Editing Ismail Ibn Sharif (section)

=== Stabilisation of the empire ===
Between 1678 and 1679, Moulay Ismail attempted an expedition over the [[Amour Range|Amour mountain range]] into the region of Cherg, accompanied by a large contingent of Arab tribes, including the Beni Amer. The Turkish artillery put all the Arab tribes in the expedition to flight and the Sultan was forced to set the border between the Regency of Algiers and Morocco at [[Tafna]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Charles-André Julien|title=Histoire de l'Afrique du Nord: Des origines à 1830|publisher=Payot et Rivages|location=Paris|year=1994|page=605|author1-link=Charles-André Julien}}.</ref><ref name="pointier">{{Cite book|author1=Laurent Pointier|title=Sahara occidental: La controverse devant les Nations unies|publisher=Karthala|location=Paris|year=2004|url={{google books|M6LlYyhkCA8C|plainurl=yes}}|page=46}}.</ref> Moulay Ismail restored and reorganised Oujda on his return.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 79">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=79}}.</ref> He reorganised the south of the empire following an expedition in 1678, from Souss and the oasis of [[Touat]] to the [[Chinguetti Department|provinces of Chinguetti]]  on the border of the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan region]] in modern [[Mauritania]].<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 20">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=20}}.</ref> During his journey, Ismail appointed caids and [[pasha]]s and ordered the construction of forts and [[ribat]]s to demonstrate his control to the ''[[makhzen]]'' in these regions.<ref name="Chenguit">{{Cite web|url=http://www.maroc-hebdo.press.ma/Site-Maroc-hebdo/archive/Archives_367/html_367/ProvinceMarocaine.html|title=Province marocaine|website=Maroc-hebdo.press.ma|access-date=7 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907234246/http://www.maroc-hebdo.press.ma/Site-Maroc-hebdo/archive/Archives_367/html_367/ProvinceMarocaine.html|archive-date=7 September 2014}}.</ref> During this expedition, the Sultan received embassies from all the [[Maqil|Banu Maqil]] (Maqil tribes) in the Saharan provinces of the country, which stretched all the way to the [[Senegal river]].<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 76">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=76}}.</ref> Moroccan control over the [[Pashalik of Timbuktu]] was established in 1670 and continued throughout Moulay Ismail's reign.<ref name="L'Économiste 4" group="L"/>

[[File:saghro.jpeg|left|thumb|[[Jbel Saghro]], summit of the eastern part of the [[Anti-Atlas]] in [[Aït Atta]]]]
Around the end of [[Ramadan]] 1678–1679, Ismail's three brothers, Harran, Hashem, and Ahmed, and three of his cousins revolted with the help of the Sanhaja confederation of [[Aït Atta]] and the tribes of the {{ill|Toudra valley|fr|Vallée du Toudra|lt=Toudra}} and [[Dadès River|Dadès]] valleys. Moulay Ismail launched a massive expedition and seized Ferkla, Gueria, Toudra, and Dadès in quick succession. The rebel tribes abandoned their oases and fled into the [[Jbel Saghro]] in the eastern [[Anti-Atlas]]. With a large army, Ismail fought a difficult battle in the Jbel Saghro on 3 February 1679.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 80">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=80}}.</ref><ref group="L" name="Ogot 174" /> The heavy casualties included Moussa ben Ahmed ben Youssef, commander of the Moroccan army, and 400 soldiers from Fez. It was a partial failure. The battle was ended by an agreement in which the rebel tribes granted the people of Tafilalt free passage back to Marrakesh through the Saharan rebel tribes' territory and promised future aid against the Christians.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 23">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=23}}.</ref> On their return journey, a blizzard struck the force as it crossed the Atlas at Telwet or Elglâoui on the Jbel Ben Deren, destroying nearly three thousand tents, part of the army, and the booty.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 23"/> In a fury, Moulay Ismail executed his vizier to avenge those who had been traveling with him, even though the vizier had had nothing to do with this catastrophe.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 80"/><ref group="L" name="Audiffret 377" />

[[File:Tangier under English rule, 1680.jpg|thumb|Engraving from 1680 depicted the [[English Tangier|English fort]] at Tangiers]]
A plague struck around this time that killed several thousand people, mainly in the plain of Rharb and [[Rif]].<ref group="L" name="Audiffret 377" /><ref name="Encyclopédie Islam">{{Cite book|author=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|title=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]|trans-title=Encyclopédie de l'Islam|volume=VI.111–112|publisher=G.-P. Maisonneuve & Larose S. A.|year=1989|pages=884–885}}</ref><ref>{{google book|id=qyEVAAAAIAAJ|p=884|title=Moulay Ismail|}}</ref>

