Alawi Sultanate
The Alawi Sultanate, officially known as the Sharifian Sultanate and as the Sultanate of Morocco, was the state ruled by the Alawi dynasty over what is now Morocco, from their rise to power in the 1660s to the 1912 Treaty of Fes that marked the start of the French protectorate in central Morocco as well as the Spanish protectorate in the north and south of the country.
The dynasty, which remains the ruling monarchy of Morocco today, originated from the Tafilalt region and rose to power following the collapse of the Saadi Sultanate in the 17th century. Sultan al-Rashid was the first to establish his authority over the entire country. The sultanate reached an apogee of political power during the reign of his successor, Moulay Isma'il, who exercised strong central rule.
After Isma'il's death, Morocco underwent periods of turmoil and renewal under different sultans. A long period of stability returned under Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdallah. Regional stability was disrupted by the French conquest of Algeria in 1830 and thereafter Morocco faced serious challenges from European encroachment in the region.
Morocco remained independent under 'Alawi rule until 1912, when it was placed under the control of a French protectorate. The 'Alawi sultans continued to act as nominal monarchs under French colonial rule until Morocco regained independence in 1956, with the Alawi sultan Mohammed V as its sovereign. In 1957, Mohammed V formally adopted the title of "King" and Morocco is now officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco.
Name and etymology
Morocco, since the rule of the Saadi dynasty, was sometimes referred to as the Sharifian Sultanate as a reference to the ruling dynasty's claim to noble ancestry. This was rendered in French as l'Empire chérifien according to the Treaty of Fes. This name was still in official usage until 1956 when Morocco regained its independence from colonial rule. It was also referred to as Sultanate of Morocco in English, including in the Anglo-Moroccan Treaty of 1856.The Alawi dynasty claims descent from Muhammad via Hasan, the son of Ali. The name 'Alawi stems either from the name of Ali, from which the dynasty ultimately traces its descent, or from the name of the dynasty's early founder Ali al-Sharif of the Tafilalt.
History
Origins
The ruling dynasty of the Sultanate, the Alawis, rose from the settlement of Sijilmassa in the eastern oasis of Tafilalt. Little is known of their history prior to the 17th century, but by this century they had become the main leaders of the Tafilalt.The Alawis are believed to have been descendants of immigrants from Yanbu in the Hejaz who settled in North Africa during a drought that affected the region in the 13th century. The dynasty claims descent to the Prophet Muhammad through his grandson Hasan, the son of Ali and Muhammad's daughter Fatima.
Their status as shurafa was part of the reason for their success, as in this era many communities in Morocco increasingly saw sharifian status and noble lineage as the best claim to political legitimacy. The Saadian dynasty, which ruled Morocco during the 16th century and preceded the 'Alawis, also claimed sharifian lineage and played an important role in engraining this model of political-religious legitimacy in Moroccan society.
The patriarch of the dynasty is believed to be Moulay Hassan ben al-Qasim ad-Dakhil, who established a religious aristocracy with his sharifian lineage throughout the oasis. Known for his deep piety, he was believed to have moved to Sijilmassa in 1265 under the rule of the Marinids at the request of locals who promoted him as imam of Tafilalt and viewed the presence of sharifs in the region as beneficial for religious legitimity.
He left behind a son, Mohamed, who in turn had only one descendant who bore the same name as his grandfather. One of this descendant's sons,, undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca and participated in the Moroccan–Portuguese wars of the 16th century and was also invited by the Nasrids to fight against Castile in the Iberian Peninsula during the Granada War. He declined to settle in Granada at the request of scholars in the city but rather settled for many years in Fez and Sefrou before returning to Tafilalt.
