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Marrakech History
The
founding of Marrakech: The
Haouz plain around Marrakech had been
inhabited from Neolithic times at least by simple Berber
farmers, whose stone
implements have been found in several places. The arrival of Arab
conquerors and Islam in northern Morocco in the 7th and 8th centuries
a.d. probably
affected life little in the Haouz—at that time Sijilmassa, further
to the east, was the main southern town. It was not until 1070
that the advancing Saharan Almoravid army, under Abu Bakr,
having conquered Sijilmassa and Fès, camped some 200 m north of
the actual Koutoubia Mosque,
where Abu Bakr decided to found a new city. A plain, a
river, a well, and suitable stone for building rendered the
choice propitious. A stone fortress and the first adobe mosque
were built and the new town
was called Marrakech. This name was mentioned for the first time
in an 11th century
manuscript in the Qarawiyin library in Fès and meant "the country
of the sons of Rush" (black people), since many of the
troops accompanying Abu Bakr
were black Africans from Mauritania. Abu Bakr had
to leave precipitously and his cousin, Yusef ben Tachfin, took
control, finished the mosque, had houses built, minted
gold coins, and arranged for
the gold and ivory laden trans-Saharan caravans to arrive in his
new creation.
Marrakech was to be the Almoravid capital for 100 years, the
center of power that extended from the Atlantic Ocean to
Algiers, and from the Tafilalet to the River Ebro in Spain. His
son, Ali ben Yusef, introduced Andalusian craftsmen to
Marrakech, built the ramparts and many of its gates, a new
palace, a mosque, and a garden. Ali is credited with the
introduction of the underground water canal system (rhettara)
used to irrigate the gardens.
Rise
and Fall. In
1125, the fiery and pious preacher Ibn Tumert settled in Tinmal, in the mountains south of
Marrakech, preaching his moral reform,
and continuing his revolt against the Almoravids installed in
Marrakech. Ibn Tumert died around 1128, but his followers, the Almohads, captured the nearby town of Aghmat and laid an unsuccessful siege
to Marrakech in 1130. They succeeded, under Abd el-Mumen, in capturing
the city in 1147, after a long siege. By that time the
population was famine-stricken and the Almoravids' Christian
mercenaries tired and discouraged.
Abd el-Mumen had the good idea of promising to spare the lives of
the mercenaries, but the Almohads nevertheless killed off at
least 7,000 inhabitants and sacked the town, destroying
many public and religious buildings.
In exchange, they built the first Koutoubia mosque {on the site of
the Almoravid fortress) and created the Menara Gardens. Abd el-Mumen's
son, Yusef, enlarged the town and made it into a center
of Arab philosophy,
attracting countless poets and scholars. Yusef s son, Yacub el-Mansour
(known as "the
Victorious"), followed the same policy, building a kasbah,
an
imperial city, palaces,
mosques, a hospital and gardens, while continuing his
conquests in Spain. Commercial links with Andalusia were
encouraged, with
Marrakech exporting leather, sugar, and ceramics.
After
this period of prosperity at the end of the 12th century,
Marrakech declined with the death of Yacub el-Mansour in 1199. For
half a century, dynastic
troubles adversely affected the town. The situation became worse
when a new family, the Merinids, who had made their capital in Fès,
captured the town in 1269. The trans-Saharan gold route
abandoned Marrakech for Fès, and when the Merinids seized
Sijilmassa in 1274, the gold market was lost, trade declined,
houses and palaces fell into ruins, two-thirds of the town
became uninhabited, and the remaining population fell victim to
a rapid Portuguese attack as far as the town gates in 1522. It may
have been with relief that the famine-struck inhabitants of
Marrakech welcomed the
arrival of a new dynasty, the Saadians, in 1525.
Renaissance.
With the
Saadians, firmly established as the new rulers of Morocco,
Marrakech came to life again. At first only their southern capital,
the town became the capital of all Morocco once they had
consolidated their empire. Two Saadian sultans were mainly
responsible the renaissance of Marrakech in the second
half of the 16th century: Mulay Abdallah and his younger
brother, Ahmed el-Mansur. After the victory over the Portuguese
at the Battle of the Three Kings in 1578, the latter started ambitious
building projects in Marrakech, helped by the capture of
Timbuktu and three tons of gold in 1591, the sugar exported to
Europe from the sugarcane plantations, and the production
of Moroccan leather goods, known as maroquin (morocco).
