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Wattasid dynasty الوطاسيون | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1472–1554 | |||||||||
 Map of the Wattasid sultanate (dark red) and its vassal states (light red) | |||||||||
| Status | Ruling dynasty of Morocco
| ||||||||
| Capital | Fez | ||||||||
| Common languages | Berber languages Arabic[3] | ||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Sultan | |||||||||
• 1472-1504 | Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya | ||||||||
• 1545-1547 | Nasir al-Qasri | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1472 | ||||||||
| 1554 | |||||||||
| Currency | Dirham | ||||||||
| |||||||||
TheWattasid dynasty (Arabic:الوطاسيون,al-waṭṭāsīyūn) was a ruling dynasty ofMorocco. Like theMarinid dynasty, its rulers were ofZenataBerber descent.[4] The two families were related, and the Marinids recruited manyviziers from the Wattasids.[4] These viziers assumed the powers of the Sultans, seizing control of the Marinid dynasty's realm when the last Marinid, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq, who had massacred many of the Wattasids in 1459, was murdered during a popular revolt inFez in 1465.
Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya was the first Sultan of the Wattasid Dynasty. He controlled only the northern part of Morocco, the south being divided into several principalities. The Wattasids were finally supplanted in 1554, after theBattle of Tadla, by theSaadi dynasty princes ofTagmadert who had ruled all of southern Morocco since 1511.
Morocco endured a prolonged multifaceted crisis in the 15th and early 16th centuries brought about by economic, political, social and cultural issues. Population growth remained stagnant and traditional commerce with the far south was cut off as thePortuguese occupied all seaports. At the same time, the towns were impoverished, and intellectual life was on the decline.
Morocco was in decline when the Berber Wattasids assumed power. The Wattasid family had been the autonomous governors of the easternRif since the late 13th century, ruling from their base in Tazouta (near present-dayNador). They had close ties to the Marinid sultans and provided many of the bureaucratic elite. While theMarinid dynasty tried to repel the Portuguese and Spanish invasions and help the kingdom ofGranada to outlive theReconquista, the Wattasids accumulated absolute power through political maneuvering. When the Marinids became aware of the extent of the conspiracy, they slaughtered the Wattasids, leaving onlyAbu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya alive. He went on to found theKingdom of Fez and establish the dynasty to be succeeded by his son, Mohammed al-Burtuqali, in 1504.
The Wattasid rulers failed in their promise to protect Morocco from foreign incursions and the Portuguese increased their presence on Morocco's coast. Mohammad al-Chaykh's son attempted to captureAsilah andTangier in 1508, 1511 and 1515, but without success.
In the south, a new dynasty arose, the Saadian dynasty, which seizedMarrakesh in 1524 and made it their capital. By 1537 the Saadis were in the ascendent when they defeated thePortuguese Empire atAgadir. Their military successes contrast with the Wattasid policy of conciliation towards theCatholic kings to the north.
As a result, the people of Morocco tended to regard the Saadians as heroes, making it easier for them to retake the Portuguese strongholds on the coast, including Tangiers,Ceuta andMaziɣen. The Saadians also attacked the Wattasids who were forced to yield to the new power. In 1554, as Wattasid towns surrendered, the Wattasid sultan,Ali Abu Hassun, brieflyretook Fez. The Saadis quickly settled the matter by killing him and, as the last Wattasids fled Morocco by ship, they too were murdered by pirates.
The Wattasid did little to improve general conditions in Morocco following theReconquista. It was necessary to wait for the Saadians for order to be reestablished and the expansionist ambitions of the kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula to be curbed.
Known Wattasid coins include a few extremely rare gold coins and also square silverdirhams and half dirhams, still following theAlmohad Caliphate standard of roughly 1.5 grams.[5]
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| Family tree of the Wattasid dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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—Royal house — House of Banu Wattas | ||
| Preceded by | Ruling house ofMorocco 1472 – 1554 | Succeeded by |
