the Jawhar river by Idris I in 789, founder of the Zaydi Shii Idrisid dynasty. His son, Idris II, built a settlement on the river bank. These settlements would soon develop into two walled and largely autonomous sites, often in conflict with one another, Madinat Fas, in 808 Al-Aliya replaced Walili as the capital of the Idrisids. The Andalusians settled in what is called the Old Fez, while the Tunisians found their home in the New Fez and these two waves of immigrants would subsequently give their name to the sites Adwat Al-Andalus and Adwat al-Qarawiyyin. Upon the death of Idris II in 828, the territory was divided among his sons. The newly fragmented Idrisid power would never again be reunified, during Yahya ibn Muhammads rule in Fez the Kairouyine mosque, one of the oldest and largest in Africa, was built and its associated University of Al Quaraouiyine was founded. Comparatively little is known about Idrisid Fez, owing to the lack of historical narratives. The sources that mention Idrisid Fez, describe a rather rural one, not having the cultural sophistication of the important cities of Al-Andalus and Ifriqiya. In the 10th century the city was contested by the Caliphate of Córdoba and the Fatimid Caliphate of Tunisia, the Fatimids took the city in 927 and expelled the Idrissids, after which their Miknasa were installed there. The Miknasa were driven out of Fez in 980 by the Maghrawa, their fellow Zenata and it was in this period that the great Andalusian ruler Almanzor commissioned the Maghrawa to rebuild and refurnish the Al-Kairouan mosque, giving it much of its current appearance. Thus, the two grew into each other, being now only separated by their walls and the river. His sons fortified the city to a great extent and this could not keep the Almoravid emir Ibn Tashfin from conquering it in 1070, after more than a decade of battling the Zenata warriors in the area and constant besieging of the city
Fes, Morocco
–
View of the medina (old city) of Fez
Fes, Morocco
–
Flag
Fes, Morocco
Fes, Morocco
–
Leather tanning in Fez
11.
Volubilis
–
Volubilis is a partly excavated Berber and Roman city in Morocco situated near the city of Meknes, and commonly considered as the ancient capital of the kingdom of Mauretania. Built in an agricultural area, it developed from the 3rd century BC onward as an Amazigh, then proto-Carthaginian. It grew rapidly under Roman rule from the 1st century AD onward, the city gained a number of major public buildings in the 2nd century, including a basilica, temple and triumphal arch. Its prosperity, which was derived principally from olive growing, prompted the construction of many fine town-houses with large mosaic floors, the city fell to local tribes around 285 and was never retaken by Rome because of its remoteness and indefensibility on the south-western border of the Roman Empire. It continued to be inhabited for at least another 700 years, first as a Latinised Christian community, in the late 8th century it became the seat of Idris ibn Abdallah, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty and the state of Morocco. By the 11th century Volubilis had been abandoned after the seat of power was relocated to Fes, much of the local population was transferred to the new town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, about 5 km from Volubilis. The ruins remained substantially intact until they were devastated by an earthquake in the mid-18th century and it was not until the latter part of the 19th century that the site was definitively identified as that of the ancient city of Volubilis. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for being a well preserved example of a large Roman colonial town on the fringes of the Empire. Built on a slope below the Zerhoun mountain, Volubilis stands on a ridge above the Wadi Khoumane. It overlooks a fertile plain north of the modern city of Meknes. By the third century BC, the Phoenicians had a presence there, as evidenced by the remains of a temple to the Punic god Baal and finds of pottery and stones inscribed in the Phoenician language. The origins of its name are unknown but may be a Latinisation of the Berber word oualilt, meaning oleander, the city lay within the kingdom of Mauretania, which became a Roman client state following the fall of Carthage in 146 BC. The Punic influence lasted for a time afterwards, as the citys magistrates retained the Carthaginian title of suffete long after the end of Punic rule. Juba II of Numidia was placed on the Mauretanian throne by Augustus in 25 BC and it is also mentioned by Pliny the Elder, and the 2nd century Antonine Itinerary refers to its location and names it as Volubilis Colonia. Its population was dominated by Romanised Berbers, the city became the administrative centre of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana. It remained loyal to Rome despite a revolt in 40–44 AD led by one of Ptolemys freedmen, Aedemon, and its inhabitants were rewarded with grants of citizenship and a ten-year exemption from taxes. The city was raised to the status of a municipium and its system of governance was overhauled, with the Punic-style suffetes replaced by annually elected duumvirs, or pairs of magistrates. However, the position was always tenuous, it was located on the south-eastern edge of the province, facing hostile
Volubilis
–
Volubilis ruins
Volubilis
–
Map of Mauretania Tingitania showing the location of Volubilis
Volubilis
–
Panoramic view of Volubilis, looking west. The old Phoenician core of the city is on the left, the Basilica and Capitoline Temple are visible in the centre, while the Arch of Caracalla can be seen on the right behind the Roman extension to the city.
Volubilis
12.
Ottoman Empire
–
After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
Ottoman Empire
–
Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. Painting from 1523.
Ottoman Empire
–
Flag (1844–1923)
Ottoman Empire
–
Battle of Mohács in 1526
Ottoman Empire
–
Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha defeats the
Holy League of
Charles V under the command of
Andrea Doria at the
Battle of Preveza in 1538.
13.
Sub-Saharan Africa
–
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. According to the UN, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara and it contrasts with North Africa, whose territories are part of the League of Arab states within the Arab world. Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and Mauritania are geographically in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sahel is the transitional zone between the Sahara and the tropical savanna and forest-savanna mosaic to the south. The Sahara pump theory explains how flora and fauna left Africa to penetrate the Middle East, African pluvial periods are associated with a wet Sahara phase during which larger lakes and more rivers existed. Geographers historically divided the region into several distinct ethnographic sections based on each areas respective inhabitants, commentators in Arabic in the medieval period used the general term bilâd as-sûdân for the vast Sudan region, or sometimes extending from the coast of West Africa to Western Sudan. Its equivalent in Southeast Africa was Zanj, which was situated in the vicinity of the Great Lakes region. The geographers drew an explicit distinction between the Sudan region and its analogue Zanj, from the area to their extreme east on the Red Sea coast in the Horn of Africa. In modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea was Al-Habash or Abyssinia, which was inhabited by the Habash or Abyssinians, Sub-Saharan Africa has a wide variety of climate zones or biomes. South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in particular are considered Megadiverse countries, the Sahel shoots across all of Africa at a latitude of about 10° to 15° N. Countries that include parts of the Sahara Desert proper in their territories and parts of the Sahel in their southern region include Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad. The Sahel has a hot semi-arid climate, South of the Sahel, there is a belt of savanna, widening to include most of South Sudan and Ethiopia in the east. The Serengeti ecosystem is located in northwestern Tanzania and extends to southwestern Kenya, the Kalahari Basin includes the Kalahari Desert surrounded by a belt of semi-desert. The Bushveld is a tropical ecoregion of Southern Africa. The Karoo is a semi-desert in western South Africa and this occurred 10 million to 5 million years ago. By 3 million years ago several australopithecine hominid species had developed throughout southern, eastern and they were tool users rather than tool manufacturers. The tools were classed as Oldowan, roughly 1.8 million years ago, Homo ergaster first appeared in the fossil record in Africa. From Homo ergaster, Homo erectus evolved 1.5 million years ago, some of the earlier representatives of this species were small-brained and used primitive stone tools, much like H. habilis. The brain later grew in size, and H. erectus eventually developed a complex stone tool technology called the Acheulean
Sub-Saharan Africa
–
Stone chopping tool from
Olduvai Gorge.
Sub-Saharan Africa
–
Dark and lighter green: Definition of "Sub-Saharan Africa" as used in the statistics of UN institutions. Lighter green: However,
Sudan is classified as North Africa by
United Nations Statistics Division.
Sub-Saharan Africa
–
Nzinga Mbande, queen of the
Bantu Ndongo and
Matamba kingdoms.
Sub-Saharan Africa
–
Stone city of
Gondershe,
Somalia.
14.
Ceuta
–
Ceuta is an 18. 5-square-kilometre Spanish autonomous city located on the north coast of Africa, sharing its land border with Morocco, in which it is thus an enclave. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta, along with the Spanish exclave Melilla, is one of nine populated Spanish territories in Africa and it was part of Cádiz province until 14 March 1995 when the citys Statute of Autonomy was passed. Ceuta, like Melilla and the Canary Islands, was a port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2011, it has a population of 82,376 and its population consists of Christians, Muslims, and small minorities of Sephardic Jews and ethnic Sindhi Hindus. Spanish is the language, while Moroccan Darija of the northern Jebli variety is spoken by between 40% and 50% of the population which is of Moroccan origin. It was known variously in Ancient Greek as, Ἀβύλη, Ἀβύλα, Ἀβλύξ, or Ἀβίλη στήλη – Abyle, Abila, Ablyx or Abile Stele – Pillar of Abyle), together with Gibraltar on the European side, it formed one of the famous Pillars of Hercules. It changed hands again approximately 400 years later, when Vandal tribes ousted the Romans, after being controlled by the Visigoths, it then became an outpost of the Byzantine Empire. Ceuta was an important Christian center since the fourth century, in the 7th century the Umayyads tried to conquer the region but were unsuccessful. Under the leadership of the Berber general Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Muslims used Ceuta as a ground for an assault on Visigothic Iberian Peninsula. After Julians death, the Berbers took direct control of the city and they destroyed Ceuta during the Kharijite rebellion led by Maysara al-Matghari in 740. Ceuta lay in ruins until it was resettled in the 9th century by Mâjakas, chief of the Majkasa Berber tribe, who started the short-lived Banu Isam dynasty. His great-grandson briefly allied his tribe with the Idrisids, but the Banu Isam rule ended in 931 when he abdicated in favor of Abd ar-Rahman III, Ceuta reverted to Moorish Andalusian rule in 927 along with Melilla, and later Tangier, in 951. Chaos ensued with the fall of the Umayyad caliphate in 1031, following this Ceuta and the rest of Muslim Iberia were controlled by successive North African dynasties. Starting in 1084, the Almoravid Berbers ruled the region until 1147, apart from Ibn Huds rebellion of 1232, they ruled until the Tunisian Hafsids established control. The Hafsids influence in the west rapidly waned, and Ceutas inhabitants eventually expelled them in 1249, after this, a period of political instability persisted, under competing interests from the Kingdom of Fez and the Kingdom of Granada. The Kingdom of Fez finally conquered the region in 1387, with assistance from the Crown of Aragon, in 1415, during the Battle of Ceuta, the city was captured by the Portuguese during the reign of John I of Portugal. The Benemerine sultan besieged the city in 1418 but was defeated, phillip II ascended the Portuguese throne in 1580 and Spanish kings of Portugal governed Ceuta for 60 years
Ceuta
–
Ceuta, as seen from Monte Hacho
Ceuta
–
Flag
Ceuta
–
The
Royal Walls of Ceuta and navigable moats
Ceuta
–
A street of Ceuta, c. 1905–1910
15.
Spain
–
By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
Spain
–
Lady of Elche
Spain
–
Flag
Spain
–
Altamira Cave paintings, in
Cantabria.
Spain
–
Celtic castro in
A Guarda,
Galicia.
16.
Mohammed bin Hadou
–
Mohammed ben Hadou, also Mohammad bin Hadou, Mohammad bin Hadu or Muhammad ben Haddu alAttar, was a Moroccan ambassador sent to the English court of Charles II by Muley Ismail in 1681-82. According to the contemporary English commentator John Evelyn, he was the son of an English woman and he arrived in England on 29 December 1681, and left on 23 July 1682. His six month visit to England was highly commented upon, publicized in the London Gazette and was even the subject of occasional poems and he visited Oxford and Cambridge among many other places and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in April. John Evelyn recorded that he was the fashion of the season, at the theater the ambassador behaved with extreme modesty and gravity. He struck a magnificent figure riding in Hyde Park, the exchanges started 40 years of a shifting Anglo-Moroccan alliance related to European conflicts, trade issues, Barbary Coast pirates and the exchange of captives. However, they complained that the Quran contained contradictions that must have been a consequence of its editing after Mohammeds death. During his stay Mohammed bin Hadou apparently married an English servant, forty years of shifting alliances between the two countries would follow Mohammeds embassy
Mohammed bin Hadou
–
Mohammed bin Hadou, Moroccan ambassador to Great-Britain in 1682.
Mohammed bin Hadou
–
Ambassador Ben Hadou, riding in Hyde Park, 1682.
17.
Mohammed Tenim
–
Mohammad Temim, also Haji Mohammad Temim was an ambassador of the Moroccan king Mulay Ismail to France. Mohammad Temim was accompanied by Ali Manino, as well as six other ambassadorial members and he was able to explore many aspects of French intellectual and artistic life. He attended a performance of Lullys Atys and he also visited Notre-Dame de Paris where he attended an organ performance. Mohammad Temin showed great interest in arts and sciences, upon his return, he received beautiful farewell gifts from Louis XIV. Another Moroccan ambassador Abdallah bin Aisha would visit France in 1699-1700, matar, Nabil In the Lands of the Christians. Arabic Travel Writing in the Seventeenth Century New York London, Routledge
Mohammed Tenim
–
Mohammed Temim, Ambassadeur du Maroc, à la
Comédie Italienne (1682),
Antoine Coypel (1661-1722), Versailles.
18.
Marie Anne de Bourbon
–
Marie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress Louise de La Vallière. At the age of thirteen, she was married to Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and her fathers favourite daughter, Marie Anne was widowed in 1685 aged 19. She never married again and had no children, following her mothers retirement to a convent, Marie Anne continued to reside at her fathers court and was later her mothers heiress. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière in her own right, born secretly at the Château de Vincennes outside Paris on 2 October 1666 while the court was in residence, Marie Anne was the eldest illegitimate child of King Louis XIV. Considered by some as the kings most beautiful daughter, she would become his favourite female child and his favourite child, however, was her younger half-brother, Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine. She and her younger brother Louis de Bourbon were put in the care of Madame Colbert and they were raised by Madame Colbert away from the intrigues of the Court. The following year, Marie Anne was legitimised by her father on 14 May 1667, on the same day, her mother was given the titles of Duchess of La Vallière and of Vaujours with letters patent. Marie Anne would succeed to her mothers La Vallière title, during her youth, she was known as Mademoiselle de Blois, a style that was later granted to her younger half-sister, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, youngest daughter of the king by Madame de Montespan. On 16 January 1680, Marie Anne married her cousin, Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and he had fallen in love with her at first sight. Her dowry was one million livres, the marriage was the first between a Prince of the Blood and one of Louis XIVs legitimised daughters which caused a scandal at the time. After a disastrous wedding night, the marriage remained sterile and Marie Anne shocked the court when she stated that her husband was not good at making love. In 1683, she lost her brother the Count of Vermandois. The young count had been exiled from court after being involved in a scandal involving the Chevalier de Lorraine. From all sources, Marie Anne was quite upset by her brothers death, while, according to contemporary accounts, in 1685, her husband contracted smallpox from Marie Anne. Although she recovered, he succumbed after five days, after his death, she was called Madame la Princesse Douairière, and also la Grande Princesse de Conti. She never remarried and even refused an offer of marriage from the Sultan of Morocco, during the five years of her marriage to the Prince of Conti, a Prince of the Blood, she was one of the most important ladies at her fathers court. As the Conti line descended from the Condés, the latter took precedence over the former and this matter of etiquette, so important at Versailles, led to friction between the two. In 1698, there might have been a proposal from her nephew, Philippe of France and he later became the King of Spain and married twice to Marie Louise of Savoy and then Elisabeth Farnese
Marie Anne de Bourbon
–
Marie Anne by
Rigaud in circa 1706
Marie Anne de Bourbon
–
Signature
Marie Anne de Bourbon
–
Marie Anne de Conti refusing the marriage proposal on behalf of Moulay Ismaïl, King of Morocco (French school of the 17th century)
Marie Anne de Bourbon
–
The
Infanta Marie Anne Victoire, fiancée of
Louis XV, who was put in Marie Anne's care from 1721-1725
19.
1755 Lisbon earthquake
–
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, occurred in the Kingdom of Portugal on Saturday,1 November, the holy day of All Saints Day, at around 09,40 local time. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost totally destroyed Lisbon, estimates place the death toll in Lisbon alone between 10,000 and 100,000 people, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. The earthquake accentuated political tensions in the Kingdom of Portugal and profoundly disrupted the countrys colonial ambitions, the event was widely discussed and dwelt upon by European Enlightenment philosophers, and inspired major developments in theodicy. As the first earthquake studied scientifically for its effects over an area, it led to the birth of modern seismology. In 1755, the earthquake struck on the morning of 1 November, contemporary reports state that the earthquake lasted between three and a half and six minutes, causing fissures 5 metres wide to open in the city centre. Survivors rushed to the space of the docks for safety and watched as the water receded, revealing a sea floor littered with lost cargo. Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbour and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river, were forced to gallop as fast as possible to the upper grounds for fear of being carried away. It was followed by two more waves, in the areas unaffected by the tsunami, fire quickly broke out, and flames raged for five days. Lisbon was not the only Portuguese city affected by the catastrophe, throughout the south of the country, in particular the Algarve, destruction was rampant. The tsunami destroyed some coastal fortresses in the Algarve and, in the lower levels, almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro, which was protected by the sandy banks of Ria Formosa. In Lagos, the reached the top of the city walls. Other towns of different Portuguese regions, such as Peniche, Cascais, and even Covilhã, the shock waves of the earthquake destroyed part of Covilhãs castle walls and its large towers. On the island of Madeira, Funchal and many smaller settlements suffered significant damage, almost all of the ports in the Azores archipelago suffered most of their destruction from the tsunami, with the sea penetrating about 150 m inland. Shocks from the earthquake were felt throughout Europe as far as Finland and North Africa, and according to some even in Greenland. Tsunamis as tall as 20 metres swept the coast of North Africa, a three-metre tsunami hit Cornwall on the southern English coast. Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, was also hit, at Kinsale, several vessels were whirled round in the harbor, and water poured into the marketplace. In 2015, it was revealed that the waves may have reached the coast of Brazil. Such a hypothesis was raised by reviewing letters sent by Brazilian authorities at the time of the earthquake and these letters describe damage and destruction caused by gigantic waves
1755 Lisbon earthquake
–
1755 copper engraving showing
Lisbon in flames and a
tsunami overwhelming the ships in the harbor.
