A Brief History of The Kingdom of Morocco

At a crossroads of the African and the European continents, the Kingdom of Morocco has been, for centuries, a meeting point for the Arabo-Islamic culture and civilization as well as a land of tolerance, dialogue and openness.

In the Classical Antiquity era, Morocco experienced waves of invaders included Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines and Visigoths, but with the arrival of Islam, Morocco developed independent states that kept powerful invaders at bay.

The Idrissid Dynasty

The year 788 was marked by the birth of the first Muslim dynasty of Middle Eastern origin. In 791, the Moroccan State was created. Idriss I, descendant of Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohamed, settled in Volubilis, founding the city of ‘Fez’, that was designated in 792, as capital of the Kingdom by his son, Idriss II. Idriss II took care of the construction of the city in 803, and died in 828.

The administration of the Kingdom was entrusted to his sons, then to his brothers, while the city of Fez prospered economically.

The Almoravid Dynasty

Youssef Ibn Tachfine, Sultan of Almoravid dynasty, built the city of Marrakech (future capital of the Kingdom) around 1070, then achieved the political unification of Morocco and Andalus (Iberian peninsula). Through it, the Andalusian civilization spread in the Maghreb before conquering Spain. Ali Ben Youssef, his son, succeed him in 1106 and reigned for 37 years.

The Almohad Dynasty

The Almohad Dynasty is an Amazigh dynasty from the High Atlas. Their name comes from the Arabic “Al Mouwahidoune”, (those who claim the uniqueness of God). Its founder was El Mehdi Ibn Toumart.

Abdel-Moumen, his disciple, took Marrakech as the capital, where the Koutoubia was built, then founded the Almohad Empire, and succeed in unifying North Africa, but died in Rabat in 1163 before including Andalusia to his Empire. This glory returned to his successor Yacoub El-Mansour, victorious of the battle of Alarcos in 1195, against the Castilla Kingdom and the Spaniards.

The Merinid Dynasty

This Amazigh dynasty (nomadic Zenetes from the Upper Moulouya Basin) chose Fez as a capital, proceeded to the creation of Fez El-Jedid and the construction of several medersas, among which Medersa El-Attarine, the Medersa Abou Inane, or Medersa Mérinide in Salé. The Merinid took advantage of the decline of the Almohad Empire to take control of the cities of Fez, Rabat, Sale and the fertile plains of Saiss and Gharb. Subsequently, the Merinid Sultan Abu Youssef Yacoub seized the city of Marrakech in 1269.

As the supreme leader of the Merinid dynasty, Abu El-Hassan then tried to reconstitute the Empire around 1331, and conquered Tlemcen in Algeria and Tunis in 1347.

The Saadian Dynasty

This Cherifian dynasty (“Chorfa’’ means descendants of the Prophet Mohamed) from the Draa Valley chose Marrakech as their capital. From 1578, Sultan Ahmed Al Mansour Eddahbi led

important military victories, including the victory of the “Battle of the Three Kings” in Oued El-Makhazine. The reign of Ahmed Al Mansour Eddahbi ended in 1603.

The Alaouite Dynasty

The Alaouite Dynasty is descended from the Chorfa of Tafilalet, descendants of Imam Ali, who established themselves in the region, before establishing their authority over the whole country from 1666. The founder of the Dynasty and its spiritual leader Moulay Ali Cherif, as well as his successors (including Mohamed Ben Ali Cherif, proclaimed first king in 1640) united Morocco.

In 1672, King Moulay Ismaël exercised absolute power while continuing the work accomplished by his predecessors. The Sultan began by founding the city of Meknes, a city which he later designated as the capital of the Kingdom. After taking over Larache and Tangier, Moulay Ismaël eliminated the local political and religious powers and thus founded the Cherifian Empire. His power extended to Senegal, and he ordered the establishment a network of fortresses throughout the territory, from which an army operated. He then devoted himself to establishing fruitful diplomatic relations with foreign countries, especially in the time of Louis XIV and James II of England.

After the death of Moulay Ismaël in 1727, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah (Mohamed III) succeeded him. A fervent Muslim, he thought only of bringing peace and security to the country. He cut taxes, created a sound currency and reconstituted a new army recruited from the Guich tribes.

He worked to fortify the Moroccan ports and took back Mazagan from the Portuguese (1769). He concluded peace with the Spaniards and an agreement on prisoners with Louis XV. Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah was behind the foundation of Mogador.

Moulay Slimane became successor of Moulay Yazid Ben Abdallah (who only reigned only for two years 1790-1792). He drove out the Turks of Oujda, built several mosques and mederassas and did not fail also to come to the aid of Algerians during the Battle of Isly.

Following the support of the Sherifian Empire to the Emir Abd el-Kader of Algeria, Morocco then experienced a difficult political crisis, leading to the military interventions of France in 1844 and Spain in 1859-1860 . Clashes continued until 1873 during the reign of Sultan Mohamed IV.

The Sultan Moulay Hassan I, successor to Mohamed IV, consolidated his power by rallying the tribes of the High Atlas, and modernized the country while keeping its independence. Yet, foreign interventions, from Great Britain, Spain and France, embedded Morocco’s indebtedness to foreign banks.

Moulay Hassan I died in 1894, and Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz succeeded him, reigning until 1907, the same year Moulay Hafid took over. Following the Algeciras Conference of 1906 and the Treaty of Fez of 1912, Morocco became a French protectorate. Spain colonized the North and the South while Tangier became an international zone.

General Lyautey left in 1925, and France limited the prerogatives of the Cherifian central power by proceeding to a more direct management. The resistance was organized, consisting mainly of young urban elites. The second world war marked a truce between the nationalist opposition and France. During the war, King Mohamed Ben Youssef (Mohamed V), was proclaimed Sultan of the Cherifian Kingdom in 1927, and therefore protector of all his subjects, fiercely defended the cause of the Moroccan Jews against the Vichy regime.

In 1944, the Manifesto of Independence was proclaimed; three years later, His Majesty King Mohammed V made a historic speech in Tangier. During the next five years, the negotiations with France fell and, in 1952, the crisis between the authorities of the protectorate and the nationalists led to insurrectional movements, while the Sultan was deposed, then exiled, along with the whole royal family in Madagascar, in 1953.

However, the setbacks in Indochina and the Algerian war, in 1954, prompted the French government to seek a political solution. The return from exile of the Sovereign in November 1955, opened the path of independence, recognized in 1956 by France, then by Spain.

Late King Hassan II (1961 – 1999)

As soon as he ascended the throne of his Ancestors on March 3, 1961, Late King Hassan II initiated a new constitution, which was approved overwhelmingly in the December 1962 referendum. This constitution was subsequently reformed in 1971, 1972, 1992 and 1996.

During Late King Hassan II’s reign, Morocco recovered the Spanish-controlled area of Tarfaya in 1958, Ifni in 1969 and the rest of the Sahara region, through the Green March, in 1975.

Economically, Late King Hassan II adopted a market-based economy, where agriculture, tourism, and phosphates mining industries played a major role. On March 3, 1973, he announced the policy of Moroccanization, in which state-held assets, agricultural lands, and businesses that were more than 50 percent foreign-owned were transferred to Moroccans.

During his reign, hundreds of dams of varying sizes were built throughout the Kingdom, with multiple functions such as providing water for drinking, industry, irrigation, protection from flooding and soil erosion, protection from pollution, recreation and energy saving.