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125-583: The Pyatigorsk springs were first described in the 14th century, by the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta . Since at least the 17th century, Northern Caucasian folklore has attributed healing properties to the local water. One legend tells of a hunter who, in pursuit of a wolf, fell into a spring and was miraculously cured of rheumatism. In the early 18th century, Peter the Great , having enjoyed spa resorts in Spa and Karlsbad ,

250-521: A Somali sultan, Abu Bakr ibn Shaikh 'Umar. He noted that Sultan Abu Bakr had dark skin complexion and spoke in his native tongue (Somali), but was also fluent in Arabic. The Sultan also had a retinue of wazirs (ministers), legal experts, commanders, royal eunuchs , and other officials at his beck and call. Ibn Battuta continued by ship south to the Swahili coast , a region then known in Arabic as

375-422: A proposed referendum on the future of the territory but the deadlock was not broken. Political reforms in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature with Morocco's first opposition-led government coming to power. King Hassan II died in 1999 and was succeeded by his son, Mohammed VI . He is a cautious moderniser who has introduced some economic and social liberalisation. Mohammed VI paid

500-401: A chief judge and married into the royal family of Omar I . Ibn Battuta took on his duties as a judge with keenness and strived to transform local practices to conform to a stricter application of Muslim law. He commanded that men who did not attend Friday prayer be publicly whipped, and that robbers' right hand be cut off. He forbade women from being topless in public, which had previously been

625-524: A church. The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb that had begun during the mid-7th century was completed under the Umayyad Caliphate by 709. The caliphate introduced both Islam and the Arabic language to the area; this period also saw the beginning of a trend of Arab migration to the Maghreb which would last for centuries and effect a demographic shift in the region. While constituting part of

750-685: A controversial visit to the Western Sahara in 2002. Morocco unveiled an autonomy blueprint for Western Sahara to the United Nations in 2007. The Polisario rejected the plan and put forward its own proposal. Morocco and the Polisario Front held UN-sponsored talks in New York City but failed to come to any agreement. In 2010, security forces stormed a protest camp in the Western Sahara, triggering violent demonstrations in

875-612: A distinctive Maghrebi ancestry formed from a mixture of Near Eastern and African ancestry, which is still found as a part of the genome of modern Northwest Africans. Later during the Neolithic , from around 7,500 years ago onwards, there was a migration into Northwest Africa of European Neolithic Farmers from the Iberian Peninsula (who had originated in Anatolia several thousand years prior), as well as pastoralists from

1000-468: A feature of most Anatolian towns in the 13th and 14th centuries. The members were young artisans and had at their head a leader with the title of Akhil . The associations specialised in welcoming travellers. Ibn Battuta was very impressed with the hospitality that he received and would later stay in their hospices in more than 25 towns in Anatolia. From Antalya Ibn Battuta headed inland to Eğirdir which

1125-722: A guest for three days. Ibn Battuta then sailed to a state called Kaylukari in the land of Tawalisi , where he met Urduja , a local princess. Urduja was a brave warrior, and her people were opponents of the Yuan dynasty . She was described as an "idolater", but could write the phrase Bismillah in Islamic calligraphy . The locations of Kaylukari and Tawalisi are disputed. Kaylukari might referred to Po Klong Garai in Champa (now southern Vietnam), and Urduja might be an aristocrat of Champa or Dai Viet . Filipinos widely believe that Kaylukari

1250-615: A joint Moroccan-French administration, while creating a modern school system. Several divisions of Moroccan soldiers ( Goumiers or regular troops and officers) served in the French army in both World War I and World War II , and in the Spanish Nationalist Army in the Spanish Civil War and after ( Regulares ). The institution of slavery was abolished in 1925. Between 1921 and 1926, an uprising in

1375-667: A large caravan of pilgrims returning to Iraq across the Arabian Peninsula . The group headed north to Medina and then, travelling at night, turned northeast across the Najd plateau to Najaf , on a journey that lasted about two weeks. In Najaf, he visited the mausoleum of Ali , the Fourth Caliph . Then, instead of continuing to Baghdad with the caravan, Ibn Battuta started a six-month detour that took him into Iran . From Najaf, he journeyed to Wasit , then followed

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1500-537: A new constitution curbing the powers of the king. In July 2011, the King won a landslide victory in a referendum on a reformed constitution he had proposed to placate the Arab Spring protests. In the first general elections that followed, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party won a plurality of seats, with Abdelilah Benkirane being designated as head of government per the new constitution. Despite

1625-529: A number of towns in central Anatolia, but not in the order in which he describes. When Ibn Battuta arrived in İznik , it had just been conquered by Orhan , sultan of the Ottoman Beylik . Orhan was away and his wife was in command of the nearby stationed soldiers, Ibn Battuta gave this account of Orhan's wife: "A pious and excellent woman. She treated me honourably, gave me hospitality and sent gifts." Ibn Battuta's account of Orhan: The greatest of

1750-407: A peculiar way. Southern merchants brought various goods and placed them in an open area on the snow in the night, then returned to their tents. Next morning they came to the place again and found their merchandise taken by the mysterious people, but in exchange they found fur-skins which could be used for making valuable coats, jackets, and other winter garments. The trade was done between merchants and

1875-420: A place called "Mul Jawa" (island of Java or Majapahit Java) which was a center of a Hindu empire . The empire spanned 2 months of travel, and ruled over the country of Qaqula and Qamara. He arrived at the walled city named Qaqula/Kakula, and observed that the city had war junks for pirate raiding and collecting tolls and that elephants were employed for various purposes. He met the ruler of Mul Jawa and stayed as

2000-491: A population of approximately 37 million. Islam is both the official and predominant religion, while Arabic and Berber are the official languages. Additionally, French and the Moroccan dialect of Arabic are widely spoken. The culture of Morocco is a mix of Arab , Berber , African and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat , while its largest city is Casablanca . The region constituting Morocco has been inhabited since