1755 Lisbon earthquake
–
1755 Lisbon earthquake
1755 Lisbon earthquake
–
A depiction of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake as seen from across the Tagus River.
1755 Lisbon earthquake
–
Calculated travel times for the tsunami waves of 1 November 1755.
20.
Mohammed III of Morocco
–
Mohammed Ben Abdellah al-Khatib was Sultan of Morocco from 1757 to 1790 under the Alaouite dynasty. He was the governor of Marrakech around 1750 and he was also sultan briefly during 1748. He was the son of Sultan Abdallah IV who reigned 1745–1757, a more open-minded ruler than many of his forebears, he signed numerous peace treaties with the European powers, and curtailed the power of the Barbary corsairs. He revived the city of Essaouira and invited Jews and English to trade there and he also built the old medina of Casablanca and renovated the kasbah of Marrakesh. Mohammed III used numerous European technicians and architects for his projects, such as Théodore Cornut, Mohammed ben Abdallah also took steps to remove the foreign presence on Moroccan coasts. He repulsed the French in the 1765 Larache expedition and he conquered Mazagan from the Portuguese in 1769. However, the Siege of Melilla against the Spanish ended in defeat in 1775 when British aid failed to materialize, in 1777, under the rule of Mohammed ben Abdallah, the Sultanate of Morocco became the first nation to recognize the United States as an independent nation. Mohammed al-Duayf List of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco
Mohammed III of Morocco
–
Mohammed III of Morocco
Mohammed III of Morocco
–
Mohammed ben Abdallah employed the French architect
Théodore Cornut to build the model city of
Essaouira.
Mohammed III of Morocco
–
Coins of Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah, 1760–67 (
Hijra 1182–1189), minted in
Essaouira.
Mohammed III of Morocco
–
Letter of
George Washington to Mohammed ben Abdallah in appreciation of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed in Marrakech in 1787.
21.
Voltaire
–
Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 21,000 letters and over two books and pamphlets. He was an advocate of civil liberties, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma. Some speculation surrounds Voltaires date of birth, because he claimed he was born on 20 February 1694 as the son of a nobleman. Two of his older brothers—Armand-François and Robert—died in infancy and his brother, Armand. Nicknamed Zozo by his family, Voltaire was baptized on 22 November 1694, with François de Castagnère, abbé de Châteauneuf, and Marie Daumard, the wife of his mothers cousin, standing as godparents. He was educated by the Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, where he was taught Latin, theology, and rhetoric, later in life he became fluent in Italian, Spanish, and English. By the time he left school, Voltaire had decided he wanted to be a writer, against the wishes of his father, Voltaire, pretending to work in Paris as an assistant to a notary, spent much of his time writing poetry. When his father out, he sent Voltaire to study law. Nevertheless, he continued to write, producing essays and historical studies, Voltaires wit made him popular among some of the aristocratic families with whom he mixed. In 1713, his father obtained a job for him as a secretary to the new French ambassador in the Netherlands, the marquis de Châteauneuf, at The Hague, Voltaire fell in love with a French Protestant refugee named Catherine Olympe Dunoyer. Their scandalous affair was discovered by de Châteauneuf and Voltaire was forced to return to France by the end of the year, Most of Voltaires early life revolved around Paris. From early on, Voltaire had trouble with the authorities for critiques of the government and these activities were to result in two imprisonments and a temporary exile to England. One satirical verse, in which Voltaire accused the Régent of incest with his own daughter, the Comédie-Française had agreed in January 1717 to stage his debut play, Œdipe, and it opened in mid-November 1718, seven months after his release. Its immediate critical and financial success established his reputation, both the Régent and King George I of Great Britain presented Voltaire with medals as a mark of their appreciation. He mainly argued for tolerance and freedom of thought. He campaigned to eradicate priestly and aristo-monarchical authority, and supported a constitutional monarchy that protects peoples rights, the author adopted the name Voltaire in 1718, following his incarceration at the Bastille
Voltaire
–
Portrait by
Nicolas de Largillière
Voltaire
–
In the frontispiece to Voltaire's book on Newton's philosophy,
Émilie du Châtelet appears as Voltaire's muse, reflecting Newton's heavenly insights down to Voltaire.
Voltaire
–
Voltaire's
château at
Ferney, France
Voltaire
–
Voltaire's tomb in Paris's
Panthéon
22.
Jane Johnson (writer)
–
Jane Johnson is an English writer of books for adults and children and fiction book editor. As a writer she has used the pseudonyms Gabriel King, jointly with M. John Harrison, jane Johnson was educated at Liskeard Grammar School. She has a degree in Old Icelandic language and literature. From 1984 to 1992, she was the responsible for the J. R. R. The publishing house was bought by HarperCollins, where she remains a Publishing Director working across the Voyager fantasy and science fiction list. Her authors there include George R. R. Martin, Raymond E. Feist, Robin Hobb, Dean Koontz, Stuart MacBride, Jonathan Freedland, Tom Knox as S. K. Tremayne, and Mark Lawrence. With M. John Harrison she wrote the four-volume Gabriel King series – the Tag, as Jude Fisher, she worked with cast and crew to create six Visual Companion books for the film trilogies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Peter Jacksons adaptations of Tolkien. She now splits her time between the UK and a town in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. Her first adult novel was The Tenth Gift, based on the Barbary pirate story. This was followed by an epic, set in the Sahara among the Tuareg nomads. The Sultans Wife is set in the 17th-century court of Sultan Moulay Ismail and it also includes an account of the embassy sent from the Moroccan sultan to the court of King Charles II which is documented in John Evelyns Diary. Her novels are translated and sold in more than 20 countries, living part of the year in Morocco, Johnson has made good use of her acquired knowledge of Moroccan culture and history as a background for the novels. Her magical fantasy novels for children include The Eidolon Chronicles, The Secret Country, The Shadow World, two single volume stories followed, Maskmaker in 2010 and Goldseekers in 2011. John Harrison as Gabriel King was published by Century and other Random House divisions
Jane Johnson (writer)
–
Johnson in 2006
23.
Marguerite Henry
–
Marguerite Henry née Breithaupt was an American writer of childrens books. Her fifty-nine books based on stories of horses and other animals captivated entire generations. She won the annual Newbery Medal for one of her books about horses, One of the latter, Misty of Chincoteague, was the basis for several sequels and for the 1961 movie Misty. Born to Louis and Anna Breithaupt, the youngest of the five children, Henry was a native of Milwaukee, unfortunately, Henry was stricken with rheumatic fever at the age of six, which kept her bedridden until the age of twelve. She was unable to attend school with children due to her weak condition. While confined indoors, she discovered the joy of reading, Henrys love of animals started during her childhood. Soon afterwards, she discovered a love for writing when her parents presented her with a writing desk for Christmas. Henry later said, At last I had a world of my very own – a writing world, Henry sold her first story at the age of 11. A magazine had solicited articles about the four seasons from children and she often wrote about animals, such as dogs, cats, birds, foxes, and even mules, but chiefly her stories focused on horses. She studied at Milwaukee State Teachers College, on May 5,1923, she married Sidney Crocker Henry. During their 64 years of marriage they did not have any children, in 1945, Henry began a 20-year collaboration with artist Wesley Dennis. I had just finished writing Justin Morgan Had a Horse, she recalled, so I went to the library, studied the horse books, and immediately fell in love with the work of Will James and Wesley Dennis. When I found out that Will James was dead, I sent my manuscript to Wesley Dennis, Henry and Dennis eventually collaborated on nearly 20 books. Misty of Chincoteague was published in 1947 and was an instant success, in 1961, it was adapted for film, as were Justin Morgan had a Horse and Brighty of the Grand Canyon. San Domingo, the Medicine Hat Stallion was adapted for television as Peter Lundy, Henrys last book was Brown Sunshine of Sawdust Valley, a 93-page novel published in September 1996, when she was 94 years old. Kirkus Reviews called it Vintage Henry. a lighthearted version of the old story, only this time. She died on November 26,1997, at home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, Misty features the annual Pony Penning of feral horses from Assateague Island, a two-day round-up, swim, and auction that Henry had been sent to look at by a hopeful editor. She created several Misty sequels including two childrens novels illustrated by Dennis, Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague and Stormy
Marguerite Henry
–
Marguerite Henry
24.
King of the Wind
–
King of the Wind is a novel by Marguerite Henry that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American childrens literature in 1949. It was made into a film of the name in 1990. The novel is a biography of the Godolphin Arabian, an ancestor of the modern Thoroughbred. The story starts with Man o Wars victory over Sir Barton in a race, the fans expect Man o War to race at Newmarket, but his owner, Samuel Riddle, chooses to end his racing career early. When questioned about his decision, he tells the story of the Godolphin Arabian, the story starts in Morocco, as the fast of Ramadan is ending. Agba, an orphan, tends to his favorite Arabian mare. The Chief Groom realizes that tonight is her birthing hour, Agba, sleeping in the mares stall, wakes to find a new foal in the stable. He notices a spot on the colts hind heel, considered the emblem of swiftness. The Chief Groom spots a wheat ear on the foals chest and he attempts to kill the colt, but Agba points out the white spot. The Chief Groom leaves, prophesying that the mare will die, Agba, undaunted, names the colt Sham because of his golden coat. Within a few days, the prophecy is fulfilled when the mare dies, Agba feeds Sham on camels milk and wild honey, promising that someday he will be King of The Wind. Agba also promised that he would be a father to Sham, Sham matures into a promising racehorse, beating all of the other horses in the stable. One day, the Sultan summons six horseboys to his palace, including Agba, Sham fits the requirements and accompanies Agba to France. The horseboy is to remain with that horse until death, then return to Morocco, however, the supposedly great racehorses are frowned upon by the French, who believe that they are not lusty enough to be racehorses. Sham becomes a horse but causes such a mess that the cook sells him. Agba becomes a slave to Shams owner and meets Grimalkin the cat along the way, Sham is bought by a Quaker man and taken to England. He refuses to let the Quakers nephew ride him and is sold to an inn, when Agba is caught sneaking in to see the horse, he goes to jail. Fortunately, Agba is bailed out by the Quakers housekeeper, the housekeeper finds him a job with the Earl of Godolphin
King of the Wind
–
King of the Wind
25.
History of North Africa
–
North Africa is a relatively thin strip of land between the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean, stretching from Moroccan Atlantic coast to Egypt and Sudan. The region comprises seven countries or territories, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, the history of the region is a mix of influences from many different cultures. The development of sea travel firmly brought the region into the Mediterranean world, in the 1st millennium AD, the Sahara became an equally important area for trade as the camel caravans brought goods and people from the south. The region also has a small but crucial land link to the Middle East, the earliest known hominids in North Africa arrived around 200,000 BC. Through most of the Stone Age the climate in the region was different from today. Home to herds of mammals, this area could support a large hunter-gatherer population. Over this period, the Sahara region was steadily drying, creating a barrier between North Africa and the rest of the African continent, the Nile Valley on the Eastern edge of North Africa is one of the richest agricultural areas in the world. The desiccation of the Sahara is believed to have increased the density in the Nile Valley. Eventually Ancient Egypt unified in one of the worlds first civilizations, see also, North Africa during the Classical Period, Ptolemaic Egypt, Roman Egypt The expanse of the Libyan Desert cut Egypt off from the rest of North Africa. Egyptian boats, while well suited to the Nile, were not usable in the open Mediterranean, moreover, the Egyptian merchant had far more prosperous destinations on Crete, Cyprus and the Levant. Greeks from Europe and the Phoenicians from Asia also settled along the coast of Northern Africa, both societies drew their prosperity from the sea and from ocean-born trade. They found only limited trading opportunities with the inhabitants. The Greek trade was based mainly in the Aegean, Adriatic, Black, in 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and for the next three centuries it was ruled by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty. The Phoenicians developed a larger presence in North Africa with colonies from Tripoli to the Atlantic. One of the most important Phoenician cities was Carthage, which grew into one of the greatest powers in the region, at the height of its power, Carthage controlled the Western Mediterranean and most of North Africa outside of Egypt. In 30 BC, Roman Emperor Octavian conquered Egypt, officially annexing it to the Empire and, for the first time, the Carthaginian power had penetrated deep into the Sahara ensuring the quiescence of the nomadic tribes in the region. The Roman Empire was more confined to the coast, yet routinely expropriated Berber land for Roman farmers and they thus faced a constant threat from the south. A network of forts and walls were established on the southern frontier, when the Roman Empire began to collapse, North Africa was spared much of the disruption until the Vandal invasion of 429 AD
History of North Africa
–
The
Mosque of Uqba also known as the Great Mosque of Kairouan was founded by the Arab conqueror Uqba Ibn Nafi al-Fihiri in 670 AD; it is the oldest and most important mosque in North Africa, city of
Kairouan,
Tunisia.
History of North Africa
–
Moorish Princes.
26.
Prehistoric North Africa
–
The Prehistory of North Africa spans the period of earliest human presence in the region to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt in c.3100 BC. Geographically, it can also be held to include the Saharan portions of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, as modern humans are generally believed to originate in Africa, prehistoric North Africa may hold important clues in understanding the evolution and spread of Homo sapiens. Human habitation in North Africa has been influenced by the climate of the Sahara. This is due to a 41000-year cycle in which the tilt of the changes between 22° and 24. 5°. At present, we are in a dry period, but it is expected that the Sahara will become again in 15000 years. During the last glacial period, the Sahara was much larger than it is today, the end of the glacial period brought more rain to the Sahara, from about 8000 BC to 6000 BC, perhaps because of low pressure areas over the collapsing ice sheets to the north. Once the ice sheets were gone, the northern Sahara dried out, in the southern Sahara, the drying trend was initially counteracted by the monsoon, which brought rain further north than it does today. By around 4200 BC, however, the monsoon retreated south to approximately where it is today, the Sahara is now as dry as it was about 13,000 years ago. These conditions are responsible for what has called the Sahara pump theory. During periods of a wet or Green Sahara, the Sahara becomes a savanna grassland and various flora and this separates populations of some of the species in areas with different climates, forcing them to adapt, possibly giving rise to allopatric speciation.8 million BC. Tools of this era, starting about 130,000 BCE, are called Aterian and are marked by a standard of workmanship, great variety. The earliest blade industries in North Africa belong to the Iberomaurusian or Oranian and this lithic industry appears to have spread throughout the coastal regions of North Africa between 15,000 and 10,000 BC. Neolithic society spread in the Saharan and Mediterranean North Africa after the Levante between 6000 and 2000 BC and this type of economy, so richly depicted in the Tassili nAjjer cave paintings, predominated in North Africa until the classical period. The pictures provide the most complete record of a prehistoric African culture, in 2013, Iberomaurusian skeletons from the prehistoric sites of Taforalt and Afalou in the Maghreb were analyzed for ancient DNA. The ancient Taforalt individuals carried the mtDNA haplogroups U6, H, JT and V, cultures producing rock art flourished during this period. In Prehistoric Egypt, Neolithic settlements appear from about 6000 BC, oher regions in Africa independently developed agriculture at about the same time, the Ethiopian highlands, the Sahel, and West Africa. The beginning of the Bronze Age in Egypt is conventionally identified as the Protodynastic Period, by the Iron Age, the historic record demonstrated the existence of the Berbers in North Africa from at least 10,000 B. C. While Egypt and Sudan had entered historicity since the Bronze Age, some Phoenician and Greek colonies were established along the Mediterranean coast during the 7th century BC
Prehistoric North Africa
–
Carvings of fauna common in the
Sahara during the wet phase, found at
Tassili in the central Sahara
Prehistoric North Africa
–
Northern Africa (
UN subregion)
Prehistoric North Africa
–
Dolmen at Roknia. Roknia is a
necropolis in the
Guelma region of north-east
Algeria consisting of more than 7000
dolmens spread over an area of 2 km.
Prehistoric North Africa
–
Neolithic cave paintings found in Tassil-n-Ajjer (Plateau of the Chasms) region of the Sahara
27.
