Editing Ismail Ibn Sharif (section)

==Character and policies==
===Appearance, personality, and contemporary assessments===
[[File:Mouley Ismaïl.jpg|thumb|Engraving of Moulay Ismail]]
The main character traits of Moulay Ismail, according to the chronicles and legends of his period, were his "tendency to order and authority, as well as his iron will." He put his strength and power at the service of this unyielding will, "If God gave me the kingship, man cannot take it from me," he is reported to have said. This will was always apparent in his actions and decisions.<ref>Mustapha Sehimi, ''La Grande Encyclopédie du Maroc'', volume 8, {{p.|121}}.</ref> According to [[Dominique Busnot]], the colour of his clothes was linked to his mood, {{blockquote|Green is the sweetest colour; white is a good sign for those appealing to him; but when he is dressed in yellow, all the world trembles and flees his presence because it is the colour that he chooses on the days of his bloodiest executions.|Dominique Busnot ''Histoire du regne de Mouley Ismael roy de Moroc, Fez, Tafilet, Soutz etc'' (1704) p.38.}}
According to contemporary Europeans, Moulay Ismail was considered cruel, greedy, merciless, and duplicitous. It was his cruelty and viciousness that particularly attracted their attention. Legends of the ease with which Ismail could behead or torture laborers or servants he thought to be lazy are numerous. According to a Christian slave, Moulay Ismail had more than 36,000 people killed over a 26-year period of his reign.<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 17">{{harvnb|Castries|1903|p=17}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lawrence|first=Paul R. |author-link= Paul R. Lawrence|title=Driven to Lead: Good, Bad, and Misguided Leadership  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNotNKHSLPQC&q=Moulay+Isma%C3%AFl+bloodthirsty&pg=PA261|year=2010|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-0-470-62384-8}}</ref> According to [[François Pidou de Saint Olon]], Moulay Ismail had 20,000 people assassinated over a twenty-year period of his reign.<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 18">{{harvnb|Castries|1903|p=18}}</ref> He was described by many authors, including Dominique Busnot, as a "bloodthirsty monster".<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 24">{{harvsp|Castries|1903|p=24}}.</ref><ref name="GBR">{{Cite web |date=3 March 2008 |title=Some magical Moroccan records |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2008/03/080303.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313155522/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2008/03/080303.aspx |archive-date=13 March 2010 |access-date=20 March 2010 |website=Guinness World Records |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited}}.</ref> However, researcher such as [[Richard Bordeaux Parker]] opined that frequently-told stories about the ten of thousands of Christian slaves' forced labours and the large dungeons where they were kept were exaggerated from the accounts of European ambassadors who visited Isma'il's court.{{sfn|Parker|1981|p=106}}{{sfn|Bloom|2020|p=263–267}} Bordeaux Parker and [[Jonathan M. Bloom]] found the number of Christian slaves was likely closer to a few thousand at most and the chambers which suspected as slave prisons were actually storage rooms for grain and food supplies.{{sfn|Parker|1981|p=106}} The urban legends about [[Qara Prison]] holding thousands of them are disputed by Marianne Barrucand as she opined it is largely for food silos.<ref name='"Les relations entre ville et ensemble palatial dans les " villes impériales " marocaines : Marrakech et Meknès"'>{{cite book |last=Barrucand|first=Marianne|quote=Les relations entre ville et ensemble palatial dans les " villes impériales " marocaines : Marrakech et Meknès|date=2019-11-18|url=http://books.openedition.org/pul/19372|title=Les Palais dans la ville : Espaces urbains et lieux de la puissance publique dans la Méditerranée médiévale|pages=325–341|editor-last=Boucheron|editor-first=Patrick|series=Collection d’histoire et d’archéologie médiévales|publisher=Presses universitaires de Lyon|isbn=978-2-7297-1086-6|access-date=2020-06-07|editor2-last=Chiffoleau|editor2-first=Jacques}}</ref>

Moulay Ismail was also a very good horseman, with great physical strength, agility, and extraordinary cleverness, which he maintained even in his old age.<ref group="L" name="Audiffret 379" /><ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 18" /> "One of his normal entertainments was to draw his sword as he mounted his horse and decapitate the slave who held the stirrup."