2125-594: A result of the Mongol invasion in 1220 and subsequent infighting. From there, he journeyed south to Afghanistan , then crossed into India via the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush . In the Rihla , he mentions these mountains and the history of the range in slave trading. He wrote, After this I proceeded to the city of Barwan, in the road to which is a high mountain, covered with snow and exceedingly cold; they call it

2250-418: A state of emergency and suspended parliament in 1965. In 1971 and 1972, there were two failed attempts to depose the king and establish a republic. A truth commission set up in 2005 to investigate human rights abuses during his reign confirmed nearly 10,000 cases, ranging from death in detention to forced exile. Some 592 people were recorded killed during Hassan's rule according to the truth commission. In 1963,

2375-566: A strong reaction from the German Empire ; and a crisis loomed in 1905. The matter was resolved at the Algeciras Conference in 1906. The Agadir Crisis of 1911 increased tensions between European powers. The 1912 Treaty of Fez made Morocco a protectorate of France, and triggered the 1912 Fez riots . Spain continued to operate its coastal protectorate. By the same treaty, Spain assumed the role of protecting power over

2500-455: A variety of offences. His plan to leave on the pretext of taking another hajj was stymied by the Sultan. The opportunity for Battuta to leave Delhi finally arose in 1341 when an embassy arrived from the Yuan dynasty of China asking for permission to rebuild a Himalayan Buddhist temple popular with Chinese pilgrims. Ibn Battuta was given charge of the embassy but en route to the coast at

2625-694: A variety of terms denoting the Sharifi heritage of the 'Alawi dynasty , such as al-Mamlakah ash-Sharīfah ( المملكة الشريفة ), al-Iyālah ash-Sharīfah ( الإيالة الشريفة ) and al-Imbarāṭūriyyah ash-Sharīfah ( الإمبراطورية الشريفة ), rendered in French as l'Empire chérifien and in English as the 'Sharifian Empire'. The area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since at least Paleolithic times , beginning sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. A recent publication has suggested that there

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2750-578: A world traveller. He spent several weeks visiting sites in the area, and then headed inland to Cairo , the capital of the Mamluk Sultanate . After spending about a month in Cairo, he embarked on the first of many detours within the relative safety of Mamluk territory. Of the three usual routes to Mecca, Ibn Battuta chose the least-traveled, which involved a journey up the Nile valley, then east to

2875-502: A young man, he would have studied at a Sunni Maliki school, the dominant form of education in North Africa at that time. Maliki Muslims requested that Ibn Battuta serve as their religious judge, as he was from an area where it was practised. On 2 Rajab 725 AH (14 June 1325 AD), Ibn Battuta set off from his home town at the age of 21 on a hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca , a journey that would ordinarily take sixteen months. He

3000-485: Is al-Maghrib ( المغرب , transl.  the land of the sunset; the west ), with the Kingdom's official Arabic name being al-Mamlakah al-Maghribīyah ( المملكة المغربية ; transl.  the kingdom of sunset/the west ). In Turkish , Morocco is known as Fas , a name derived from its medieval capital of Fes which is derived from the Arabic word Faʾs ( فأس ; transl.   pickaxe ), as

3125-470: Is doubtful. In all likelihood, he went directly from Ta'izz to the important trading port of Aden , arriving around the beginning of 1329 or 1331. From Aden , Ibn Battuta embarked on a ship heading for Zeila on the coast of Somalia . He then moved on to Cape Guardafui further down the Somali seaboard, spending about a week in each location. Later he would visit Mogadishu , the then pre-eminent city of

3250-730: Is evidence for even earlier human habitation of the area: Homo sapiens fossils that had been discovered in the late 2000s near the Atlantic coast in Jebel Irhoud were recently dated to roughly 315,000 years ago. During the Upper Paleolithic , the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, resembling a savanna , in contrast to its modern arid landscape. DNA studies of Iberomaurusian peoples at Taforalt , Morocco dating to around 15,000 years ago have found them to have

3375-623: Is known about Ibn Battuta's life comes from the autobiographical information included in the account of his travels, which records that he was of Berber descent, born into a family of Islamic legal scholars (known as qadis in the Muslim traditions of Morocco ) in Tangier on 24 February 1304, during the reign of the Marinid dynasty . His family belonged to a Berber tribe known as the Lawata . As

3500-577: Is surrounded with a strong wall, and its founder is said to be one of the great non-Muslim kings, called Tara". Upon his arrival in Sindh , Ibn Battuta mentions the Indian rhinoceros that lived on the banks of the Indus . The Sultan was erratic even by the standards of the time and for six years Ibn Battuta veered between living the high life of a trusted subordinate and falling under suspicion of treason for

3625-708: The Abbasids in the Hejaz . He convinced the Awraba Berber tribes to break their allegiance to the distant Abbasid caliphs and he founded the Idrisid dynasty in 788. The Idrisids established Fes as their capital and Morocco became a centre of Muslim learning and a major regional power . The Idrisids were ousted in 927 by the Fatimid Caliphate and their Miknasa allies. After Miknasa broke off relations with

3750-582: The Arabian Desert to Mecca. Ill with diarrhoea, he arrived in the city weak and exhausted for his second hajj . Ibn Battuta remained in Mecca for some time (the Rihla suggests about three years, from September 1327 until autumn 1330). Problems with chronology, however, lead commentators to suggest that he may have left after the 1328 hajj . After the hajj in either 1328 or 1330, he made his way to

3875-874: The Banu Hilal Arab tribes. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Zenata Berber Marinids held power in Morocco and strove to replicate the successes of the Almohads through military campaigns in Algeria and Spain. They were followed by the Wattasids . In the 15th century, the Reconquista ended Muslim rule in Iberia and many Muslims and Jews fled to Morocco. Portuguese efforts to control

