A lot needs to be talked about for a culture as diverse as that of Morocco; an exhaustive explanation is surely necessary. It is very important to get to know more about what lead this wonderful and beautiful country of Morocco to being what it really is today. Its history and developments throughout the times; its ancient battles as well as all its influences; get every thing now!
History shows the Berbers as the original people of Morocco who mainly lived in tribes with nothing like an actual standard government over the area. These people simply lived according to the laws and rules of their traditional tribal leaders.
Morocco suffered constant invasions during the early stages of its development and these were from the Phoenicians in the 12th century BC; who were then also taken over by the Carthaginians. Subsequently in the 2nd century BC, the Carthaginians were also driven out by the Romans, their empire of which fell apart overtime and then the Arabs took over and settled in the whole place.
The subsequent short but severe fights for the control of Morocco between the Arabs and Jews left the country reeling and very unstable. The country however was brought right by Ahmed Al-Man-sur during his dynasty. This saw the country flourish between 1579 and 1603 as Jews and Moors from Spain began getting settled in Morocco. They all together gave Morocco much of its culture that is still standing and beautiful up to this day.
Later in the early 15th century however, the fighting between the Spanish and Portuguese left the Portuguese in charge of the Port of Cueta in 1415. However, in 1578 the Moroccans flushed out the Portuguese and regained control of that port. They advanced on and actually by 1700 nearly all of coastal towns that were under Portugal's rule had been captured. France also later came in and in 1904 Morocco was divided up between France and Spain with France receiving the larger portion.
The Germans on the other hand also wanted in so in around 1911 a German gunboat was forwarded to the French controlled coastline of Morocco; however war was prevented though, when the French decided to make an agreement with the Germans with the French keeping their control of Morocco, as they allowed their German counterparts dispensation elsewhere.
Morocco started to demand for independence in 1950 with the sultan of spearheading this demand for an independent country. The first request was however declined until 1957 when Sultan Mohammed became the king. It’s around this same time that Spain handed over the majority of the holdings they had in Morocco.
Later in 1974 King Hassan started on a major crusade to regain control over the whole of the Sahara; much of which was owned by the Spaniards.
This campaign however was rejected by the International Court of Justice when it turned down their application for total control of the Sahara. King Hussan persisted and pushed forward however and ultimately, after in secret held negotiations, Spain and Morocco decided to make a deal and the Sahara came to be split into three countries between Morocco, Spain and Mauritania. Later in 1978 there came the Polisaro front which succeeded in driving the Mauritania out of the Sahara but Morocco stood on firmly and unmoved. Then the United Nations came up and organised a referendum that aimed at self-determination amongst those concerned and much as this was commonly approved, Morocco has continued to press on for full control of the whole of Saharan Desert up to this day.
King Hassan’s death on July 23 1999 concluded the longest monarchy in modern history of the entire Arab world when he recorded a total serving of 38 years.
Presently Morocco is ruled by Prince Sidi Mohammed, the son to King Hassan, and is the 18th king in the Alawite Dynasty .
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MOROCCO HISTORY:
The Barbers were the first settlers in Morocco and by the time the Phoenicians settled here in around 1200BC, they had already established themselves so the name Barber meant Non-Arabs.
Among the Berber tribes include; Sanhaja, Zenate and Masmoda. So according to the history, the Sanhaja conquered the desert in 11BC, where they formed Almoravide Dynasty or Marrakesh and most of the region here believes in Islam religion. The Sanhaja were nomads before they settled in this area.
The Masmouda also lived in the North and Western Morocco, who were believed to be farmers in the Atlas Mountains and they are believed to be the founders of Tin Mals of Marrakesh (Almohade Dynasty) against the Almoravides. While the Zenate group was swept away from the free areas of Algeria and Tafilatet and later became the Merinde Dynasty.
The Berbers are believed to have a strong background and take themselves to be proud and the 3 different tribes don’t use the same language or script, but have a common feature of always expressing themselves through music and dancing.
The Carthaginians and Phoenicians:
The Phoenicians are believed to be the first invaders of Morocco, coming from Eastern Mediterranean (Caanan) in the 12BC.