His physical appearance is almost always described in the same way by the Europeans. He had "a long face, more black than white, i.e. very mulatto," according to Saint-Amans, ambassador of [[Louis XIV]], who added that "he is the strongest and most vigorous man of his State." He was of average height and he inherited the colour of his face from his mother, who had been a black slave.<ref group="L" name="Audiffret 379" /><ref group="L" name="Audiffret 376" />

According to [[Germain Moüette]], a French captive who lived in Morocco until 1682:
{{blockquote|He is a vigorous man, well-built, quite tall but rather slender... his face is a clear brown colour, rather long, and its features are all quite well-formed. He has a long beard that is slightly forked. His expression, which seems quite soft, is not a sign of his humanity – on the contrary, he is very cruel...<ref group="L" name="Moüette 150">{{harvnb|Moüette|p=150}}.</ref>|Germain Moüette ''Relation de la captivité du Sr. Mouette dans les royaumes de Fez et de Maroc,'' p.150}}

===Religion===
"A faithful and pious follower of his religion",<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 22">{{harvsp|Castries|1903|p=22}}.</ref> he attempted to convert King [[James II of England]] to [[Islam]], sending him letters whose sincerity and religious feeling are inarguable.<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 34">{{harvsp|Castries|1903|p=34}}.</ref> [[Dominique Busnot]], who was generally critical of Ismail, asserted that "he had a great attachment to his Law and publicly practiced all the ceremonies, ablutions, prayers, fasts, and feasts with scrupulous precision."<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 31">{{harvsp|Castries|1903|p=31}}.</ref>

He enjoyed debating theology with the [[Trinitarians]] in Morocco on points of controversy. On many occasions when returning from the mosque on Fridays, he asked for Trinitarians to be brought into his court. During a debate with the fathers of Mercy, he said this:
{{blockquote|I have said enough for a man who uses reason; if you are stubborn, that is too bad. We are all children of Adam and therefore brothers; it is the only religion that creates a difference between us. It is, therefore, as a brother and in obedience to the commandments of my law that I charitably advise you that the true religion is that of Muhammad, which is the only one in which one can find salvation. I give you this advice for the sake of my conscience and to be justified in charging you on the day of judgment.|Moulay Ismail<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 32">{{harvsp|Castries|1903|p=32}}</ref>}}

===Construction===
{{See also|Kasbah of Moulay Ismail}}[[File:Royal Palace, Meknes.jpg|thumb|Dar al-Makhzen, the royal palace of Meknes, which was built during Moulay Ismail's reign as part of this larger Kasbah]]
Moulay Ismail chose Meknes as Morocco's capital city in 1672 and carried out an extensive building program there that resulted in the construction of numerous gates, mosques, gardens, and [[madrasa]]s. On account of the rate of construction, Ismail is often compared to his contemporary Louis XIV. The Saadian [[El Badi Palace]] in Marrakesh was stripped of almost all its fittings, so that they could be transported to Meknes.<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 29">{{harvsp|Castries|1903|p=29}}.</ref> Marble blocks and pillars were also taken from the ancient Roman [[ruins]] at [[Volubilis]].<ref>[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=14906 C.Michael Hogan, ''Volubilis'', Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham (2007)]</ref><ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 31" /> At least 25,000 workers, mostly paid labourers along with a smaller number of Christian prisoners conscripted into forced labor, were employed on his major construction projects in Meknes.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Arnold|first=Felix|title=Islamic Palace Architecture in the Western Mediterranean: A History|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|pages=309–312}}</ref><ref name=":17">{{Cite book|last=Barrucand|first=Marianne|title=L'architecture de la Qasba de Moulay Ismaïl à Meknès|year=1980|page=267}}</ref> Ismail enjoyed visiting the building sites, to correct or revise whatever did not please him. He was sometimes cruel to the workers and did not hesitate to execute or punish those who produced poor-quality work.<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 30">{{harvsp|Castries|1903|p=30}}.</ref>

