Ottoman expeditions to Morocco explained

Conflict:	Ottoman expeditions to Morocco
Place:	Kingdom of Fez, Saadi Sultanate
Result:	Algerian-Ottoman victory Ottoman Algerian forces conquer Fez and install vassal rulers on both expeditions^[1] ^[2] Temporary nominal Moroccan recognition of Ottoman suzerainty^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]
Combatant1:	1554 Expedition Ottoman Empire Regency of Algiers Kingdom of Kuku Principality of Debdou 1576 Expedition Abd al-Malik Forces Ottoman Empire Regency of Algiers
Combatant2:	Saadi Sultanate
Commander1:	Ali Abu Hassun Abd al-Malik Suleiman I Murad III Salah Rais Ramadan Pasha
Commander2:	Mohammed al-Shaykh Mohammed al-Mutawakkil
Date:	January 1554, March 1576

In the 16th century the Ottomans undertook several expeditions to Saadi Sultanate

Capture of Fez (1554)

Background

In the early 16th century in Morocco, the country was not united under one dynasty and the Wattasids and Saadis became enemies, which led to the Wattasids seeking military help from the Ottomans.

First period of vassal status

In 1545 Ali Abu Hassun, the Wattasid ruler in northern Morocco, recognised the full authority of the Ottoman sultan, sent a letter of submission and declared himself an Ottoman vassal thus attributing a vassal status to Fez.^{[10] [11] [12] [13]} Later on in 1549, the Ottomans were unable to militarily intervene when the Wattasids lost Fez to their Saadian rivals under their leader Mohammed ash-Sheikh.^[14]

Second period of vassal status

See also: Capture of Fez (1554).

Abu Hassun’s alliance with the Ottomans ultimately led to the Capture of Fez in 1554. According to, the forces of Salah Rais consisted of 4,000 troops and the forces of Mohammed ash-Sheikh were more than 20,000 and outnumbered Salah Reis’ army by more than five to one.^[15] According to Ernest Mercier, Salah Reis’ troops were numbered at 11,000 men while ash-Sheikh's forces were numbered at 40,000.^[16] Salah Reis was able to defeat the Saadians and conquer Fez, installing the Wattasid sovereign Abu Hassun on the throne as a vassal of the Ottomans.^[17]

Aftermath

The Ottoman troops, Turks and Berbers from Kabylia stayed in Fez for four months harassing the population until Ali Abu Hassun bought the withdrawal of the Ottoman troops. Upon his withdrawal from Fez, Salah Rais assured the Saadi ruler that he would grant his enemy, Ali Abu Hassun, no further assistance.^[18] Ali Abu Hassun then hired mercenaries for his own army. However, the Wattasids now without the help of the Ottoman troops were defeated in the Battle of Tadla and Fez was reconquered by the Saadis.^[19]

Capture of Fez (1576)

Background

After the Saadi ruler ash-Sheikh had been assassinated by the Ottomans, Abd al-Malik and his brother fled from Morocco. During his exile, Abd al-Malik became a trusted member of the Ottoman establishment. Murad III agreed to a proposition made by Abd al-Malik of making Morocco an Ottoman vassal in exchange for Murad’s support in helping him gain the Saadi throne.^[20] Murad III then ordered the governor of Algiers, Ramadan Pasha, to invade Morocco and install Abd al-Malik on the throne as an Ottoman vassal, and so they left from Algiers.^{[21] [22]}

Third period of vassal status

See also: Capture of Fez (1576).

