Africa · Sultanates, sharifs and the Atlantic trade
Saadi Sultanate
Sultanate · 1549 – 1659 (dynasty's rise from 1510)
The Saadi Sultanate was the state that ruled Morocco and parts of Northwest Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries under the Saadi (Zaydanid) dynasty—Arab sharifs claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad, and the first such dynasty to rule Morocco since the Idrisids. Its capitals were Marrakesh and (as rival seat during the later succession war) Fez.
- Type
- Sultanate
- Existed
- 1549 – 1659 (dynasty's rise from 1510)
- Shown on the map
- 1556–1740
- Peak area
- 855k km²
- Region
- Africa
Overview
The Saadi Sultanate was the state that ruled Morocco and parts of Northwest Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries under the Saadi (Zaydanid) dynasty—Arab sharifs claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad, and the first such dynasty to rule Morocco since the Idrisids. Its capitals were Marrakesh and (as rival seat during the later succession war) Fez. At its apogee under Ahmad al-Mansur it briefly ruled an empire extending across the Sahara to the Niger Bend.
History
The dynasty's rise began in 1510 at Tidsi in the Sous valley, where the tribes proclaimed Muhammad al-Qa'im their leader for jihad against the Portuguese, who had occupied Agadir (1505) and other Atlantic ports. His sons Ahmad al-Araj and Muhammad al-Shaykh built the movement into a state: they took Marrakesh in 1524–25, partitioned Morocco with the Wattasids by the Treaty of Tadla (1527), and in 1541 al-Shaykh's capture of Agadir broke Portuguese power in Morocco. Defeating Ottoman-backed Wattasid restoration attempts—al-Shaykh refused Suleiman the Magnificent's demand for submission and was assassinated by an Ottoman agent in 1557—the Saadians made Morocco the only part of North Africa to escape Ottoman suzerainty, while modernizing their army on Ottoman lines with firearms and artillery.
Abdallah al-Ghalib (r. 1557–1574) repelled the Ottomans at Wadi al-Laban (1558) and endowed Marrakesh with the Ben Youssef Madrasa and Mouassine Mosque. The crisis of 1576–78—when the Ottoman-installed Abd al-Malik faced the Portuguese crusade of King Sebastian—was resolved at the Battle of the Three Kings (Alcácer Quibir, 4 August 1578), in which all three monarchs died and Saadian Morocco emerged triumphant. Ahmad al-Mansur "the Golden" (r. 1578–1603) filled his treasury with Portuguese ransoms and Sous sugar exports, built the incomparable El Badi Palace, proclaimed himself caliph, courted England against Spain, and in 1591 sent Judar Pasha's musketeers across the Sahara to destroy the Songhai Empire at Tondibi, founding the Pashalik of Timbuktu that funneled gold, slaves and ivory to Marrakesh.
Decline and legacy
Al-Mansur died of plague in 1603, and his sons' 25-year succession war split the realm between Marrakesh and Fez. Reunified in 1627, the dynasty could not withstand new rivals—the Dila'iya zawiya, the Bou Regreg corsair republic, the Alawi sharifs—and the last Saadian sultan was assassinated in 1659. The Alawis, another sharifian dynasty, completed Morocco's reunification by 1668. The Saadians' model of sharifian legitimacy defines the Moroccan monarchy to this day.
Common questions
- What was the Saadi Sultanate?
- The Saadi Sultanate was the state that ruled Morocco and parts of Northwest Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries under the Saadi (Zaydanid) dynasty—Arab sharifs claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad, and the first such dynasty to rule Morocco since the Idrisids. Its capitals were Marrakesh and (as rival seat during the later succession war) Fez.
- When did the Saadi Sultanate exist?
- The Saadi Sultanate existed 1549 – 1659 (dynasty's rise from 1510). On this map it is drawn 1556–1740.
- How large was the Saadi Sultanate?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Saadi Sultanate covered about 855,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- Who ruled the Saadi Sultanate?
- The dynasty's rise began in 1510 at Tidsi in the Sous valley, where the tribes proclaimed Muhammad al-Qa'im their leader for jihad against the Portuguese, who had occupied Agadir (1505) and other Atlantic ports. His sons Ahmad al-Araj and Muhammad al-Shaykh built the movement into a state: they took Marrakesh in 1524–25, partitioned Morocco with the Wattasids by the Treaty of Tadla (1527), and in 1541 al-Shaykh's capture of Agadir broke Portuguese power in Morocco.
- How did the Saadi Sultanate end?
- Al-Mansur died of plague in 1603, and his sons' 25-year succession war split the realm between Marrakesh and Fez. Reunified in 1627, the dynasty could not withstand new rivals—the Dila'iya zawiya, the Bou Regreg corsair republic, the Alawi sharifs—and the last Saadian sultan was assassinated in 1659.
Sources
Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.
- Saadi Sultanate — Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadi_Sultanate
This entry was written from the sources above and last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See the Saadi Sultanate in its world
Open the atlas at 1648 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at 1648 →