[[File:Royal stables, Meknes.jpg|left|thumb|upright|The royal stables of [[Heri es-Swani]] which could hold 12,000 horses]]
[[File:Meknès - Estany de l'Aguedal.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Heri es-Swani|Sahrij Swani]] or Agdal Basin]]
He began the construction of his magnificent [[Kasbah of Moulay Ismail|palace complex]] (or Kasbah) at Meknes before learning of the work being undertaken by [[Louis XIV]] at [[Versailles]]. According to European ambassadors present at Meknes in the period, the fortification walls of the palace alone were more than twenty-three kilometers long. Dar al-Kebira, the first of his palaces, was completed after three years of building and was immense, with [[hanging gardens]] modeled on those of [[Babylon]]. As soon as it was complete, he laid the foundations of Dar al-Makhzen, which linked together around fifty different palaces, containing their own [[Turkish bath|hammam]]s and its own mosque for his wives, concubines, and children. This was followed by Madinat er-Riyad, the residence of the [[vizier]]s, governors, caids, secretaries, and other high functionaries of Ismail's court, which the historian Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Nasiri called 'the beauty of Meknes'.<ref name="Hodder & Stoughton">White Gold. ''The extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa's One Million European Slaves'' (Hodder & Stoughton, Londres, 2004).</ref><ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 183">{{harvsp|al-Nasiri|1906|p=183}}.</ref>

[[File:Bab El-Khemis.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Bab el-Khemis (Meknes)|Bab El-Khemis]], a city gate built during Moulay Ismail's reign]]

In the economic sphere, Moulay Ismail built within his citadel the [[Heri es-Swani]] (also spelled Heri es-Souani), a major storehouse of foodstuffs which was fed by wells, and the Agdal or Sahrij Reservoir which was dug to ensure a regular water supply for the gardens of Meknes.<ref name=":5">{{Citation|last=Barrucand|first=Marianne|title=Les relations entre ville et ensemble palatial dans les " villes impériales " marocaines: Marrakech et Meknès|date=2019-11-18|url=http://books.openedition.org/pul/19372|work=Les Palais dans la ville : Espaces urbains et lieux de la puissance publique dans la Méditerranée médiévale|pages=325–341|editor-last=Boucheron|editor-first=Patrick|series=Collection d'histoire et d'archéologie médiévales|publisher=Presses universitaires de Lyon|isbn=978-2-7297-1086-6|access-date=2020-06-07|editor2-last=Chiffoleau|editor2-first=Jacques}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Basin of the Norias|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=317&lang=en|access-date=2020-06-07|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref> Ambassadors were received in the Qubbat al-Khayyatin pavilion which he built at the end of the seventeenth century. He also built prisons to hold criminals, Christian slaves, and prisoners of war. Finally, Ismail built or restored in Meknes a large number of mosques, [[madrasa]]s, public squares, [[kasbah]]s, fountains, city gates, and gardens. Construction continued throughout his whole reign.<ref name="Médina de Meknès" />

In the military sphere, Ismail ordered the construction of a network of sixty-seven fortresses, which lined the main roads and surrounded mountainous areas. Meknes was protected by forty kilometers of walls, pierced by twenty gatehouses.<ref name="Médina de Meknès">{{Cite web|url=http://www.minculture.gov.ma/fr/index.php?option=com_content&id=73&Itemid=133|title=Médina de Meknès|website=Minculture.gov.ma|access-date=17 September 2014|archive-date=24 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924045107/http://www.minculture.gov.ma/fr/index.php?option=com_content&id=73&Itemid=133}}.</ref> Control over the eastern part of the country was ensured by the construction of many strong forts along the border with Ottoman Algeria. Others were built in the territory of individual tribes, to maintain peace.<ref name="Encyclopédie Islam" /> He also built defensive structures along the route from the Oasis of [[Tuat|Touat]] to the Chenguit provinces,<ref name="Chenguit" /> and reorganised or rebuilt the walls of some cities on the model of Oujda.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 79" /> Garrisons of the Black Guards were protected by the construction of Kasbahs in major population centers, modeled on the [[Kasbah Gnawa|Kasbah of Gnawa]] in [[Salé]].<ref group="L" name="Bensoussan 68" /><ref name="La Kasba des Gnaouas">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wassila.ma/bons-plans/monuments/monuments-sale/kasba-gnaouas-c12-s526-ss528-d527.html|title=La Kasba des Gnaouas|website=Wassila.ma|access-date=17 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924041448/http://www.wassila.ma/bons-plans/monuments/monuments-sale/kasba-gnaouas-c12-s526-ss528-d527.html|archive-date=24 September 2014}}.</ref>

=== Military reforms ===
====Army reforms====
Around 1677, Moulay Ismail began to assert his authority over the whole country. Once he had killed and disabled his principal opponents, he was able to return to Meknes to organise his empire.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 66"/> It was during this fighting that he had the idea of creating the corps of the Abid al-Bukhari or [[Black Guard]].<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 74">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=74}}.</ref><ref group="L" name="Audiffret 378" />