Rise to power
The family's rise to power took place in the context of early-to-mid-17th century Morocco, when the power of the Saadian sultans of Marrakesh was in serious decline and multiple regional factions fought for control of the country. Among the most powerful of these factions were the Dala'iyya, a federation of Amazigh in the Middle Atlas who increasingly dominated central Morocco at this time, reaching the peak of their power in the 1640s. Another, was 'Ali Abu Hassun al-Semlali, who had become leader of the Sous valley since 1614. When Abu Hassun extended his control to the Tafilalt region in 1631, the Dala'iyya in turn sent forces to enforce their own influence in the area. The local inhabitants chose as their leader the head of the 'Alawi family, Muhammad al-Sharif – known as Mawlay Ali al-Sharif, Mawlay al-Sharif, or Muhammad I – recognizing him as Sultan. Mawlay al-Sharif led an attack against Abu Hassun's garrison at Tabu'samt in 1635 or 1636 but failed to expel them. Abu Hassun forced him to go into exile to the Sous valley, but also treated him well; among other things, Abu Hassun gifted him a slave concubine who later gave birth to one of his sons, Mawlay Isma'il.While their father remained in exile, al-Sharif's sons took up the struggle. His son Sidi Mohammed, became the leader after 1635 and successfully led another rebellion which expelled Abu Hassun's forces in 1640 or 1641. With this success, he was proclaimed sultan in place of his father who relinquished the throne to him. However, the Dala'iyya invaded the region again in 1646 and following their victory at Al Qa'a forced him to acknowledge their control over all the territory west and south of Sijilmasa. Unable to oppose them, Sidi Mohammed instead decided to expand in the opposite direction, to the northeast. He advanced as far as al-Aghwat and Tlemcen in Algeria in 1650. His forays into Algeria provoked a response from the leaders of the Ottoman Regency of Algiers, who sent an army that chased him back to Sijilmasa. In negotiations with a legation from Algiers, Sidi Mohammed agreed not to cross into Ottoman territory again and the Tafna River was set as their northern border. In 1645 and again in 1652, Sidi Mohammed also imposed his rule on Tuat, an oasis in the Sahara to the southeast.
Despite some territorial setbacks, the 'Alawis' influence slowly grew, partly thanks to their continued alliance with certain Arab tribes of the region. In June 1650, the leaders of Fez, with the support of the local Arab tribes, rejected the authority of the Dala'iyya and invited Sidi Mohammed to join them. Soon after he arrived, however, the Dala'iyya army approached the city and the local leaders, realizing they did not have enough strength to oppose them, stopped their uprising and asked Sidi Mohammed to leave.
Al-Sharif died in 1659, and Sidi Mohammed was once again proclaimed sovereign. However, this provoked a succession clash between Sidi Mohammed and one of his younger half-brothers, al-Rashid. Details of this conflict are lengthy, but ultimately Al-Rashid appears to have fled Sijilmasa in fear of his brother and took refuge with the Dala'iyya in the Middle Atlas. He then moved around northern Morocco, spending time in Fez, before settling in Angad. He managed to secure an alliance with the same Banu Ma'qil Arab tribes who had previously supported his brother and also with the Ait Yaznasin, a Zenata Amazigh tribe. These groups recognized him as sultan in 1664, while around the same time Sidi Mohammed made a new base for himself as far west as Azrou. The power of the Dala'iyya was in decline, and both brothers sought to take advantage of this, but both stood in each other's way. When Sidi Mohammed attacked Angad to force his rebellious brother's submission on August 2, 1664, he was instead unexpectedly killed and his armies defeated.
File:Kasbah_Cherarda.jpg|thumb|The walls of the Kasbah Cherarda in Fez, a garrison fort built by Mawlay ar-Rashid in order to house some of his guich tribes
By this time, the Dala'iyya's realm, which once extended over Fez and most of central Morocco, had largely receded to their original home in the Middle Atlas. Al-Rashid was left in control of the 'Alawi forces and in less than a decade he managed to extend 'Alawi control over almost all of Morocco, reuniting the country under a new sharifian dynasty. Early on, he won over more rural Arab tribes to his side and integrated them into his military system. Also known as guich tribes, they became one of his most important means of imposing control over regions and cities. In 1664 he had taken control of Taza, but Fez rejected his authority and a siege of the city in 1665 failed. After further campaigning in the Rif region, where he won more support, Al-Rashid returned and secured the city's surrender in June 1666. He made the city his capital, but settled his military tribes in other lands and in a new kasbah outside the city to head off complaints from the city's inhabitants about their behaviour. He then defeated the remnants of the Dala'iyya by invading and destroying their capital in the Middle Atlas in June 1668. In July he captured Marrakesh from Abu Bakr ben Abdul Karim Al-Shabani, the son of the usurper who had ruled the city since assassinating his nephew Ahmad al-Abbas, the last Saadian sultan. Al-Rashid's forces took the Sous valley and the Anti-Atlas in the south, forced Salé and its pirate republic to acknowledge his authority, while in the north, except for the European enclaves, he was in control of all the Rif comprising Ksar al-Kebir, Tetouan and Oujda in the northeast. Al-Rashid had thus succeeded in reuniting the country under one rule. He was not able to enjoy this success for very long, however, and died young in 1672 while in Marrakesh.