Acheulean
–
Acheulean, from the French acheuléen, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by distinctive oval and pear-shaped hand-axes associated with early humans. Acheulean tools were produced during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia, and Europe, and are typically found with Homo erectus remains. It is thought that Acheulean technologies first developed in Africa out of the more primitive Oldowan technology as long ago as 1.76 million years ago, Acheulean tools were the dominant technology for the vast majority of human history. The type site for the Acheulean is Saint-Acheul, a suburb of Amiens, the capital of the Somme department in Picardy, john Frere is generally credited as being the first to suggest a very ancient date for Acheulean hand-axes. In 1797, he sent two examples to the Royal Academy in London from Hoxne in Suffolk and his ideas were, however, ignored by his contemporaries, who subscribed to a pre-Darwinian view of human evolution. Following visits to both Abbeville and Saint Acheul by the geologist Joseph Prestwich, the age of the tools was finally accepted, in 1872, Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mortillet described the characteristic hand-axe tools as belonging to LEpoque de St Acheul. The industry was renamed as the Acheulean in 1925, from the Konso Formation of Ethiopia, Acheulean hand-axes are dated to about 1.5 million years ago using radiometric dating of deposits containing volcanic ashes. Acheulean tools in South Asia have also found to be dated as far as 1.5 million years ago. However, the earliest accepted examples of the Acheulean currently known come from the West Turkana region of Kenya and were first described by a French-led archaeology team. These particular Acheulean tools were dated through the method of magnetostratigraphy to about 1.76 million years ago, making them the oldest not only in Africa. The earliest user of Acheulean tools was Homo ergaster, who first appeared about 1.8 million years ago, not all researchers use this formal name, and instead prefer to call these users early Homo erectus. In individual regions, this dating can be refined, in Europe for example. However more recent research demonstrated that hand-axes from Spain were made more than 900,000 years ago, the enormous geographic spread of Acheulean techniques also makes the name unwieldy as it represents numerous regional variations on a similar theme. The term Acheulean does not represent a culture in the modern sense. The very earliest Acheulean assemblages often contain numerous Oldowan-style flakes and core forms and these industries are known as the Developed Oldowan and are almost certainly transitional between the Oldowan and Acheulean. The Mode 1 industries created rough flake tools by hitting a stone with a hammerstone. The resulting flake that broke off would have a sharp edge for cutting. These early toolmakers may also have worked the stone they took the flake from to create chopper cores although there is debate over whether these items were tools or just discarded cores
Acheulean
–
A reconstruction of
Homo habilis at the Westfälisches Museum für Archäologie, Herne. It is thought that Acheulean technologies first developed in Africa out of the more primitive
Oldowan technology as long ago as 1.76 million years ago, by Homo habilis.
Acheulean
–
Acheulean hand-axes from
Kent. The types shown are (clockwise from top) cordate, ficron, and ovate. [
citation needed]
Acheulean
–
Pigments in
Zambia may have been used for
body painting as far back as 400 thousand years ago.
Acheulean
–
An Acheulean handaxe, Haute-Garonne France –
MHNT
28.
Mousterian
–
Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily with Neanderthals. They date to the Middle Paleolithic, the part of the European Old Stone Age. The culture was named after the site of Le Moustier. Similar flintwork has been all over unglaciated Europe and also the Near East. Handaxes, racloirs and points constitute the industry, sometimes a Levallois technique or another prepared-core technique was employed in making the flint flakes, Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals and date from around 160,000 BP and 40,000 BP. In North Africa and the Near East, Mouseterian tools were produced by anatomically modern humans. In the Levant, for example, assemblages produced by Neanderthals are indistinguishable from those made by Qafzeh type modern humans, possible variants are Denticulate, Charentian named after the Charente region, Typical and the Acheulean Tradition - Type-A and Type-B. The industry continued alongside the new Châtelperronian industry during the 45, Mousterian artifacts have been found in Haua Fteah in Cyrenaica and other sites in Northwest Africa. Contained within a cave in the Syria region, along with a Neanderthaloid skeleton, located in the Haibak valley of Afghanistan. Zagros and Central Iran The archaeological site of Atapuerca, Spain, gorhams Cave in Gibraltar contains Mousterian objects. Uzbekistan has sites of Mousterian culture, including Teshik-Tash, siberia has many sites with Mousterian style implements, eg Denisova Cave. Neanderthal extinction hypotheses Synoptic table of the old world prehistoric cultures Levallois technique Neanderthals’ Last Stand Is Traced — New York Times article
Mousterian
–
Mousterian
Mousterian
–
A reconstruction of the head of the
Shanidar 1 fossil, a
Homo neanderthalensis male who lived circa 70000 BCE discovered in the mid-20th century at the Mousterian
archaeological site Shanidar Cave
Mousterian
–
Restoration of
Le Moustier Homo neanderthalensis by
Charles R. Knight
Mousterian
–
Levallois points
29.
Aterian
–
The Aterian is a Middle Stone Age stone tool industry centered in the Maghreb, but also found in Oman and the Thar Desert. The earliest Aterian dates to c.145,000 years ago, however, most of the early dates cluster around the beginning of the Last Interglacial, around 130,000 years ago, when the environment of North Africa began to ameliorate. The Aterian disappeared around 30,000 years ago and it is not thought to have influenced subsequent archaeological cultures in the region. The Aterian is primarily distinguished through the presence of tanged or pedunculated tools, bifacially-worked, leaf-shaped tools are also a common artefact type, and so are racloirs and Levallois flakes and cores. Items of personal adornment are known from at least one Aterian site, the appropriateness of the term Mousterian is contested in a North African context, however. The technological character of the Aterian has been debated for almost a century, Levallois reduction is widespread across the whole of North Africa throughout the Middle Stone Age, and scrapers and denticulates are ubiquitous. Bifacial foliates moreover represent a huge taxonomic category and the form, there is also a significant variation of tanged tools themselves, with various forms representing both different tool types and the degree tool resharpening. For example, bifacial leaf points are found widely across North Africa in assemblages that lack tanged tools and this notwithstanding, the term still usefully denotes the presence of tanged tools in North African Middle Stone Age assemblages. Tanged tools persisted in North Africa until around 30,000 years ago, by this time, the Aterian lithic industry had long ceased to exist in the rest of North Africa due to the onset of the Ice Age, which in North Africa, resulted in hyperarid conditions. Assemblages with tanged tools, the Aterian, therefore have a significant temporal and spatial range, however, they have not yet been found east of the Nile and no Aterian sites are known from the Nile Valley. The Aterian is associated with early Homo sapiens at a number of sites in Morocco, the Aterian fossils also display similarities to the earliest modern humans found out of Africa at Skhul and Qafzeh in the Levant, and they are broadly contemporary to them. Such examples of shell beads have been found far inland, suggesting the presence of long distance social networks, such a subdivided population structure has also been inferred from the pattern of variation observed in early African fossils of Homo sapiens. Associated faunal studies suggest that the making the Aterian exploited coastal resources as well as engaging in hunting. It has so far been difficult to estimate whether Aterian populations further inland were exploiting freshwater resources as well, studies have suggested that hafting was widespread, perhaps to maintain flexibility in the face of strongly seasonal environment with a pronounced dry season. Scrapers, knives and points all seem to have been hafted and it is probably that plant resources were also exploited. Although there is no evidence from the Aterian yet, plant processing is evidenced in North Africa from as much as 182,000 years ago. Aterian lithic tools have also discovered in Middle Paleolithic deposits in Oman. Ifri nAmmar Contrebandiers Taforalt Rhafas Dar es Soltan I El Mnasra Kharga Oasis Uan Tabu Oued el Akarit Adrar Bous Oman Thar Desert Synoptic table of the old world prehistoric cultures
Aterian
30.
Iberomaurusian
–
The Iberomaurusian culture is a backed bladelet lithic industry found throughout the Tamazgha. The industry was originally described in 1909 by the French scholar Pallary, other names for the industry have included Mechta-Afalou, Mouillian and Oranian. Recent fieldwork indicates that the Iberomaurusian culture existed in the region from around the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum, at 20,000 BP, the industry is succeeded by the Capsian culture, which was originally thought to have spread into the Maghreb from the Near East. However, later studies suggest that the Iberomaurusian may have been the progenitors of the Capsian, despite suggestions that this minor element may be related to the Basques of southwestern Europe, there appear to be no vestiges of a Basque linguistic influence in the region. In 2013, Iberomaurusian skeletons from the sites of Taforalt. The ancient Taforalt individuals carried the mtDNA Haplogroup N subclades like U6, H, JT and V, which points to population continuity in the region dating from the Iberomaurusian period. In 2016 it has been identified mtDNA haplogroups H or U, T2b, JT or H14b1, J, J1c3f, H1, R0a1a, R0a2c, H2a1e1a, H2a2a1, H6a1a8, H14b1, U4a2b, U4c1, U6d3. A2003 sequencing on the mitochondrial DNA of two Cro-Magnons identified the mtDNA as Haplogroup N. Aterian
Iberomaurusian
–
Capsian culture
31.
Capsian culture
–
The Capsian culture was a Mesolithic culture of the Maghreb, which lasted from about 10,000 to 6,000 BCE. It was named after the town of Gafsa in Tunisia, which was Capsa in Roman times, the Capsian industry was concentrated mainly in modern Tunisia and Algeria, with some sites attested in southern Spain to Sicily. It is traditionally divided into two horizons, the Capsien typique and the Capsien supérieur, which are found in chronostratigraphic sequence. They represent variants of one tradition, the differences between them being both typological and technological, during this period, the environment of the Maghreb was open savanna, much like modern East Africa, with Mediterranean forests at higher altitudes. The Capsian diet included a variety of animals, ranging from aurochs and hartebeest to hares and snails. During the succeeding Neolithic of Capsian Tradition, there is evidence from one site, for domesticated, probably imported, anatomically, Capsian populations were modern Homo sapiens, traditionally classed into two variegate types, Proto-Mediterranean and Mechta-Afalou on the basis of cranial morphology. Some have argued that they were immigrants from the east, whereas others argue for population continuity based on physical characteristics and other criteria. Nothing is known about Capsian religion, but their burial methods suggest a belief in an afterlife, decorative art is widely found at their sites, including figurative and abstract rock art, and ochre is found coloring both tools and corpses. Ostrich eggshells were used to make beads and containers, seashells were used for necklaces, the Ibero-Maurusian practice of extracting the central incisors continued sporadically, but became rarer. The Eburran industry which dates between 13,000 and 9,000 BCE in East Africa, was known as the Kenya Capsian due to similarities in the stone blade shapes
Capsian culture
–
The main sites of the Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures in north Africa
32.
North Africa during Antiquity
–
The Roman Republic established the province of Africa in 146 BCE after the defeat of Carthage. The Roman Empire eventually controlled the entire Mediterranean coast of Africa, adding Egypt in 30 BCE, Creta et Cyrenaica in 20 BCE, and Mauretania in CE44. Initially, in the east, Egypt was under Persian rule during the phase of classical antiquity. Libya was inhabited by Berber tribes, while along the coast Phoenician, rome lost parts of Africa to the Vandals in the 5th century. The Byzantine Empire finally lost all control of Africa as the fell to the Umayyad conquest of North Africa by the close of the 7th century. After Alexanders death in 323 BCE, Egypt fell to Ptolemy I Soter who eventually established the Ptolemaic Kingdom in 305 BCE, in 2013, the first genetic analysis utilizing next-generation sequencing was conducted to ascertain the ancestral lineage of an Ancient Egyptian individual. DNA was extracted from the heads of five Egyptian mummies, all the specimens were dated to between 806 BC and 124 AD, a timeframe corresponding with the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic periods. The researchers observed that one of the individuals likely belonged to the mtDNA haplogroup I2. Phoenician traders arrived on the North African coast around 900 BC, by the 6th century BCE, a Punic presence existed at Tipasa. Hippo Regius and Rusicade are among the towns of Carthaginian origin on the coast of present-day Algeria, as Carthaginian power grew, its involvement in the indigenous population increased dramatically. Berber civilization was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, by the early 4th century BC, Berbers formed one of the largest element, with Gauls, of the Carthaginian army. Egypt was not considered part of Libya in Hellenistic geography, the boundary between Africa and Asia was at Catabathmus Magnus, separating Libya proper from the Libyan Nomos of western Egypt. In the Revolt of the Mercenaries, Berber soldiers participated from 241 to 238 BCE after being unpaid following the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War. Berbers succeeded in obtaining control of much of Carthages North African territory, the Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by the Romans in the Punic Wars, in 146 BCE the city of Carthage was destroyed. As Carthaginian power waned, the influence of Berber leaders in the hinterland grew, by the 2nd century BCE, several large but loosely administered Berber kingdoms had emerged. Two of them were established in Numidia, behind the areas controlled by Carthage. West of Numidia lay Mauretania, which extended across the Moulouya River in Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean. The high point of Berber civilization, unequaled until the coming of the Almohads and Almoravids more than a later, was reached during the reign of Masinissa in the 2nd century BCE
North Africa during Antiquity
–
Northern Africa under Roman rule.
33.
Phoenicia
–
The enterprising, sea-based Phoenician civilization spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC. Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to those of Ancient Greece, perhaps the most notable of which were Tyre, Sidon, Arvad, Berytus and Carthage. Each city-state was an independent unit, and it is uncertain to what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single nationality. In terms of archaeology, language, lifestyle, and religion there was little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other Semitic Canaanites. The Phoenicians were the first state-level society to make use of alphabets. By their maritime trade, the Phoenicians spread the use of the alphabet to Anatolia, North Africa, and Europe, where it was adopted by the Greeks, the name Phoenicians, like Latin Poenī, comes from Greek Φοίνικες. The word φοῖνιξ phoînix meant variably Phoenician person, Tyrian purple, the word may be derived from φοινός phoinós blood red, itself possibly related to φόνος phónos murder. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin of the ethnonym, the oldest attested form of the word in Greek may be the Mycenaean po-ni-ki-jo, po-ni-ki, possibly borrowed from Ancient Egyptian fnḫw Asiatics, Semites, although this derivation is disputed. The folk-etymological association of Φοινίκη with φοῖνιξ mirrors that in Akkadian which tied kinaḫni, the land was natively known as knʿn and its people as the knʿny. In the Amarna tablets of the 14th century BC, people from the region called themselves Kenaani or Kinaani, the ethnonym survived in North Africa until the 4th century AD. Herodotus account refers to the myths of Io and Europa, according to the Persians best informed in history, the Phoenicians began the quarrel. The Greek historian Strabo believed that the Phoenicians originated from Bahrain, Herodotus also believed that the homeland of the Phoenicians was Bahrain. The people of Tyre in South Lebanon in particular have long maintained Persian Gulf origins, however, there is little evidence of occupation at all in Bahrain during the time when such migration had supposedly taken place. Canaanite culture apparently developed in situ from the earlier Ghassulian chalcolithic culture, Byblos is attested as an archaeological site from the Early Bronze Age. The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, fernand Braudel remarked in The Perspective of the World that Phoenicia was an early example of a world-economy surrounded by empires. The high point of Phoenician culture and sea power is usually placed c, archaeological evidence consistent with this understanding has been difficult to identify. A unique concentration in Phoenicia of silver hoards dated between 1200 and 800 BC, however, contains hacksilver with lead isotope ratios matching ores in Sardinia and Spain. This metallic evidence agrees with the memory of a western Mediterranean Tarshish that supplied Solomon with silver via Phoenicia
Phoenicia
–
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazor II, Phoenician King of Sidon found near Sidon, in southern Lebanon
Phoenicia
–
Map of Phoenicia and its Mediterranean trade routes
Phoenicia
–
Assyrian warship (probably built by Phoenicians) with two rows of oars, relief from
Nineveh, c. 700 BC
Phoenicia
–
A naval action during the siege of Tyre (350 BC). Drawing by
André Castaigne, 1888–1889.
34.
Ancient Carthage
–
Carthage was the Phoenician city-state of Carthage and during the 7th to 3rd centuries BC, included its sphere of influence, the Carthaginian Empire. The empire extended over much of the coast of North Africa as well as encompassing substantial parts of coastal Iberia, Carthage was founded in 814 BC. At the height of the prominence it served as a major hub of trade. The city also had to deal with potentially hostile Berbers, the inhabitants of the area where Carthage was built. In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic War, Roman forces destroyed, redesigned, nearly all of the other Phoenician city-states and former Carthaginian dependencies subsequently fell into Roman hands. According to Roman sources, Phoenician colonists from modern-day Lebanon, led by Dido, Queen Elissa was an exiled princess of the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. At its peak, the metropolis she founded, Carthage, came to be called the city, ruling 300 other cities around the western Mediterranean Sea. Elissas brother, Pygmalion of Tyre, had murdered Elissas husband, Elissa escaped the tyranny of her own country, founding the new city of Carthage and subsequently its later dominions. Details of her life are sketchy and confusing, but the following can be deduced from various sources, according to Justin, Princess Elissa was the daughter of King Belus II of Tyre. When he died, the throne was jointly bequeathed to her brother, Pygmalion and she married her uncle Acerbas, also known as Sychaeus, the High Priest of Melqart, a man with both authority and wealth comparable to the king. This led to increased rivalry between the elite and the monarchy. Pygmalion was a tyrant, lover of both gold and intrigue, who desired the authority and fortune enjoyed by Acerbas, Pygmalion assassinated Acerbas in the temple and kept the misdeed concealed from his sister for a long time, deceiving her with lies about her husbands death. At the same time, the people of Tyre called for a single sovereign, in the Roman epic of Virgil, the Aeneid, Queen Dido, the Greek name for Elissa, is first introduced as a highly esteemed character. In just seven years, since their exodus from Tyre, the Carthaginians have rebuilt a successful kingdom under her rule and her subjects adore her and present her with a festival of praise. Her character is perceived by Virgil as even more noble when she offers asylum to Aeneas and his men, who have recently escaped from Troy. A spirit in the form of the god, Mercury, sent by Jupiter, reminds Aeneas that his mission is not to stay in Carthage with his new-found love, Dido. Virgil ends his legend of Dido with the story that, when Aeneas tells Dido, her heart broken, as she lay dying, she predicted eternal strife between Aeneas people and her own, rise up from my bones, avenging spirit she says, an invocation of Hannibal. The settlements at Crete and Sicily were in conflict with the Greeks
Ancient Carthage
–
Carthage and its dependencies in 264 BC
Ancient Carthage
–
Mediterranean sea nations in 323 BC.
Ancient Carthage
–
Trireme mosaic from Carthage,
Bardo Museum, Tunis.
35.