The 'Alawi army was principally composed of soldiers from the Saharan provinces and the provinces on the margin of the Sahara, such as [[Tafilalt]], Souss, [[western Sahara]], and [[Mauritania]] – the home of [[Khnata bent Bakkar|Khnata bint Bakkar]],{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} one of the four official wives of Ismail. The [[Maqil|Banu Maqil]], who inhabited these areas in great numbers, thus represented the foremost contingents of the 'Alawis until the middle of Moulay Ismail's reign, as they had under the Saadi dynasty. Several [[guich|jaysh]]es originated from these Arab tribes. The 'Alawis could also count on the tribes of the Oujda region, which had been conquered by [[Muhammad ibn Sharif|Sidi Mohammed of Tafilalt]].<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 19">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=19}}.</ref> The jaysh tribes were exempted from import taxes to compensate them and were given land in exchange for their troops.<ref name="Les Alaouites 1636-"/><ref group="L" name="Bensoussan 67" />

Portion of Alawite military forces also composed of Arab-[[Zenata]] Jaysh Cheraga,<ref name="Chéraga">{{cite web|url=http://tribusdumaroc.free.fr/cheraga.php|title=La Tribu Cheraga|website=Tribusdumaroc.free.fr|access-date=28 September 2015}}.</ref> which Rashid ibn Sharif had originally installed in the area north of Fez.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 24">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=24}}.</ref> [[Khlout|Khlot]] and Sherarda, tribes of [[Banu Hilal]], were given the rank of Makhzen and formed several contingents in the Moroccan army.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 24"/> He also founded [[Jaysh al-Rifi]], an independent army of [[Berbers|Berber]] tribesmen from the eastern [[Rif]]. This group later played an important role in the 17th-century Moroccan wars against Spanish colonization.<ref>James Brown (2001). ''Crossing the Strait: Morocco, Gibraltar and Great Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries''.</ref>

However, Ismail could not rely solely on these tribes, because they had a long history of independence and could change sides or desert him at any moment.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 24"/> Thus he decided to create Morocco's first professional army, the Black Guard or Abid al-Bukhari, who were entirely beholden to him, unlike the tribal contingents.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 25" /> After the Siege of Marrakesh in 1672, he imported a large number of black male slaves from [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] and recruited many of the free black men in Morocco for his army. The initial contingent numbered perhaps 14,000 men.<ref group="L" name="Bensoussan 68">{{harvnb|Bensoussan|2012|p=68}}.</ref> The Black Guard was rapidly expanded, reaching 150,000 men towards the end of Ismail's reign.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 77">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=77}}.</ref><ref>[[Bakari Kamian]] ''Des Tranchés de Verdun à l'église Saint Bernard'' p.39 "...A la fin du règne de Moulay Ismaïl, qui resta au pouvoir pendant 57 ans, la garde noire comptait 150000 combattants..."</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Fage, John |author2=Tordoff, William |title=A History of Africa|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-79727-2|page=182|edition=revisioned|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXa4AQAAQBAJ&q=melilla+morocco+ismail&pg=PA182|access-date=15 November 2015}}</ref> The guards received a military education from age ten until their sixteenth birthday when they were enlisted in the army. They were married to black women who had been raised in the royal palace like them.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 25"/>

Moulay Ismail also created the [[Jaysh al-Udaya]],<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 66" /> which is to be distinguished from the tribe of [[Oudaya|Udaya]].<ref name="Oudaïas"/> The guich was divided into three ''reha''. The first of these ''reha'' was the Ahl Souss (house of Souss), which was composed of four Banu Maqil Arab tribes of Souss: Ulad Jerrar, Ulad Mtâa, Zirara, and the Chebanate.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 66" /> In the 16th century, these tribes had formed the core of the Saadi army,<ref name="Oudaïas"/> against the [[Banu Jusham|Jashem]] Arabs of [[Rharb]] who were part of Banu Hilal and included the [[Khlout]] and Safiane, who had supported the [[Marinid dynasty]] of Fez.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 66" /> The second ''reha'' was the Mghafra of [[Oued Noun]],<ref name=":6" /> who were descended from Banu Maqil, Khnata bint Bakkar came from this group. The third ''reha'' contained the members of the tribe of Udaya itself. They were a powerful desert tribe who were originally from the [[Adrar Plateau]] and were formidable camel riders. Shortly before Moulay Ismail's reign, they had moved north and they were found in Souss under Moulay Ismail. After he reconquered Marrakesh in 1674, Ismail encountered a poor shepherd of the Udaya called Bou-Chefra and learned that his people had been forced to leave the desert because of the drought and were originally Banu Maqil like himself. Sympathizing with their plight, the Sultan decided to turn them into an elite division of his army.<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 68">{{harvnb|al-Nasiri|1906|p=68}}.</ref>

