Historic
Moroccan
Mellahs
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Moulay Ismail was pen pals with
England’s James II and Louis XIV of
France, and tried to convert the Sun
King to Islam by mail.The Merenids had an unfortunate knack for hiring homicidal bureaucrats. To cover his tracks,
Abu Inan’s killer went on a royal killing spree, until Merenid Abu Salim Ibrahim returned from
Spain and terminated this rampaging employee. Abu Salim’s advisor sucked up to his boss by
offering his sister in marriage, only to lop off Abu Salim’s head after the wedding. He replaced
Abu Salim with a Merenid patsy before thinking better of it and strangling the new sultan, too.
This slippery advisor was assassinated by another Merenid, who was deposed a scant few
years later by yet another Merenid – and so it continued for 40 years, with new Merenid rulers
and advisors offing the incumbents every few years. While the Merenids were preoccupied with
murderous office politics in Meknès and Fez, the Portuguese seized control of coastal
Morocco.
VICTORY IS SWEET: THE SAADIANS
Much of Portugal (including Lisbon) had been under Muslim rule during the
12th century, and now the Portuguese were ready for payback – literally.
The tiny, rugged kingdom needed steady supplies of food for its people
and gold to fortify its growing empire, but Morocco stood in the way. No
nation could wrest overland Saharan trade routes from the savvy Berber
warriors who’d controlled key oases and mountain passes for centuries.
Instead, the Portuguese went with tactics where they had clear technical
advantages: naval warfare and advanced firearms. By systematically
capturing Moroccan ports along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts,
Portuguese gunships bypassed Berber middlemen inland, and headed
directly to West Africa for gold and slaves.Sugar Caravans
Once trade in the Sahara began to dry up, something had to be done. Entire inland
communities were decimated, and formerly flush Marrakesh was wracked with famine. The
Beni Saad Berbers – now known to history as the Saadians – from the Drâa Valley took up the
fight against the Portuguese. With successive wins against European, Berber and Ottoman
rivals, the Saadians were able to reinstate inland trade. Soon the Saadians were in control of
such sought-after commodities as gold, slaves, ivory, ostrich feathers and the must-have luxury
for trendy European royals: sugar.
The Saadians satisfied European sugar cravings at prices
that make today’s oil and cocaine cartels look like rank
amateurs. With threats of full-scale invasion, the Saadians had
no problem scaring up customers and suppliers. The most
dangerous sugar-dealer of all was Saadian Sultan Ahmed al-
Mansour ed-Dahbi, who earned his names Al-Mansour (the
Victorious) for defeating foes from Portugal to the Sudan, and
Ed-Dahbi (the Golden) for his success in bilking them. This Marrakshi Midas used the proceeds
to line the floor to ceiling of his Badi Palace in Marrakesh with gold and gems. But after the
sultan died, his short-lived successor stripped the palace down to its mudbrick foundations, as
it remains today. The Saadian legacy is most visible in the Saadian Tombs, decked out for a
decadent afterlife with painted Carrara marble and gold leaf. The Saadians died as they lived:
dazzling beyond belief and a touch too rich for most tastes.