Morocco under the Wattasid Dynasty (1501–1510)

Timeline

1. 1501–1505Fez · MoroccoThe Wattasid sultan based his politics in Fez, but tribes and Sufi sharifian powers south of Marrakesh grew increasingly autonomous; central control over taxation, the army, and religious endowments was limited, leaving the kingdom nominally unified but actually divided.
2. 1506Agadir · MoroccoThe Portuguese built a fortress at Agadir (called Santa Cruz by them) on the Atlantic coast, controlling trade in the Souss Valley and threatening southern Morocco; the Wattasid regime failed to retake it, and the Portuguese fort became a key node of colonial expansion along the North African coast.
3. 1507–1510All of Morocco · MoroccoThe sultan called for jihad against Portugal, but the tribal alliance responded unevenly; relations with Maghribi powers such as Algiers and Tunis were complex. Wattasid authority continued to decline around 1510, and Saadian sharifian forces in the south began to rise.