The Jaysh al-Udaya became a major portion of Sultan's army, governed by the principle of ''makhzen'' in which land was granted to soldiers in exchange for military service. According to the historian Simon Pierre, "After the Alaouite conquest, the people of the Maghreb had been despoiled and disarmed and, except for one Berber tribe and the Rifians, only the Abid al-Bukhari and the Udaya exercised the [[monopoly on violence]]. Thirty years later, at the death of Moulay Ismail in 1727, it was the caids of the Abid al-Bukhari and the Udaya who joined with the [[ulama]] of Meknes and the ministers to choose sultan [[Abu'l Abbas Ahmad of Morocco|Moulay Ahmed Adh-Dhahabî]]!"<ref name="Oudaïas">{{Cite web
 |author      = Simon Pierre
 |title       = Histoire du [g]uiche des Oudayas
 |url         = http://www.culture-islam.fr/etudes-diverses/histoire-des-berberes/histoire-du-guiche-des-oudayas-gish-l-oudaia
 |website        = Culture d'Islam : Aux sources de l'Histoire
 |date        = 2013
 |access-date =  18 September 2015
}}.</ref> However, other sources state that Moulay Ismail had designated him as his successor before his death.<ref group="L" name="Braithwaite 5"/> Regardless, during the period of anarchy after Ismail's death, the Udaya certainly played a major role in deposing several Sultans along with the Abid al-Bukhari.<ref name="Oudaïas"/>

Additionally, Moulay Ismail was able to make use of European renegades' knowledge and experience of artillery, when he formed them into a military corps,<ref group="L" name="Bensoussan 67" /> [[Michael Peyron]] has noted the sultan employed renegade Spanish gunners to operate his cannon batteries, as it recorded during his conquest of Fêzzâz in 1692.<ref name="Michael Peyron;The Berbers of Morocco">{{Cite book
 |author      = Michael Peyron
 |author-link = Michael Peyron
 |title       = The Berbers of Morocco: A History of Resistance
 |url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx75DwAAQBAJ
 |date        = 29 October 2020
 |access-date =  23 November 2023
 |publisher   =Bloomsbury Publishing 
 |isbn        =978-1-83860-375-5 
 |chapter=14, The defense of Jbel Fazaz 
 |language    =En 
 |quote       =under 'Ali ben Ishou Aqebly, and a contingent of Spanish renegades from Larache dragging a battery of cannon on which Moulay Ismaïl was relying to bludgeon the Berbers into submission
}}.</ref>

==== Defensive organisation ====
{{further|Kasbah of Moulay Ismail}}
By the end of his reign, Ismail had built more than 76 [[kasbah]]s and military posts throughout his territory. Each kasbah was defended by a force of at least 100 soldiers drawn from the jaysh tribes or the Black Guard.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 25"/> Moroccan forces were stationed in all the major cities and provincial capitals. For example, there were 3,000 Cheraga, 4,500 Sherarda, and 2,000 Udaya stationed around Fez, which formed a defensive cordon against the unsubjugated Berber tribes in the area.<ref name="M. Peyron">{{Cite encyclopedia|author=M. Peyron|title=Guich|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopédie berbère]]|year=1999|volume=21|issue=21|pages=3236–3238|doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1814|url=http://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1814|access-date=7 October 2015|doi-access=free}}.</ref>

The kasbahs ensured the defence of the eastern border, where there was a heavy Moroccan military presence, but they also protected the main lines of communication within the kingdom and facilitated the control of unsubjugated tribes,<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 26">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=26}}.</ref> by continuously raiding them.<ref group="Arc" name="Volume XXVIII 28">{{harvnb|id=Volume XXVIII|Archives marocaines, volume XXVIII|1931|p=28}}.</ref>