Ramadan Pasha arrived in Fez with Abd al-Malik and the Ottoman army, Fez was easily conquered, which then caused the Saadi ruler, Abu Abdallah Mohammed, to flee to Marrakesh. However, Marrakesh was also conquered.^[23] Abd al-Malik then assumed rule over Morocco as an Ottoman vassal recognising Ottoman suzerainty.^{[24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]} Murad's name was recited in the Friday prayer and stamped on coinage marking the two traditional signs of sovereignty in the Islamic world.^[30] Abd al-Malik sent the Ottoman troops back to Algiers in exchange for gold while suggesting a looser concept of vassalage than the Ottoman sultan, Murad III, may have supposed.^{[31] [32]} Abd al-Malik had recognised himself as a vassal of the Sublime Porte.^[33] The reign of Abd al-Malik (1576-1578) is understood to be a period of Moroccan vassalage to the Ottoman Empire.^{[34] [35]}

Aftermath

After the victory, Abd al-Malik received a letter from Murad III offering fatherly congratulations, but expressing his disappointment at an unfinished job, as the deposed ruler, Abu Abdallah Mohammed, remained alive.^[36] He was the first Saadi ruler to break the tradition of not entering any bond of vassalage with a foreign entity and his letters described him as “Slave of the Great Turk.”^{[37] [38]} He set his contingent of Turkish advisors to reshape his army along Ottoman lines.

In 1578, Abd al-Malik fought a battle against the Portuguese Empire in which he lost his life. However, the outcome of the battle was an immense victory. Abd al-Malik was succeeded by his brother Ahmad al-Mansur who formally recognised the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan at the beginning of his reign while remaining de facto independent. However, Ahmad stopped minting coins in Murad’s name, dropped Murad’s name from the Khutba and declared his full independence in 1582.^{[39] [40]}

The Beylerbey of Algiers then convinced Murad III to authorise an attack on Morocco. Ahmad then sent an embassy with sizeable gifts to Constantinople, with the hopes of Murad III calling off the attack.^[41] The Moroccans paid a tribute of more than 100,000 gold coins and agreed to show respect to the Ottoman Sultan, in return they were unofficially left alone.^[42] They agreed to a treaty of mutual recognition and maintained peaceful relations. Every year Ahmad sent a gift to Istanbul which the Ottomans saw as a tribute, acknowledging their supremacy, and the Moroccans saw as a way of honouring the Ottomans for defending the Islamic lands.^[43]

