| Ahmad I al-Mansur | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1549 Fes, Morocco |
| Died | 1603 outskirts of Fes, Morocco |
| Nationality | Moroccan |
| Known for | Sultan of Morocco from 1578-1603 |
Ahmad I al-Mansur (Arabic: أحمد المنصور السعدي, also El-Mansour Eddahbi [the Golden], Arabic: أحمد المنصور الذهبي; and Ahmed el-Mansour) (1549 in Fes[1] - 25 August 1603, outskirts of Fes[2][3]) was Sultan of the Saadi dynasty from 1578 to his death in 1603, the sixth and most famous of all rulers of the Saadis. He was the third son of Mohammed ash-Sheikh who became sultan of Morocco. Ahmad al-Mansur was an important figure in both Europe and Africa in the sixteenth century[4], his powerful army and strategic location made him an important power player in the late renaissance period.
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Battle of Alcazar
In 1578, Ahmad's brother, Sultan Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi, died in battle against the Portuguese army at the Ksar el Kebir. Ahmad was named his brother's successor and began his reign amid newly-won prestige and wealth from the ransom of Portuguese captives.
Rule (1578-1603)
Al-Mansur began his reign by leveraging his dominant position with the vanquished Portuguese during prisoner ransom talks, the collection of which filled the Moroccan royal coffers. Shortly after, he began construction on the great architectural symbol of this new birth of Moroccan power and relevance; the grand palace in Marrakesh called Al Badi, or “the marvelous.”
Eventually the coffers began to run dry due to the great expense of supporting the military, extensive spy services, the palace and other urban building projects, a royal lifestyle and a propaganda campaign aimed at building support for his controversial claim to the Caliphate.[5] In reality, Morocco's standing with the Christian states was still in flux. The Spaniards and the Portuguese were still popularly seen as the infidel, but al-Mansur knew that the only way his regime would survive was to continue to benefit from alliances with the Christian economic powers. To do that Morocco had to control sizable gold resources of its own. Accordingly, al-Mansur was drawn irresistibly to the trans-Saharan gold trade of the Songhai in hopes of solving Morocco's economic deficit with Europe.
Ahmad al-Mansur developed friendly relations with England in view of an Anglo-Moroccan alliance. In 1600 he sent his Secretary Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud (here depicted) as ambassador of the Barbary States to the Court of Queen Elizabeth I of England to negotiate an alliance against Spain.
Songhai campaign
The Songhai Empire, was a pre-colonial African state centered in eastern Mali. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, it was one of the largest African empires in history. On October 16, 1590, Ahmad took advantage of recent civil strife in the empire and dispatched an army of 4,000 men across the Sahara desert under the command of converted Spaniard Judar Pasha. Though the Songhai met them at the Battle of Tondibi with a force of 40,000, they lacked the maghrebian's gunpowder weapons and quickly fled. Ahmad advanced, sacking the Songhai cities of Timbuktu and Djenné, as well as the capital Gao. Despite these initial successes, the logistics of controlling a territory across the Sahara soon grew too difficult, and the Saadians lost control of the cities not long after 1603.
Legacy
Ahmad al-Mansur died of the plague in 1603 and was succeeded by Zidan Abu Maali, who was based in Marrakech, and by Abou Fares Abdallah, who was based in Fes and had only local power. He was buried in the mausoleum of the Saadian Tombs in Marrakech. In that city is also his El Badi Palace. Well known writers at his court were Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari, Abd al-Aziz al-Fishtali, Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi and Al-Masfiwi.
Through masterfully astute diplomacy al-Mansur resisted the demands of the Ottoman sultan, to preserve Moroccan independence. By playing the Europeans and Ottomans against one another al-Mansur excelled in the art of balance of power diplomacy. Eventually though he repeated the age-old error, he spent far more than he collected. To fix the problem, like many he attempted to expand his holdings through conquest. And though initially successful in their military campaign against the Songhay Empire, the Moroccans found it increasingly difficult to maintain control over the conquered locals as time went on. Meanwhile, as the Moroccans continued to struggle in the Songhay, their power and prestige on the world stage declined significantly.[5]
References
- ^ Rake, Alan (1994). 100 great Africans. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 48. ISBN 0-8108-2929-0.
- ^ Barroll, J. Leeds. Shakespeare studies. Columbia, S.C. [etc.] University of South Carolina Press [etc.]. pp. 121. ISBN 0-8386-3999-2.
- ^ García-Arenal, Mercedes. Ahmad al-Mansur (Makers of the Muslim World). Oneworld Publications. pp. 137. ISBN 978-1-85168-610-0.
- ^ http://jeffersonswall.blog-city.com/ahmad_almansur.htm
- ^ a b Ahmad al-Mansur: Islamic Visionary. Smith, Richard L. New York, 2006
Bibliography
- Davidson, Basil (1995). Africa in History. Simon & Schuster.
- Mouline, Nabil (2009). Le califat imaginaire d'Ahmad al-Mansûr. Presses Universitaires de France.
- Smith, Richard L. (2006). Ahmad al-Mansur: Islamic Visionary. Prentice Hall.
- Velton, Ross (2000). Mali: The Bradt Travel Guide. Globe Pequot Press.
| Preceded by Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I |
Saadi Dynasty 1578–1603 |
Succeeded by Zidan Abu Maali and Abou Fares Abdallah |
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