===Diplomacy===
[[File:Mohammed bin Hadou Moroccan ambassador to Great Britain 1682.jpg|thumb|left|[[Mohammed bin Hadou]], Mulay Ismail's Moroccan ambassador to Great Britain in 1682<ref>''In the lands of the Christians'' by Nabil Matar, back cover {{ISBN|0-415-93228-9}}</ref>]]
Morocco's relations with the [[Ottoman Empire]] and its possessions in North Africa were often very strained. The two powers always distrusted one another and this was particularly true during Ismail's reign. The Ottomans supported Ismail's rivals within Morocco both financially and militarily, repeatedly mounting expeditions to support them. Conversely, Moulay Ismail led several invasions and raids of their territory, often with the

[[File:وثيقة اتفاقية السلام.jpg|thumb|A 1682 peace treaty with the Dutch Republic]]support of anti-Ottoman Arab tribes in Algeria, such as the Benu Amer. The two empires repeatedly signed peace treaties, notably in 1678,<ref group="alN" name="al-Nasiri 79" /> 1692,<ref group="H" name="Hamet 349" /> and 1693,<ref group="H" name="Hamet 350" /> none of which lasted very long. A final treaty, in 1701, held until the end of Ismail's life.<ref group="H" name="Hamet 351" />

Following the approach to foreign policy begun by [[Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi|Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I]], Moulay Ismail sought good relations with France and Great Britain to ensure trade relations. These relations centered on the sale of Christian sailors captured at sea by the [[Salé Rovers]] and others, but also the creation of military alliances. Moulay Ismail repeatedly sought French assistance in his wars with Spain, without success. However, an alliance with France and the [[Ottoman Tunisia|Bey of Tunis]] against Algeria was arranged.<ref name="Encyclopédie Islam" />

In 1682, Moulay Ismail sent [[Mohammad Temim]] on an embassy to France. He succeeded in negotiating a treaty of friendship between Morocco and France, which was signed at [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]].<ref name="Kronobase">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kronobase.org/chronologie-categorie-Moulay+Isma%C3%AFl.html|title=Chronologie de Moulay Ismaïl|website=Kronobase.org|access-date=14 September 2014}}.</ref> A request for the hand in marriage of [[Marie Anne de Bourbon|Mlle de Nantes]], one of Louis XIV's illegitimate children, was not successful.<ref group="L" name="Marchat 50" /><ref name="Encyclopédie Islam" /> A second embassy to France was led by [[Abdallah ben Aisha]] in 1699. However, the accession of Louis XIV's grandson [[Philip V of Spain|Philip]] to the Spanish throne in 1710 doomed this alliance, resulting in the breaking of diplomatic relations with France and Spain and the departure of the French and Spanish merchants and consuls from Morocco in 1718.<ref group="L" name="Marchat 50">{{harvnb|Marchat|2013|p=50}}.</ref><ref group="L" name="Marchat 51">{{harvnb|Marchat|2013|p=51}}.</ref> The French diplomats considered Moulay Ismail extremely greedy. They complained that he undertook negotiations and [[File:Ambassador Admiral Abelkader Perez 1723 1737.jpg|thumb|Ambassador Admiral [[Abdelkader Perez]] was sent by Ismail ibn Sharif to England in 1723]]

made agreements solely to receive presents, denying whatever they had proposed once he had gotten what he wanted.<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 27">{{harvnb|Castries|1903|p=27}}</ref><ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 28">{{harvnb|Castries|1903|p=28}}</ref>[[File:Antoine Coypel - The Moroccan ambassador and his retinue at the Comédie italienne in Paris, February 1682.jpg|right|thumb|''[[Mohammad Temim]], Ambassadeur du Maroc, à la [[Comédie-Italienne|Comédie Italienne]]'' (1682), [[Antoine Coypel]] (1661–1722), Versailles]]Despite Ismail's conquest of [[Tangier]] in 1684, the English supported him against the Spanish and signed several treaties of friendship and commerce.<ref name="Kronobase" />  The English participated in the blockade of the Spanish port of Ceuta in 1704, during Ismail's siege of the city.<ref group="L" name="Rézette 41" /> After the break of relations with France, Moroccan ties with Britain increased.<ref group="L" name="Marchat 51" /> [[Abdelkader Perez]] was sent to two embassies to Britain, in 1723 and 1737.  Moulay Ismail also sent several embassies to James II after he was deposed, offering him aid and asking him to convert to Islam.<ref group="C1903" name="Castries 1903 34" />