The Wattasid Dynasty of Morocco

Timeline

1. 1520–1524Fez · MoroccoSultan Muhammad al-Burtughali (r. 1505–1524) faced centrifugal local chiefs and Portuguese pressure on the coast in his later years. As descendants of the Marinids, the Wattasids relied on the support of Fez's religious scholars to maintain rule, but lacked the military strength to recover the coastal forts held by the Portuguese.
2. 1524–1527Fez · MoroccoAbu al-Abbas Ahmad acceded in 1524, seeking to revive royal authority, repair irrigation works, and support Fez's scholarly institutions. The new sultan strengthened alliances with inland Berber tribes while eyeing revenues from trans-Saharan trade to the south, accumulating resources for later intervention in the Songhai Empire.
3. 1525–1530Moroccan Atlantic coast · MoroccoThe Portuguese continued to hold coastal positions such as Safi and Azemmour, and the Wattasids could not mount an effective counteroffensive. In the late 1520s the Saadian family in the Souss region gradually rose to prominence on religious authority, challenging Wattasid power as Morocco's political landscape was brewing major change.