After he had achieved the unification of Morocco, Moulay Ismail decided to end the Christian presence in the country. He first launched a campaign to recapture the city of [[Tangiers]], which had been under [[English Tangier|English control]] since 1471 – initially Portuguese, the city had passed into English hands after the marriage of [[Catherine of Braganza]] to [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]. The city was strongly fortified and had a large garrison of 4,000 men.<ref name="Tanger">{{Cite book|author1=Jean Louis Miège|display-authors=etal|title=Tanger: porte entre deux mondes|publisher=ACR éditions|year=1992|url={{google books|X13Ud-Cip7kC|plainurl=yes}}|pages=12–13}}.</ref> Moulay Ismail assigned one of his best generals, {{ill|Ali ben Abdallah Er-Riffi|fr}}, to [[Great Siege of Tangier|besiege Tangier]] in 1680.<ref group="L" name="Ogot 175">{{harvnb|Ogot|1998|p=175}}.</ref> At Tangiers, the English resisted, but, as a result of the high cost of maintaining the garrison, they decided to abandon the city, demolishing their fortifications and harbor over the winter of 1683. The Moroccan army entered the city on 5 February 1684.<ref group="L" name="Ogot 175" /><ref group="L" name="Audiffret 377">{{harvnb|Audiffret|1821|p=377}}.</ref>

In 1681, while the siege of Tangiers was still ongoing, Moulay Ismail sent part of his army under the command of Omar ben Haddou El-Bottoui to conquer the city of [[Mehdya, Morocco|La Mamora]].<ref name="Mehdia">{{Cite book|author1=Georges Spillmann|title=Esquisse d'histoire religieuse du Maroc: confréries et zaouïas|publisher=J. Peyronnet|year=1951|url={{google books|aXoqAQAAIAAJ|plainurl=yes}}|page=82}}.</ref> This city had been occupied by the Spanish in the period of chaos in Morocco after 1614. Ismail besieged the city, which had no water source, and captured it, along with all the Spaniards in the city, who numbered 309.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 84">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=84}}.</ref> Caid Omar had told the Spaniards that they would not be sold into slavery if they surrendered unconditionally "Although they would be captives they would spend their days without working, until the first redemption." However Moulay Ismaïl saw no reason to honor Kaid Omar's promises and had no intention of allowing the captives from al-Mamurah to be redeemed so they, including fifty "poor girls and women", were forced to walk to Meknes as booty along with their possessions, arms and artillery (88 bronze cannons, 15 iron cannons, fire-pots, muskets, and gunpowder) which Germain Mousette wrote was "more than he had in the rest of his kingdom".<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Vitkus |editor-first1=Daniel J. |title=Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption: Barbary Captivity Narratives from Early Modern England |date=2001|publisher=Columbia University Press; Quoting Al Qadiri's Nashr al Mathani|isbn=978-0-231-11905-4|edition=Illustrated, Annotated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77XC3rocFA4C&q=ismail+&pg=PA193|access-date=15 November 2015|page=139}}</ref> The city was renamed al-Mahdiya.<ref name="Houtsma 122">{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Lévi-Provençal, Evariste |title=Al Madīya|editor=Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor|encyclopedia=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913 – 1936, Volume 5, L – Moriscos|year=1987|edition=1987 reprint|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Va6oSxzojzoC&pg=PA122 122]|isbn=978-90-04-08494-0}}</ref> Omar ben Haddou died of the plague on his return journey and was replaced by his brother Ahmed ben Haddou.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 85">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=85}}.</ref>

