Editing Rabat (section)

===Medieval Islamic period===
[[File:Palace gate.jpg|thumb|The [[Kasbah of the Udayas]], the citadel built by the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]] on the site of earlier [[ribat]]s|left]]
In the 10th century the [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Umayyads]] of [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]], or their [[Zenata]] [[Berbers|Berber]] allies in the region, founded a [[ribat]] or fortified monastery/outpost in this area, to defend against the [[Barghawata]] Berbers who had established a [[Khawarij|Kharijite]] state to the south.<ref name="Parker-1981">{{Cite book |last=Parker |first=Richard |title=A practical guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco |publisher=The Baraka Press |year=1981 |location=Charlottesville, VA |pages=75–85}}</ref> This ribat was most likely on the same site as the current [[Kasbah of the Udayas]], but its location has not been confirmed by historians.<ref name="Parker-1981" /> Around 1030, a new town called Salā (the present [[Salé]]) was founded on the opposite side of the river (the north side) by the [[Banu 'Ashara]] family.<ref name="ElHour2000">{{cite journal |author1=Rachid El Hour |date=1 January 2000 |title=The Andalusian Qāḍī in the Almoravid Period: Political and Judicial Authority |url=https://www.academia.edu/1091061 |journal=Studia Islamica |publisher=Maisonneuve & Larose |issue=90 |page=80 |doi=10.2307/1596165 |jstor=1596165 |quote=With regard to the judicial administration in the Maghreb, the Almoravids gave the judicial functions to local families. For example in Sale, the Banu 'Ashara family, a very rich family...}}</ref><ref name="Grabar1990">{{cite book |author=Oleg Grabar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P4cXo_cMIDAC&pg=PA65 |title=Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Brill |year=1990 |isbn=90-04-09347-8 |page=65}}</ref>

One of the last [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] emirs, [[Tashfin ibn Ali]] (r. 1143–1145) built a new ''ribat'' on the site of the current kasbah as part of his efforts to hold back the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]].<ref name="Parker-1981" /><ref name="Bennison-2016">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2016 |pages=309–10, 322–25}}</ref> Almohads nonetheless defeated the Almoravids and destroyed the ribat shortly after.<ref name="Touri-2010">{{Cite book |last1=Touri |first1=Abdelaziz |title=Le Maroc andalou : à la découverte d'un art de vivre |last2=Benaboud |first2=Mhammad |last3=Boujibar El-Khatib |first3=Naïma |last4=Lakhdar |first4=Kamal |last5=Mezzine |first5=Mohamed |publisher=Ministère des Affaires Culturelles du Royaume du Maroc & Museum With No Frontiers |year=2010 |isbn=978-3902782311 |edition=2 |chapter=VIII.1 Rabat}}</ref> In 1150 or 1151 the Almohad caliph [[Abd al-Mu'min]] built a new kasbah (citadel) to replace the former ''ribat'', within which he included a palace and a mosque.<ref name="Touri-2010" /><ref name="Lintz-2014">{{Cite book |last1=Lintz |first1=Yannick |title=Le Maroc médiéval: Un empire de l'Afrique à l'Espagne |last2=Déléry |first2=Claire |last3=Tuil Leonetti |first3=Bulle |publisher=Louvre éditions |year=2014 |isbn=9782350314907 |location=Paris |pages=306–308}}</ref><ref name="Bennison-2016" /> This Almohad kasbah corresponds to the current Kasbah of the Udayas (which was expanded in later periods).<ref name="Bennison-2016" /> Abd al-Mu'min also had an underground canal dug to divert a water source to this location, allowing for future settlement and urbanization in the area.<ref name="Bennison-2016" /> The site became a military staging ground for Almohad armies setting out on campaigns to Al-Andalus.<ref name="Touri-2010" />

The Almohad caliph [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur]] (r. 1184–1199) embarked on an ambitious project to construct a new fortified imperial capital, called ''al-Mahdiyya'' or ''Ribat al-Fath'', on the site of what is now the [[Medina quarter|medina]] (old city) of Rabat, with new walls extending over a vast area beyond the kasbah.<ref name="Bennison-2016" /><ref>''History of Morocco'', Henri Terrasse, 1952</ref> This project also included the construction of an enormous mosque (the remains of which include the [[Hassan Tower]]) and of new grand gateways such as ''[[Bab er-Rouah]]'' and the main gate of the kasbah, now known as ''Bab Udaya'' or ''Bab al-Kbir''. After al-Mansur's death in 1199 the mosque and the capital remained unfinished and his successors lacked the resources or the will to finish it.<ref name="Bennison-2016" /> The new city was never fully inhabited and the site was practically abandoned.<ref name="Mouline-2008">{{Cite book |last=Mouline |first=Saïd |title=The City in the Islamic World |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |isbn=9789047442653 |editor-last=Jayyusi |editor-first=Salma K. |pages=643–662 |chapter=Rabat, Salé – Holy Cities of the Two Banks |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tO55DwAAQBAJ&pg=PR7}}</ref><ref name="Touri-2010" />

During the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid dynasty]] period (13th to 15th centuries), the town of [[Salé]] across the river grew more important than the settlements of the south bank.<ref name="Touri-2010" /><ref name="Parker-1981" /><ref name="Mouline-2008" /> In 1515 [[Leo Africanus]] reported that Rabat had declined so much that only 100 inhabited houses remained.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} The Marinids did build a [[Great Mosque, Rabat|Great Mosque]] in what is now the medina of Rabat and on the nearby site of Chellah (ancient Sala) they built a royal necropolis for their dynasty.<ref name="Mouline-2008" />