| Idris I ibn Abd Allah إدريس بن عبد الله | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emir of Morocco | |||||
| Reign | 788–791 | ||||
| Predecessor | None | ||||
| Successor | Idris II | ||||
| Born | Unknown Hejaz,Arabia | ||||
| Died | 791 Walīlī, present-dayMorocco | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | Kenza al-Awrabiya | ||||
| Issue | Idris II | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Idrisid | ||||
| Father | Abd Allah al-Mahd | ||||
| Mother | Atika bint Abd al-Malik | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Idris (I) ibn Abd Allah (Arabic:إدريس بن عبد الله,romanized: Idrīs ibn ʿAbd Allāh; d. 791), also known asIdris the Elder (إدريس الأكبر,Idrīs al-Akbar), was aHasanid and the founder of theIdrisid dynasty in part of northernMorocco, after fleeing theHejaz as a result of theBattle of Fakhkh.[1] He ruled from 788 to 791. He is credited with founding the dynasty that established Moroccan statehood, and is regarded as thefounding father ofMorocco.[2]
Idris was the great-grandchild ofHasan, who was the son ofFatima andAli and grandson of the Islamic prophet,Muhammad.[3] He was born and raised inArabia.[4] His paternal half-brothersMuhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya and Ibrahim had been killed by theAbbasids during anabortive rebellion. His brotherYahya rose in revolt inDaylam, but was forced to surrender. He was persecuted byCaliphHarun al-Rashid thereafter, and repeatedly imprisoned.
Idris himself had participated (along with Yahya) in anotherAlid uprising in 786, underal-Husayn ibn Ali al-Abid. After the revolt's defeat at theBattle of Fakhkh, he escaped and remained in hiding, before moving toEgypt. Assisted by the local head of the caliphalpostal system,Wadih, he managed to leave Egypt and reach theMaghreb.[3]
In 789, he arrived inTangier before going toWalīlī, the site of theRomanVolubilis. Here his headquarters have been discovered in recent excavations conducted by the Moroccan Institute of Archaeology (INSAP) andUniversity College London.[5] The headquarters lies just outside the walls of the Roman town, which was then occupied by theBerber tribe of theAwraba, under Ishaq ibn Muhammad. He marriedKenza,[6] of theAwraba, fathering a son,Idris II.[7] This event is considered a consolidation and the birth of the Idrisid dynasty, the fourth Muslim State in Morocco afterNekor (710–1019),Barghawata (744–1058), andMidrar (757–976).
Idris I conquered large parts of northern Morocco and founded the city ofFez. In 789 AD, he capturedTlemcen (in modern-dayAlgeria) from theSufriteIfranidAbu Qurra[8] which became part of the kingdom. This succession of events prompted vengeance from the Abbasid caliphHarun al-Rashid, who sent emissaries to kill him. Idris I died in 791 in Walīlī, allegedly poisoned by the caliph's agents.[3][9] His son, Idris II, was born a few months later and brought up by the Awraba under theregency of Rashid, his father'sfreedman (mawla) and advisor.[1][4][9] He left Walīlī for Fes in 808. During his reign (791–828) he successfully consolidated the Idrisid state and developed Fez into a thriving capital.[1][10]
Idris I's body was buried on a hill not far from Walīlī. The site of his tomb grew into a village known asMoulay Idriss Zerhoun. Azawiya (religious complex) centered around his mausoleum developed here over the centuries and remains an important religious site in Morocco today.[11][12]
Idriss' power to rule in this area hinged upon his marriage to Kenza
Her name is Kenza al-Awrabiya in relation to the Berber tribe called Awraba. She is the daughter of the tribe's leader, Ishaq bin Abdul Hamid al-Awrabi, and the wife of Moulay Idris I, who was assassinated while she was pregnant with her first son.
| New title | Idrisid Emir 788–791 | Succeeded by |
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