While his generals were undertaking these operations, Moulay Ismail was focused on stabilising the country. After an expedition to the Cherg region against the Beni Amer, he learned that Ahmed ben Mehrez had made yet another agreement with the Turks in Algiers. He also learned that the Turkish army was approaching Tafna and had already reached the territory of the {{ill|Beni Snassen|fr|Béni-Snassen (Montagne)}}. Ismail immediately sent a large force to the south of the country to face Ahmed and prepared an expedition against the Ottomans, which did not end up taking place because the Turkish army withdrew.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 85"/> He then marched south to confront his nephew at Souss in 1683. A battle took place there in April. After twenty-five days of fighting, Ahmed fled to Taroudant and entrenched himself there. Another battle on 11 June 1683 cost more than 2,000 lives. Ahmed and Ismail were themselves wounded. The clashes continued until Ramadan.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 86">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=86}}.</ref> Moulay Ismail undertook two expeditions that succeeded in pacifying several Berber regions.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 88">{{harvsp|al-Nasiri|1906|p=88}}.</ref><ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 90">{{harvsp|al-Nasiri|1906|p=90}}.</ref>

[[File:TAROUDANNT defensive wall (js).jpg|left|thumb|[[Taroudant]], city which sustained the rebellion of Ahmed Ben Mehrez and Moulay Harran]]
While Moulay Ismail was occupied with these tribes in the Atlas, Ahmed ben Mehrez forged an alliance with Moulay Harran to destabilise Ismail's empire. When Moulay Ismail learned, in 1684/5, that the two rebels had taken control of Taroudant and its hinterland, he immediately set out to besiege the city. Ahmed went out with a group of slaves to visit a sanctuary and was confronted by some members of the Zirâra tribe, who were soldiers of Ismail. Although they did not recognise him, the Zirâra attacked him, sparking a short battle, which ended with the death of Ahmed. The sultan's soldiers only realised who he was after his death around the middle of October 1685. Ismail ordered that he be given a funeral and buried.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 91">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=91}}.</ref><ref name=cenival303/> Moulay Harran continued the resistance until April 1687, when he fled into the Sahara. The population of Taroudant was massacred and the city was repopulated with Rifans from Fez.<ref group="H" name="Hamet 348">{{harvnb|Hamet|1923|p=348}}.</ref> Many of Ismail's military commanders had lost their lives in this war,<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 91"/> but after this date, no one else challenged the power of the Sultan. The war between Ahmed and Ismail had come to an end after thirteen years of fighting.<ref group="L" name="Ogot 174" />

Moulay Ismail now prepared a strong army, estimated at 30,000–50,000 men,<ref group="C1927" name="Castries 1927 269">{{harvnb|Castries|1927|p=269}}.</ref> under the command of Ali ben Abdallah Er-Riffi<ref group="L" name="Figueras et Joulia Saint-Cyr 195">{{harvnb|Figueras et Joulia Saint-Cyr|p=195}}.</ref> and Ahmed ben Haddou El-Bottoui, to seize the city of [[Larache]], which had been under Spanish control since 1610.<ref group="L" name="Ogot 176">{{harvnb|Ogot|1998|p=176}}.</ref> The Sultan, who announced his plan in 1688, forced the Spaniards to fortify the city heavily, with 200 cannons and 1500–2000 men.<ref group="C1927" name="Castries 1927 269" /> The campaign began on 15 July 1689 and the [[Siege of Larache (1689)|siege]] began in August.<ref group="L" name="Figueras et Joulia Saint-Cyr 195" /> The Moroccan army eventually took the city on 11 November 1689, at an estimated cost of 10,000 dead. The Moroccans captured 1,600 Spanish soldiers including 100 officers and 44 cannons. The Spanish army lost 400 soldiers in the battle.<ref group="C1927" name="Castries 1927 280-281">{{harvnb|Castries|1927|pp=280–281}}.</ref> A prisoner exchange was arranged at a rate of one officer for ten Moroccans, one hundred officers were exchanged for a thousand Moroccan prisoners. The rest of the Spanish garrison remained in captivity, as slaves in Meknes, except for those who converted to [[Islam]].<ref group="C1927" name="Castries 1927 376">{{harvnb|Castries|1927|p=376}}.</ref> To celebrate the triumph Moulay Ismaïl issued an [[edict]] banning the wearing of black shoes because the Spanish were said to have introduced the custom into Morocco when they first acquired Larache in 1610. The [[mufti]] of Fez was so elated by the victory he wrote, {{blockquote|How many infidels at dusk have had their heads severed from their bodies! How many were dragged away with the death rattle in their throats?! For how many throats have our Lance's been as necklaces? How many lance tips were thrust into their breasts!{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}}} Shortly after Larache was conquered, Ismail sent Ahmed ben Haddou to besiege Assilah. Exhausted, the Spanish garrison evacuated the city by the sea and the Moroccan army occupied the town in 1691.<ref group="L" name="Ogot 176" />