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4000-582: The Berber people . Its total area is about 446,300 km (172,317 sq mi). Algeria borders Morocco to the east and southeast, though the border between the two countries has been closed since 1994. Spanish territory in Northwest Africa neighbouring Morocco comprises five enclaves on the Mediterranean coast: Ceuta , Melilla , Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , Peñón de Alhucemas ,

4125-512: The Bilad al-Zanj ("Land of the Zanj ") with an overnight stop at the island town of Mombasa . Although relatively small at the time, Mombasa would become important in the following century. After a journey along the coast, Ibn Battuta next arrived in the island town of Kilwa in present-day Tanzania , which had become an important transit centre of the gold trade. He described the city as "one of

4250-638: The Chafarinas islands, and the disputed islet Perejil . Off the Atlantic coast the Canary Islands belong to Spain, whereas Madeira to the north is Portuguese . To the north, Morocco is bordered by the Strait of Gibraltar, where international shipping has unimpeded transit passage between the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The Rif mountains stretch over the region bordering the Mediterranean from

4375-513: The Golden Horde realm. He went to the port town of Azov , where he met with the emir of the Khan, then to the large and rich city of Majar . He left Majar to meet with Uzbeg Khan 's travelling court ( Orda ), which was at the time near Mount Beshtau . From there he made a journey to Bolghar , which became the northernmost point he reached, and noted its unusually short nights in summer (by

4500-516: The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 geographical encoding standard by the symbol MA . This code was used as the basis for Morocco's internet domain, .ma . In area, Morocco's climate is mainly " hot summer Mediterranean " ( Csa ) and " hot desert " ( BWh ) zones. Central mountain ranges and the effects of the cold Canary Current , off the Atlantic coast, are significant factors in Morocco's relatively large variety of vegetation zones, ranging from lush forests in

4625-627: The Khyber Pass and Peshawar , or further south. He crossed the Sutlej river near the city of Pakpattan , in modern-day Pakistan, where he paid obeisance at the shrine of Baba Farid , before crossing southwest into Rajput country. From the Rajput kingdom of Sarsatti, Battuta visited Hansi in India, describing it as "among the most beautiful cities, the best constructed and the most populated; it

4750-649: The King of Morocco and the prime minister , while legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament: the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors . Judicial power rests with the Constitutional Court, which may review the validity of laws, elections, and referendums. The king holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military , foreign policy and religious affairs; he can issue decrees called dahirs , which have

4875-694: The Kingdom of Morocco , is a 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 to the east , and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south . Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta , Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It has

5000-551: The Levant , both of whom also significantly contributed to the ancestry of modern Northwest Africans. The proto-Berber tribes evolved from these prehistoric communities during the late Bronze - and early Iron ages. In the early part of Classical Antiquity , Northwest Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean world by the Phoenicians , who established trading colonies and settlements there,

5125-485: The Mappila Muslims, who were also followers of Imam Al-Shafi‘i. At that time Samudra Pasai marked the end of Dar al-Islam , because no territory east of this was ruled by a Muslim. Here he stayed for about two weeks in the wooden walled town as a guest of the sultan, and then the sultan provided him with supplies and sent him on his way on one of his own junks to China. Ibn Battuta first sailed for 21 days to

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5250-597: The Paleolithic era over 300,000 years ago. The Idrisid dynasty was established by Idris I in 788 and was subsequently ruled by a series of other independent dynasties, reaching its zenith as a regional power in the 11th and 12th centuries, under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, when it controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb. Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since

5375-482: The Red Sea port of ʿAydhab . Upon approaching the town, however, a local rebellion forced him to turn back. Ibn Battuta returned to Cairo and took a second side trip, this time to Mamluk-controlled Damascus . During his first trip he had encountered a holy man who prophesied that he would only reach Mecca by travelling through Syria . The diversion held an added advantage; because of the holy places that lay along

5500-430: The Rif Mountains, led by Abd el-Krim , led to the establishment of the Republic of the Rif . The Spanish used anti-civilian bombing raids and mustard gas to prevent the Rif republic from gaining independence. They lost more than 13,000 soldiers at Annual in July–August 1921 alone. The Riffi were eventually suppressed by 1927 by the Franco-Spanish military. The casualties on the Spanish-French side were 52,000 and from

5625-424: The Rif Mountains . It was founded by Salih I ibn Mansur in 710, as a client state to the Umayyad Caliphate. After the outbreak of the Berber Revolt in 739, the Berbers formed other independent states such as the Miknasa of Sijilmasa and the Barghawata . The founder of the Idrisid dynasty and the great-grandson of Hasan ibn Ali , Idris ibn Abdallah , had fled to Morocco after the massacre of his family by

5750-467: The SADR 's admission to the body. Polisario claimed to have killed more than 5,000 Moroccan soldiers between 1982 and 1985. Algerian authorities have estimated the number of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria to be 165,000. Diplomatic relations with Algeria were restored in 1988. In 1991, a UN-monitored ceasefire began in Western Sahara, but the territory's status remains undecided and ceasefire violations are reported. The following decade saw much wrangling over

5875-436: The Sand War was fought between Algerian and Moroccan troops over Moroccan claims to parts of Algerian territory. A formal peace agreement was signed in February 1964; however, relations remained strained between the two countries following the conflict. The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south was returned to Morocco in 1969. The Polisario movement was formed in 1973, with the aim of establishing an independent state in

6000-426: The Sinai Peninsula to Palestine and then travelled north again through some of the towns that he had visited in 1326. From the Syrian port of Latakia , a Genoese ship took him (and his companions) to Alanya on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey. He then journeyed westwards along the coast to the port of Antalya . In the town he met members of one of the semi-religious fityan associations. These were

6125-435: The Spanish name for the country, Marruecos , derived from the name of the city of Marrakesh , which was the capital of the Almoravid dynasty , the Almohad Caliphate , and the Saadian dynasty . During the Almoravid dynasty, the city of Marrakesh was established under the name of Tāmurākušt , derived from the city's ancient Berber name of amūr n Yakuš ( lit.   ' land/country of God ' ). In English,