Mauretania
–
Mauretania is the Latin name for an area of the ancient Maghreb stretching from central Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, seminomadic pastoralists of Berber stock, were known to the Romans as the Mauri, in the late 3rd century, another province, Mauretania Sitifensis, was formed out of the eastern part of Caesariensis. When the Vandals arrived in Africa in 429, much of Mauretania became virtually independent, christianity had spread rapidly there in the 4th and 5th centuries but was extinguished when the Arabs conquered the region in the 7th century. Mauretania existed as a kingdom of the Mauri people. Mauri is recorded as the name by Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii, the Mauri would later bequeath their name to the Moors on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, from at least the 3rd century BC. King Atlas was a king of Mauretania credited with the invention of the celestial globe. The first known king of the Mauri is Baga, who ruled during the Second Punic War. The Mauri were in contact with Numidia. Bocchus I was father-in-law to the redoubted Numidian king Jugurtha, Mauretania became a client kingdom of the Roman Empire in 33 BC. The Romans installed Juba II of Numidia as their client-king, when Juba died in AD23, his Roman-educated son Ptolemy of Mauretania succeeded him. The Emperor Caligula had Ptolemy executed in 40, Emperor Claudius annexed Mauretania directly as a Roman province in 44, under an imperial governor. Mauretania Caesariensis was named after its capital Caesarea and comprised western, Mauretania gave the empire one emperor, the equestrian Macrinus. He seized power after the assassination of Caracalla in 217 but was defeated and executed by Elagabalus the next year. Emperor Diocletians Tetrarchy reform further divided the area into three provinces, as the small, easternmost region of Sitifensis was split off from Mauretania Caesariensis, followed by Columnatensis, Vidensis, inferioris, Fortensis, Muticitani, Audiensis, Caputcellensis and Augustensis. A Praeses in the province of Mauretania Sitifensis, direct Roman rule became confined to a few coastal cities by the late 3rd century. In an inscription from Altava in western Algeria, one of these rulers, Masuna, Altava was later the capital of another ruler, Garmul or Garmules, who resisted Byzantine rule in Africa but was finally defeated in 578. The Byzantine historian Procopius also mentions another independent ruler, Mastigas, in the VII century there were eight Romano-Moorish kingdoms, Altava, Ouarsenis, Hodna, Aures, Nemenchas, Capsa, Dorsale and Cabaon
Mauretania
–
Map of the
Roman Empire showing
Mauretania Tingitana and
Mauretania Caesariensis
Mauretania
–
Mauretania Tingitana province (borders in AD 116).
Mauretania
–
Cities of Roman Mauretania in the
Tabula Peutingeriana
36.
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
–
The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim military expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 AD. It was at point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years. The Byzantine navy would be defeated in the eastern Mediterranean, beginning in the 12th century, scholars at Kairouan began to construct a new version of the history of the conquest, which was finalised by ar-Raqiq. This version was copied in its entirety, and sometimes interpolated, by authors, reaching its zenith in the 14th century with scholars such as Ibn Idhari, Ibn Khaldun. It differs from the earlier version not only in the greater detail and this, however, is the best-known version and is the one given below. There is ongoing regarding the relative merits of the two versions. For more information, refer to the works cited below by Brunschvig, Modéran and Benabbès, the first invasion of North Africa, ordered by Caliph Umar, commenced in 647. 20,000 Arabs marched from Medina in Arabia, another 20,000 joined them in Memphis, Egypt, Count Gregory, the local Byzantine governor, had declared his independence from the Byzantine Empire in North Africa. He gathered his allies, confronted the Islamic invasion force and suffered defeat at the Battle of Sufetula, with the death of Gregory his successor, probably Gennadius, secured the Arab withdrawal in exchange for tribute. The campaign lasted fifteen months and Abdallahs force returned to Egypt in 648, all further Muslim conquests were soon interrupted, however, by a civil war between rival Arab factions that resulted in the murder of Caliph Uthman in 656. He was replaced by Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who in turn was murdered in 661 and he put a governor in place in Egypt at al-Fustat, creating a subordinate seat of power that would continue for the next two centuries. He then continued the invasion of neighbouring states, attacking Sicily. In 664 Kabul, Afghanistan, fell to the invading Muslim armies, the years 665 to 689 saw a new Arab invasion of North Africa. It began, according to Will Durant, to protect Egypt from flank attack by Byzantine Cyrene. So an army of more than 40,000 Muslims advanced through the desert to Barca, took it, next came a force of 10,000 Arabs led by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi and enlarged by thousands of others. Departing from Damascus, the army marched into North Africa and took the vanguard, in 670 the city of Kairouan was established as a refuge and base for further operations. This would become the capital of the Islamic province of Ifriqiya, which would cover the regions of todays western Libya, Tunisia. In his conquest of the Maghreb he besieged the city of Bugia as well as Tingi or Tangier
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
–
The Arab conqueror and general Uqba Ibn Nafi founded the
Great Mosque of Kairouan (also known as the Mosque of Uqba) in 670 AD - the oldest [
citation needed] and most important mosque in North Africa, city of
Kairouan,
Tunisia.
37.
Umayyad Caliphate
–
The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 and 62 million people, the Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims, Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that Abrahamic religious groups, should be allowed to practice their own religion, provided that they paid the jizya taxation. The welfare state of both the Muslim and the poor started by Umar ibn al Khattab had also continued, financed by the zakat tax levied only on Muslims. Muawiyas wife Maysum was also a Christian, the relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were stable in this time. Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments, the employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious assimilation that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiyas popularity and solidified Syria as his power base, the rivalries between the Arab tribes had caused unrest in the provinces outside Syria, most notably in the Second Muslim Civil War of AD 680–692 and the Berber Revolt of 740–743. During the Second Civil War, leadership of the Umayyad clan shifted from the Sufyanid branch of the family to the Marwanid branch. A branch of the family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, according to tradition, the Umayyad family and Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, and they originally came from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from Abd Manaf via a different son, Abd-Shams, the two families are therefore considered to be different clans of the same tribe. However Muslim Shia historians suspect that Umayya was a son of Abd Shams so he was not a blood relative of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai. Umayya was later discarded from the noble family, Sunni historians disagree with this and view Shia claims as nothing more than outright polemics due to their hostility to the Umayyad family in general. While the Umayyads and the Hashimites may have had bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad, the rivalry turned into a case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Badr. The battle saw three top leaders of the Umayyad clan killed by Hashimites in a three-on-three melee and this fueled the opposition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sufyan sought to exterminate the adherents of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in Medina only a year after the Battle of Badr and he did this to avenge the defeat at Badr. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred greater losses than the Meccans
Umayyad Caliphate
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Umayyad Caliphate in 750
Umayyad Caliphate
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Flag
Umayyad Caliphate
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History of Afghanistan
38.
Berber Revolt
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The Great Berber Revolt of 739/740–743 AD took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate. Fired up by Kharijite puritan preachers, the Berber revolt against their Umayyad Arab rulers began in Tangiers in 740, the revolt soon spread through the rest of the Maghreb and across the straits to al-Andalus. The Umayyads scrambled and managed to prevent the core of Ifriqiya, but the rest of the Maghreb was never recovered. The Berber revolt was probably the largest military setback in the reign of Caliph Hisham, from it, emerged some of the first Muslim states outside the Caliphate. It is sometimes regarded as the beginning of Moroccan independence. The underlying causes of the revolt were the policies of the Umayyad governors in Kairouan, Ifriqiya, from the early days of the Muslim conquest of North Africa, Arab commanders had treated non-Arab auxiliaries inconsistently, and often rather shabbily. When they arrived in North Africa the Umayyads had to face a Christian-majority population in Africa Proconsularis, some Berbers of the Maghreb quickly converted and participated in the growth of Islam in the region but, the Arab authorities continued to treat them as second-class people. Although Berbers had undertaken much of the fighting in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, they were given a share of the spoils. Although the Ifriqiyan Arab governor Musa ibn Nusair had cultivated his Berber lieutenants, his successors, most grievously, Arab governors continued to levy extraordinary dhimmi taxation and slave-tributes on non-Arab populations that had converted to Islam, in direct contravention of Islamic law. This had become routine during the caliphates of Walid I. In 718, the Umayyad caliph Umar II finally forbade the levying of taxation and slave tributes from non-Arab Muslims. But expensive military reverses in the 720s and 730s had forced caliphal authorities to look for ways to replenish their treasuries. During the caliphate of Hisham from 724, the prohibitions were sidestepped with reinterpretations, as a result, resentful Berbers grew receptive to radical Kharijite activists from the east which had begun arriving in the Maghreb in the 720s. The appeal of the Kharijite message to Berber ears allowed their activists to gradually penetrate Berber regiments, sporadic mutinies by Berber garrisons were put down with difficulty. One Ifriqiyan governor, Yazid ibn Abi Muslim, who resumed the jizya. In 734, Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab was appointed Umayyad governor in Kairouan, with authority over all the Maghreb. His deputies Oqba ibn al-Hajjaj al-Saluli in Córdoba and Omar ibn el-Moradi in Tangier were given similar instructions, the failure of expensive expeditions into Gaul during the period 732-737, repulsed by the Franks under Charles Martel, only increased the tax burden. The parallel failure of the armies in the east brought no fiscal relief from Damascus
Berber Revolt
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Military campaigns in northeastern al-Andalus and southern Gaul at the time of the Berber Revolt (739–742)
39.
Idrisid dynasty
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The Idrisids were an Arab Zaydi-Shia dynasty of Morocco, ruling from 788 to 974. Named after the founder Idriss I, the grandchild of Hasan ibn Ali. The founder of the dynasty was Idris ibn Abdallah, who traced his ancestry back to Ali ibn Abi Talib and his wife Fatimah, daughter of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. After the Battle of Fakhkh, near Mecca, between the Abbasids and a Shiite party, Idris ibn Abdallah fled to the Maghreb and he first arrived in Tangier, the most important city of Morocco at the time, and by 788 he had settled in Volubilis. The powerful Awraba Berbers of Volubilis took him in and made him their imam, the Awraba tribe was originally from the Tlemcen region and had supported Kusayla in his struggle against the Ummayad armies in the 670s and 680s. By the second half of the 8th century they had settled in northern Morocco, by this time the Awraba were already Muslim, but lived in an area where most tribes were either Christian, Jewish, Khariji or pagan. The Awraba seem to have welcomed a Sharifi imam as a way to strengthen their political position, Idris I, who was very active in the political organization of the Awraba, began by asserting his authority and working toward the subjugation of the Christian and Jewish tribes. In 789 he founded a settlement south east of Volubilis, called Medinat Fas, in 791 Idris I was poisoned and killed by an Abbasid agent. Even though he left no heir, shortly after his death, his concubine Lalla Kanza bint Uqba al-Awrabi, bore him his only son and successor. Idris loyal Arab ex-slave and companion Rashid brought up the boy and took on himself the regency of the state, in 801 Rashid was killed by the Abbasids. In the following year, at the age of 11 years, even though he had spread his authority across much of northern Morocco, as far west as Tlemcen, Idris I had been completely dependent on the Awraba leadership. Idris II began his rule with the weakening of Awraba power by welcoming Arab settlers in Walili, thus he transformed himself from a protégé of the Awraba into their sovereign. The Awraba leader Ishak responded by plotting against his life with the Aghlabids of Tunisia, Idris reacted by having his former protector Ishak killed, and in 809 moved his seat of government from the Awraba dominated Walili to Fes, where he founded a new settlement named Al-Aliya. Idriss II developed the city of Fez, established earlier by his father as a Berber market town, here he welcomed two waves of Arab immigration, one in 818 from Cordoba and another in 824 from Aghlabid Tunisia, giving Fes a more Arab character than other Maghrebi cities. Muhammad himself came to rule Fes, with nominal power over his brothers. During this time Islamic and Arabic culture gained a stronghold in the towns and Morocco profited from the trans-Saharan trade, the Idrisids were principally rulers of the towns and had little power over the majority of the countrys population. The Idrisid family in turn was heavily berberised, with its members aligning itself with the Zenata tribes of Morocco, already in the 870s the family was described by Ibn Qutaybah as being berberised in customs. By the 11th century this process had developed to such an extant, in the 11th century the Hammudid family arose among these Berber Idrisids, which was able to gain power in several cities of northern Morocco and southern Spain
Idrisid dynasty
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Idrisid coin, minted at al-'Aliyah,
Morocco, 840 CE.
Idrisid dynasty
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Flag
40.
List of rulers of Morocco
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This is the list of rulers of Morocco, since the establishment of the first Moroccan state in 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period, since 1957, the designation King has been used. Hassan I al-Hajam The second period of Fatimid overlordship lasted from 927 to 937, al Qasim Gannum Abu l-Aish Ahmad Al-Hasan ben Kannun In 974, the Sultan Al-Hasan ben Kannun was defeated by Cordobese Umayyads. A period of Umayyad overlordship followed then, as Said Abu Salim Ali II. Abu Umar Taschufin Abu Zayyan Muhammad III, Abu l-Abbas Ahmad Musa ibn Faris Al-Wathiq Abu l-Abbas Ahmad Abu Faris Abdul Aziz II
List of rulers of Morocco
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King of Morocco
List of rulers of Morocco
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Coat of arms of Morocco
List of rulers of Morocco
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Al-Rashid
List of rulers of Morocco
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Ismail Ibn Sharif
41.
Almoravid dynasty
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The Almoravid dynasty was a Berber imperial dynasty of Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that stretched over the western Maghreb, founded by Abdallah ibn Yasin, the Almoravid capital was Marrakesh, a city they founded in 1062. The dynasty originated among the Lamtuna and the Gudala, nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara and this enabled them to control an empire that stretched 3,000 kilometers north to south. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived, the Almoravids fell—at the height of their power—when they failed to quell the Masmuda-led rebellion initiated by Ibn Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishaq ibn Ali was killed in Marrakesh in April 1147 by the Almohad Caliphate, who replaced them as a ruling dynasty both in Morocco and Al-Andalus. The term Almoravid comes from the Arabic al-Murabitun, which is the form of al-Murabit—literally meaning one who is tying. The term is related to the notion of Ribat, a frontier monastery-fortress, another theory states that the name Almoravid comes from a school of Malikite law called Dar al-Murabitin founded in Sus al-Aksa, modern day Morocco, by a certain scholar named Waggag Ibn Zallu. Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar, hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God. It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation, al-Bakri, writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them the al-Murabitun, but does not clarify the reasons for it. Ibn Idhari wrote that the name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the persevering in the fight sense,1054, in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, the name might be related to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu, where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. Contemporaries frequently referred to them as the al-mulathimun, the Almoravids veiled themselves below the eyes with a tagelmust, a custom they adapted from southern Sanhaja Berbers. Although practical for the desert dust, the Almoravids insisted on wearing the veil everywhere, as a badge of foreignness in urban settings and it served as the uniform of the Almoravids. Under their rule, sumptuary laws forbade anybody else from wearing the veil, in turn, the succeeding Almohads made a point of mocking the Almoravid veil as symbolic of effeminacy and decadence. The western Sanhaja had been converted to Islam some time in the 9th century and they were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of neophyte converts, launched several campaigns against the Sudanese. Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected the citadel of Awdaghust, after the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdagust passed over to the Ghana empire, and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmassa. The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous, around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat, tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years. Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, a chieftain of the Gudala, on his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya, where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi, a native of Fes and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school
Almoravid dynasty
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Almoravid
gold dinar coin from
Seville,
Spain, 1116. (
British Museum). The Almoravid gold dinar would set the standard of the Iberian
maravedi.
Almoravid dynasty
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The Almoravid empire at its greatest extent, c. 1120.
42.
Almohad Caliphate
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The Almohad Caliphate was a Moroccan Berber Muslim movement founded in the 12th century. The Almohad movement was founded by Ibn Tumart among the Berber Masmuda tribes of southern Morocco, around 1120, the Almohads first established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains. They succeeded in overthrowing the ruling Almoravid dynasty governing Morocco by 1147 and they then extended their power over all of the Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus followed the fate of North Africa and all Islamic Iberia was under Almohad rule by 1172, nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Cordova and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively. The Almohads continued to rule in Africa until the loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies. The Almohad movement originated with Ibn Tumart, a member of the Masmuda, at the time, Morocco, and much of the rest of North Africa and Spain, was under the rule of the Almoravids, a Sanhaja Berber dynasty. Early in his life, Ibn Tumart went to Spain to pursue his studies, in Baghdad, Ibn Tumart attached himself to the theological school of al-Ashari, and came under the influence of the teacher al-Ghazali. He soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters, Ibn Tumarts main principle was a strict unitarianism, which denied the independent existence of the attributes of God as being incompatible with His unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart represented a revolt against what he perceived as anthropomorphism in Muslim orthodoxy and his followers would become known as the al-Muwahhidun, meaning those who affirm the unity of God. After his return to the Maghreb c.1117, Ibn Tumart spent some time in various Ifriqiyan cities, preaching and agitating, heading riotous attacks on wine-shops and on other manifestations of laxity. He laid the blame for the latitude on the dynasty of the Almoravids. His antics and fiery preaching led fed-up authorities to him along from town to town. After being expelled from Bejaia, Ibn Tumart set up camp in Mellala, in the outskirts of the city, where he received his first disciples - notably, al-Bashir and Abd al-Mumin. In 1120, Ibn Tumart and his band of followers proceeded to Morocco, stopping first in Fez. He even went so far as to assault the sister of the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf, in the streets of Fez, because she was going about unveiled, after the manner of Berber women. After the debate, the scholars concluded that Ibn Tumarts views were blasphemous and the man dangerous, but the emir decided merely to expel him from the city. Ibn Tumart took refuge among his own people, the Hargha, in his village of Igiliz. He retreated to a cave, and lived out an ascetic lifestyle, coming out only to preach his program of puritan reform
Almohad Caliphate
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The Almohads transferred the capital of Al-Andalus to
Seville.
