Marinid

The Marinid, Merinid or Benimerine ethnic group (Arabic: مرينيون banu marin; Spanish Mariní/Mariníes) was a Zenata-Berber tribe of North Africa. The Marinid stock was related to the Umayyads in Córdoba, Spain.

The tribe formed a dynasty (known as the Marinid/Merinid/Benemerine dynasty) in 1244, largely concentrated in present-day Morocco, which lasted until 1465. It overtook the Almohad dynasty in controlling most of the Maghreb from the mid-1300s to the 15th century. They also intervened in the Iberian peninsula (specifically Al Andalus) in the 12th and 13th centuries. The last Marinid fortress in Spain fell to Castile in 1344, and they were in turn replaced by the Hafsid dynasty.

The Anglicised name used for this article derives from the Arabic Banu Marin (also Benī Merīn, which is the source of the Spanish name).

History

The Marinids originally came from Ifriqiya, through the southeast of present-day Morocco, from which they were expelled in 1224 by another tribe, the Hilali. As early as 1145 the Marinids engaged in battles with the Almohad, which defeated them until 1169.

In 1169, the Marinids began their pursuit of taking Morocco from the Almohads, the ruling dynasty at the time. Following their expulsion from the south, they moved northwards under command of Abu Yahya and took Fes in 1248, making it their capital. This marked the beginning of the Marinid dynasty.

The Marinid leadership installed in Fes declared the war on the Almohads with the aid of Christian mercenaries there. Capturing Marrakech in 1269, they took control of the control of most of the Maghreb towards the end of 1268, including present-day Morocco, Algeria and part of Tunisia.

Having obtained this control, the Marinid dynasty tried to extend its control to the commercial traffic of the Strait of Gibraltar. To this end, they declared "holy war" on the Christians (themselves being Muslims) and occupied the cities of Rota, Algiers and Gibraltar successively, surrounding Tarifa for the first time in 1294.

The Marinids also strongly influenced the policy of the Kingdom of Granada, from which they enlarged their army in 1275. In the mid 1300s, Castile made several incursions into Morocco and in 1267 a full-scale invasion of Morocco, but the Marinids successfully defended Morocco and drove out Spanish forces. This series of damaging attacks and a resounding defeat in the "Batalla del Salado" ("Battle of Salt", 1340) at hands of an Castilian-Aragonese coalition, set back the Marinids pursuit of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1351 the Marinid ruler Abu Hasan, the "Sultán Negro" (Black Sultan) died. His son, Abu Inan, who had rebelled against Hasan, ruled for seven years before being strangled by his own vizier in 1358. A state of anarchy then arose and extended through the Marinid realm. The empire became fractured into multiple small kingdoms and city-states.

Chronology of Marinid rulers

*Abdalhaqq I (1195-1217)
*Uthman I (1217-1240)
*Muhammad I (1240-1244)
*Abu Yahya Abu Bakr (1244 - 1258)
*Umar (1258 - 1259)
*Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259 - 1286)
*Abu Yaqub Yusuf (1286 - 1306)
*Abu Thabit (1307 - 1308)
*Abu l-Rabia (1308 - 1310)
*Abu Said Uthman II (1310 - 1331)
*Abu al-Hasan 'Ali (1331 - 1348)
*Abu Inan Faris (1348 - 1358)
*Muhammad II as Said (1359)
*Abu Salim Ali II (1359 - 1361)
*Abu Umar Taschufin (1361)
*Abu Zayyan Muhammad III (1362 - 1366)
*Abu l-Fariz Abdul Aziz I (1366 - 1372)
*Abu l-Abbas Ahmad (1372 - 1374)
*Abu Zayyan Muhammad IV (1384 - 1386)
*Muhammad V (1386 - 1387)
*Abu l-Abbas Ahmad (1387 - 1393)
*Abdul Aziz II (1393 - 1398)
*Abdullah (1398 - 1399)
*Abu Said Uthman III (1399 - 1420)
*Abdalhaqq II (1420 - 1465)

References

*Marinid Dynasty


Merinid dynasty: a Berber dynasty in Morocco and Spain (1244-1465)

The Banu Marin/Merinids were Zanata-Berbers who immigrated in the 12th century from Ifriqiya to south-east Morocco. As early as 1145 there were battles with the Almohads, who defeated them.

Under Abu Yahya Abu Bakr (1244-1258) began the conquest of northern Morocco. Fez became the Merinid capital in 1248. Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259-1286) in 1269 completed the defeat of the Almohads and the conquest of Morocco with the defeat of Marrakech. At the same time he went to Andalucia to support the Nasrids of Granada in their fight against Castille.

Internal power struggles among the Merinids followed, which didn't however prevent Abu Said Utman II. (1310-1331) from substantial construction work in Fez. Several madrassas for the education of public servants were founded, in order to support the centralisation of administration and to reduce the influence of the not always reliable Marabuts.

Under Abu l-Hasan (1331-1348) another attempt to reunite the Maghreb was made. In 1337 the empire of the Abdalwads in Algeria was conquered, followed in 1347 by the empire of the Hafsids in Ifriqiya/Tunisia. However in 1340 the Merinids suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Castille at the Battle of Salado, and finally had to withdraw from Andalucia. Abu l-Hasan was deposed by his son Abu Inan Faris (1348-1358). He tried once again to reconquer Algeria and Tunisia. Despite several successes, the dynasty began to decline after the murder of Abu Inan Faris.

Unruly Bedouin and Berber tribes increasingly spread anarchy in Morocco, which accelerated the fall of the empire. The support of the Marabuts also declined, after the Merinids reduced their financial support in the 15th century due to a financial crisis.

Merinid rulers after 1358 came under the control of the Wattasids which exercised the real power in the empire as viziers. They rotated Merinid sultans, often still children, in quick succession to ensure a strong viziership. The Wattasids were however equally unable to consolidated the empire, so that in 1415 Portugal occupired the town of Ceuta and by 1513 had occupied all important harbours on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. After Abdalhaqq II. (1421-1465) tried in vain to break the power of the Wattasids, they finally toppled the dynasty of the Merinids.

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