6250-470: The Strait of Hormuz then on to Mecca for the hajj of 1330 (or 1332). After his third pilgrimage to Mecca, Ibn Battuta decided to seek employment with the Sultan of Delhi , Muhammad bin Tughluq . In the autumn of 1330 (or 1332), he set off for the Seljuk controlled territory of Anatolia to take an overland route to India. He crossed the Red Sea and the Eastern Desert to reach the Nile valley and then headed north to Cairo . From there he crossed

6375-404: The fifth-largest economy in Africa and wields significant influence in both Africa and the Arab world ; it is considered a middle power in global affairs and holds membership in the Arab League , the Arab Maghreb Union , the Union for the Mediterranean , and the African Union . Morocco is a unitary semi- constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The executive branch is led by

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6500-458: The historicity of some of Ibn Battuta's travels, particularly as they reach farther East. "Ibn Battuta" is a patronymic , literally meaning 'son of the duckling'. His most common full name is given as Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta. In his travelogue , The Rihla , he gives his full name as " Shams al-Din Abu’Abdallah Muhammad ibn’Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf Lawati al- Tanji ibn Battuta". All that

6625-402: The local inhabitants . In 1979, Mauritania relinquished its claim to the area, but the war continued to rage. In 1991, a ceasefire agreement was reached, but the issue of sovereignty remained unresolved. Today, Morocco occupies two-thirds of the territory, and efforts to resolve the dispute have thus far failed to break the political deadlock. The English Morocco is an anglicisation of

6750-416: The siege of Melilla against the Spanish ended in defeat in 1775. Morocco was the first nation to recognise the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777. In the beginning of the American Revolution , American merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean were subject to attacks by other fleets. On 20 December 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III declared that American merchant ships would be under

6875-404: The " Land of the Berbers " (بلد البربر Balad al-Barbar , the medieval Arabic term for the Horn of Africa ). When Ibn Battuta arrived in 1332, Mogadishu stood at the zenith of its prosperity. He described it as "an exceedingly large city" with many rich merchants, noted for its high-quality fabric that was exported to other countries, including Egypt . Battuta added that the city was ruled by

7000-433: The 17th century. Morocco faced aggression from Spain in the north, and the Ottoman Empire's allies pressing westward. Under the Saadis, the sultanate ended the Portuguese Aviz dynasty in 1578 at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir . The reign of Ahmad al-Mansur brought new wealth and prestige to the Sultanate, and a large expedition to West Africa inflicted a crushing defeat on the Songhay Empire in 1591. However, managing

7125-417: The 7th century shifted the demographic scope of the region. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Morocco faced external threats to its sovereignty, with Portugal seizing some territory and the Ottoman Empire encroaching from the east. The Marinid and Saadi dynasties otherwise resisted foreign domination, and Morocco was the only North African nation to escape Ottoman dominion. The 'Alawi dynasty , which rules

7250-434: The Atlantic sea trade in the 15th century did not greatly affect the interior of Morocco even though they managed to control some possessions on the Moroccan coast but not venturing further afield inland. In 1549, the region fell to successive Arab dynasties claiming descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad : first the Saadi dynasty who ruled from 1549 to 1659, and then the 'Alawi dynasty , who have remained in power since

7375-402: The Fatimids in 932, they were removed from power by the Maghrawa of Sijilmasa in 980. From the 11th century onward, a series of Berber dynasties arose. Under the Sanhaja Almoravid dynasty and the Masmuda Almohad dynasty , Morocco dominated the Maghreb, al-Andalus in Iberia , and the western Mediterranean region. From the 13th century onward the country saw a massive migration of

7500-528: The Hindu Kush, that is Hindu-slayer, because most of the slaves brought thither from India die on account of the intenseness of the cold. Ibn Battuta and his party reached the Indus River on 12 September 1333. From there, he made his way to Delhi and became acquainted with the sultan, Muhammad bin Tughluq . Muhammad bin Tughluq was renowned as the wealthiest man in the Muslim world at that time. He patronised various scholars, Sufis, qadis , viziers , and other functionaries in order to consolidate his rule. On

7625-457: The Kingdom of Morocco, the United States of America and the State of Israel was signed on 22 December 2020. On 24 August 2021, neighbouring Algeria cut diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing Morocco of supporting a separatist group and hostile actions against Algeria. Morocco called the decision unjustified. On 8 September 2023, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Morocco killing more than 2,800 people and injuring thousands. The epicentre of

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7750-487: The Kingdom of Morocco. A month later Spain forsook its protectorate in Northern Morocco to the new state but kept its two coastal enclaves ( Ceuta and Melilla ) on the Mediterranean coast which dated from earlier conquests, but over which Morocco still claims sovereignty to this day. Sultan Mohammed became King in 1957. Upon the death of Mohammed V, Hassan II became King of Morocco on 3 March 1961. Morocco held its first general elections in 1963 . However, Hassan declared

7875-426: The Maldives, Ibn Battuta took four wives. In his Travels he wrote that in the Maldives the effect of small dowries and female non-mobility combined to, in effect, make a marriage a convenient temporary arrangement for visiting male travellers and sailors. From the Maldives, he carried on to Sri Lanka and visited Sri Pada and Tenavaram temple . Ibn Battuta's ship almost sank on embarking from Sri Lanka, only for

8000-413: The Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and the annexed Western Sahara. It is one of only three nations (along with Spain and France ) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. A large part of Morocco is mountainous. The Atlas Mountains are located mainly in the centre and the south of the country. The Rif Mountains are located in the north of the country. Both ranges are mainly inhabited by

8125-439: The Necessity of Their Development." This date marks the beginning of the region as a recognized Russian resort. Following this, the resort was visited by famous Russian writers, artists and statesmen, including Mikhail Lermontov , Alexander Pushkin , and Nikolay Raevsky . The region’s resort potential began to be properly developed in 1863 with the establishment of the Russian Balneological Society in Pyatigorsk. That same year,