Notes and References

1. ‎هيسبريس تمودا‫ Volume 29, Issue 1 Editions techniques nord-africaines, 1991
2. Page 406-408, The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3: c. 1050-c. 1600 (Volume 3)
3. Page 406-408, The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3: c. 1050-c. 1600 (Volume 3)
4. Book: Barletta, Vincent. Death in Babylon: Alexander the Great and Iberian Empire in the Muslim Orient: Pages 82 and 104. 2010-05-15. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-03739-4. 82. en.
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=DjBZAAAAMAAJ Langues et littératures, Volume 1
6. La bataille de l'Oued el-Makhâzen: dite bataille des Trois Rois (4 aout 1578) Pierre BerthierEditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1985
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=I7RyAAAAMAAJ La Kalaa des Béni Abbès au XVIe siècle
8. Islam et Occident méditerranéen: de la conquête aux Ottomans p.289-Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques
9. https://toyo-bunko.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=7054&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1 The Appearance of Vassal States and “Suzerainty” in the Ottoman Empire:The Case of Wallachia and Moldavia
10. https://toyo-bunko.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=7054&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1 The Appearance of Vassal States and “Suzerainty” in the Ottoman Empire:The Case of Wallachia and Moldavia
11. Jamil M. Abun-Nasr (20 August 1987). A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge University Press. p.156. .
12. https://books.google.com/books?id=ne8uAQAAIAAJ Ahmad Al-Mansur: Islamic Visionary
13. https://books.google.com/books?id=-AznJs58wtkC The Last Great Muslim Empires
14. Jamil M. Abun-Nasr (20 August 1987). A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge University Press. p.156. .
15. https://books.google.com/books?id=s89S2h_8924C The Present State of the Empire of Morocco. Its Animals, Products, Climate, Soil, Cities, Ports, Provinces, Coins, Weights, and Measures. With the Language, Religion, Laws, Manners, Customs, and Character, of the Moors; the History of the Dynasties Since Edris; the Naval Force and Commerce of Morocco; and the Character, Conduct, and Views, Political and Commercial, of the Reigning Emperor.
16. Mercier, Ernest (1891). Histoire de l'Afrique septentrionale (Berbérie) depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à la conquête française (1930) (in French). Ernest Leroux
17. Page 406, The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3: c. 1050-c. 1600 (Volume 3)
18. https://books.google.com/books?id=s89S2h_8924C The Present State of the Empire of Morocco. Its Animals, Products, Climate, Soil, Cities, Ports, Provinces, Coins, Weights, and Measures. With the Language, Religion, Laws, Manners, Customs, and Character, of the Moors; the History of the Dynasties Since Edris; the Naval Force and Commerce of Morocco; and the Character, Conduct, and Views, Political and Commercial, of the Reigning Emperor.
19. Page 406-407, The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3: c. 1050-c. 1600 (Volume 3)
20. Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Jr, Professor Henry Louis Gates (2012-02-02). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 23. .
21. https://books.google.com/books?id=V7qpKqM2Ji8C&pg=PA408 The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3
22. Hess, Andrew (1978). The Forgotten Frontier : A History of the Sixteenth-Century Ibero-African Frontier. University of Chicago Press.
23. ‎هيسبريس تمودا‫ Volume 29, Issue 1 Editions techniques nord-africaines, 1991
24. Book: Barletta, Vincent. Death in Babylon: Alexander the Great and Iberian Empire in the Muslim Orient: Pages 82 and 104. 2010-05-15. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-03739-4. 82. en.
25. https://books.google.com/books?id=DjBZAAAAMAAJ Langues et littératures, Volume 1Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
26. https://books.google.com/books?id=I7RyAAAAMAAJ La Kalaa des Béni Abbès au XVIe siècle
27. Islam et Occident méditerranéen: de la conquête aux Ottomans p.289-Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques
28. Hess, Andrew (1978). The Forgotten Frontier : A History of the Sixteenth-Century Ibero-African Frontier. University of Chicago Press.
29. https://www.academia.edu/16116909 A Struggle for the Sahara:Idrīs ibn ‘Alī’s Embassy toAḥmad al-Manṣūr in the Context ofBorno-Morocco-Ottoman Relations
30. https://books.google.com/books?id=D1TMc1aQNskC Page 67, Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition, By Norman Itzkowitz
31. Page 409, The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3: c. 1050-c. 1600 (Volume 3)
32. Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Jr, Professor Henry Louis Gates (2012-02-02). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 23. .
33. La bataille de l'Oued el-Makhâzen: dite bataille des Trois Rois (4 aout 1578) Pierre BerthierEditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1985
34. Book: Barletta, Vincent. Death in Babylon: Alexander the Great and Iberian Empire in the Muslim Orient: Pages 82 and 104. 2010-05-15. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-03739-4. 82. en.
35. https://books.google.com/books?id=DjBZAAAAMAAJ Langues et littératures, Volume 1Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
36. Page 266: Roads to Ruin: The War for Morocco in the Sixteenth CenturyBy Comer Plummer III
37. Page 111: Death in Babylon: Alexander the Great and Iberian Empire in the Muslim OrientBy Vincent Barletta
38. Page 240: Roads to Ruin: The War for Morocco in the Sixteenth CenturyBy Comer Plummer III
39. Rivet, Daniel (2012). Histoire du Maroc: de Moulay Idrîs à Mohammed VI. Fayard
40. https://www.academia.edu/16116909/A_struggle_for_Sahara_Idrīs_ibn_Alī_s_embassy_to_Aḥmad_al_Manṣūr_in_the_context_of_Borno_Morocco_Ottoman_relations_1577_1583 A Struggle for the Sahara:Idrīs ibn ‘Alī’s Embassy to Aḥmad al-Manṣūr in the Context of Borno-Morocco-Ottoman Relations
41. Page 64: Reviving the Islamic Caliphate in Early Morocco
42. Ahmad al-Mansur: Islamic Visionary By Richard L. Smith
43. Page 65: Reviving the Islamic Caliphate in Early Morocco