Moroccan Marinid–Wattasid Power Transition (1430s)

Name: Moroccan Marinid–Wattasid Power Transition (1430s)
Start: 1431
End: 1440

Type Event Region North Africa Time 1431–1440

In the 1430s, Marinid sultans nominally ruled Fez and Marrakesh, but real power passed to the Wattasid family, whose vizier Abul Zakariya Yahya ruled…

Timeline

1431–1435Fez · MoroccoAbul Zakariya Yahya Wattasi effectively controlled the Fez court as vizier (later regent), appointing officials, collecting taxes, and commanding the army; the Marinid sultan became a puppet and the dynasty's power structure shifted fundamentally.
1435–1440Morocco · MoroccoMarinid sultans' control over Berber tribes south of Marrakesh and coastal ports steadily weakened; court factionalism drained the state, while the Wattasid family consolidated its network through marriages and appointments, accumulating political capital for the eventual dynastic takeover.

Sources

The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c.1050 to c.1600 — J. F. Ade Ajayi; Roland Oliver (eds.) (1977)
Morocco in the Reign of Mawlay Ismail — Abdelhamid El Ouadghiri (1997)