8250-463: The Riffi 10,000 died. In 1943, the Istiqlal Party (Independence Party) was founded to press for independence, with discreet US support. Moroccan nationalists drew heavily on transnational activist networks for lobbying to end colonial rule, primarily at the United Nations. The Istiqlal Party subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement. France's exile of Sultan Mohammed V in 1953 to Madagascar and his replacement by

8375-429: The Spanish Sahara. On 6 November 1975, King Hassan asked for volunteers to cross into the Spanish Sahara. Some 350,000 civilians were reported as being involved in the " Green March ". A month later, Spain agreed to leave the Spanish Sahara, soon to become Western Sahara, and to transfer it to joint Moroccan-Mauritanian control, despite the objections and threats of military intervention by Algeria. Moroccan forces occupied

8500-412: The accounts of his travels to Sultan Öz Beg Khan (r. 1313–1341). Then he continued past the Caspian and Aral Seas to Bukhara and Samarkand , the latter of which he praised as "one of the grandest and finest cities, and the most perfect of them". Here he visited the court of another Mongol khan, Tarmashirin (r. 1331–1334) of the Chagatai Khanate . He also noted the ruined state of the city walls,

8625-408: The banks of the Sharavathi river next to the Arabian Sea . This area is today known as Hosapattana and lies in the Honnavar Taluk of Uttara Kannada . Following the overthrow of the sultanate, Ibn Battuta had no choice but to leave India. Although determined to continue his journey to China, he first took a detour to visit the Maldive Islands where he worked as a judge. He spent nine months on

8750-412: The bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow at this separation. He travelled to Mecca overland, following the North African coast across the sultanates of Abd al-Wadid and Hafsid . The route took him through Tlemcen , Béjaïa , and then Tunis , where he stayed for two months. For safety, Ibn Battuta usually joined a caravan to reduce

8875-419: The boundaries of the Islamic world. Arriving in Constantinople towards the end of 1332 (or 1334), he met the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. He visited the great church of Hagia Sophia and spoke with an Eastern Orthodox priest about his travels in the city of Jerusalem. After a month in the city, Ibn Battuta returned to Astrakhan, then arrived in the capital city Sarai al-Jadid and reported

9000-604: The city's founder Idris I ibn Abd Allah reputedly used a silver and gold pickaxe to trace the outlines of the city. In other parts of the Islamic world, for example in Egyptian and Middle Eastern Arabic literature before the mid-20th century, Morocco was commonly referred to as Murrakush ( مراكش ). The term is still used to refer to Morocco today in several Indo-Iranian languages, including Persian , Urdu , and Punjabi . Morocco has also been referred to politically by

9125-673: The country to this day, seized power in 1631, and over the next two centuries expanded diplomatic and commercial relations with the Western world . Morocco's strategic location near the mouth of the Mediterranean drew renewed European interest; in 1912, France and Spain divided the country into respective protectorates , reserving an international zone in Tangier . Following intermittent riots and revolts against colonial rule, in 1956, Morocco regained its independence and reunified. Since independence, Morocco has remained relatively stable. It has

9250-493: The custom. However, these and other strict judgements began to antagonise the island nation's rulers, and involved him in power struggles and political intrigues. Ibn Battuta resigned from his job as chief qadi , although in all likelihood it was inevitable that he would have been dismissed. Throughout his travels, Ibn Battuta kept close company with women, usually taking a wife whenever he stopped for any length of time at one place, and then divorcing her when he moved on. While in

9375-488: The finest and most beautifully built towns; all the buildings are of wood, and the houses are roofed with dīs reeds". Ibn Battuta recorded his visit to the Kilwa Sultanate in 1330, and commented favourably on the humility and religion of its ruler, Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman , a descendant of the legendary Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi . He further wrote that the authority of the Sultan extended from Malindi in

9500-830: The first vowel has been changed, likely influenced by the word "Moor". Historically, the territory has been part of what Muslim geographers referred to as al-Maghrib al-Aqṣā    [ ar ] ( المغرب الأقصى , 'the Farthest West [of the Islamic world]' designating roughly the area from Tiaret to the Atlantic ) in contrast with neighbouring regions of al-Maghrib al-Awsaṭ    [ ar ] ( المغرب الأوسط , 'the Middle West': Tripoli to Béjaïa ) and al-Maghrib al-Adnā    [ ar ] ( المغرب الأدنى , 'the Nearest West': Alexandria to Tripoli ). Morocco's modern Arabic name

9625-444: The force of law, and can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the prime minister and the president of the constitutional court. Morocco claims ownership of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara , which it has designated its Southern Provinces . In 1975, after Spain agreed to decolonise the territory and cede its control to Morocco and Mauritania , a guerrilla war broke out between those powers and some of

9750-605: The illegal migrants to Morocco from Melilla. In 2006, the Spanish Premier Zapatero visited Spanish enclaves. He was the first Spanish leader in 25 years to make an official visit to the territories. The following year, Spanish King Juan Carlos I visited Ceuta and Melilla, further angering Morocco which demanded control of the enclaves. During the 2011–2012 Moroccan protests , thousands of people rallied in Rabat and other cities calling for political reform and

9875-513: The islands, much longer than he had intended. When he arrived at the capital, Malé , Ibn Battuta did not plan to stay. However, the leaders of the formerly Buddhist nation that had recently converted to Islam were looking for a chief judge, someone who knew Arabic and the Qur'an. To convince him to stay they gave him pearls, gold jewellery, and slaves, while at the same time making it impossible for him to leave by ship. Compelled into staying, he became

10000-473: The kingdom was smaller than previous ones in the region, it remained quite wealthy. Against the opposition of local tribes Ismail Ibn Sharif (1672–1727) began to create a unified state. With his Riffian army, he re-occupied Tangier from the English who had abandoned it in 1684 and drove the Spanish from Larache in 1689. The Portuguese abandoned Mazagão , their last territory in Morocco, in 1769. However,

