The conflicts between the regency of Algiers and the Cherifian dynasties or Algerian-Sherifian conflicts are, within the framework of the conflicts opposing Morocco to the Ottoman Empire and its dependencies, a series of wars between, on the one hand, the regency of Algiers and its allies - the local sultanates or tribal confederations - and, on the other hand, the Cherifian Saadian and Alawite dynasties that have ruled Morocco since the 16th century.
The origins of these conflicts are multiple and overlapping. The state-owned enterprise of the regency of Algiers in the central Maghreb around
Algiers as a new political center and its integration with the Ottoman Empire (in 1520) was at the expense of the
Zayyanids
The Zayyanid dynasty ( ar, زيانيون, ''Ziyānyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids ( ar, بنو عبد الواد, ''Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād'') was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of ...
of Tlemcen in the west. The latter in recurrent conflicts at the beginning of the sixteenth century with the regency on the one hand and the
Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...
on the other end up seeing their domain integrated with the regency. Their weakening stirred the Saadian lusts and their claim on the western Algerian. If the regency of Algiers confirms its control over Tlemcen and
Orania it does not have the means to launch long campaigns in the
Saharan confines that it delegates to various tribal confederations like the
Ouled Sidi Cheikh. The Saadians were blocked to the north by the Spanish Empire and the Regency of Algiers then find a South-Saharan outlet for the extension of their Empire.
These conflicts and the resulting agreements foreshadow the borders and delimitations between the modern nation-states of the Maghreb.
The establishment of the regency of Algiers (16th century)
Collapse of the Zayyanids of Tlemcen
The weakening of the
Zayyanids
The Zayyanid dynasty ( ar, زيانيون, ''Ziyānyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids ( ar, بنو عبد الواد, ''Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād'') was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of ...
of
Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the p ...
, playing on their alliances with
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, the Turks of Algiers and the
Wattasids
The Wattasid dynasty ( ber, Iweṭṭasen; ar, الوطاسيون, ''al-waṭṭāsīyūn'') was a ruling dynasty of Morocco. Like the Marinid dynasty, its rulers were of Zenata Berber descent. The two families were related, and the Marinids re ...
to maintain themselves, opened up a period of political emptiness in western Algeria. The foundation of the regency of Algiers (1512-1529) then its integration into the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
will be done at the expense of the Zayyanids in the west and the
Hafsids
The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (weste ...
in the east. The regency of Algiers, directed by the exogenous Turkish element of its militia, extended its influence to the west through the play of maraboutic alliances and brotherhoods. However, the advent of the Cherifian dynasties in Fez, with the
Saadians
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 ...
in 1550, upset this game of alliances. Indeed, the regency of Algiers could not count on the support of the maraboutics against the sovereigns claiming a Cherifian origin (i.e. descending from Prophet Muhammad). Negotiations therefore began concerning the territories formerly under Zayyanids suzerainty, which were not successful.
Saadian attempts in Oran
In 1545, the Saadians allied themselves with the Spaniards. The Cherifian army took Tlemcen without fighting in 1550 and decided to march on Algiers. The beylerbeys of the regency of Algiers and the Sultan of the
Beni Abbas then concluded the pact of Aguemoun Ath Khiar. They retook the city of Tlemcen and Oranie in 1551; The victory was exploited politically by the Turks of Algiers and played a role in the formation of Algeria (prefiguring its borders). This conflict opened a period of Algerian-Cherifian hostility which only ceased in 1585 with the intervention of the Ottoman sultan. From then on, for about a century, the Moulouya border was respected.
On the other hand, the fall of the Zayyanids of Tlemcen opened the way to the Saharan conquests of the Saadians who were anxious to control the trans-Saharan axes that had been left vacant. The regency cannot engage in distant Saharan expeditions, it is however mentioned that a troop was sent from Algiers to the Gourara towards the end of the 16th century at the request of the Ksourians in the face of the rezzous from Tafilalt.
The Touat and the Gourara are then subjected to a temptation of local withdrawal and are independent in fact.
Notable battles
*
Campaign of Tlemcen (1551)
*
Capture of Fez (1554)
The Conquest of Fez or Capture of Fez took place in 1554 between the Algerian forces of Salah Rais and the ruler of the Saadi Sultanate, Mohammed ash-Sheikh.Page 406, The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3: c. 1050-c. 1600 (Volume 3) The battl ...
*
Campaign of Tlemcen (1557)
*
Battle of Moulouya (1691)
*
Battle of Chelif
The Battle of Chelif or Battle of Djidouia took place on 28 April 1701 on the banks of the Chelif River. It was fought between the armies of the Alaouite Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif and those of the Regency of Algiers commanded by the Bey of Mascar ...
(1701)
References
Bibliography
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*
*
* {{Cite book, last=Cour, first=Auguste, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sClyAAAAMAAJ&q=auguste+cour+rivalit%C3%A9, title=L'établissement des dynasties des Chérifs au Maroc et leur rivalité avec les Turcs de la Régence d'Alger: 1509-1830, date=2004-01-01, publisher=Editions Bouchène, isbn=9782912946782, language=fr
16th-century conflicts
17th-century conflicts
18th-century conflicts
Ottoman Algeria
Military history of Morocco
Military history of Algeria