Alawi Sultanate

The Alawi Sultanate was the Moroccan state ruled by the Alawi dynasty from the mid-seventeenth century until the establishment of the French protectorate in 1912. The dynasty, a Sharifian family claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad, had risen in the Tafilalt oasis. After the weakening of the Saadi Sultanate, Mawlay al-Rashid, who ruled from 1664 to 1672, united the country and made Fez his capital. His brother Mawlay Isma'il then built a strong central administration and a standing army, moved the court to Meknes and held power until 1727. His reign was followed by succession struggles among his sons, and order was only restored in the second half of the eighteenth century under Muhammad ibn Abdallah. In the nineteenth century the sultanate faced growing European pressure, lost control of trade and suffered military defeats, while the interior remained divided among tribal and local elites. In 1912 the Treaty of Fes imposed a French protectorate, ending the independent sultanate, although the Alawi dynasty continued as the royal house of Morocco. The sultanate's institutions, its Sharifian legitimacy and its cities, especially Fez and Meknes, remained central to Moroccan political life.