| Zidan Abu Maali | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sultan of Morocco | |||||||||
| Reign | 1603 – 1627 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Ahmad al-Mansur | ||||||||
| Successor | Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik II | ||||||||
| Born | Unknown ? Saadi Sultanate | ||||||||
| Died | September 1627 Saadi Sultanate | ||||||||
| Issue | Ahmed Elasgher[1] Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik II Al Walid ben Zidan Mohammed esh-Sheikh es-Seghir | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Dynasty | House of Saadi | ||||||||
| Father | Ahmad al-Mansur | ||||||||
| Mother | Aisha bint Abu Bakkar al-Shabani | ||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
Zidan Abu Maali (Arabic:زيدان أبو معالي) (died September 1627; orMuley Zidan) was the embattledSaadi Sultan ofMorocco from 1603 to 1627. He was the son and heir ofAhmad al-Mansur by his wife Lalla Aisha bint Abu Bakkar,[2] a lady of the Chebanate tribe.[3]
He ruled only over the southern half of the country after his brotherMohammed esh Sheikh el Mamun took the northern half and a rebel fromTafilalt,Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli, marched onMarrakesh claiming to be theMahdi. This led Muley Zidan to be encircled inSafi amid other failed military campaigns against the rebellious north. These events were exacerbated by a context of chaos that ensued amid aplague pandemic which left a third of the country dead.
His reign saw the end of theAnglo-Spanish war (with the 1604Treaty of London)—which broke the Anglo-Dutch axis that Morocco was relying upon as a means of protection from Spain, and so caused the Spanish navy to resume devastating raids on the Moroccan coast—and the rebellion of one of his provincial governors who established his own independent state of theRepublic of Salé betweenAzemmour andSalé.
During the reign of Zidan, after the death of SultanAhmed al-Mansur in 1603, Morocco fell into a state ofanarchy with the latter's sons fighting for the throne. Zidan lost much of his authority to warring factions and insubordinate local governors.[4] Morocco was in a state ofcivil war with the uprising of warlords such asAhmed ibn Abi Mahalli in the South andSidi al-Ayachi in the North taking territories from Zidan.[5] Sidi especially was held in high regard among local warriors, he controlled many thousands of men to fight for him. Moreover, he openly showed his dissatisfaction against Zidan, whom he pretended to serve.[5]
These uprisings were triggered byMohammed esh Sheikh el Mamun concedingLarache to theSpanish in 1610, but they also seized the opportunity to captureal-Ma'mura.[5] These events considerably diminished the religious prestige of the Saadians as Defenders of the Faith. The hardest blow during Zidan's reign was undoubtedly Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli's revolt whom after consecutively conqueringTafilalt and Draa reached the capitalMarrakesh in 1612 and occupied it, while Zidan was forced to flee.[6]
The civil wars had interrupted the tribute of vassalage that was previously paid to the Ottomans byAhmad al-Mansur until his death, during the reign of Zidan he proposed to submit to paying the tribute in order to protect himself fromAlgiers, he then resumed paying the tribute to the Ottomans.[7]
Zidan established friendly relations with theDutch Republic, with the help of envoys such asSamuel Pallache. From 1609, he established a Treaty of Friendship and Free Commerce which gave "free access and friendly reception for their respective subjects with any need for safeguard or safe-conduct, no matter how they come to the others' territory."[8][9] He sent several more envoys to the Low Countries, such asMuhammad Alguazir,Al-Hajari andYusuf Biscaino.[10]
Zidan and his forces invaded theSonghai Empire in 1593. He abandoned the empire in 1618, but the Moroccan occupation damaged the Songhai state.[11]
James I of England sentJohn Harrison to Muley Zidan in Morocco in 1610 and again in 1613 and 1615 in order to obtain the release of English captives.[12]
By historical coincidence, a part of the library of this sultan, known as theZidani Library, has been kept in Spain to the present day. During the revolt ofAhmed ibn Abi Mahalli in 1612, Muley Zidan commissioned a Frenchprivateer, Jehan Philippe de Castelane, to move his household goods fromSafi toSanta Cruz do Cabo,Agadir, for a sum of 3,000escudos after suffering a defeat at Marrakesh. After having waited for six days without being paid, Castelane sailed north forMarseille, with the cargo still aboard, hoping to sell the goods to recoup his losses.[13] Some 4 ships from the fleet of Spanish AdmiralLuis Fajardo intercepted the vessel nearMehdya and took it toLisbon (then part of Spain) and convicted the crew of piracy. From Lisbon, Zidan’s library was then taken toCadiz and inventoried. After Cadiz, the collection would continue on its journey, by order ofPhilip III to be taken to the home of council member Juan de Idiáquez inMadrid. Two years later in 1614 the collection was transmitted toEl Escorial for permanent storage.[14][15] This collection contained around 4,000 books and manuscripts. The collection remains in the Escorial to this day, and is one of the most significant collections of Arabic manuscripts in Europe.[16]
Interestingly, at the time of this seizure of Zidan’s manuscripts, written Arabic was largely prohibited in Spain, with theSpanish Inquisition behind the destruction of many Arabic works.[17] During this period, officials would search the homes of Spanish Muslims to confiscate and destroy Arabic-language manuscripts.[18] However, the wealthy and influential were somewhat exempt from these prohibitions, and were able to save some Arabic manuscripts by sending them to the Escorial for study. Such was the case for Zidan’s collection. Idiaquez’s nephew, Francisco Gurmendi along with Juan de Peralta requested that the collection be brought to the Escorial for this purpose. Peralta was also interested in the Escorial’s acquisition of the collection since the addition would bolster the library’s prominence. Others, such as Thomas Erpinius, also advocated for the study of the Arabic language to use as a tool in forcing Muslims to convert to Christianity.[19] Even so, the saved manuscripts, including Zidan’s library, were not made available to the public, and kept separate from the rest of the Escorial’s collection.[20]
Moulay Ahmed el-Mansour had married ... Aicha bent Abou Baker ..., often called by Arab chroniclers because of her origin Lalla Chebania
| Preceded by | Sultan of Morocco 1603–1627 | Succeeded by |
