Al-Rashid of Morocco

Moulay al-Rashid ibn al-Sharif, the first Alawite sultan of Morocco, was born at Sijilmasa in the Tafilalt about 1631 and died at Marrakesh on 9 April 1672.¹² Son of the dynasty's founder Moulay Sharif, he rebelled against his elder brother Sidi Mohammed, who was killed at the battle of Angad, and succeeded him in Tafilalt; he then took Fez and the north, Marrakesh in 1669 and the Sous, and destroyed the Dila zawiya, until he came to be counted the true founder of Alawite power.¹³

On his father's death in 1659 al-Rashid refused allegiance to his brother Sidi Mohammed and rose against him; twice captured and twice escaped, he wandered Morocco — Toudga, Demnat, the Dila zawiya, Azrou, Fez — before settling at Taza in the service of the sheikh Ali Soliman, who made him steward of his palace, then keeper of his finances, chief justice secretary and finally lieutenant over troops.¹ From there he seized the citadel of Dar Ibn Mich'al and its treasure, defeated and executed Ali Soliman, and was proclaimed sultan at Oujda.¹

Sidi Mohammed marched against him, and the brothers met on the Angad plain on 2 August 1664 — Friday 9 Muharram 1075 AH — where Sidi Mohammed was killed by a bullet in the neck early in the battle; al-Rashid washed the body himself in mourning and buried it at Dar Ibn Mich'al, and was undisputed sultan of Tafilalt.¹ He then took Taza and Sijilmasa and entered Fez on 27 May 1667, where he was proclaimed sultan of Morocco — the English article counts his sultanate from 1666, the French and Arabic from 1667 — appointed his brother Ismail his khalifa there, destroyed the Dila zawiya, took Marrakesh in 1669, and drove the master of the Illigh zawiya from the Sous and the Anti-Atlas.¹²³

His works include the eight-arched bridge over the Oued Sebou in 1670 and the Errecîf bridge at Fez in 1671, wells in the Sahara still called Abar Essultan, the sultan's wells, a library added to the southern face of the Qarawiyyin mosque, the Cherratine Madrasa and a new palace at Fes Jdid, and the kasbahs of El Jadida and Cherarda.¹ He reformed the currency, minting the Rechîdiya in May 1669 and ending the coin shortage with a loan to Fez's merchants, then round copper flous in October 1670.¹ He was known for his respect for scholars, honouring them and supporting them generously, and is reported by al-Qadiri to have attended Sheikh al-Yusi's lessons at al-Qarawiyyin.¹

He died at Marrakesh on 9 April 1672, aged about 42, after a fall from his horse, and was succeeded by his brother Moulay Ismail, who had served as his khalifa and lieutenant.¹²