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The history of Marrakesh, a city in southern Morocco, stretches back nearly a thousand years. The country of Morocco itself is named after it. Founded c. 1070 by the Almoravids as the capital of their empire, Marrakesh went on to also serve as the imperial capital of the Almohad Caliphate from 1147. The Marinids, who captured Marrakesh in 1269, relocated the capital to Fez, leaving Marrakesh as a regional capital of the south. During this period, it often broke off in rebellion into a semi-autonomous state. Marrakesh was captured by the Saadian sharifs in 1525, and resumed its status as imperial capital for a unified Morocco after they captured Fez in 1549. Marrakesh reached its epic grandeur under the Saadians, who greatly embellished the city. The Alawite sharifs captured Marrakesh in 1669. Although it served frequently as the residence of the Alawite sultans, Marrakesh was not their definitive capital, as Alawite sultans moved their courts frequently between various cities. In the course of its history, Marrakesh achieved periods of great splendor, interrupted by repeated political struggles, military disorders, famine, plagues and a couple of sacks. Much of it was rebuilt in the 19th century. It was conquered by French troops in 1912, and became part of the French protectorate of Morocco. It remained part of the Kingdom of Morocco after independence in 1956. Throughout its history, Marrakesh has maintained a keen rivalry with Fez as the leading city in Morocco, and the country often fragmented politically into two halves, with Fez the capital of the north and Marrakesh the capital of the south. The choice of Rabat as the capital of modern Morocco can be seen as a compromise that afforded neither of the two rival cities primacy over the other. == Foundation == The region of Marrakesh, the plain south of the Tensift River in southern Morocco, was inhabited by Berber farmers since Neolithic times, and numerous stone implements have been unearthed in the area. Before the advent of the Almoravids in the mid-11th century, the region was ruled by the Maghrawa from the city of Aghmat (which had served as a regional capital of southern Morocco since Idrisid times).〔Messier (2010: p.35); Levi-Provençal (1913-38)〕 The Almoravids conquered Aghmat in 1058, bringing their dominance over southern Morocco. However, the Almoravid emir Abu Bakr ibn Umar soon decided Aghmat was overcrowded and unsuitable as their capital. Being originally Sanhaja Lamtuna tribesmen from the Sahara Desert, the Almoravids searched for a new location in the region that was more consonant with their customary lifestyle. After consultation with allied local Masmuda tribes, it was finally decided that the Almoravids would set up their new base on neutral territory, between the Bani Haylana and the Bani Hazmira tribes.〔Ibn Idhari, ''Bayan al-Mughrib'', quoted in Levtzion and Hopkins (1981:p.226-27); Messier (2010: p.41)〕 The Almoravids rode out of Aghmat and pitched their desert tents on the west bank of the small Issil river, which marked the boundary between them. The location was open and barren, it had "no living thing except gazelles and ostriches and nothing growing except lotus trees and colocynths".〔 A few kilometres to the north was the Tensift River, to the south the vast sloping plain of Haouz, pastureland suitable for their great herds. About a day's ride to the west was the fertile Nfis river valley, which would serve as the city's breadbasket. Date palms, virtually non-existent in Morocco north of the desert line, were planted around the encampment to supply the staple of Lamtuna diets.〔van Hulle (1994: p.10)〕 There is a dispute about the exact foundation date: chroniclers Ibn Abi Zar and Ibn Khaldun give it as c. 1061-62 while Ibn Idhari asserts that it was founded in 1070.〔Ibn Abi Zar (writing 1315) has Marrakesh founded c. 1061, just before the Almoravid campaign against Maghrawa-held Fez, which he dates 1063. Ibn Idhari (writing 1313) has Marrakesh founded in 1070, and dates the campaign against Fez in 1072-73. Ibn Abi Zar's chronology was followed by Ibn Khaldoun (wr. 1374-78), and thus given the popularity of Ibn Khaldoun, the c. 1061 date is often cited in Western texts. But al-Bakri (wr. 1067-67) does not mention Marrakesh, and the anonymous writer of the ''al-Hulal al-mawshiyya'' (wr.1381) follows Ibn Idhari's 1070 date. For more details on the dating problem, see Messier (2010: p.201)〕 A probable reconciliation is that Marrakesh started in the 1060s, when Abu Bakr and the Almoravid chieftains first pitched their tents there, and that it remained a desert-style military encampment until the first stone building, the ''Qasr al-Hajar'' ("castle of stone", the Almoravid treasury and armory fort), was erected in May, 1070.〔Ibn Idhari, as quoted in Levtzion and Hopkins (1981: p.226-27). Messier (2010: pp. xii, 41-42; 53)〕 In early 1071, Abu Bakr was recalled to the Sahara to put down a rebellion, and it was his cousin (and eventual successor) Yusuf ibn Tashfin who erected the city's first brick mosque.〔Messier (2010: p.53-56), Lamzah (2008: p.57). Some modern texts erroneously suggest Yusuf ibn Tasfhin founded Marrakesh; this is usually a result of mistaken local legend and a careless misstatement in Ibn Khaldun's account.〕 More buildings were erected soon afterwards, mud-brick houses gradually replacing the tents. The red earth used for the bricks gave Marakesh its distinctive red color, and its popular appellation ''Marrakush al-Hamra'' ("Marrakesh the Red").〔Meakin (1901: p.289); Lamzah (2008: p.36)〕 The layout of the buildings was still along the lines of the original encampment, with the result that early Marrakesh was an unusual-looking city, a sprawling medieval urban center evocative of desert life, with occasional tents, planted palm trees and an oasis-like feel.〔Messier (2010, pp.42, 59, 85); Julien (1931 (1961 ed): p.82)〕 Ibn Tashfin laid a bridge across the Tensift River to connect Marrakesh to northern Morocco, but the city's life was tied to and oriented towards the south. The High Atlas range south of the city was and has always been of vital concern to Marrakesh and a great determinant of its fate. Inimical control of the Atlas mountain passes could sever Marrakesh's communications with the Sous and Draa valleys, and seal off access to the Sahara Desert and the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in salt and gold with sub-Saharan Africa (''al-sudan''), upon which much of its early fortunes rested. The Almoravids are said to have deliberately put the wide plain of Haouz between Marrakesh and the Atlas foothills in order to make it more defensible — by having a clear view of the distant dust clouds kicked up by any attackers coming from the Atlas, the city would have advance warning and time to prepare its defenses.〔Messier (2010: p.41-42)〕 Nonetheless, repeatedly through its history, whoever controlled the High Atlas often ended up controlling Marrakesh as well. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Marrakesh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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