Empire of Clay: The Reign of Moulay Ismail, Sultan of Morocco (1672-1727)

Empire of Clay: The Reign of Moulay Ismail, Sultan of Morocco (1672-1727)Hero or Monster? Empire of Clay: The Reign of Moulay Ismail, Sultan of Morocco (1672 1727) assesses contrasting views of Moroccos longest serving monarch. On the surface, Moulay Ismails 55 year reign was momentous: he consolidated a new dynasty, the Alaouites; he developed a professional army of soldier slaves, the Abid al Bukhari, which he used to crush domestic opposition; he created a sprawling new capital at Meknes; and he returned to Moroccan

Hero or Monster?

Empire of Clay: The Reign of Moulay Ismail, Sultan of Morocco (1672-1727) assesses contrasting views of MoroccoÕs longest-serving monarch. On the surface, Moulay IsmailÕs 55-year reign was momentous: he consolidated a new dynasty, the Alaouites; he developed a professional army of soldier-slaves, the Abid al-Bukhari, which he used to crush domestic opposition; he created a sprawling new capital at Meknes; and he returned to Moroccan control several cities held by England and Spain. On the international scene, he raised MoroccoÕs profile in courting Louis XIV of France and James II of England. However, his legacy is an equivocal one. The cost of these successes was enormous: hundreds of thousands enslaved, as many or more killed through war and repression, including scores murdered by Ismail himself; and a state driven toward ruin by the rulerÕs obsessions. In the Age of Absolutism, no ruler was more powerful or more feared.