Mendoub

The Mendoub or Mandub ( ar, مندوب, "delegate" or "representative") was a key official in the governance of the Tangier International Zone between 1925 and 1956, with a wartime interruption from 1941 to 1945. He represented the authority of the Sultan of Morocco in the zone, and was directly in charge of the affairs of the Muslim and Jewish communities which together formed the vast majority of Tangier's inhabitants. The foreign communities, by contrast, were under the authority of the zone's Administrator. The Mendoub succeeded the Naib ( ar, نائب "deputy", plural Nawab) who held a similar office from 1848 to 1923, albeit under a regime in which the sovereignty of the Moroccan Monarchy in Tangier was somewhat less compromised.

Buildings

From 1851, the Naib was established in the building known as ''Dar al-Niaba'' ("House of the Naib") on Rue Es-Siaghine in the former home of the French Consulate. In 2022, that building was repurposed as a small art museum following its renovation.

During the International Zone era, the Mendoub's office was the Mendoubia, just north of the Grand Socco square in the center of Tangier, which had been vacated by the German consulate in August 1914. From 1929 the Mendoub resided in a palatial residence in the waterfront neighborhood of Marshan, from which he proceeded to the Mendoubia in a colorful ceremonial that became a tourist attraction.

List of Naibs and Mendoubs

* Naib Busilham bin Ali Aztut (1848-1851)
* Naib Hajj Muhammad al-Khatib (1851-1860)
* Naib Muhammad Bargash (1860-1886)
* Naib Muhammad Torres (1886-1908)
* Naib (1908-1912)
* Naib, then Mendoub Muhammad at-Tazi Bu Ashran (?-1941 and 1945–1954)
* Mendoub Ahmad at-Tazi (1954-1956)

See also

* List of rulers of the Tangier International Zone

References

History of Tangier
Governors of Tangier
20th century in Morocco
Gubernatorial titles

{{Morocco-stub