Marinid Abu Inan (1340s)

Timeline

1. 1340–1348Fez–Kairouan · MaghrebAfter Abu al-Hasan's catastrophic defeat at the Salado River in Iberia in 1340, he still tried to control Ifriqiya. He briefly occupied Tunis in 1347 but was defeated by a coalition of Arab tribes near Kairouan in April 1348. Abu Inan, then governor of Tlemcen, returned to Fez and proclaimed himself sultan; the central and eastern Maghreb promptly descended into fragmentation and rebellion.
2. 1348–1349Morocco · MoroccoAfter assuming the title 'Commander of the Faithful' in 1348, Abu Inan worked to restore order in Morocco proper, but the Black Death spread across North Africa in 1349, further weakening Marinid control over eastern dependencies. His father Abu al-Hasan remained stranded in Algeria, and the brief unity of the Marinid empire completely collapsed.
3. 1350–1357Fez · FezAbu Inan built the Bou Inania madrasa in Fez from 1350 to 1355, the pinnacle of Marinid architecture. In 1357 he led land and naval forces against Tunis again and briefly occupied it, but tribal resistance forced a withdrawal. On January 10, 1358 he was strangled by his vizier, plunging the Marinid dynasty into succession chaos and marking the end of the expansion–internal strife cycle that began in the 1340s.