Capture of Fez (1576)

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Capture of Fez
Part of Ottoman Expeditions to Morocco
DateMarch 1576
Location
Fez, Saadi Sultanate
34°18′N 4°54′W / 34.3°N 4.9°W / 34.3; -4.9
Result

Ottoman victory
- Ottoman force conquers Fez and then Marrakesh[1][2][3]

- Abd al-Malek assumes rule over Morocco as an Ottoman vassal[4][5][6][7]
Belligerents
Flag of Morocco 1258 1659.svg Saadi Sultanate (Acting Sultan Mulay Muhammed) Flag of Morocco 1258 1659.svg Saadi Sultanate (Pretendent to the throne Abd al-Malek)
Flag of Ottoman Algiers.svg Ottoman Algeria
 Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Mulay Muhammed Abd al-Malek
Ramazan Pasha
Strength
About 30,000 soldiers
36 cannons		 6,000 Ottoman Janissary gunners
1,000 Kabyles infantrymen
800 spahis
12 cannons
3,000 Moroccan cavalrymen
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown
Capture of Fez is located in Morocco
Capture of Fez
Capture of Fez
Location of capture of Fez in Morocco.

The Capture of Fez occurred in 1576 at the Moroccan city of Fez, when an Ottoman Empire force from Algiers supported the Moroccan sultan Abd al-Malik in gaining the throne of Morocco against his nephew and rival claimant Mulay Muhammed al-Mutawakkil.[8][9] About 10,000 Ottoman soldiers participated in the campaign.[citation needed]

Background[]

During his exile Abd al-Malik had learned Turkish, adopted the Ottoman dress, joined the Janissary corps and became a trusted member of the Ottoman establishment.[2] Abd al-Malik petitioned Murad III for military assistance in seizing the Saadi throne from Al-Mutawakkil, he made a proposition of making Morocco an Ottoman vassal with little effort on the part of Istanbul.[2]

Battle[]

In 1576 an Ottoman force commanded by Ramazan Pasha and Abd al-Malik left Algiers to install Abd al-Malik as the ruler of Morocco and vassal to the Ottoman sultan.[3][10] Among its divisions was a contingent of Janissaries and two thousand troops led by Abd al-Malik himself.[11] A decisive battle took place at ar-Rukn, near Fez,[12][8][10] which Al-Mutawakkil lost, in part due to the desertion of his Andalusian contingents right before the battle.[10][2] Abd al-Malik then occupied Fez on March 11, 1576.[12] Al-Mutawakkil fled to Marrakesh but was defeated again and forced to take refuge in the Sous.[12][2] Abd al-Malik assumed rule over Morocco as a vassal of the Ottomans.[4][13][14][15][10] Murad III’s name was recited in the Friday prayer and stamped on coinage, two traditional signs of sovereignty in the Islamic world.[16]

Aftermath[]

Abd al-Malik recognized the Ottoman Sultan Murad III as Caliph, and reorganized his army along Ottoman lines and adopted Ottoman customs, but negotiated for the Ottoman troops to leave his country in exchange for a large payment in gold, suggesting that he had a looser concept of vassalage than what the Ottoman sultan may have supposed.[2][3] The two year reign of Abd al-Malik was understood by all to be a period of de facto Moroccan vassalage to Istanbul.[4]

Meanwhile, Al-Mutawakkil fled to Spain and then Portugal, when Sebastian of Portugal promised to help him regain his throne. This led to an expedition and the Battle of Ksar El Kebir in 1578, also known as the Battle of Three Kings which was a considerable defeat for the Portuguese and having lost their childless monarch Portugal passed into the hands of Spanish throne. Prior to the battle, Abd al-Malik had recognised himself as a vassal of the Sublime Porte.[17]

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 Murads name, dropped Murads name from the Khutba and declared his full independence in 1582.[18][19] These actions caused the Ottoman Sultan Murad III to begin preparations for an attack on Morocco, however Ahmad al-Mansur paid a tribute of over 100,000 gold coins and the attack was called off.[20] Ahmad al-Mansur paid an annual tribute of vassalage to the Ottoman sultan Murad III until 1587.[21][22][23]

Notes[]

  1. ^ ‎هيسبريس تمودا Volume 29, Issue 1 Editions techniques nord-africaines, 1991
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Jr, Professor Henry Louis Gates (2012-02-02). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 - J. D. Fage: Pg 408
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Barletta, Vincent (2010-05-15). Death in Babylon: Alexander the Great and Iberian Empire in the Muslim Orient: Pages 82 and 104. University of Chicago Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-226-03739-4.
  5. ^ Langues et littératures, Volume 1Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
  6. ^ La Kalaa des Béni Abbès au XVIe siècle. p.276. Youssef Benoudjit Dahlab, 1997
  7. ^ Islam et Occident méditerranéen: de la conquête aux Ottomans p.289 - Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b The Stukeley plays: The Battle of Alcazar by George Peele Charles Edelman p.13 [1]
  9. ^ Fage, J. D.; Oliver, Roland; Oliver, Roland Anthony (1975-01-01). The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 408. ISBN 9780521209816.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hess, Andrew C. (2010). The Forgotten Frontier: A History of the Sixteenth-century Ibero-African Frontier. University of Chicago Press. p. 96. ISBN 9780226330310.
  11. ^ Hess, Andrew (1978). The Forgotten Frontier : A History of the Sixteenth-Century Ibero-African Frontier. University of Chicago Press. p. 96. ISBN 9780226330310.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c Véronne, Chantal de la (2012). "Saʿdids". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill.
  13. ^ Langues et littératures, Volume 1Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
  14. ^ La Kalaa des Béni Abbès au XVIe siècle. p.276. Youssef Benoudjit Dahlab, 1997
  15. ^ Islam et Occident méditerranéen: de la conquête aux Ottomans p.289 - Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques
  16. ^ Page 67, Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition, By Norman Itzkowitz
  17. ^ La bataille de l'Oued el-Makhâzen: dite bataille des Trois Rois (4 aout 1578). Pierre Berthier. Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.
  18. ^ Rivet, Daniel (2012). Histoire du Maroc: de Moulay Idrîs à Mohammed VI. Fayard
  19. ^ A Struggle for the Sahara:Idrīs ibn ‘Alī’s Embassy toAḥmad al-Manṣūr in the Context ofBorno-Morocco-Ottoman Relations, 1577-1583  Rémi Dewière Université de Paris Panthéon Sorbonne
  20. ^ Ahmad al-Mansur: Islamic Visionary By Richard L. Smith
  21. ^ La bataille de l'Oued el-Makhâzen: dite bataille des Trois Rois (4 aout 1578). Pierre Berthier. Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.
  22. ^ al-Ḥayāh al-iqtiṣādīyah lil-wilāyāt al-ʻArabīyah wa-maṣādir wathāʼiqihā fī al-ʻahd al-ʻUthmānī, Volume 3. P.119. Markaz al-Dirāsāt wa-al-Buḥūth ʻan al-Wilāyāt al-ʻArabīyah fī al-ʻAhd al-ʻUthmānī,
  23. ^ ‎مجلة التاريخية المغربية Issues 37-40 Imprimerie de l'UGTT.
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