The Interregnum of 1727–1757 in Morocco: Inversion of the Policy of Centralisation

Abstract

The present article is focused on the Interregnum of 1727–1757 in Morocco — a controversial and turbulent period that followed the death of Moulay Ismail (1672–1727). This ruler who was the third sultan of the Alawi dynasty (1631–present time), consolidated the power and laid the foundations of the precolonial Moroccan state. He adopted a policy of strict centralisation towards the Berber-speaking tribes of the Atlas Mountains who always tried to maintain their independence from the state. The incursion of these tribes into the Atlantic plains had traditionally played a disruptive role for social, economic and political life in Morocco, and Ismail was able to stop this process. However, after his death a struggle for power began between his numerous descendants, and the political and economic crisis was followed by a new wave of tribal resistance. The author concludes that the crisis of the Interregnum could be seen as an inversion of the strict tribal policy pursued by Moulay Ismail. Based on the Moroccan annals and city chronicles, the paper analyses different approaches of Alawi sultans to the resolution of the crisis during this period. Special attention is paid to the role of Moulay Abdallah, who was able to find the way out of the crisis. The comparative analysis of the Moroccan chronicles shows that the solution laid not in the fight against Berber tribes, but in the search for compromises between them and the throne. Moulay Abdallah’s strategy in dealing with the tribes established a new policy of Moroccan rulers in the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries, which meant a greater use of arbitration and reliance on different tribal forces.

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