10125-541: The kings of the Turkmens and the richest in wealth, lands and military forces. Of fortresses, he possesses nearly a hundred, and for most of his time, he is continually engaged in making a round of them, staying in each fortress for some days to put it in good order and examine its condition. It is said that he has never stayed for a whole month in any one town. He also fights with the infidels continually and keeps them under siege. Ibn Battuta had also visited Bursa which at

10250-477: The larger empire, Morocco was initially organised as a subsidiary province of Ifriqiya , with the local governors appointed by the Muslim governor in Kairouan . The indigenous Berber tribes adopted Islam, but retained their customary laws . They also paid taxes and tribute to the new Muslim administration. The first independent Muslim state in the area of modern Morocco was the Kingdom of Nekor , an emirate in

10375-698: The last Mongol ruler of the unified Ilkhanate, leaving the city and heading north with a large retinue. Ibn Battuta joined the royal caravan for a while, then turned north on the Silk Road to Tabriz , the first major city in the region to open its gates to the Mongols and by then an important trading centre as most of its nearby rivals had been razed by the Mongol invaders. Ibn Battuta left again for Baghdad, probably in July, but first took an excursion northwards along

10500-903: The late 3rd century, direct Roman rule had become confined to a few coastal cities, such as Septum ( Ceuta ) in Mauretania Tingitana and Cherchell in Mauretania Caesariensis . When, in 429 AD, the area was devastated by the Vandals , the Roman Empire lost its remaining possessions in Mauretania, and local Mauro-Roman kings assumed control of them. In the 530s, the Eastern Roman Empire , under Byzantine control, re-established direct imperial rule of Septum and Tingi , fortified Tingis and erected

10625-796: The meeting in 1345 CE, Ibn Battuta noted that Shah Jalal was tall and lean, fair in complexion and lived by the mosque in a cave, where his only item of value was a goat he kept for milk, butter, and yogurt. He observed that the companions of the Shah Jalal were foreign and known for their strength and bravery. He also mentions that many people would visit the Shah to seek guidance. Ibn Battuta went further north into Assam , then turned around and continued with his original plan. In 1345, Ibn Battuta travelled to Samudra Pasai Sultanate (called "al-Jawa") in present-day Aceh , Northern Sumatra , after 40 days voyage from Sunur Kawan. He notes in his travel log that

10750-605: The modern state of Mauritania ) flourished around 225 BC or earlier. Mauretania became a client kingdom of the Roman Empire in 33 BC. Emperor Claudius annexed Mauretania directly in 44 AD, making it a Roman province ruled by an imperial governor (either a procurator Augusti , or a legatus Augusti pro praetore ). During the Crisis of the Third Century , parts of Mauretania were reconquered by Berbers. By

10875-561: The most substantial of which were Chellah , Lixus , and Mogador . Mogador was established as a Phoenician colony as early as the 6th century BC. Morocco later became a realm of the Northwest African civilisation of ancient Carthage , and part of the Carthaginian empire. The earliest known independent Moroccan state was the Berber kingdom of Mauretania , under King Baga . This ancient kingdom (not to be confused with

11000-494: The mysterious people without seeing each other. As Ibn Battuta was not a merchant and saw no benefit of going there he abandoned the travel to this land of darkness. When they reached Astrakhan, Öz Beg Khan had just given permission for one of his pregnant wives, Princess Bayalun, a daughter of Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos , to return to her home city of Constantinople to give birth. Ibn Battuta talked his way into this expedition, which would be his first beyond

11125-584: The north to Inhambane in the south and was particularly impressed by the planning of the city, believing it to be the reason for Kilwa's success along the coast. During this period, he described the construction of the Palace of Husuni Kubwa and a significant extension to the Great Mosque of Kilwa , which was made of coral stones and was the largest mosque of its kind. With a change in the monsoon winds, Ibn Battuta sailed back to Arabia, first to Oman and

11250-472: The north-west to the north-east. The Atlas Mountains run down the backbone of the country, from the northeast to the southwest. Most of the southeast portion of the country is in the Sahara Desert and as such is generally sparsely populated and unproductive economically. Most of the population lives to the north of these mountains, while to the south lies the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that

11375-485: The northern and central mountains, giving way to steppe, semi-arid and desert areas in the eastern and southern regions. The Moroccan coastal plains experience moderate temperatures even in summer. In the Rif, Middle and High Atlas Mountains, there exist several different types of climates: Mediterranean along the coastal lowlands, giving way to a humid temperate climate at higher elevations with sufficient moisture to allow for

11500-606: The northern coastal and southern Saharan zones. Tens of thousands of colonists entered Morocco. Some bought up large amounts of rich agricultural land, while others organised the exploitation and modernisation of mines and harbours. Interest groups that formed among these elements continually pressured France to increase its control over Morocco – with some Moroccan tribes allying with the French against other competing tribes from early on in its conquest. The French colonial administrator, Governor general Marshal Hubert Lyautey , sincerely admired Moroccan culture and succeeded in imposing

11625-470: The port of Chittagong in modern-day Bangladesh intending to travel to Sylhet to meet Shah Jalal , who became so renowned that Ibn Battuta, then in Chittagong, made a one-month journey through the mountains of Kamaru near Sylhet to meet him. On his way to Sylhet, Ibn Battuta was greeted by several of Shah Jalal's disciples who had come to assist him on his journey many days before he had arrived. At

11750-657: The port of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast. From there he followed the coast in a series of boats (known as a jalbah, these were small craft made of wooden planks sewn together, lacking an established phrase) making slow progress against the prevailing south-easterly winds. Once in Yemen he visited Zabīd and later the highland town of Ta'izz , where he met the Rasulid dynasty king ( Malik ) Mujahid Nur al-Din Ali. Ibn Battuta also mentions visiting Sana'a , but whether he actually did so

