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Mawlay Mohammed al-Shaykh al-Sharif al-Hassani (Arabic: محمد الشيخ الشريف الحسني), known as Mohammed al-Shaykh (Arabic: محمد الشيخ) (b. 1490 – d. 23 October 1557), was the first sultan of the Saadian dynasty of Morocco (1544–1557). He was particularly successful in expelling the Portuguese from most of their bases in Morocco. He also eliminated the Wattasids and resisted the Ottomans, thereby establishing a complete rule over Morocco.

Biography

War against the Wattasids and Portuguese

After the death of his father Abu Abdallah al-Qaim in 1517, Mohammed al-Shaykh (together with his brother Ahmad al-Araj) took command of the war of the Saadi against the Portuguese. They conquered Marrakesh in 1524. Ahmad became Emir of Marrakesh, while still recognizing the Wattasid Sultan of Fes, and Mohammed remained as ruler of Taroudannt.

In 1527, the Treaty of Tadla was agreed between the Saadians and the Wattasids, following the Wattasid defeat in the Battle of Wadi al-Abid. Both dynasties agreed on their respective territorial control, which was separated by the Tadla region.

After 1536, and the rise in power of Ahmad, the brothers came into conflict with each other. Ahmad had in effect allied himself with the Wattasids under the regent Ali Abu Hassun (1524–54). Mohammed could maintain his position in Southern Morocco and conquered Agadir in 1541 and other coastal towns, ousting the Portuguese. After the loss of Agadir, the Portuguese immediately evacuated Azamor (which they held between 1513 and 1541) and Safi (1488–1541). While Ahmad fled to Tafilalet.

Relationship with the Andalusis

The Andalusi relationship with the Saadian Sultanate was not good, although the victories of Muhammad al-Shaykh against the Portuguese had a good impact on the Andalusis, who fully supported him as a man of jihad. Muhammad al-Shaykh tried to ally with the Ottoman Empire to save Al-Andalus, but his conflicts with the Andalusi stopped him from doing so.

War against the Ottomans

After reorganising his army after the Ottoman example, he succeeded in conquering Fes in 1549, causing the downfall of the Wattasids. In the conquest of Fes he again used European artillery, which he had also used in the Fall of Agadir in 1541. He then provided an army to his son, who was able to conquer Tlemcen in 1550, and throw out the Spanish-backed Zayyanid Sultan of Tlemcen.

After the fall of Fes, Ksar-el-Kebir and Asila; the Portuguese were ousted in 1550. Finally, only Ceuta (1415–1668), Tangier (1471–1661) and Mazagan (1502–1769) remained in Portuguese hands.

With help of the Ottomans, the Wattasids under Ali Abu Hassun were able to conquer Fes once more in early 1554; but that conquest was short-lived, and Mohammed al-Shaykh was able to vanquish the last Wattasids at the Battle of Tadla, and recapture the city of Fes in September 1554. During the Ottoman Siege of Oran (1556), Mohammed, who was allied with the Spanish, managed to capture Tlemcen from the Ottomans. With the final victory of the Saadians and the death of Ali Abu Hassun in 1554, the war was decided.

Death

Mohammed al-Shaykh was assassinated by the Ottomans in 1557 by order of Hasan Pasha, son of Hayreddin Barbarossa, as Mohammed was preparing for an alliance with Spain against the Ottomans. Some Ottoman soldiers had falsely entered into his service, claiming to be deserters, but later assassinated him. He was buried in the Saadian Tombs of Marrakech. He was succeeded by his son Abdallah al-Ghalib, who successfully defeated the invading Turks in the Battle of Wadi al-Laban in 1558 who took advantage of Mohammed's assassination.

Notes

1. "Sayyeda Rabia Al-Sâadiya de Tidsi". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
2. Les Archives berbères ... (in French). Leroux. 1920. p. 16. Lala Halou, daughter of the Marinid Ahmed el-Ouattas, king of Fez. In 957 (1550) aged 17 years old she married Abou-Abdallah Mohammed ech-Cheikh
3. "Lala Meriam Al-Sâadiya Princesse du Maroc". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
4. Dartois, Marie-France (2008). Agadir et le sud marocain: à la recherche du temps passé, des origines au tremblement de terre du 29 février 1960 (in French). Courcelles. p. 225. ISBN 978-2-916569-30-7.
5. ^ A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period by Jamil M. Abun-Nasr p.211
6. ^ The last great Muslim empires: history of the Muslim world Frank Ronald Charles Bagley, Hans Joachim Kissling p.102ff
7. "هل خضع المغرب لنفوذ الإمبراطورية العثمانية ؟". 27 January 2015.
8. The Cambridge history of Africa by J.D. Fage, John Desmond Clark, Roland Oliver, Richard Gray, John E. Flint, Neville Sanderson, Andrew Roberts, Michael Crowder p.405
9. The last great Muslim empires: history of the Muslim world by Frank Ronald Charles Bagley, Hans Joachim Kissling p.103
10. City walls: the urban enceinte in global perspective James D. Tracy p.352
11. ^ A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period by Jamil M. Abun-Nasr p.157
12. Veronne, La; De, Chantal (1973). "Relations entre le Maroc et la Turquie dans la seconde moitié du XVIe siècle et le début du XVIIe siècle (1554-1616)". Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée. 15 (1): 391–401. doi:10.3406/remmm.1973.1258.
13. "حكاية مغربية.. العثمانلي يغتال السلطان السعدي والمغاربة يردون في وادي اللبن | تركيا الآن". 2020-05-31. Archived from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
14. Muḥammad al-Ṣaghīr ibn Muḥammad Ifrānī (1888). Nozhet-Elhâdi : Histoire de la dynastie saadienne au Maroc (1511-1670) (in French). p. 550.

• 1490s births
• 1557 deaths
• Saadi dynasty
• People from Marrakesh
• Moroccan people of Arab descent
• 16th-century Arab people
• 16th-century Moroccan people
• 16th-century monarchs in Africa
• 16th-century murdered monarchs