Almohad Caliphate
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Flag
Almohad Caliphate
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Almohads after 1212
Almohad Caliphate
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La
Giralda.
43.
Marinid dynasty
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The Marinid dynasty or Banu abd al-Haqq was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Zenata Berber descent that ruled Morocco from the 13th to the 15th century. In 1244, the Marinids overthrew the Almohad dynasty, which controlled Morocco and it briefly held sway over all the Maghreb in the mid-14th century. The Marinids were overthrown after the 1465 revolt, the Wattasids, a related dynasty, came to power in 1472. The Marinids were a branch of the Wassin, a nomadic Zenata Berber tribe that lived in Ifriqiya, the tribe had first frequented the area between Sijilmasa and Figuig. The Marinids took their name from their ancestor, Marin ibn Wartajan al-Zenati, after arriving in Morocco, they initially submitted to the Almohads, the ruling dynasty at the time. After successfully contributing to the Battle of Alarcos, in central Spain, starting in 1213, they began to tax farming communities of north-eastern Morocco. The relationship between them and the Almohads became strained and starting in 1215, there were outbreaks of fighting between the two parties. In 1217 they tried to occupy eastern Morocco, but they were expelled, after which they pulled back, here they remain for nearly 30 years. Between 1244 and 1248 the Marinids were able to take Taza, Rabat, Salé, the Marinid leadership installed in Fes declared war on the Almohads, fighting with the aid of Christian mercenaries. Abu Yusuf Yaqub captured Marrakech in 1269, after the Nasrids ceded Algeciras to the Marinids, Abu Yusuf went to Al-Andalus to support the ongoing struggle against the Kingdom of Castile. The Marinid dynasty then tried to extend its control to include the traffic of the Strait of Gibraltar. It was in period that the Spanish Christians were first able to take the fighting to Morocco, in 1260 and 1267 they attempted an invasion of Morocco. After gaining a foothold in Spain, the Marinids became active in the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Iberia, in 1276 they founded Fes Jdid, which they made their administrative and military centre. It is from the Marinid period that Fes reputation as an important intellectual centre largely dates, they established the first madrassas in the city, the principal monuments in the medina, the residences and public buildings, date from the Marinid period. Despte internal infighting, Abu Said Uthman II initiated huge construction projects across Morocco, several madrassas were built, the Al-Attarine Madrasa being the most famous. The building of these madrassas were necessary to create a dependent bureaucratic class, in order to undermine the marabouts, the Marinids also strongly influenced the policy of the Emirate of Granada, from which they enlarged their army in 1275. In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Castile made several incursions into Morocco, in 1260, Castilian forces raided Salé and, in 1267, initiated a full-scale invasion of Morocco, but the Marinids repelled them. At the height of their power, during the rule of Abu al-Hasan Ali and it consisted of 40.000 Zenata cavalry, while Arab nomads contributed to the cavalry and Andalusians were included as archers
Marinid dynasty
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The
Marinid Tombs in Fes, Morocco
Marinid dynasty
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Flag
Marinid dynasty
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Coin minted during the reign of
Abu Inan Faris (1348–1358)
Marinid dynasty
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Remnants of the city of
al-Mansoura constructed by the Marinids during their siege of
Tlemcen.
44.
First Moroccan Crisis
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The First Moroccan Crisis was an international crisis between March 1905 and May 1906 over the status of Morocco. The crisis worsened German relations with both France and the United Kingdom, and helped enhance the new Anglo-French Entente, on March 31,1905, Kaiser William II of Germany landed at Tangier, Morocco and conferred with representatives of Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco. The Kaiser proceeded to tour the city on the back of a white horse, the Kaiser declared he had come to support the sovereignty of the Sultan—a statement which amounted to a provocative challenge to French influence in Morocco. The Sultan subsequently rejected a set of French-proposed governmental reforms and issued invitations to major powers to a conference which would advise him on necessary reforms. Germany sought a conference where the French could be called to account before other European powers. The French foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé, took a defiant line, count Bernhard von Bülow, the German Chancellor, threatened war over the issue. The French cancelled all leave and Germany threatened to sign a defensive alliance with the Sultan. French Premier Maurice Rouvier refused to risk war with Germany over the issue, Delcassé resigned, as the French government would no longer support his policy. On July 1, France agreed to attend the conference, the crisis continued to the eve of the conference at Algeciras, with Germany calling up reserve units and France moving troops to the German border. The Algeciras Conference was called to settle the dispute, lasting from January 16 to April 7,1906, of the 13 nations present, the German representatives found that their only supporter was Austria-Hungary. A German attempt at compromise was rejected by all but Austria-Hungary, France had firm support from Britain, Russia, Italy, Spain, and the United States. The Germans decided to accept a compromise agreement on March 31,1906 that was signed on May 31,1906. France agreed to control of the Moroccan police, but otherwise retained effective control of Moroccan political and financial affairs. The First Moroccan Crisis also showed that the Entente Cordiale was strong, the crisis can be seen as a reason for the Anglo-Russian Entente and the Anglo-Franco-Spanish Pact of Cartagena being signed the following year. Kaiser Wilhelm II was angry at being humiliated and was determined not to back down again, esthus, Raymond A. Theodore Roosevelt and the International Rivalries pp 66–111. Gifford, Prosser, and Alison Smith, eds, Britain and Germany in Africa, imperial rivalry and colonial rule ch 7 Perdicaris incident
First Moroccan Crisis
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History
45.
Algeciras Conference
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The Algeciras Conference of 1906 took place in Algeciras, Spain, and lasted from 16 January to 7 April. Britain and Frances Entente Cordiale of 1904 had defined diplomatic cooperation between them and recognized British authority over Egypt and French control in Morocco, Germany saw this development putting an end to the rivalry between Britain and France, which would further isolate Germany in European affairs. On 31 March 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Moroccos capital, Tangier, german diplomats believed they could convince U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt to challenge French intervention in Morocco. Roosevelt — at that time mediating the Russo-Japanese War, and aware of the U. S. Senates stance to avoid involvement in European affairs — was disinclined to become involved in the Moroccan crisis. However, with the situation in June 1905 worsening to the point of war between Germany and France, in July Roosevelt persuaded the French to attend a January peace conference in Algeciras, Germany had hoped that the Conference would weaken the entente cordial. Wilhelm II had thought he could form an alliance with France and he also thought that better relations with Russia were possible, due to the Revolution of 1905 and Russo-Japanese War putting them in a weak, ally-hungry position. Following their failed attempt to isolate Britain, Germany furthered the growing Anglo-German Naval Race with passage of the Third Naval Law in 1906, the next major event to thicken the tension between these two would be the Bosnian Crisis. The right of Europeans to own land was established, whilst taxes were to be levied towards public works, the Inspector-General in charge would be Swiss and reside in Tangiers. At the last moment, the Moroccan delegates found that they were unable to sign the final Act, but a decree of Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco on 18 June finally ratified it
Algeciras Conference
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El-Hadj el-Mokri, Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, signs the treaty at the Algeciras Conference 7 April, 1906.
46.
Agadir Crisis
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The Agadir Crisis or Second Moroccan Crisis was an international crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in April 1911. Germany reacted by sending the gunboat SMS Panther to the Moroccan port of Agadir on 1 July 1911, frances pre-eminence in Morocco had been upheld by the 1906 Algeciras Conference, following the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905–06. Anglo-German tensions were high at this time, partly due to a race between Imperial Germany and Great Britain, including German efforts to build a fleet two thirds the size of Britains. Germanys move was aimed at testing the relationship between Britain and France, and possibly intimidating Britain into an alliance with Germany, Germany was also enforcing compensation claims, for acceptance of effective French control of Morocco. In 1911, a rebellion broke out in Morocco against the Sultan, by early April, the Sultan was besieged in his palace in Fez. The French prepared to send troops to put down the rebellion, under the pretext of protecting European lives and property. On 8 June, the Spanish army occupied Larache, and three days later Ksar-el-Kebir, on 1 July, the German gunboat SMS Panther arrived at the port of Agadir, under the pretext of protecting German trade interests. The larger Bremen-class cruiser SMS Berlin arrived days later, replacing the gunboat, a German civilian, Hermann Wilberg, seventy miles to the north, journeyed south to be rescued only to arrive three days after the Panther. There was a reaction from the French and the British. The British government attempted to restrain France from adopting hasty measures and to dissuade her from sending troops to Fez, in April, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey wrote what the French contemplate doing is not wise, but we cannot under our agreement interfere. He felt that his hands were tied and that he had to support France, the British became worried by Panthers arrival in Morocco. The Royal Navy had a base in Gibraltar, in the south of Spain. They believed the Germans meant to turn Agadir into a base on the Atlantic. Britain sent battleships to Morocco, in case war broke out, as in the First Moroccan Crisis, British support of France showed the strength of the Entente Cordiale. In the midst of crisis, Germany was hit by financial turmoil. The stock market plunged by 30 percent in a single day, the Reichsbank lost a fifth of its gold reserves in one month. It was rumored this crisis had been orchestrated by the French finance minister, faced with the possibility of being driven off the gold standard, the Kaiser backed down and let the French take over most of Morocco. The speech was interpreted by Germany as a warning that she could not impose a settlement on France
Agadir Crisis
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A column of
French troops on the move in a tented encampment in
Morocco, March 30, 1912.
47.
French conquest of Morocco
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The French conquest of Morocco took place in 1911 in the aftermath of the Agadir Crisis, when Moroccan forces besieged the French-occupied city of Fez. On 30 March 1912, Sultan Abdelhafid signed the Treaty of Fez, formally ceding Moroccan sovereignty to France, on 17 April 1912, Moroccan infantrymen mutinied in the French garrison in Fez. The Moroccans were unable to take the city and were defeated by a French relief force, in late May 1912, Moroccan forces unsuccessfully attacked the enhanced French garrison at Fez. The last aftermath of the conquest of Morocco occurred in 1933–34, French protectorate in Morocco Spanish protectorate in Morocco France–Morocco relations French Algeria French Tunisia Bidwell, Robin. Morocco under Colonial Rule, French Administration of Tribal Areas 1912–1956, burke, E. Pan-Islam and Moroccan resistance to French colonial penetration, 1900–1912
French conquest of Morocco
–
Map showing the area conquered by period.
Zaian War (1914–21)
Rif War (1920–26)
Middle Atlas campain (1932-1934)
Anti-Atlas (20 february - 10 marsh 1934)
48.
Rif War
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The Rif War, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought in the early 1920s between the colonial power Spain and the Berbers of the Rif mountainous region. Led by Abd al-Karim, the Riffians at first inflicted several defeats on the Spanish forces by using guerrilla tactics, during the early 20th century, Morocco had fallen into the French and Spanish spheres of influence, becoming divided into protectorates ruled by the two European nations. The Rif region had been assigned to Spain, but given that even the Sultans of Morocco had been unable to control over the region. For centuries, the Berber tribes of the Rif had fought off any attempt to impose outside control on them, though nominally Muslim, the tribes of the Rif had continued many pagan practices such as worshipping water spirits and forest spirits that were contrary to Islam. Attempts by the Moroccan sultans to impose orthodox Islam on the Rif had been resisted by the tribesmen. For centuries Europeans had seen the Rif mountains and the outlines of people on the mountains from ships in the Mediterranean Sea, but almost no European had ever ventured into the mountains. Walter Burton Harris, the Morocco correspondent for The Times, who covered the war wrote that as late as 1912 only one or two Europeans had been able to visit the forests that lie south of Fez. A few had traveled in the southern Atlas and pushed on into the Sus. the reason for, as Harris wrote, was the Berbers were often as inhospitable to the Arab as they were to the foreigner, and generally killed any outsiders who ventured into their territory. The Rif was also rich in iron, which could be easily extracted via open pit mining. The Spanish state could collect money in the form of taxes and royalties from the iron mining. When King Alfonso XIII of Spain ascended to the throne in 1886, Spain could at least make the pretense of being a power, having colonies in the Americans, Africa, Asia. To compensate for the lost empire in the Americas and Asia, there emerged a powerful faction in Spain led by Alfonso. For all these reasons, Spain had been pushing into the Rif since 1909, the Berber tribesmen had a long tradition of fierce fighting skills, combined with high standards of fieldcraft and marksmanship. They were capably led by Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, commonly called Abd el-Krim, however, the Rifian regular army was never a very large force. The elite of the Rifian forces formed regular units which according to Abd el-Krim, other sources put it much lower, at around 2,000 to 3,000. The remaining Rifians were tribal militia selected by their Caids and not liable to serve away from their homes and farms for more than 15 consecutive days. General Goded estimated that at their peak, in June 1924, however, this force was largely adequate in the early stages of the war. In the final days of the war Rifian forces numbered about 12,000 men, in addition Rifian forces were not well armed, with weapons badly maintained and in poor condition
Rif War
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Spanish troops landing at
Al Hoceima Bay on 8 September 1925
Rif War
–
Defence of the
Nador
Rif War
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Ruins of a Spanish camp in the village of Tanaqob, kilometres away from
Chefchaouen.
49.
Ifni War
–
The city of Sidi Ifni was incorporated into the Spanish colonial empire in 1860. In 1946, the various coastal and inland colonies were consolidated as Spanish West Africa. Sultan Mohammed V encouraged efforts to re-capture the land and personally funded anti-Spanish conspirators, Moroccan insurgents, violent demonstrations against Spanish rule erupted in Ifni on April 10,1957, followed by civil strife and widespread killings of those loyal to Spain. In response, Generalissimo Franco dispatched two battalions of the Spanish Legion, Spains elite fighting force, to El Aaiún in June, Spanish military mobilization resulted in the Moroccan army converging near Ifni. On October 23,1957, two villages on the outskirts of Sidi Ifni, Goulimine and Bou Izarguen, were occupied by 1,500 Moroccan soldiers, the encirclement of Ifni was the beginning of the Ifni War. Two more Legionary battalions reached the Spanish Sahara before the opening of hostilities, on 21 November, Spanish intelligence in Ifni reported that attacks were imminent by Moroccans operating out of Tafraout. Two days later, Spanish lines of communication were cut, although the Moroccan drive into Sidi Ifni was easily repulsed, two nearby Spanish outposts were abandoned in the face of enemy attacks and many others remained under heavy siege. At Tiluin,60 Tiradores de Ifni, struggled to hold off a force of several hundred Moroccans, on November 25, a relief attempt was authorized. Five CASA2.111 bombers, bombed enemy positions, while a number of CASA352 transports dropped a force of 75 paratroopers into the outpost. On 3 December, soldiers of the Spanish Legions 6th battalion arrived, breaking the siege, all military and civilian personnel were then evacuated overland to Sidi Ifni. The relief of Telata was less successful, leaving Sidi Ifni on 24 November aboard several old trucks, a platoon of the Spanish Legion paratroop battalion under Captain Ortiz de Zárate made slow progress through difficult terrain. This problem was compounded by frequent Moroccan ambushes, which by the day had left several men wounded and forced the Spaniards off the road. On 26 November, food ran out, the Spanish, low on ammunition, resumed their advance, only to dig in again in the face of repeated enemy attacks. Rations were dropped by air, but Spanish casualties continued to mount, one of the dead was Captain Ortiz de Zárate. On 2 December, a column of infantry, among them the erstwhile defenders of Telata, broke through the Moroccan lines, the survivors of the paratroop detachment reached Sidi Ifni once more on 5 December. The company had suffered two dead and fourteen wounded, initial Moroccan attacks had been generally successful. In the space of two weeks, the Moroccans and their allies had asserted control over most of Ifni. Simultaneous attacks had been launched throughout Spanish Sahara, overrunning garrisons and ambushing convoys, consequently, Moroccan units, resupplied and greatly reinforced, tried to surround and besiege Sidi Ifni, hoping to incite a popular uprising
Ifni War
–
Ifni before the conflict and after
50.
Sand War
–
The Sand War or Sands War was a border conflict between Algeria and Morocco in October 1963. It resulted largely from the Moroccan governments claim to portions of Algerias Tindouf, the Sand War led to a heightened tensions between the two countries for several decades. Before French colonization of the region in the century, part of south and west Algeria were under Moroccan influence. Beyond that there is one border area, without limit. An armed conflict opposed French 19th Corps Oran and Algiers divisions to the Aït Khabbash, the conflict ended by the annexation of the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt complex by France in 1901. The Algerians therefore did not recognize Moroccos historical or political claims of Greater Morocco that includes Bechar, tension escalated as neither side wanted to back down. Weeks of skirmishes along the border eventually escalated into a confrontation on September 25,1963, with intense fighting around the oasis towns of Tindouf. The Royal Moroccan Army soon crossed into Algeria in force and succeeded in taking two border posts near both settlements, the Algerian military, recently formed from the guerrilla ranks of the FLNs Armée de Libération Nationale was still oriented towards asymmetric warfare, and had little heavy weapons. Its logistics was also complicated by its vast array of largely obsolete weapons from a number of sources, including France, Germany, Czechoslovakia. The Algerian army had ordered a number of AMX-13 light tanks from France in 1962. Ironically at least four AMX-13s had been also been donated by Morocco a year earlier, the Soviet Union supplied Algeria with ten T-34 tanks, but these were equipped for clearing minefields and were delivered without turrets or armament. Moroccos armed forces were smaller, but comparatively well-equipped and frequently took advantage of their firepower on the battlefield. They possessed forty T-54 main battle tanks, twelve SU-100 tank destroyers, seventeen AMX-13s, Morocco also possessed modern strike aircraft, while Algeria did not. Despite internal discontent with the Algerian government, most of the supported the war effort. Even in regions where Ben Bellas regime remained deeply unpopular, such as Kabylie, Moroccos invasion proved to be a diplomatic blunder, as the other Arab and African states refused to recognize its border claims. Egypt even began sending troops and defense hardware to bolster the Algerian military, on October 13,1963, Moroccan ground units launched a major offensive on Tindouf. It stalled due to stubborn resistance from the towns Algerian and Egyptian garrison. On October 22, hundreds of Cuban troops disembarked at Oran, including a T-34 tank company and they were commanded by Efigenio Ameijeiras
Sand War
–
The Maghreb in the second half of the 19th century
Sand War
–
Sand War
51.
