Mulay Zidan

Zidan Abu Maali (Arabic: زيدان أبو معالي‎‎) (? – September 1627) was the embattled Sultan of Morocco from 1603 to 1627, ruling only over the southern half of the country after, his brother took the northern half and a Sanhaji rebel from Tafilalt (Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli) marched on Marrakesh claiming to be the Mahdi. All of which exacerbated by, a context of chaos that ensued a plague pandemic which left a third of the country dead, the end of the Anglo-Spanish war (Treaty of London (1604)) —which broke the Anglo-Dutch axis that Morocco was relying upon as a means of protection from Spain, and so caused the Spanish navy to resume devastating raids on the Moroccan coast— and the rebellion of one of his provincial governors who established his own independent republic between Azemmour and Salé. He was the son and appointed hair of Ahmad al-Mansur, and resided mostly in Safi where he became encircled after being driven out of Marrakesh and failed military campaigns against the rebellious brother in the north.

During the reign of Zidan, after the death of Mulay al-Mansur in 1603, Morocco fell into a state of anarchy, with the Sultan losing much of his authority and leaving Salé a sort of independent Republic. Morocco was in a state of civil war with warlords such as Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli in the South and Sidi al-Ayachi in the North taking territory from Zidan. The Spanish also seized the opportunity to capture the cities of Larache in 1610 and then al-Ma'mura.

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Wikipedia