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Abu al-Hasan

Type Figure Region Maghreb Time c. 1297–1351 Also known as the Black Sultan

Marinid sultan of Morocco (r. 1331–1351) who nearly unified the Maghreb; deposed by his son Abu Inan in 1348, he died in exile in 1351.

Timeline

  1. 1331–1337Fez · MoroccoAbu al-Hasan succeeded his father Abu Sa'id Uthman II as ruler of Morocco, took Gibraltar in 1333, captured Tlemcen after a three-year siege in 1337, and concluded a marriage alliance with the Hafsid dynasty to consolidate his eastward alliance.
  2. 1347–1348Tunis · TunisiaIn September 1347 he captured Tunis, briefly unifying most of the Maghreb; but in April 1348 his army was defeated near Kairouan by a coalition of Arab tribes, undoing his eastern conquests, whereupon the son of the governor of Tlemcen, Abu Inan, seized power in Fez.
  3. 1348–1351High Atlas Mountains · High AtlasDeposed by his son Abu Inan, he fled to the mountains and made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to restore his rule; he died in the mountains in May 1351, and his body was reburied by Abu Inan at the Marinid necropolis of Chellah near Fez.

Sources