Along the North Coast of Africa and the traces, they opened up trading centres and they found their occupation at Lixus Mellilia, Tangier, Tamuda and Rahat. These acted as fish salting factories and were made of Roman architecture. These people were believed to have no colonies conquered so they moved in the interior for land and turned their interests into Tunisia (Carthoge) when it became and independent state. However, when the Carthaginians arrived, they turned the settlements along the North Coast into big towns. They are believed to have developed the fishing and salting industry and they esported ‘garum’ their paste anchovy. They also introduced the grape vine fruit and wheat.
The Carthaginians still mixed up with the Berbers even though they had been sacked from the Carthage in 146BC and some took refuge along the Roman coast.
Islam:
Idrissides:
Due to the desire to spread Islam to the entire world, the Arabs settled in most parts of North Africa by 7C AD. So under the command of Umayed Dynasty, Ogba Ben Nafi, in Damascus, the first invasion took place by the Arabs around 670 on the coastal plains.
The Commander is believed to have been the first to build a mosque in North Africa and founded the city of Kirwan. He moved together with his army to a place called Maghreb aqsa.
When Musa Ibn Nousser, the second Ummayed (leader) reached in 703, the Barbers turned away from developing Islam. However, the Christians who were around who had existed, fled to Spain.
The arrival of Prophet Mohammed descendant Idriss Ben Abdallah in 788, led to unity of the Moslems again.
According to historians, Arab sources for information are very few about the early age and the few include Abi-Zar-El-Fasi, where we learn that Ben Abdallah ran to Egypt; and Elkartas from Fez a chronical writer in 13C.
After the arrival of Idriss in Egypt, he was proclaimed the King by the Berber chief so that he could protect their country from spiritual differences, which had increased after the death of Ogba Ben Nafi.
A new son Idriss II was born and became the King as the age of 1 in 1802 since his father had died.
He therefore established 8,188,000 Arab families in Fez when he was chased a way from Spain.
Cordoba Emirate and over 2,000 families came all the way from Kairwan to Fez in
7 years. They were allowed to live along the banks of rivers due to their intelligence and spiritual aspects. The city became more developed. However, due to King Idriss II’s death, a new dynasty was formed called Almoravides Dynasty.
The Samhaja tribe group were not great cultivators and almost spent most of their time riding camels for raiding and conquering countries on the Saharan back to Islam.
The So under Ibn Tachafine, the Almoravides used a violent campaign and later controlled the Southern part and they controlled much of the Spain part, which led to the prosperity of the empire.
Almohades:
These were Masmoda berbers from the Atlas Mountains under the leadership of Mohamed Ibn Taumart. They believed that God had all the extraordinary powers for their existance, so they came up with a symbol name called ‘Mauwahhidine’, which means Unitarian.
Under the statesmanship of Yacoub Al Mansour, the city prospered economically, politically and socially when the capital city was still Marrakesh.
The Mernides:
These were Nomadic Zenate Berbers who came from Algeria and Taza areas.
They are believed to be the first people to introduce Madersa, which first came from Baghdad, then Egypt as well as introducing Candle service and Mellah a Jewish custom, so they are still remembered in the history of Morocco.
The Merinide sultans being surrounded by a architecture, poetry and scholars who spread the Islamic religion as well as teaching science. A bou Inan was the honoured member of the court who he gave the task to write down the routes of his travel while in Timbuktu and the Black sea. Ibn Khal doun a Spanish Muslim and 14th Century historian spent many years as a close frined of Merihide sultans.
So the eyes turned to Morocco when the dynasty of Portugal and Spain was falling.
Ibn Wattas from Fez then the ruler when he abandoned Asilan when it was invaded by Portuguese and went along with the family members of Ibn Wattas, and a number of over 5,000 civilians were taken as slaves. However, Watta later signed a treaty with Portugal, which led to the invasion of Tangier Essavira Mazagan, Safi Agadir Ceuta Asilah, which led to separations in the Western region.
The Romans:
The Romans moved to the Berber Kingdom after they had taken Carthage.
The Roman empire was established after Mauritania and Numidia 9Algeria) towns wee invaded by the Romans.
The Barber Prince was given Mauritania Kindom by Emperor Octavius, as well as Juba and his son who committed suicide 13 years later after the defeat by the Romans was married to the daughter of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra , so here he ruled very wisely and he left volubilis, which had started to develop before the Romans came. Due to its fertility, the Barbers benefited from the land as well as the surrounding teaching Carthaginians’ land.
