Hisn Badis

Fortress of Badis: a fortress at the foot of the Aurès mountain, populous with its people. The Arabs hold its land and defend themselves in it under the protection of a man of theirs. ²

Badis is a town and anchorage on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco that is now in ruins ³. It is 68 km south-east of Tetuan, located between the territory of the Ghumära and the Rif ³. The site is situated on the territory of the Banü Yattüfat near the mouth of a torrent named Talá-n-Badis ³. An attempt has been made to identify the location with the Parietina of the Itinerary of Antoninus, though the name could also refer to the cove of Yallish located 7 km to the south-west ³. The town and its port were part of the kingdom of Nukür and later the Idrisid principality of the Banú "Umar ³. The Almoravids, the Almohads, and the Marinids used the site as a naval base and worked to fortify it ³. The author of the Maksad and Leo Africanus describe Badis as a township consisting of 600 households ³. Under the Marinid Abú Said, the town paid 1000 dinars in taxes, similar to Melilla and Larache ³. The port had an arsenal where galleys were built from cedar-wood from nearby mountains, was visited by Venetian merchantmen, and served as the end of the shortest route from Fez to the Mediterranean via the mountain of the Banü Khalid ³. The population engaged in trade, fishing for sardines, and piracy on the coasts of Spain ³. The governor of the Rif resided there, with authority over coastal towns from Yallish to Wadi Nukür and certain interior tribes including the Bukkůya, Banü Manşür, Banü Khalid, and Banü Yadir ³. Two small rocky islands existed less than 100 metres out to sea, the larger being called Hadjar Badis, known to the Spanish as the Peñon de Velez ³. In 1508, the Spanish occupied and fortified the island to stop pirate activities ³. The Spanish lost the location in 1520 due to treachery ³.