Wattasid dynasty

Wattasid dynasty
الوطاسيون - al-waṭṭāsīyūn ⵉⵡⴻⵟⵟⴰⵙⴻⵏ - Iweṭṭāsen
Ruling dynasty of Morocco
1472–1554
Map of the Wattasid sultanate (dark red) and its vassal states (light red)
Capital		Fes
Religion		Sunni Islam
Government		Sultanate
History
•	Established	1472
•	Disestablished	1554
Preceded by Succeeded by Marinid dynasty Saadi dynasty

The Wattasid dynasty (Berber: ⵉⵡⴻⵟⵟⴰⵙⴻⵏ, Iweṭṭasen, Arabic: الوطاسيون, al-waṭṭāsīyūn) were a ruling dynasty of Morocco. Like the Marinids, they were of Zenata Berber descent. The two families were related, and the Marinids recruited many viziers from the Wattasids. These viziers assumed the powers of the Sultans, seizing power when the last Marinid, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq, who had massacred many of the Wattasids in 1459, was murdered during a popular revolt in Fez in 1465.

Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya was the first Wattasid Sultan. He controlled only the northern part of Morocco, the south being divided into several principalities. The Wattasids were finally supplanted in 1554, after the Battle of Tadla, by the Saadi princes of Tagmadert who had ruled all of southern Morocco since 1511.

Morocco endured a prolonged multifaceted crisis in the 15th and early 16th centuries brought about by economic, political, social and cultural issues. Population growth remained stagnant and traditional commerce with the far south was cut off as the Portuguese occupied all seaports. At the same time, the towns were impoverished, and intellectual life was on the decline.

Morocco was in decline when the Berber Wattasid dynasty assumed power. The Wattasid family had been the autonomous governors of the eastern Rif since the late 13th century, ruling from their base in Tazouta (near present-day Nador). They had close ties to the Merinid sultans and provided many of the bureacratic elite. While the Merinid tried to repel the Portuguese and Spanish invasions and help the kingdom of Granada to outlive the Reconquista, the Wattasids accumulated absolute power through political maneuvering. When the Merinids became aware of the extent of the conspiracy, they slaughtered the Wattasids, leaving only Abu Abdellah al-Shaykh Muhammad ben Yehya alive. He went on to found the Kingdom of Fez and establish the dynasty to be succeeded by his son, Mohammed al-Burtuqali, in 1504.