Years of Lead (Morocco)
–
The Years of Lead is the term used to describe a period of the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco marked by state violence against dissidents and democracy activists. Hassan II was king from 1961 until his death in 1999 and his reign was marked by political unrest and a heavy-handed government response to criticism and opposition. While some perceive the Years of Lead to have begun with Moroccan independence in 1956 under Mohammed V, political oppression plateaued in the 1960s, during the 1990s, Morocco experienced a slow but notable improvement in its political climate and human rights situation. The pace of reform accelerated with the accession to the throne of Mohammed VI in 1999, during the Years of Lead, dissidents were arrested, executed or disappeared, newspapers were closed and books were banned. There are few reliable lists of victims for the time, but there were hundreds of political killings, arbitrary arrests and torture affected many, including some of those outside the usual opposition networks. Some examples of government repression include, Targeting of dissidents, opposition politics was a life-threatening activity in Morocco during the low points of the Years of Lead. Harassment of dissidents was commonplace and several outspoken anti-government activists were jailed and tortured or forcibly disappeared by government forces or died mysteriously and this led to the resignation of the prefect of Paris, Maurice Papon. Abraham Serfaty, for his part, was imprisoned 17 years, hundreds were killed and thousands arrested in connection with demonstrations and politicized labor strikes against the government. Protest rioting became so intense during some years in the 1970s that tanks occasionally patrolled the streets of major Moroccan cities, casualties among demonstrators occurred in Casablanca in 1981 and in Fes in 1990. After the attempted coups against the king in 1971 and 1972, officers and other involved putschists were rounded up and sent to secret detention camps such as Tazmamart. Mohamed Oufkir, Hassan IIs right-hand man in the 1960s, convicted in France for the assassination of Mehdi Ben Barka, was executed in 1972 after a failed coup attempt. Oufkirs children were imprisoned in retaliation and his daughter, Malika Oufkir, wrote a book title Stolen Lives, Twenty Years in a Desert Jail recounting the experience. In 1975, Morocco delivred Sahara Spanish Sahara during the Green March, in 1958-59, the Moroccan army fought rebellious Berber tribes in the Rif mountains that resented the Alaouite Dynastys rule. The uprisings were put down with thousands of casualties. Including these events as forming part of the Years of Lead would greatly increase the figures concerning victims, the Rif mountains continue to be semi-autonomous, with the main hashish crop taxed, but not otherwise controlled. The Michelin map of Morocco was banned, since it did not show the boundary between Morocco and Algeria. Historical books such as Lords of the Atlas, The Rise and Fall of the House of Glaoua 1893-1956 by Gavin Maxwell were considered subversive, as the more liberal-minded Mohammed VI succeeded his father on the throne in 1999, the period was definitely over. The press is considerably freer than before and debate on many subjects is intense, although the monarchy, political Islam, parliament still holds no power over the King, but elections are semi-fair, whereas they were blatantly rigged or suspended for many years during the 1970s and 1980s
Years of Lead (Morocco)
–
Hassan II
52.
Green March
–
Nevertheless, the events quickly escalated into a fully waged war between Morocco and the militias of the Polisario, the Western Sahara War, which would last for 16 years. Morocco later gained control over the former Spanish Sahara, which it continues to hold, Morocco, to the north of the Spanish Sahara, had long claimed that the territory was historically an integral part of Morocco. Mauritania to the south argued similarly that the territory was in fact Mauritanian, Morocco intended to vindicate its claims by demanding a verdict from the International Court of Justice, which was issued on 16 October 1975. Instead, the court argued, the population were the owners of the land. This meant that regardless of political solution was found to the question of sovereignty. Complicating matters, a UN visiting mission had concluded on 15 October, the day before the ICJ verdict was released, within hours of the ICJ verdicts release, he announced the organizing of a green march to Spanish Sahara, to reunite it with the Motherland. The Green March was a popular march of enormous proportions. On 6 November 1975 approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco, as the marchers reached the border, the Spanish Armed Forces were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed. The Spanish troops also cleared some previously mined zones, according to Morocco, the exercise of sovereignty by the Moroccan state was characterized by official pledges of allegiance to the sultan. The Moroccan government was of the opinion that this allegiance existed during several centuries before the Spanish occupation and that it was a legal and political tie. The sultan Hassan I, for example, had carried out two expeditions in 1886 in order to put an end to foreign incursions in this territory and to officially invest several caids and cadis. In its presentation to the ICJ, the Moroccan side also mentioned the levy of taxes as an instance of the exercise of sovereignty. Even taking account of the structure of that State, they do not show that Morocco displayed any effective and exclusive State activity in Western Sahara. The Green March caught Spain in a moment of political crisis, the dictator General Franco, who had been leading the country for almost 40 years, was dying. Only the year before, the Portuguese government had been toppled by the Portuguese armed forces after becoming bogged down in wars in Angola. Under pressure from Morocco, Spain also agreed that no representatives of the population would be present in the negotiations that resulted in the 14 November Madrid Accords. This was a treaty which divided Spanish Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco, Spain received a 35% concession in the phosphate mines of Bou Craa and offshore fishing rights that were not respected by Morocco. Morocco and Mauritania then formally annexed the parts they had been allotted in the Accords
Green March
–
A 100
dirham note from 1991 commemorating the Green March
53.
Western Sahara conflict
–
The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict is the continuation of the past insurgency by Polisario against the Spanish colonial forces in 1973–75, today the conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the Polisario Front and their self-proclaimed SADR state to gain fully recognized independence for Western Sahara. The conflict escalated after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords, beginning in 1975, the Polisario Front, backed and supported by Algeria, waged a 16-year-long war for independence against Mauritania and Morocco. In 1977, France intervened, as the conflict reached its peak intensity, in 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict and territories, leading to a stalemate through most of the 1980s. After several more engagements between 1989 and 1991, a agreement was reached between the Polisario Front and the Moroccan government. At present, these borders are largely unchanged, in late 2010, the protests re-erupted in the Gdeim Izik refugee camp in Western Sahara. While the protests were peaceful, they were later marked by clashes between civilians and security forces, resulting in dozens of casualties on both sides. Though sporadic demonstrations continue, the movement had subsided by May 2011. In 1884 Spain claimed a protectorate over the coast from Cape Bojador to Cap Blanc, later, the Spanish extended their area of control. In 1958 Spain merged the separate districts of Saguia el-Hamra. Raids and rebellions by the indigenous Sahrawi population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the Spanish-claimed territory for a long time, ma al-Aynayn died in October 1910, and his son El Hiba succeeded him. El Hibas forces were defeated during a campaign to conquer Marrakesh. The city was rebuilt, and Sahrawi resistance continued for the following twenty years. The rebellious territory was subdued in 1934, after joint Spanish. In 1956 the Ifni War, initiated by the Moroccan Army of Liberation, marked renewed conflict in the region, however, unrest lingered among the regions population, and in 1967 the Harakat Tahrir arose to challenge Spanish rule peacefully. In 1971 a group of young Sahrawi students in the universities of Morocco began organizing what came to be known as The Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra, as a result of this ambivalence, the movement eventually relocated to Spanish-controlled Western Sahara to start an armed rebellion. Women in Western Sahara are prominent members of the Polisario Front as soldiers, the Polisario Front was formally constituted on 10 May 1973 in the Mauritanian city of Zouirate, with the express intention of militarily forcing an end to Spanish colonization. Its first Secretary General was El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed, on 20 May he led the Khanga raid, the Polisarios first armed action, in which a Spanish post manned by a team of Tropas Nomadas was overrun and a cache of rifles seized
Western Sahara conflict
–
Gathering of Saharawi troops, near Tifariti (Western Sahara), celebrating the 32nd anniversary to the Polisario Front (2005).
54.
Military history of Morocco
–
The military history of Morocco covers a vast time period and complex events. It interacts with multiple events in a vast area containing North Africa. Just after defeating the Phoenicians and destructing the city of Carthage in nowadays Tunisia during the Punic Wars, in the west, Mauritania Tingitana was developed by the creation of roads, agricultural innovations and trade expansions. In the mountainous areas, the Berber tribes resisted to the Roman invasions, the Roman influence will be preserved in the south until 285 AD. As of the end of 4th century AD, under the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian and they remained in the north until 429 AD, date of the passage of the Vandals in this part of Mauretania Tingitana. In 533 AD, the Byzantine fleets and then the Visigoths occupied Ceuta, though Morocco was not part of the Ottoman empire, Moroccan pirates held their activities in both the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic ocean. They used two main ports as bases, Salé and Tétouan, Salé pirates roamed the seas as far as the shores of the Americas, bringing back loot and slaves. The character Robinson Crusoe, in Daniel Defoes novel by the same name, in 1783 the United States made peace with and was recognized by Great Britain, and in 1784 the first American ship was captured by pirates from Morocco. The stars and stripes was a new flag to them, after six months of negotiation, a treaty of friendship between the U. S. and Morocco was signed, $60,000 cash was paid, and trade began. Morocco was the first independent nation to recognize the United States back in 1778, the First Franco-Moroccan War consisted of a series of conflicts fought between France and its colonial administrators on one side, and the sultanate of Morocco on the other. The name of the conflict can be misleading however, seeing the first conflict between the two took place during the Larache expedition, after the Seven Years War. The Second Franco-Moroccan War took place in 1911, when Moroccan forces besieged the French-occupied city of Fez, approximately one month later, French forces brought the siege to an end. On March 30,1912, Sultan AbdelHafid signed the Treaty of Fez, formally ceding Moroccan sovereignty to France, on April 17,1912, Moroccan infantrymen mutinied in the French garrison in Fez. The Moroccans were unable to take the city and were defeated by a French relief force, in late May 1912, Moroccan forces unsuccessfully attacked the enhanced French garrison at Fez. During the period of the French protectorate of Morocco large numbers of Moroccans were recruited for service in the Spahi, during World War II more than 300,000 Moroccan troops served with the Free French forces in North Africa, Italy, France and Austria. The two world conflicts saw Moroccan units earning the nickname of Todesschwalben by German soldiers as they showed particular toughness on the battlefield. By the end of the World War II, Moroccan troops took part of the French Expeditionary Force engaged in the First Indochina War from 1946 to 1954. The Spanish Army also made use of Moroccan troops recruited in the Spanish Protectorate
Military history of Morocco
–
Mauritanian cavalry under
Lusius Quietus (a Berber prince) fighting in the
Dacian wars. Berber cavalry fought with shield and throwing javelins.
Military history of Morocco
–
The last page of 1786
treaty of friendship sealed by
Mohammed III of Morocco,
Thomas Jefferson and
John Adams
55.
Postage stamps and postal history of Morocco
–
The first Moroccan postal stamps were produced in 1891 by companies which managed correspondence between two cities. The system was replaced after a reorganization in the end of 1911, Morocco started producing two series of postal stamps which served the whole of Morocco until 1915 and Tangier until 1919. Then, with the first years of French protectorate, as for the other french colonies, Tangier, as an international zone, had a French office which used the stamps of French Morocco labeled with the name of the city. After the independence in 1956, the kingdom of Morocco regained its postal autonomy, series of everyday usage were printed with the effigy of the sovereign king of Morocco. Stamps marked República Saharaui, Sahara Occidental or Sahara Occ, relate to a disputed region to the south of Morocco and the west of Mauritania along the Atlantic coast of Africa. The Moroccan post office, in a Universal Postal Union circular, has stated that they do not regard these stamps as legitimate. List of postal codes in Morocco British post offices in Morocco References Sources Stanley Gibbons Ltd, Europe and Colonies 1970, Stanley Gibbons Ltd,1969 Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ISBN 0-356-10862-7 XLCR Stamp Finder and Collectors Dictionary, Thomas Cliffe Ltd, c.1960 AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities
Postage stamps and postal history of Morocco
–
A 1979 stamp of Morocco.
Postage stamps and postal history of Morocco
–
A 1935
telegraph stamp of Spanish Morocco.
56.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
57.
Virtual International Authority File
–
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
Virtual International Authority File
–
Screenshot 2012
58.
Idris I of Morocco
–
Idris I was the first Arab ruler and founder of the Idrisid dynasty, ruling from 788 to 791. He is credited with founding the dynasty that was instrumental in the early Islamization of Morocco and he was the great-great-great grandson of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. Idris was the grandchild of Hasan, who was the son of Fatimah and grandson of the Islamic prophet. There he established the Arabian Idrisid dynasty, in 789 arrived in Walīla, the site of the Roman Volubilis where he founded the town of Moulay Idriss near the hill of Zerhoun surrounding the native Berber tribes. It was then occupied by the Berber tribe of the Awraba and he married Kenza, daughter of Ishaq ben Mohammed the king of the tribe, fathering a son, Idris II. Idris I conquered large parts of northern Morocco, his son Idris II made Fez the capital city of the Idrisid dynasty, in 789 AD, he captured Tlemcen which became part of the kingdom. This succession of events prompted vengeance from the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, Idris I was poisoned and died in 791. His son, Idris II, was brought up by the Awraba, Idris is buried in Moulay Idriss. A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period
Idris I of Morocco
–
The Tomb of Idris I (green roofed structure, bottom left)
59.
Yusuf ibn Tashfin
–
Yusuf ibn Tashfin also, Tashafin, or Teshufin, or Yusuf, was leader of the Moroccan Almoravid empire. He co-founded the city of Marrakech and led the Muslim forces in the Battle of Zallaqa/Sagrajas, Ibn Tashfin came to al-Andalus from Africa to help the Muslims fight against Alfonso VI, eventually achieving victory and promoting an Islamic system in the region. He was married to Zainab al-Nafzawiyya, whom he reportedly trusted politically, Yusuf ibn Tashfin emerged from a line of Berber military leaders. His brother oversaw the military for ibn Yasin but was killed in a Saharan revolt in 1056, Ibn Yasin, too, would die in battle against the Barghawata three years later. He appears to have handed him this authority in the interim but even went as far as to give Yusuf his wife, Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyat, purportedly the richest woman of Aghmāt. Daunted by Yusufs new-found power, Abu Bakr saw any attempts at recapturing his post politically unfeasible, the Taifa period followed the demise of the Umayyad Caliphate. The tribute of the emirs bolstered the economy of the Christian kingdom, I am loath to have my name cursed in every Muslim pulpit. And, for my part, I would rather be a camel-driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile and he is regarded as the co-founder of the famous Moroccan city Marrakech. The site had been chosen and work started by Abu Bakr in 1070, the work was completed by Yusef, who then made it the capital of his empire, in place of the former capital Aghmāt. Yusefs cavalry was said to have included 6,000 shock troops from Senegal mounted on white Arabian horses, camels were also put to use. The death of Yusefs heir, however, prompted his return to Africa. The emirs in such cities as Seville, Badajoz, Almeria, on top of doling out tribute to the Christians and giving Andalusian Jews unprecedented freedoms and authority, they had levied burdensome taxes on the populace to maintain this lifestyle. After a series of fatwas and careful deliberation, Yusef saw the implementation of orthodoxy as long overdue and that year he exiled the emirs Abdallah and his brother Tamim from Granada and Málaga, respectively, to Aghmāt, and a year later al-Mutamid of Seville suffered the same fate. When all was said and done, Yusef united all of the Muslim dominions of the Iberian Peninsula, with the exception of Zaragoza, to the Kingdom of Morocco, and situated his royal court at Marrakech. He took the title of Amir al-muslimin, seeing himself as serving the caliph of Baghdad. The military might of the Almoravids was at its peak, the Sanhaja confederation, which consisted of a hierarchy of Lamtuna, Musaffa and Djudalla Berbers, represented the militarys top brass. The occupying forces of the Almoravids were made up largely of horsemen, soldiers on foot used bows & arrows, sabres, pikes, javelins, each protected by a cuirass of Moroccan leather and iron-spiked shields. Yusef also established bases in Cadiz, Almeria and neighboring ports along the Mediterranean
Yusuf ibn Tashfin
–
Qirat minted during his administration
60.
Abu Yaqub Yusuf
–
Abu Yaqub Yusuf or Yusuf I was the second Almohad Amir or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184 in Marrakech and he had the Giralda in Seville built as well as Koutoubia in Marrakech and Hassan Tower in Rabat. Yusuf was the son of Abd al-Mumin, the first caliph of the Almohad dynasty, originally hailing from North Africa, Yusuf and his bloodline were descended from the Zenata Berbers. Like a number of Almohad rulers, Yusuf favored the Zahirite or literalist school of Muslim jurisprudence and was a scholar in his own right. Respected men of such as Ibn Rushd and Ibn Tufayl were entertained at his court. Yusuf favored Cordoban polymath Ibn Maḍāʾ as his judge, during the Almohad reforms. Yusufs son al-Mansur would eventually take the reforms even further, actually burning non-Zahirite books instead of banning them. In 1170 he invaded Iberia, conquering al-Andalus and ravaging Valencia and Catalonia, the following year he established himself in Seville. He ordered the construction of buildings, such as the Alcazar, the Buhaira palace. Abu Yaqub Yusuf was defeated by Afonso I of Portugal at the Siege of Santarém, in which he died, his body was sent from Seville to Tinmel where he was buried
Abu Yaqub Yusuf
–
Abu Yaqub Yusuf
61.
Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur
–
Abū Yūsuf Ya‘qūb al-Manṣūr, also known as Moulay Yacoub, was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 1184 to 1199, Al-Mansurs father was killed in Portugal on 29 July 1184, upon reaching Seville with his fathers body on 10 August, he was immediately proclaimed the new caliph. Al-Mansur vowed revenge for his fathers death, but fighting with the Almoravids, after inflicting a new defeat on the Almoravids, he set off for the Iberian Peninsula to avenge his fathers death. His 13 July 1190 siege of Tomar, center of the Portuguese Templars failed to capture the fortress, having inflicted other defeats on the Christians and captured major cities, he returned to Morocco with three thousand Christian captives. Upon Al-Mansurs return to Africa, however, Christians in Iberian Peninsula resumed the offensive, capturing many of the Moorish cities, including Silves, Vera, when Al-Mansur heard this news, he returned to the Iberian Peninsula, and defeated the Christians again. This time, many were taken in chained groups of fifty each, while Al-Mansur was away in Africa, the Christians mounted the largest army of that period, of over 300,000 men, to defeat Al-Mansur. However, immediately upon hearing this, Al-Mansur returned again to Iberia and defeated Castilian King Alfonso VIII Alfonsos army in the Battle of Alarcos and it was said that Al-Mansurs forces killed 150,000 and took money, valuables and other goods beyond calculation. It was after this victory that he took the title al-Mansur Billah, during his reign, Al-Mansur undertook several major projects. He built the Koutoubia and El Mansouria mosques in Marrakech and the kasbah of the Udayas, accessed by Bab Agnaou and he attempted to build what would have been the worlds largest mosque in Rabat. However, construction on the mosque stopped after al-Mansur died, only the beginnings of the mosque had been completed, including the Hassan Tower. Al-Mansur protected the philosopher Averroes and kept him as a favorite at court, like many of the Almohad caliphs, Al-Mansur was religiously learned. Mansurs Zahirism was clear when he ordered his judges to exercise judgment only according to the Quran, said recorded statements and his victory in Alarcos was remembered for centuries later, when the tide of war turned against the Muslim side. It is recounted by the historian Abou Mohammed Salah ben Abd el-Halim in his 1326 Rawd al-Qirtas, the town of Moulay Yacoub, outside of Fez, Morocco, is named after Al-Mansur, and is best known for its therapeutic hot springs
Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur
–
Abu Yusuf al-Mansur
62.
Abdallah al-Adil
–
Abu Muhammad Abdallah al-Adil was an Almohad Caliph of Morocco, a former governor in al-Andalus who challenged and secured the murder of his predecessor, Abd al-Wahid I. His 1224 coup ushered in a period of instability that lasted well beyond his own death in 1227 and he is often regarded as one of the most disastrous of Almohad caliphs. His coup divided the Almohads and set in motion the loss of al-Andalus, Abu Muhammad Abdallah was a son of Almohad conqueror Yaqub al-Mansur and a brother of the famous caliph Muhammad al-Nasir. Along with his brothers, Abdallah served as an Almohad governor in al-Andalus. The Almohad dynasty had never had a disputed succession, despite disagreements, they had always loyally lined up behind the elected caliph, so rebellion was no casual matter. Ibn Yujjan persuaded Abdallah to contest the election, assuring him of his connections in the Marrakesh palace. But Ibn Yajjan had already pulled on his Moroccan connections, the fallen caliph Abd al-Walid I was murdered by strangulation in September 1224. Abdallah al-Adils murderous breach of dynastic precedence and constitutional propriety shocked the rest of the Almohads, but Abdallah and his brothers were dominant in al-Andalus, and had little trouble imposing themselves on the province, replacing those who refused to recognize the usurpation. In Spain, everyone fell in line, with the exception of three of Abdallahs cousins, Abu Zayd, Abd Allah and Abu Dabbus. They were promptly deprived of their posts, the Jaen governor, Abd Allah, took a small group of followers and set up camp in the hills of Baeza, calling for open rebellion against al-Adil. In Morocco, Abdallah al-Adils coup had barely succeeded, eager to depart, al-Adil undertook only a half-hearted effort to dislodge al-Bayyasi from the hills of Baeza in the winter of 1124-25. The campaign proved a humiliation - al-Bayyasis little band of followers managed to fend off the larger armies that al-Adil sent after them. Al-Adil quickly acquired a reputation for incompetence and poor military skills, determined to seize Marrakesh before it was too late, al-Adil decided to ignore al-Bayyasi and stepped up the transportation of troops. Al-Bayyasi, in the meantime, struck up an alliance with the hitherto quiet Ferdinand III of Castile, bemused at the turn of events, and delighted at the evacuation of Almohad troops, Ferdinand sensed an opportunity and decided to lend al-Bayyasi a large Castilian army. In 1225, al-Bayyasis band, accompanied by the Castilian army, with al-Andalus practically denuded of Almohad troops, they ravaged the lands of Jaen, the vega de Granada and by the end of the summer, al-Bayyasi had captured the city of Córdoba. Seeing the vacuity, Alfonso IX of Leon and Sancho II of Portugal also took the opportunity to launch their own raids, caceres held up the Leonese, but the Portuguese raiders, facing no opposition, advanced rapidly and reached the outskirts of Seville in late 1225. As a result, the Portuguese raiders ravaged the outlying areas with impunity, at length, the civilian population of Seville, disgusted at the inactivity of the Almohad rulers, decided to take matters into their own hands. A popular levy was raised in the city and marched out on their own to meet the Portuguese in the field, the Portuguese men-at-arms mowed down the poorly armed townsfolk
Abdallah al-Adil
–
Almohad realm of the 13th century
63.
Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq
–
Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq was a Marinid ruler of Morocco. He was the son of Marinid founder Abd al-Haqq. The Marinids had been fighting the Almohads for supremacy over Morocco since the 1210s, in September,1260, in a surprise attack, a Christian naval force from Spain, probably Castilian, landed on the Atlantic coast of Morocco and seized the city of Salé. Abu Yusuf retook the city after a fourteen-day siege and it was the first known direct encounter between the Marinids and the Christian powers of the Iberian peninsula. Abu Yusuf decided against a raid, and instead focused on reducing the Almohad resistance in the south. In 1262, Abu Yusuf laid siege to the Almohad capital of Marrakech, changing tactics, he decided to sponsor the rebellious Almohad chieftain Abu Dabbus in his struggle against his cousin, the Almohad caliph Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada. But once Abu Dabbus seized Marrakech in 1266, he broke his treaty with the Marinids, instead, Abu Dabbus persuaded the Abdalwadid ruler Yaghmorassan of the Kingdom of Tlemcen to launch an incursion into Marinid land from the northeast. Abu Yusuf broke off his campaign against the errant Almohad client to deal with the Tlemcen intervention, Abu Yusuf promptly returned to the south, defeated the forces of Abu Dabbus and entered Marrakech on 8 September 1269, putting a final end to the Almohad Caliphate. The Marinids were masters of Morocco, and Abu Yusuf Yaqub took up the title of Prince of the Muslims, like the Almoravids, the Marinids never adopted the caliphal title, believing it to be an impious pretension. The Marinids resisted the temptation of relocating their capital to the Marrakech, citadel of the Almoravids and Almohads, the Marinids had some difficulty getting their authority recognized by the southerly Maqil Arabs of the Draa valley and Sijilmassa. The Draa valley Arabs submitted only after a campaign in 1271, the northerly port cities of Ceuta and Tangiers also refrained from acknowledging Marinid suzerainty until 1273. Abu Yusuf erected the advanced coastal fortress of Taount to police any future Abdalwadid interventions in Marinid dominions, ibn Khaldouns account of Abu Yusufs 1274 siege of Sijilmassa relates what seems to be one of the first uses of powder cannon as a siege weapon. In 1272, the Nasrid ruler Muhammad I of Granada had appealed to the Marinid emir Abu Yusuf Yaqub for assistance, Granada was then plunged in civil war, with the Nasrids fighting off a challenge from the rival Banu Ashqilula family, rulers in Málaga, Guadix and Comares. The Christian king Alfonso X of Castile had thrown his weight behind the Ashqilula - in part because the Nasrids themselves had sheltered Castilian rebels, but the Marinid emir Abu Yusuf was then engaged against Tlemcen and could not intervene. In 1274, Muhammad Is son and successor, Muhammad II al-Faqih struck a deal with Alfonso X, paying the Castilian king some 300,000 maravedis and promising not to intrigue with Castilian rebels. With Morocco now pacified and Tlemcen controlled, in April,1275, Abu Yusuf Yaqub took up the Nasrid request and crossed the straits, the Marinids quickly took Tarifa and Algeciras and confirmed their pact with Muhammad II. The arrival of the Marinids and the absence of Alfonso X prompted the Banu Ashqilula to quickly come terms with the Nasrids. With that out of the way, raids were launched on Castilian lands - the Marinids ravaged Castilian-ruled Andalusia below the Guadalquivir, while Muhammad II led a Granadan army against Cordoba
Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq
–
Abu Yusuf Yaqub
64.
Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr
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Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr was a Marinid ruler of Morocco. He was the son of Abu Yusuf Yaqub, whom he succeeded in 1286, Abu Yaqub Yusuf succeeded his father Abu Yusuf Yaqub in March 1286, shortly after the latters expedition to Spain and peace treaty with Sancho IV of Castile. The accession was contested by several of his relatives, including his brother, some of whom were backed by, in November 1288, Abu Yaqubs own son Abu Amir, hatched a conspiracy to depose him. The plot was discovered and stopped, but Abu Amir. Abu Yaqub was soon reconciled with his son, but demanded that his fellow conspirators be handed over for justice, a Marinid fleet blockaded Tlemcen through much of 1290, but to little effect. In 1291, the truce with Sancho IV of Castile expired, with Granadine assistance, the Marinid citadel of Tarifa fell to Sancho IV in October 1292. But Sancho refused to honour his agreement to hand the citadel over to Granada, in response, Muhammad II immediately tried to repair relations with the Marinids. The estranged Castilian prince Infante Don Juan, then in exile, participated in this discussion, Marinid sultan Abu Yaqub undertook his first crossing of the straits in 1293 to lay siege of Tarifa. But the citadel, held by the Castilian noble Alonso Perez de Guzman held out. It is said that when Infante Don Juan threatened to kill Guzmans son who he was holding prisoner, Guzmans only response was to toss a knife from the walls, and tell him to proceed. Around 1294, while still in Spain, Abu Yaqub received word that a revolt had broken out among the Berber Wattasids of the Rif, fomented by the Abdalwadids of Tlemcen. Plans for the resumption of the siege of Tarifa were shelved, the failed siege of Tarifa persuaded the Marinid sultan Abu Yaqub to abandon his plans for conquering territory on the peninsula. In 1295, he handed over the last two remaining Marinid citadels, Algeciras and Ronda, to Muhammad II of Granada. The abandonment of his territories in Spain gave Marinid sultan Abu Yaqub a free hand to pursue a war against the Abdalwadids of Tlemcen in 1295. Marinid forces moved systematically and slowly along the coast, taking Taourirt, Oujda, Taount and Nedroma before finally arriving at Tlemcen in May 1299. Settling down for a siege, Abu Yaqub erected a siege camp which turned into a veritable city, known as al-Mahalla al-Mansura, with markets, public baths. From here, he conducted the siege against Tlemcen, while dispatching detachments to seize the remaining possessions of the Abdalwadid sultanate. Nonetheless, the city of Tlemcen refused to fall
Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr
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Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr
65.
Abu Abdallah Mohammed II Saadi
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Abu Abdallah Mohammed II, Al-Mutawakkil, often simply Abdallah Mohammed was the oldest son of Abdallah al-Ghalib and became the sultan of Morocco after his fathers death. Immediately after his accession to the throne he had one of his brothers executed and his uncle Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I, who was like Abdallah al-Ghalib a son of Mohammed ash-Sheikh, had already fled to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople in 1574. Back in Ottoman Algeria, Al-Malik succeeded in organising his own army, consisting of Ottoman soldiers, the first battle was in al-Rukn in the lands of Banu waritin, near Fez. In a second battle near Salé in Jandaq al-Rayhan, Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I also defeated his nephew, a third battle, also won by Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I, took place in Taroudannt. Both Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I and Abu Abdallah Mohammed II died two years later in the Battle of Alcazarquivir, in 1578, in that battle, Abu Abdallah Mohammed II fought his last battle against his uncle Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I with the help of his Portuguese allies. List of rulers of Morocco History of Morocco Saadi dynasty
Abu Abdallah Mohammed II Saadi
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Abdallah Mohammed Al-Mutawakkil
66.
Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi
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Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I, often simply Abd al-Malik or Mulay Abdelmalek, was the Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1576 until his death right after the Battle of Ksar El Kebir against Portugal in 1578. One of his brothers Abdallah al-Ghalib then took power and ascended to the throne and he planned to eliminate his other brothers in the process. Abd al-Malik had to escape from Morocco and stay abroad until 1576, together with his elder brother Abdelmoumen, Abd al-Malik spent 17 years among the Ottomans with his brothers, most of the time in Algeria, benefiting from Ottoman training and contacts with Ottoman culture. Abdelmoumen was named governor of the city of Tlemcen by the ruler of the Regency of Algiers, Hasan Pasha, Abd al-Malik visited Istanbul on several occasions. He went to the Ottoman capital in July 1571, and then was involved with his brother al-Mansur in the Battle of Lepanto on the Ottoman side on 7 October 1571 and he was captured during the battle and transported to Spain and then brought before the Spanish king Philip II. The Spanish king decided, upon the advice of Andrea Gasparo Corso, to hold him captive in the Spanish possession of Oran, Abd al-Malik however managed to escape from Oran in 1573 and travelled back into the Ottoman Empire. In January 1574, while in Istanbul, his life was saved during an epidemic by French physician Guillaume Bérard, as a result, they later became friends. When Abd al-Malik became Sultan, he asked Henry III of France that Guillaume Bérard be appointed Consul of France in Morocco, in 1574, Abd al-Malik participated in the conquest of Tunis by the Ottomans. Following this success, he again visited Constantinople, and obtained from the new Ottoman ruler Murad III an agreement to help him militarily to regain the Moroccan throne. Abd al-Malik joined the Ottomans and was able to invade Morocco with the help of an Ottoman force of 10,000 soldiers dispatched from Algiers in 1576, the Ottoman force captured Fez during that year. In the following period he tried to trade with Europe and especially England. According to Richard Hakluyt, as quoted by Edmund Hogan, ruler Abdelmelech bears a greater affection to our Nation than to others because of our religion and he wrote a letter in Spanish to Elizabeth in 1577. The campaign turned out to be a failure after they were defeated at the Battle of Ksar El Kebir in 1578. The body of King Sebastian, who led a charge into the midst of the enemy and was cut off, was never found. The Sultan Abd Al-Malik also died during the battle, but from natural causes, abu Abdallah attempted to flee but was drowned in the river. For this reason, the battle was known in Morocco as the Battle of the Three Kings, upon his death, he was succeeded by his brother Ahmad al-Mansur. Anglo-Moroccan alliance Islam and Protestantism List of rulers of Morocco History of Morocco Saadi Dynasty Stephan and Nandy Ronart, Lexikon der Arabischen Welt
Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi
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Abd al-Malik crushed the Portuguese at the
Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578.
Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi
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Abd al-Malik participated to the Ottoman
Conquest of Tunis (1574).
Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi
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Ottoman
Janissaries equipped with firearms (here at the
Siege of Rhodes in 1522).
67.
Abdalmalik of Morocco
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Abdalmalik was Sultan of Morocco in 1728, and member of the Alaouite Dynasty. Son of the notorious Moulay Ismail, Abdalmalik was earmarked as his fathers successor until he fell from favour and was replaced as heir by his half-brother Ahmed ed Dehebi in 1727. Ahmed ed Dehebi proved quite ineffective as a ruler, and when it became public that he was a drunkard, Abdalmalik was proclaimed Sultan, but failed to prevent his brothers escape and made the mistake of criticising the fiercely loyal bukhari. The bodyguard then threw their support behind the ousted Ahmed ed Dehebi, a compromise was reached between the brothers after bloody fighting, splitting Morocco into two kingdoms. Ahmed ed Dehebi was to have Meknes for his capital while Abdalmalik was to rule from Fez, not content with this however, Abdalmalik arranged a face-to-face meeting with his brother with the intention of assassinating him. The attempt failed and Abdalmalik was sent off under guard to a remote prison, where several weeks later he was assassinated
Abdalmalik of Morocco
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Abdalmalik
68.
Mohammed ben Abdallah
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Mohammed Ben Abdellah al-Khatib was Sultan of Morocco from 1757 to 1790 under the Alaouite dynasty. He was the governor of Marrakech around 1750 and he was also sultan briefly during 1748. He was the son of Sultan Abdallah IV who reigned 1745–1757, a more open-minded ruler than many of his forebears, he signed numerous peace treaties with the European powers, and curtailed the power of the Barbary corsairs. He revived the city of Essaouira and invited Jews and English to trade there and he also built the old medina of Casablanca and renovated the kasbah of Marrakesh. Mohammed III used numerous European technicians and architects for his projects, such as Théodore Cornut, Mohammed ben Abdallah also took steps to remove the foreign presence on Moroccan coasts. He repulsed the French in the 1765 Larache expedition and he conquered Mazagan from the Portuguese in 1769. However, the Siege of Melilla against the Spanish ended in defeat in 1775 when British aid failed to materialize, in 1777, under the rule of Mohammed ben Abdallah, the Sultanate of Morocco became the first nation to recognize the United States as an independent nation. Mohammed al-Duayf List of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco
Mohammed ben Abdallah
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Mohammed III of Morocco
Mohammed ben Abdallah
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Mohammed ben Abdallah employed the French architect
Théodore Cornut to build the model city of
Essaouira.
