Saadi Sultanate: Map & History

History

The Saadians were a Sharifian family which had first established themselves in the Draa valley in the 14th century before moving or spreading to Tidsi in the Sous valley in the following century. Here they lived alongside Sufi teachers and marabouts who promoted the doctrines of al-Jazuli. The beginning of the Saadian rise to power took place in the context of weak central rule in Morocco and of Portuguese expansionism along its Atlantic coast. The Wattasid dynasty, which ruled from Fez in the north, had little authority over the south of the country. Under their reign, Portuguese expansion along the Moroccan coast reached its apogee. Many local resistance and jihad movements, often associated with various Sufi brotherhoods or establishments, arose to oppose the European presence.

Origins of the dynasty

The Saadi dynasty claimed descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the line of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima Zahra (Muhammad's daughter), and more specifically through Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, grandson of Hasan ibn Ali. Since the early 14th century they had been established at Tagmadert in the valley of the Draa River. In the mid-15th century some of them established themselves at Tidsi in the Sous valley, near Taroudant. They claimed Sharifian origins through an ancestor from Yanbu and rendered Sufism respectable in Morocco. The name Saadi or Saadian derives from "sa'ada" meaning happiness or salvation.

Military

The Saadian military was a composite force consisting of permanent troops maintained by the Makhzen, provincial garrisons and larger tribal contingents mobilized for individual campaigns. The original military nucleus of the dynasty was formed principally from the Jazula of the Souss and Arab tribes belonging to the Banu Ma'qil confederation. These forces enabled the early Saadian rulers to oppose the Portuguese presence on the Atlantic coast, defeat the Wattasids and extend their authority from southern Morocco to Marrakesh and Fez.

Under Abdallah al-Ghalib, the principal ethnic and regional groupings of the army were organized into separate corps, including the Jazula, Arab tribes, Andalusians, European converts, the Kabyle Zouaoua, the Haratin and troops of sub-Saharan African origin.

Culture

While the Saadian dynasty marked a political shift from previous Berber-led empires to sultanates led by Arab sharifian dynasties, artistically and architecturally there was broad continuity between these periods. The Saadians are seen by modern scholars as continuing to refine the existing Moroccan-Moorish style, with some seeing Saadian art as the last "renaissance" of this style and the Saadian Tombs in Marrakesh as one of its apogees.