11875-489: The protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage. The 1786 Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship stands as the United States' oldest unbroken friendship treaty. As Europe industrialised, Northwest Africa was increasingly prized for its potential for colonisation. France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830, not only to protect the border of its Algerian territory, but also because of

12000-480: The quake was around 70 km southwest of city of Marrakech. Morocco has a coast by the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea . It is bordered by Spain to the north (a water border through the Strait and land borders with three small Spanish-controlled exclaves , Ceuta , Melilla , and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera ), Algeria to the east, and Western Sahara to

12125-512: The reforms made by Mohammed VI, demonstrators continued to call for deeper reforms. Hundreds took part in a trade union rally in Casablanca in May 2012. Participants accused the government of failing to deliver on reforms. On 10 December 2020, Israel–Morocco normalisation agreement was announced and Morocco announced its intention to resume diplomatic relations with Israel. Joint Declaration of

12250-431: The regional capital El Aaiún . In 2002, Morocco and Spain agreed to a US-brokered resolution over the disputed island of Perejil . Spanish troops had taken the normally uninhabited island after Moroccan soldiers landed on it and set up tents and a flag. There were renewed tensions in 2005, as dozens of African migrants stormed the borders of the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. In response, Spain deported dozens of

12375-718: The resort quickly recovered and welcomed up to 50,000 visitors in 1928. Except for a brief period of occupation during the Second World War , the Caucasian Mineral Waters served as the largest hospital hub for recovering veterans both during and after the war. Following the Second World War, the resort quickly expanded, and many new sanatoriums were built. Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta ( / ˌ ɪ b ən b æ t ˈ t uː t ɑː / ; 24 February 1304 – 1368/1369),

12500-546: The risk of being robbed. He took a bride in the town of Sfax , but soon left her due to a dispute with the father. That was the first in a series of marriages that would feature in his travels. In the early spring of 1326, after a journey of over 3,500 km (2,200 mi), Ibn Battuta arrived at the port of Alexandria , at the time part of the Bahri Mamluk empire . He met two ascetic pious men in Alexandria. One

12625-657: The river Tigris south to Basra . His next destination was the town of Isfahan across the Zagros Mountains in Iran. He then headed south to Shiraz , a large, flourishing city spared the destruction wrought by Mongol invaders on many more northerly towns. Finally, he returned across the mountains to Baghdad, arriving there in June 1327. Parts of the city were still ruined from the damage inflicted by Hulagu Khan 's invading army in 1258. In Baghdad, he found Abu Sa'id ,

12750-533: The river Tigris. He visited Mosul , where he was the guest of the Ilkhanate governor, and then the towns of Cizre (Jazirat ibn 'Umar) and Mardin in modern-day Turkey. At a hermitage on a mountain near Sinjar , he met a Kurdish mystic who gave him some silver coins. Once back in Mosul, he joined a "feeder" caravan of pilgrims heading south to Baghdad, where they would meet up with the main caravan that crossed

12875-459: The ruler of Samudra Pasai was a pious Muslim named Sultan Al-Malik Al-Zahir Jamal-ad-Din, who performed his religious duties with utmost zeal and often waged campaigns against animists in the region. The island of Sumatra , according to Ibn Battuta, was rich in camphor , areca nut , cloves , and tin . The madh'hab he observed was Imam Al-Shafi‘i , whose customs were similar to those he had previously seen in coastal India , especially among

13000-474: The society set up a chemical laboratory to analyze the mineral waters. Over the course of the century, doctors and researchers progressively identified medicinal properties of the waters and established treatment protocols. A new era for the resorts began with the issuance of Lenin ’s Decree No.231, “On Health Resorts of National Significance,” in 1919. Despite the chaos of the Russian Civil War ,

13125-609: The south. Since Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, its de facto southern boundary is with Mauritania . The internationally recognised borders of the country lie between latitudes 27° and 36°N, and longitudes 1° and 14°W . The geography of Morocco spans from the Atlantic Ocean, to mountainous areas, to the Sahara desert. Morocco is a Northern African country, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and

13250-481: The standards of the subtropics). Then he returned to the Khan's court and with it moved to Astrakhan . Ibn Battuta recorded that while in Bolghar he wanted to travel further north into the land of darkness. The land is snow-covered throughout ( northern Siberia ) and the only means of transport is dog-drawn sled. There lived a mysterious people who were reluctant to show themselves. They traded with southern people in

13375-589: The start of the journey to China, he and his large retinue were attacked by a group of bandits . Separated from his companions, he was robbed, kidnapped, and nearly lost his life. Despite this setback, within ten days he had caught up with his group and continued on to Khambhat in the Indian state of Gujarat . From there, they sailed to Calicut (now known as Kozhikode), where Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama would land two centuries later. While in Calicut, Battuta

13500-525: The strategic position of Morocco with coasts on the Mediterranean and the open Atlantic. In 1860, a dispute over Spain's Ceuta enclave led Spain to declare war. Victorious Spain won a further enclave and an enlarged Ceuta in the settlement. In 1884, Spain created a protectorate in the coastal areas of Morocco. In 1904, France and Spain carved out zones of influence in Morocco. Recognition by the United Kingdom of France's sphere of influence provoked

13625-487: The strength of his years of study in Mecca, Ibn Battuta was appointed a qadi (judge) by the sultan. However, he found it difficult to enforce Islamic law beyond the sultan's court in Delhi , due to lack of Islamic appeal in India. It is uncertain by which route Ibn Battuta entered the Indian subcontinent but it is known that he was kidnapped and robbed by rebels on his journey to the Indian coast. He may have entered via

13750-572: The territories across the Sahara proved too difficult. Upon the death of al-Mansur, the country was divided among his sons. After a period of political fragmentation and conflict during the decline of the Saadi dynasty, Morocco was finally reunited by the Alawi sultan al-Rashid in the late 1660s, who took Fez in 1666 and Marrakesh in 1668. The 'Alawis succeeded in stabilising their position, and while