Mohammed ben Abdallah
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Coins of Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah, 1760–67 (
Hijra 1182–1189), minted in
Essaouira.
Mohammed ben Abdallah
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Letter of
George Washington to Mohammed ben Abdallah in appreciation of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed in Marrakech in 1787.
69.
Yazid of Morocco
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Yazid was Sultan of Morocco from 1790 to 1792, and was a member of the Alaouite dynasty. Yazids first order of business was persecuting the Jews of the city of Tétouan, in deference to Yazids father, Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah, the Jews of Tétouan denied financial support to Yazid and his effort to overthrow his father. Although observers remark that Yazid authorized his black troops to plunder Tétouans Jewish quarter, also during his rule, he allowed Shiite refugees from the Ottoman Empire to reside and become prominent in the country. List of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco
Yazid of Morocco
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Yazid
70.
Slimane of Morocco
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Mulay Slimane or Suleiman was the Sultan of Morocco from 1792 to 1822. Slimane was one of five sons of Mohammed III who fought a war for control of the kingdom. Slimane emerged victorious in 1795, and the country remained largely passive for the subsequent decades of his rule and he was a member of the Alaouite dynasty. Slimane continued his fathers centralization and expansion of the kingdom, as part of Moroccos long running conflict with Spain and Portugal, Slimane halted all trade with Europe. However, he continued his fathers policies of close relations with the United States, mulay Slimane is also the author of some works. Most famous his Inayat Ula li al-Majd and it is dedicated to one of his teachers, Mohammed ibn Abd al-Salam al-Fasi and discusses the origins of the Fasi al-Fihris. Another famous essay is his Hawashi ala Sharh al-Kharshi a work on religion, some of his other works are Taqayid fi Hukm al-Ghina and Risala fi Hukm al-Ghina. Mulay Slimane is also the author of several letters, list of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Morocco in the Reign of Mawlay Sulayman, by Mohamed El Mansour Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco Dar-Sirr. com, Portal to Moroccan Sufism
Slimane of Morocco
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Slimane
71.
Muhammad IV of Morocco
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Moulay Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman, also known as Muhammad IV was the Sultan of Morocco from 1859 to 1873. He was a member of the Alaouite dynasty, born in Fez, Moulay Muhammad was a son of the Alawite sultan Abd al-Rahman of Morocco. During his fathers reign, Muhammad commanded the Moroccan army which was defeated by the French at the Battle of Isly in August 1844. After the defeat, with his fathers permission, Moulay Muhammad used his capacity as chief to launch on a series of significant military reforms in 1845. Muhammad IV set up the madrasa al-Muhandisin, an engineering school in Fez. Muhammad IV hired writers to translate various European textbooks on engineering and he was personally involved in the translation of the works of scientists such as Legendre, Newton and Lalande. He also struck deals with British Gibraltar and Egypt to receive regular contingents of Moroccan soldiers for artillery training, immediately upon ascension to throne in August 1859, Muhammad IV was faced with his first test, the Spanish-Moroccan War governed by Isabella II of Spain. Raids by irregular tribesmen on the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Mellila in northwest Morocco prompted Spain to demand an expansion of the borders of its enclave around Ceuta, when this was refused by Muhammad IV, Spain declared war. The Spanish navy bombarded Tangier, Asilah and Tetouan, a large Spanish expeditionary force landed in Ceuta, which subsequently went on to defeat the Moroccan army at the Battle of Tétouan in February 1860. Provisions allowed the Spanish to hold Tetouan until it was paid, the treaty also ceded the enclave of Sidi Ifni, in southwestern Morocco, to Spain. The new financial difficulties from the colonial encroachment prompted the Makhzen to demand ever-greater exactions of troops, initially designed as a centralizing move, this eventually backfired, as the qaids, once esconsed in their tribal fiefs, proved even more ungovernable than the amghars had ever been. During Muhammad IVs reign, Morocco began essentially careening into feudalism, list of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Abun-Nasr, J. M. A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press Laroui, A. Morocco from the Beginning of the Nineteenth century to 1880 in J. F. Ade Ajayi, editor, Africa in the Nineteenth Century until the 1880s. Pp. 478-96 Martinière, H. M. P. de la Morocco, journeys in the kingdom of Fez, london, Whittaker online Park, T. K. and A. Boum Historical Dictionary of Morocco. New York, New York University Press, Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco
Muhammad IV of Morocco
–
Muhammad IV of Morocco
Muhammad IV of Morocco
–
A 4
Falus coin (1873). Minted by Mohammed IV
72.
Hassan I of Morocco
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Hassan I of Morocco was Sultan of Morocco from 1873 to 1894. He was the son of prince Abbas and succeeded to his uncle Mohammed IV and he was a member of the Alaouite dynasty. Moulay Hassan was among the most successful sultans, nephew of the sultan Mohammed IV, Moulay Hassan was proclaimed sultan of Morocco on the death of his uncle in 1873. His first action was to crush a revolt in the capital Fes. The new sultan was committed to continue the modernization and reform policy of his father, particularly well known is the journey Hassan I undertook in 1893. The voyage took six months and succeeded in its objective of reuniting and pacifying the tribes of several regions, the Krupp cannon he gave on this occasion to the caid of Telouet is still on display in the center of Ouarzazate. Hassan I appointed Mouha ou Hammou Zayani as Caïd of the Zayanes in Khénifra in 1877, Mouha ou Hammou Zayani was to be an important figure in the 20th century colonial war against France. In 1887 he appointed sheikh Ma al-Aynayn as his caid in Western Sahara, Ma al-Aynayn too played an important role in the struggle for independence of Morocco. Moulay Hassan I died 7 June 1894 in Marrakech, and is buried in Rabat, grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword -1882 List of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Hassan I Dam Hassan I Airport Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco
Hassan I of Morocco
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Hassan I of Morocco
Hassan I of Morocco
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Hassan I in
Meknes
Hassan I of Morocco
–
Death of Hassan I
73.
Abdelaziz of Morocco
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Abdelaziz of Morocco, also known as Mulai Abd al-Aziz IV, served as the Sultan of Morocco from 1894 at the age of sixteen until he was deposed in 1908. He succeeded his father Hassan I of Morocco and he was a member of the Alaouite dynasty. By the action of Ba Ahmad bin Musa, the Chamberlain of El Hasan, Ba Ahmad became regent and for six years showed himself a capable ruler. There were strong rumors that he was poisoned, on his death in 1900 the regency ended, and Abd al-Aziz took the reins of government into his own hands and chose an Arab from the south, El Menebhi as his chief adviser. His intimacy with foreigners and his imitation of their ways were sufficient to rouse strong popular oppostion, and so the benign intentions of Mulai Abd el-Aziz were interpreted as weakness, and Europeans were accused of having spoiled the sultan and of being desirous of spoiling the country. When British engineers were employed to survey the route for a railway between Meknes and Fez, this was reported as indicating a sale of the country. The strong opposition of the people was aroused, and a revolt broke out near the Algerian frontier. Such was the condition of things when the news of the Anglo-French Agreement of 1904 came as a blow to Abd-el-Aziz, see also the Ion Perdicaris affair. In the meantime the murder of Europeans at Casablanca had led to the occupation of that port by France, in September Abd-el-Aziz arrived at Rabat from Fez and endeavored to secure the support of the European powers against his brother. From France he accepted the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour and this was seen as leaning to Christianity and aroused further opposition to his rule, and in January 1908 he was declared deposed by the ulema of Fez, who offered the throne to Hafid. After months of inactivity Abd-el-Aziz made an effort to restore his authority and his force, largely owing to treachery, was completely overthrown on August 19 when near that city, and Abd-el-Aziz fled to Settat within the French lines around Casablanca. In November he came to terms with his brother, and thereafter took up his residence in Tangier as a pensioner of the new sultan, king Abdulaziz led a very active social, but semi-political life in his exile. During the Spanish annexation of Tangier in 1940, he acquiesced insofar as the Moroccan palace authorities called the makhzen played a significant role therein, Abdulaziz died in Tangier in 1943. After the ex-sultans sudden death in 1943, his body was transferred to French Morocco as desired by the Sultan Mohammed V and he was portrayed by Marc Zuber in the film The Wind and the Lion - a fictional version of Ion Perdicaris affair. Madrid, Instituto Jalifiano de Tetuan Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco El Protectorado español en Marruecos, la historia trascendida
Abdelaziz of Morocco
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Abdelaziz of Morocco
Abdelaziz of Morocco
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verification. Please help improve this article by
adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
Abdelaziz of Morocco
74.
Mohammed Ben Aarafa
–
Mohammed Ben Aarafa, or Ben Arafa was a distant relative of Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco, he was put in Mohammed Vs place by the French after they exiled Mohammed V to Madagascar. Installed in August 1953, he abdicated in October 1955, while Mohammed V was still in exile, the reign of this Mohammed VI was not recognized in the Spanish protected part of Morocco. Protests against Ben Aarafa helped lead to Moroccan independence, which was agreed to between France and Mohammed V in 1955 and he died in 1976 in France. Mohammed Vs grandson now reigns in Morocco as Mohammed VI, ignoring the reign of Ben Aarafa by using the regnal number. Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor of France –10 December 1953, list of Kings of Morocco History of Morocco Morocco Alaoui dynasty History of Morocco
Mohammed Ben Aarafa
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Mohammed Ben Aarafa of Morocco
75.
Mohammed V of Morocco
–
Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef and he was a member of the Alaouite Dynasty. On 20 August 1953, the French who were occupying Morocco at the time forced Mohammed V and his uncle, Mohammed Ben Aarafa, was placed on the throne. Mohammed V and his family were transferred to Madagascar in January 1954. Mohammed V returned from exile on 16 November 1955, and was recognized as Sultan after active opposition to the French protectorate. In February 1956 he successfully negotiated with France and Spain for the independence of Morocco, here are competing accounts of exactly what Mohammed V did or did not do for the Moroccan Jewish community during the Holocaust. However, hough a subject of debate, most scholars stress the benevolence of Mohammed V toward the Jews during the Vichy era. The sultans stand was based as much on the insult the Vichy diktats posed to his claim of sovereignty over all his subjects, including the Jews, as on his humanitarian instincts. Mohammed V was one of the sons of Sultan Yusef, who was enthroned by the French in September 1912 and his wife Lalla Yaqut and his first wife was Lalla Hanila bint Mamoun. She was the mother of his first daughter Lalla Fatima Zohra and his second wife was his first cousin Lalla Abla bint Tahar. She was the daughter of Moulay Mohammed Tahar bin Hassan, son of Hassan I of Morocco and she married Mohammed V in 1929 and died in Rabat on 1 March 1992. She gave birth to five children, the future King Hassan II, Lalla Aicha, Lalla Malika, Moulay Abdallah and his third wife was Lalla Bahia bint Antar, mother of his last daughter Lalla Amina. He died on 26 February 1961 following complications of a surgery he had undergone, the Mohammed V International Airport and Stade Mohamed V of Casablanca are named after him, as well as numerous universities and various public spaces across Morocco. There is an Avenue Mohammed V in nearly every Moroccan city, in December 2007, The Jewish Daily Forward reported on a secret diplomatic initiative by the Moroccan government to have Mohammed V admitted to the Righteous Among the Nations. Du Lys, www. editionsdulys. com, Montréal,2010, Second edition, www. iuniverse. com, Bloomington, IN,2012, ISBN 978-1-4759-2608-8, 620p
Mohammed V of Morocco
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Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V of Morocco
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Mohammed V's tomb inside his
mausoleum at Rabat, with Hassan II's tomb in the background
Mohammed V of Morocco
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Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco visiting
Lawrence Livermore Lab,
United States, in 1957.
Mohammed V of Morocco
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Mohammed V with his family in
Madagascar, 1954.
76.
Hassan II of Morocco
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King Hassan II,9 July 1929 –23 July 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. He was the eldest son of Mohammed V, Sultan, then King of Morocco, there were several controversies during his lifetime. King Hassan was educated at the Imperial College at Rabat, and he was exiled to Corsica by French authorities on 20 August 1953, together with his father Sultan Mohammed V. They were transferred to Madagascar in January 1954, Prince Moulay Hassan acted as his fathers political advisor during the exile. Mohammed V and his family returned from exile on 16 November 1955, in the unrest of the same year, he led army contingents battling rebels in the mountains of the Rif. Mohammed V changed the title of the Moroccan sovereign from Sultan to King in 1957, Hassan was proclaimed Crown Prince on 19 July 1957, and became King on 26 February 1961, after his fathers death. Hassans conservative rule, one characterized by a human rights record. In Moroccos first constitution of 1963, Hassan II reaffirmed Moroccos choice of a multi-party political system, in 1965, Hassan dissolved Parliament and ruled directly, although he did not abolish the mechanisms of parliamentary democracy. When elections were held, they were mostly rigged in favor of loyal parties. This caused severe discontent among the opposition, and protest demonstrations, a US report observed that Hassan appears obsessed with the preservation of his power rather than with its application toward the resolution of Moroccos multiplying domestic problems. In the early 1970s, King Hassan survived two assassination attempts, important guests, including the Belgian Ambassador Marcel Dupert, were placed under house arrest, and the King himself was taken to a small pavilion. Rabats main radio station was taken over by the rebels and broadcast propaganda stating that the King had been murdered, the coup ended the same day when royalist troops took over the palace in combat against the rebels. It was subsequently claimed by the Moroccan authorities that the cadets had been misled by senior officers into thinking that they were acting to protect the king. Allegedly, the King himself hurried to the cockpit, took control of the radio and shouted, Stop firing you fools, eight people were killed when the jets strafed the awaiting reception dignitaries. General Mohamed Oufkir, Moroccos defense minister, was the man behind the coup and was declared to have committed suicide after the attack. His body, however, was found with bullet wounds. In the Cold War era, Hassan II allied Morocco with the West generally, there were close and continuing ties between Hassan IIs government and the CIA, who helped to reorganize Moroccos security forces in 1960. Hassan served as a channel between the Arab world and Israel, facilitating early negotiations between them
Hassan II of Morocco
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Hassan II
Hassan II of Morocco
Hassan II of Morocco
Hassan II of Morocco
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Family and education
77.
Ismail Ibn Sharif
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Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif, reigned 1672–1727. was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty. He is also known in his country as the Warrior King. He ruled from 1672 to 1727, succeeding his half-brother Moulay Al-Rashid who died after a fall from his horse, at the age of twenty-six, Moulay Ismaïl inherited a country weakened by internal tribal wars and royal successions. After al-Rashids death on April 9th 1672, the city of Marrakesh refused to swear allegiance to Ismail, instead, the people of Marrakesh opted for his nephew Ahmad ibn Muhriz. This prompted Ismail to march south where he defeated Ahmad and entered Marrakesh in June 1672, but Ibn Muhriz escaped and fled to the Sous region in southern Morocco, whence he would return in 1674 and retake Marrakesh. Once in control he set about fortifying the city, Ismail was forced to return and lay a two-year siege on the city. Marrakesh finally fell to assault in June 1677, and this time Ismail sacked the city, Ibn Muhriz, however, again escaped to the Sous. In the following years he would make more attempts to retake Marrakesh, before he was finally tracked down. Moulay Ismaïl is also known as a ruler and used at least 25,000 slaves for the construction of his capital. His Christian slaves were used as bargaining counters with the European powers. Most of his slaves were obtained by Barbary pirates in raids on Western Europe and he has been given the epithet The bloodthirsty for his legendary cruelty. In order to intimidate rivals, Ismail once ordered that his city walls be adorned with 10,000 heads of slain enemies, legends of the ease in which Ismail could behead or torture laborers or servants he thought to be lazy are numerous. During the half century of Ismails rule, it is estimated to have killed 30,000, some of the stones were taken from the ancient Roman ruins at Volubilis. Moulay Ismaïl is noted as one of the greatest figures in Moroccan history and he fought the Ottoman Turks in 1679,1682 and 1695/96. After these battles Moroccan independence was recognized, another problem was the European occupation of several seaports where in 1681 he retook al-Mamurah from the Spanish, which he renamed the city al-Mahdiya. All the Spaniard captives from al-Mamurah including females were taken to Meknes as booty along with their possessions, arms, later in 1684 he also conquered Tangier from the English, and in 1689 captured Larache from the Spanish. By the time of Ismails death, the guard had grown tenfold and he also founded Jaysh al-Rifi, an independent army of Berber tribesmen from the eastern Rif. Jaysh al-Rifi played an important role in the 17th century Moroccan wars against Spanish colonization, Moulay Ismaïl had excellent relations with Louis XIV of France, the enemy of Spain, to whom he sent ambassador Mohammad Temim in 1682
Ismail Ibn Sharif
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Portrait of Ismail ibn Sharif
Ismail Ibn Sharif
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Ismail ibn Sharif receiving ambassador
François Pidou de Saint Olon from
Louis XIV of France, by
Pierre-Denis Martin (1693)
Ismail Ibn Sharif
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Mausoleum of Mouley Ismaïl in
Meknes
Ismail Ibn Sharif
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Mohammed bin Hadou, Mulay Ismail's Moroccan ambassador to
Great Britain in 1682
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