In Europe, Morocco—the shortened form of Marrakech—was
used to designate the whole empire. Between 25,000 and 70,000
people lived in Marrakech at that time. The Jewish population,
living in its mellah,
was the most important in the country, and the Europeans were
diplomats, businessmen, or, sometimes, prisoners. In the first
half of the 17th century,
this affluence was compromised by insecurity, palace
revolutions, and wars.
Then
a new dynasty came to the fore, in the shape of the Alaouite
family from the Tafilalet. The new sultan, Mulay Rashid,
captured Marrakech in 1669, but preferred to make Fès
his capital. His successor, Mulay Ismail, established
his capital in Meknès, removing from Marrakech all traces of
his Saadian predecessors. It was not until the middle of the
18th century that Mohammed III restored many of the buildings
that had been destroyed and built a new palace. He improved
existing gardens and created new ones, including that of the
Mamounia (now part of the Mamounia Hotel
grounds). His successors, Hassan I and Mulay Abd el-Aziz,
continued to build new and imposing palaces in Marrakech.
Recognizing the help
given to
him by the head of the Glaoui family, chiefs of the Berber
Glaoua tribe,
Hassan I made the Glaoui Pasha of Marrakech. Glaoui kasbahs
already occupied
strategic points, both in the High Atlas and in the south, but
now the family wielded almost unlimited power.
The
French Protectorate. In 1907, Mulay Abd el-Hand, Abd el-Aziz's
half brother and rival, set himself up as a champion against
European penetration
into Morocco and declared himself sultan in Marrakech. Indeed, hostility to the establishment of the
French Protectorate in 1912 was strong in south Morocco. The Saharan leader, El Hiba, attempted to
resist the French
advance but his troops were defeated at Sidi Bou Othmane, just north of Marrakech. The town's
position as capital of Morocco was now lost in favor of Rabat. The French relied heavily on Thami
el-Glaoui to keep order in
southern Morocco and during his heyday many foreign statesmen,
including Winston Churchill, were entertained by the Glaoui in Marrakech
or his High Atlas palace of Telouet. The French called him the "Black
Panther." In 1953, with his help, the French
Resident-General organized a so-called popular uprising
against the legitimate sovereign, Mohammed
V, who was deported to Madagascar. On Mohammed V's triumphal
return in 1955, the Glaoui crept back on his knees before his
king and asked to be
forgiven. He fell into disgrace, his goods were confiscated, and
his kasbahs crumbled into ruin. Few tears were shed for him
among the people he
ruled over in Marrakech and the south, and he died a year later.
Much of his wealth came from the hashish trade, prostitutes, and
mining rights, and his harem is said to have contained
200 women or more.
Marrakech
today. Following
customary French practice, the new town (ville nouvelle), with
its central districts of Gueliz and Hivernage, is distinct from the old city (medina). About 1 ½
km separates the old from the new. Pinkish-red ramparts surround the medina, which contains
the souks and the
Place Jemaa el-Fna. Hivernage contains mostly hotels and
apartments, while Gueliz is the active commercial
center.
The town has become an essential destination for holidaymakers and tourism
is its main source of income.
Marrakech
is the red city. A local Berber legend has it that when
the Koutoubia Mosque was built in the city's heart, it poured
so much blood that all the walls, houses and roads were forever
marked.
One of the most impressive monuments in Marrakesh is the Koutoubia
Mosque and its minaret (250 ft/77 m tall). It was built in the
same epoch as Seville's "la Giralda" and
Rabat's "Tour Hassan", the Koutoubia, dating
from the 11th century, is a masterpiece of
Hispanic- Moorish art.
The
ornately decorated Saadian Dynasty tombs is another important
attraction. Sixty-six of the
Saadians and their closest family members, lie buried under the
two main structures.
The
Badii Palace bas long been regarded as a wonder of the
Muslim world. It was the sovereign Ahmed El Mansour
Dahbi who undertook construction of the palace following
his victory over the Portuguese in the year 986 of the
hejira (1578), a victory well-known in the Western World
under the name of the Battle of the Three Kings. The
major construction work went on for sixteen years.
The walls of Marrakech
are fortress-like; often 20 to 30 feet thick and 30 to 40 feet high. There
are half a dozen prominent gates. the main Gate of Guinea (Bab
Aguenaou), was built by order of Sultan Yaacoub el Mansour in 1185. An
impressive design made from local blue granite, it is a prime example of
Moroccan decorative art from the Almohad period (1150-1250).
Marrakech
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