13875-499: The territory. Moroccan and Algerian troops soon clashed in Western Sahara . Morocco and Mauritania divided up Western Sahara. Fighting between the Moroccan military and Polisario forces continued for many years. The prolonged war was a considerable financial drain on Morocco. In 1983, Hassan cancelled planned elections amid political unrest and economic crisis. In 1984, Morocco left the Organisation of African Unity in protest at

14000-590: The time was the capital of the Ottoman Beylik, he described Bursa as "a great and important city with fine bazaars and wide streets, surrounded on all sides with gardens and running springs". He also visited the Beylik of Aydin . Ibn Battuta stated that the ruler of the Beylik of Aydin had twenty Greek slaves at the entrance of his palace and Ibn Battuta was given a Greek slave as a gift. His visit to Anatolia

14125-550: The town, he journeyed on to Mecca while visiting holy sites along the way; upon his arrival to Mecca he completed his first pilgrimage, in November, and he took the honorific status of El-Hajji . Rather than returning home, Ibn Battuta decided to continue travelling, choosing as his next destination the Ilkhanate , a Mongol Khanate , to the northeast. On 17 November 1326, following a month spent in Mecca, Ibn Battuta joined

14250-468: The unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa sparked active opposition to the French and Spanish protectorates. The most notable violence occurred in Oujda where Moroccans attacked French and other European residents in the streets. France allowed Mohammed V to return in 1955, and the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence began the following year. In March 1956 Morocco regained its independence from France as

14375-585: The vessel that came to his rescue to suffer an attack by pirates. Stranded onshore, he worked his way back to the Madurai kingdom in India. Here he spent some time in the court of the short-lived Madurai Sultanate under Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani, from where he returned to the Maldives and boarded a Chinese junk , still intending to reach China and take up his ambassadorial post. He reached

14500-575: The way, including Hebron , Jerusalem , and Bethlehem , the Mamluk authorities kept the route safe for pilgrims. Without this help many travellers would be robbed and murdered. After spending the Muslim month of Ramadan , during August, in Damascus, he joined a caravan travelling the 1,300 km (810 mi) south to Medina , site of the Mosque of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . After four days in

14625-516: Was Sheikh Burhanuddin, who is supposed to have foretold the destiny of Ibn Battuta as a world traveller and told him, "It seems to me that you are fond of foreign travel. You must visit my brother Fariduddin in India, Rukonuddin in Sind, and Burhanuddin in China. Convey my greetings to them." Another pious man, Sheikh Murshidi, interpreted the meaning of a dream of Ibn Battuta as being that he was meant to be

14750-838: Was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of thirty years from 1325 to 1354, Ibn Battuta visited much of Africa , the Middle East , Asia , and the Iberian Peninsula . Near the end of his life, he dictated an account of his journeys, titled A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling , but commonly known as The Rihla . Ibn Battuta travelled more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around 117,000 km (73,000 mi), surpassing Zheng He with about 50,000 km (31,000 mi) and Marco Polo with 24,000 km (15,000 mi). There have been doubts over

14875-415: Was annexed by Morocco in 1975 (see Green March ). Morocco claims that the Western Sahara is part of its territory and refers to that as its Southern Provinces . Morocco's capital city is Rabat ; its largest city is its main port, Casablanca . Other cities recording a population over 500,000 in the 2014 Moroccan census are Fes , Marrakesh , Meknes , Salé and Tangier . Morocco is represented in

15000-668: Was determined to develop local analogues. In 1717, he published the decree "On the Search for Mineral Waters in Russia," launching the search for medicinal mineral springs within the country. The resulting expedition identified several sources of "sour water" in modern-day Chechnya . On April 24, 1803, Alexander I signed a rescript "On the Recognition of the National Significance of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and

15125-516: Was eager to learn more about far-away lands and craved adventure. He would not return to Morocco again for 24 years. I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveler in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries. So I braced my resolution to quit my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests. My parents being yet in

15250-887: Was in present-day Pangasinan Province of the Philippines . Their opposition to the Mongols might indicate 2 possible locations: Japan and Java (Majapahit). In modern times, Urduja has been featured in Filipino textbooks and films as a national heroine. Numerous other locations have been proposed, ranging from Java to somewhere in Guangdong Province , China. However, Sir Henry Yule and William Henry Scott consider both Tawalisi and Urduja to be entirely fictitious. (See Tawalisi for details.) From Kaylukari, Ibn Battuta finally reached Quanzhou in Fujian Province, China. Morocco Morocco , officially

15375-582: Was the capital of the Hamidids . He spent Ramadan (June 1331 or May 1333) in the city. From this point his itinerary across Anatolia in the Rihla becomes confused. Ibn Battuta describes travelling westwards from Eğirdir to Milas and then skipping 420 km (260 mi) eastward past Eğirdir to Konya . He then continues travelling in an easterly direction, reaching Erzurum from where he skips 1,160 km (720 mi) back to Birgi which lies north of Milas. Historians believe that Ibn Battuta visited

15500-593: Was the first time in his travels he acquired a servant; the ruler of Aydin gifted him his first slave. Later, he purchased a young Greek girl for 40 dinars in Ephesus , was gifted another slave in İzmir by the Sultan, and purchased a second girl in Balikesir . The conspicuous evidence of his wealth and prestige continued to grow. From Sinope , he took a sea route to the Crimean Peninsula , arriving in

15625-435: Was the guest of the ruling Zamorin . While Ibn Battuta visited a mosque on shore, a storm arose and one of the ships of his expedition sank. The other ship then sailed without him only to be seized by a local Sumatran king a few months later. Afraid to return to Delhi and be seen as a failure, he stayed for a time in southern India under the protection of Jamal-ud-Din, ruler of the small but powerful Nawayath Sultanate on

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