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About

 Oujda

city walls

gate

Morocco

gates

fortifications

crenelations

Paul Servant

https://admin.archnet.org/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBNGF1QVE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--b1691c9f67c66bda1ee0b71438b2e6b90be17a75/IAA115557.jpg

glass plate negative

Street view to minaret 5-79

Bab Sidi Abd el Ouahab

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City Gate, Bab Sidi Abd el Ouahab

Bab Sidi al-Wahab

Alternate transliteration

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The
Marinids (Beni Marin, Merinids, or Merinides) were Zenata Berbers who fled west from the Hillalian
invasion. They first appear in 1196/592 AH as supporters of the&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/timelines/48/period/Almohad/year/1130">Almohads</a>,
but in 1216/612 AH they began to take advantage of the weakening of the dynasty
to establish control over what is now northern Morocco. Under the leadership of
Emir Abu Yahya (1244-1258/641-655 AH) the Marinids consolidated their military
strength and moral authority, the dynasty took control of the imperial cities
of&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3828">Meknes</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3657">Fes</a>, and Salé, and his successor, Abu Yaqub Yusuf (1258-1286/655-664 AH), put
an end to the Almohad dynasty by taking the capital city of&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3820">Marrakech</a>&nbsp;in
September 1269/Muharram/668. After defeating the Almohads, they sought to
re-establish their empire. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Failed
invasions of North Africa between 1260/658 and 1267/665 AH gave the Marinids a
foothold in Spain, and by the end 14th century they had occupied Rota, Tarifa
and Gibraltar. In 1337/738 AH they conquered the the Abdalwadid kingdom
of&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/4007">Tlemcen</a>&nbsp;and in 1347/748 AH by the defeat of the Hafsid empire in Ifriqiya,
which gave them control of the Maghreb as far east as Tripoli. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The
Marinids founded Fes Jdid (the new Fes) as an administrative and military
centre, and it was during their reign that Fes reached its apogee, ranking
among the largest cities in the world at the time. It became an important
intellectual center, and many of its more important monuments date to this
period. &nbsp;Despite internal infighting, Abu Said Uthman II (1310–1331/
710-731 AH) initiated huge construction projects across Morocco, most notably
madrassas, built to create a dependent bureaucratic class that would undermine
the power of the Sufi marabouts.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In
1340/740 AH they were defeated by a Portuguese-Castilian coalition in the
Battle of Río Salado and forced to withdraw from Andalusia, retaining control
only of Algeciras. In that same year a revolt of Arab tribes in southern
Tunisia, made them lose some of their eastern territories.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1348/749
AH Abu al-Hasan was deposed by his son Abu Inan Faris, who tried to reconquer
Algeria and Tunisia. He was strangled, in turn, by his vizir in 1358. After
1358 true power fell in the hands of the viziers and this period was marked by
a rapid succession of Sultans. Supported and manipulated by foreign
powers the powerful Viziers furthered the fragmentation of the state and
precipitated the Marinids’ eclipse. The Marinids were increasingly perceived as
decadent and their taxes excessive. This allowed competing powers to
gradually whittle away at territory over the next 100 years. Marrakesh was lost
to the Hafsids as early as 1359/760, and territories to the south claimed
autonomy. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1401/803
AH Spanish forces invaded Tetouan in the north, and in 1415, the Portuguese
took Ceuta. The inability of the Marinid state to ward off the foreign
invaders weakened the prestige of the dynasty beyond repair. The last
Marinid ruler, Sultan Abd al-Haqq (1420-1465/823-869 AH) was assassinated in
1465/869 AH. Michael A. Toler

Bab Sidi Abd el OuahabOujda, Morocco

Bab Sidi Abd el Ouahab
Oujda, Morocco