Due to the ancient period of that very history, very little is known about the city old age, for the Goths and Vandals they might have moved to the North by moving through Spain to Carthage where they lived in mountains.
The Tingis Sala Colonia part Christians and Mauritanians of Volubilis cities, juts mixed up their different cultures and just remained in an organized way, which reduced invasions as evidenced by Latin inscriptions.
Saadians:
These came from Arabia and were Prophet Mohamed’s descendants. They came to Morocco and settled in a place called Draa. They were given power by the walta sides when they settled at Fez in the 16th century when they built Taroudant town.
The Portuguese had thought of regaining power during the Saadian’s rule. The Sultan’s nephews were helped by King Sebastian who ordered a massive force of soldiers at the battle of Asilah and then after, went a head at the battle known as “The battle of 3 Kings”, in which the Portuguese were defeated and Abd El Malik pretended to be dead and King Sebastian also died.
Under Ahmed Saadi, the Saadians became victorious and later settled down in Fez wealthiest areas of E the real Mausoleum and Badi palace.
Alasuites:
These lived near Rissami in the Southern Tafilatet region and they has also originated from Arabia and are believed to be Prophet Mohammed descendants.
These people had no clear a gender for power. However, they were invited to take up the Moroccan throne in Fez.
Moulay Rachid their first leader restored order without fight in 1666. Here he swept out all the pretenders and built new mosques. Nevertheless, Morocco was further made a great country under the reign of Mouley Ismael (1672-1727). He then further went on to choose Meknes as imperial city and exchanged powers with other penalties. Among others he built palaces, stable bears and strong walls for the city.
Another ruler under Alavites still came to power called Mohammed Ben Abdellan in 1757. He also modernized the city of Essaovira where trade developed since he had invited the French, English and Jewish people, hence developing the economy of the country.
In 1873, another ruler called Moulayel Hassan rose to power. Here he organized the tribes which were nor under the rule of the state and he made sure that it was the first monarchy to enter wild Souss area and he made sure the administration was more organized such as; civil servants were introduced, tax collection methods were introduced and fixed salaries as well as a way of borrowing ideas from the out side world.
Tribes took power in their hands since. Foreign had started to attack the country. This was during the French invasion of Morocco. Under the French protection, Tangcer was then an international free port.
Moulay Hafid then the Sultan signed the Treaty of Fez in 1912 when the country was still under the French General Lyauty, with the main of building the city such as Karitira and Casablanca ports were built. However, the cities of Marrakech Meknes, Fez and Rabat remained.
The administration, education system and legal system was modernized. Since the tribes in the Southern were disorganized with frequent attacks. However, the frequent attacks from Abdel Karim Khattabi led the sultan to sign the Berber deere in 1930, which led the 2 parties to become ever closer.
Muhammad V succeeded his father Moulay Yousserf when he was 17 years old in 1927 until World War II when an independent party was formed in the names of Istiqah, to form a democratic government. Thus the body wrote a memontum and sent it to the sultan and the French governors. However, the sultan refuses to sign the decrees.
The throne became vacant after the king’s leave so one of the French authorities had to take the throne. However, the people of Morocco demanded for the release of the sultan.
The King was later taken to France in December 1956 where he was forced to sign a declaration promising for the formation of a democratic government.
The French then signed the treaty inn March 1956, which later led to the independence of Morocco.
The French officials were replaced by the Moroccan people after the sultan had formed the new government.
Prince Hassan II succeeded King Mohammed V in 1961 and then he came up with a new constitution and the first meeting took place in 1961 in the parliament.
However, the most significant event that took place in March 1925 in the reign of Hassan II when a number of 350,000 Moroccans stormed the Spanish controlled Sahara area. So with the help of Libya and Algeria, the Polisario movement was formed to fight against Moroccan rule.
A referendum under taken by the United Nations took place in Southern Province of the country.
Later on, Crown Prince Mohammed Ibn Al Hassan replaced King Hassan II in July 23rd, being titled King Mohammed VI while 36 years, raised the directorate and established a strong relationship between European countries and Moroccan and later gave his first speech on 30th 1999 at the parliament assembly.