[[File:Estelle-échevin.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|Portrait of [[Jean-Baptiste Estelle]], French consul in [[Salé]], who negotiated the release of French prisoners captured by the corsairs, with Moulay Ismail]]
In 1692–3, Moulay Ismail organised a very large expedition against the last unconquered tribes. These were the Sanhaja Brâbér tribes, Berbers in Fêzzâz, a region in the western part of the Middle Atlas. These tribes formed the last pocket of the [[Bled es-Siba]] (the area that did not accept the authority of the sultan).<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 107"/> Ismail's army was very numerous and equipped with mortars, ballistae, cannons, and other siege weapons, which were dragged by Christian slaves all the way from Moulouya to Ksar Beni M'Tir. Meanwhile, the Moroccan forces gathered at Adekhsan. Ismail divided his army into three groups. The first was commanded by Pasha Msahel, with 25,000 infantry, and marched from Tadla to Oued El Abid, bypassing the Aït Isri. The second army was led by Caid Ali Ou Barka and consisted of Aït Imour and Aït Idrassen, who had to occupy Tinteghalin. The third and final group was commanded by Ali ben Ichchou El-Qebli, caid of {{ill|Zemmours|fr}} and Beni Hakim, and was concentrated in the High Moulouya.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 32">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=32}}.</ref> The unconquered tribes comprised the Aït Oumalou, the [[Ait Yafelman]] and the Aït Isri.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 107">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=107}}.</ref> They were surrounded by Mulay Ismail who used all his artillery to break up the Berber rebels. A terrible battle followed, the Berbers were dispersed and fled into the ravines and valleys. After pursuing them for three days, 12,000 Berbers had been captured by the Sultan, and 10,000 horses and 30,000 guns as booty.<ref group="H" name="Hamet 350">{{harvnb|Hamet|1923|p=350}}.</ref> Moulay Ismail had now conquered the whole of Morocco and forced all the tribes of the country to recognise his authority. He was the first 'Alawi sultan to achieve this. He quickly organised the defense of the captured regions through the construction of several dozen fortresses throughout the country, which helped the central power to reach distant regions like Fêzzâz. With this victory, the conquest of Morocco was over. In 1693, according to [[Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Nasiri]]:
{{blockquote|The sultan had not left a single tribe of the Moroccan Maghreb with either horses or weapons. Only the Black Guard, the Oudaias, the Ait Imour (a [[guich]] tribe), and the Rifans, while the Fezzans began a holy war against [[Ceuta]]<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 109">{{harvsp|al-Nasiri|1906|p=109}}.</ref>}}

The [[Guerouan]]s learned this the hard way. Some men of this tribe who carried out raids in the upper course of the [[Ziz River]], on the road to Sijilmassa, drew the attention of Moulay Ismail. He ordered the caid Idrassen Ali ben Ichchou El-Qebli to massacre them. In Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Nasiri's ''[[Al-Istiqsa]]'', it is reported that Moulay Ismail provided 10,000 horsemen to Ali ben Ichchou, the caid of the Zemmour and Bni Hakem tribes and told him "I do not want you to return until you have fallen upon the Gerrouans and unless you bring back to me a heads for each man here." So they left to kill as many of the Guerouans as possible and to pillage their encampments. He offered 10 [[mithqal]]s to anyone who brought back an additional head. In the end, they collected 12,000. The Sultan was very happy with this and extended Ali ben Ichchou's command to include the Aït Oumalou and Aït Yafelmâl territories, which had just been conquered.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 119">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=119}}.</ref>

[[Jean-Baptiste Estelle]], the French consul in Salé wrote to his minister, the [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquess of Torcy|Marquis de Torcy]] in 1698:<ref name="Chenguit" /> {{Blockquote|... that the vast extent of the Sharifan Empire is a single unit from the Mediterranean to the Senegal river. The people who live there, from the north to the south, are Moors who pay the Gharama to the Sultan.}}

At its height, the Moroccan army contained 100,000<ref group="L" name="Audiffret 378">{{harvnb|Audiffret|1821|p=378}}.</ref> to 150,000 black soldiers in the Black Guard,<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 25">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=25}}.</ref> as well as thousands more in the Guich of the Udaya,<ref group="L" name="Ogot 175" /> European renegades and vassal tribes which received land and slaves in exchange for providing soldiers.<ref group="L" name="Bensoussan 67" />