Moulay Ismail

Timeline

1. c. 1645–1672Fez · FezBorn around 1645 in Sijilmasa, son of Sharif ibn Ali and Mubarka. During his brother Moulay Rachid's unification of Morocco, he was appointed governor of Fez and the north in 1667, building up a military and administrative base. In 1672 Rachid died in an accident, and Ismail proclaimed himself sultan in Fez, immediately facing regional fragmentation and rival claims from his nephews.
2. 1672–1689Meknes · MeknesAfter accession he moved the political center to Meknes, extensively building palaces, granaries, stables, and walls, using Christian captives and domestic laborers. To break free of tribal private armies, he organized on a large scale the Abid al-Bukhari (Black Guard) composed of the sultan's black slaves, while relying on Gharb and other Guich tribes. In 1684 British forces withdrew from Tangier, and in 1689 he seized Larache from Spain, significantly restoring sovereignty over the coast. The civil war with his nephew Ahmad did not end until 1687.
3. 1690–1727Meknes · MeknesFrom the 1690s he exchanged envoys with Louis XIV's France and also negotiated prisoner exchanges with Britain; Salé corsairs supplied him with slaves and firearms. Campaigns against the Ottoman regime of Algiers, including the Battle of the Moulouya in 1692 and the Battle of the Chelif in 1701, both failed to achieve the annexation of Tlemcen. He reigned 55 years, one of the longest of any Moroccan sultan. He died in Meknes on March 22, 1727; after his death his sons contested the throne and central authority temporarily fragmented.