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Ismail Ibn Sharif
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Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif ( 1634? or 1645?-1727, reigned 1672-1727) was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty. Like others of the dynasty, Ismail claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad through his grandson Hassan ibn Ali. He is also known in his native country as the "Warrior King."
uled from 1672 to 1727 succeeding his half-brother Moulay Al-Rashid who died after a fall from his horse.
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Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif ( 1634? or 1645?-1727, reigned 1672-1727) was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty. Like others of the dynasty, Ismail claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad through his grandson Hassan ibn Ali. He is also known in his native country as the "Warrior King."
Rule
He ruled from 1672 to 1727 succeeding his half-brother Moulay Al-Rashid who died after a fall from his horse. The then twenty-six year old Moulay Ismail inherited a country weakened by internal tribal wars and royal successions. The Alaouite sultan is said to be the father of 888 children through a harem of 500 women. Meknes, the capital city he built, is sometimes called the "Versailles of Morocco", because of its extravagance. Some of the stones were plundered from the ancient Roman ruins at Volubilis.
During Moulay Ismail's reign, Morocco's capital city was moved from Fez to Meknes. Like his contemporary King Louis XIV of France, Moulay Ismail began construction of an elaborate imperial palace and other monuments. At its peak, Moulay Ismail's empire has been circumscribed to the present time Morrocan territory by the strong Regence of Algiers at the east.
Legacy
Moulay Ismail is noted as one of the greatest figures in Moroccan history. He fought the Ottoman Turks in 1679, 1682 and 1695/96. After these battles the Moroccan independence was respected. Another problem was the European occupation of several seaports: in 1681 he took al-Mamurah from the Spanish and in 1684 Tangier from the English. Moulay Ismail had excellent relations with Louis XIV of France, the enemy of Spain. There was cooperation in several fields. French officers trained the Moroccan army and advised the Moroccans in the building of public works.
Moulay Ismail is also known as a fearsome ruler. Moulay Ismail used at least 25,000 slaves for the construction of his capital. His Christian slaves were often used as bargaining counters with the European powers, selling them back their captured subjects for inflated sums or for rich gifts. Most of his slaves were obtained by Barbary pirates in raids on Western Europe. Over 16,000 men from sub-Saharan Africa served in his elite Black Guard. By the time of Ismail's death, the guard had grown tenfold, the largest in Moroccan history.
Moulay Ismail is alleged to have fathered 888 children. It is thought that Ismail would have had to copulate with an average of 1.2 women per day over 60 years to achieve that number of children.
After Moulay Ismail's death at the age of eighty (or around ninety by the 1634 birthdate) in 1727, there was another succession battle between his surviving sons. His successors continued with his building program, but in 1755 the huge palace compound at Meknes was severely damaged by an earthquake. By 1757 his grandson, Mohammad III moved the capital to Marrakech.
See also
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