Abdallah al-Ghalib II was a member of the

Saadian dynasty The Saadi Sultanate (also rendered in English as Sa'di, Sa'did, Sa'dian, or Saadian; ar, السعديون, translit=as-saʿdiyyūn) was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of West Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was l ...

who ruled parts of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

during the succession conflicts within the dynasty between 1603 and 1627. He was the son of Muhammad al-Sheikh al-Ma'mun, who was in turn the son of the powerful sultan

Ahmad al-Mansur Ahmad al-Mansur ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد المنصور, Ahmad Abu al-Abbas al-Mansur, also al-Mansur al-Dahabbi (the Golden), ar, أحمد المنصور الذهبي; and Ahmed al-Mansour; 1549 in Fes – 25 August 1603, Fes) was t ...

Life

During this period, the Saadian realm was divided between two main parts: one ruled from the main capital in Marrakesh, and the other from

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

in the north. Control of both regions changed hands multiple times. Abdallah ruled from Marrakesh between 1606 and 1609. In 1609 he successfully ordered the assassination of his uncle Abu Faris Abdallah al-Wathiq, who was established in Fes at the time. After 1609 he then ruled in

(as his father had previously done) until his death in 1623, while Zaydan al-Nasir ruled in Marrakesh. During his period of leadership in Fes, in 1609, he commissioned the construction of a second ablutions pavilion in the courtyard (''

sahn A ''sahn'' ( ar, صَحْن, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a '' riwaq'' or arcade on all sides. In traditi ...

'') of the famous

Qarawiyyin Mosque The University of al-Qarawiyyin ( ar, جامعة القرويين; ber, ⵜⴰⵙⴷⴰⵡⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵇⴰⵕⴰⵡⵉⵢⵉⵏ; french: Université Al Quaraouiyine), also written Al-Karaouine or Al Quaraouiyine, is a university located in ...

in Fes, copying the other pavilion previously built here by Ahmad al-Mansur in 1587 (the two pavilions stand across from each other today).

References

1623 deaths Saadi dynasty Sultans of Morocco 17th-century Moroccan people 17th-century monarchs in Africa {{Morocco-bio-stub