Ahmed al-Hiba (, also known as The Blue Sultan; 9 September 1877 – 26 June 1919), was a leader of an armed resistance to the French colonial power in southern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

, and pretender to the sultanate of

. In English texts he is usually named simply ''El Hiba''. In addition to his revolutionary activity, Ahmed al-Hiba was a prolific poet.

Biography

He was the son of Ma al-'Aynayn, a religious leader of the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

. His father was appointed caid of

Tindouf Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...

in 1887, by the Moroccan sultan

Hassan I ''Mawlay'' Hassan bin Mohammed ( ar, الحسن بن محمد, translit=al-Ḥassan bin Muḥammad), known as Hassan I ( ar, الحسن الأول, translit=al-Ḥassan al-Awwal), born in 1836 in Fes and died on 9 June 1894 in Tadla, was a sulta ...

. Ma al-'Aynayn led an armed uprising against the French in the first decade of the twentieth century, and died in 1910 in

Tiznit Tiznit or Tiznet ( ar, تزنيت, Tiznīt; ber, ⵜⵉⵣⵏⵉⵜ, Tiznit) is a town in the west coast of the Moroccan region of Souss-Massa, founded in 1881 by the Sultan Hassan I. It is the capital of Tiznit Province and recorded a populat ...

. Shortly after his death, in 1912 the French imposed the Treaty of Fez on the Moroccans and took virtual control of the country. Ma al-'Aynayn's son al-Hiba then decided that this effectively vacated the position of Sultan of Morocco, and proclaimed himself Sultan at

(Morocco) as his father had done before him. A general uprising in the south of Morocco saw al-Hiba recognized as Sultan in Taroudannt,

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

and the Dades and Draa regions. He gained a powerful ally in Si Madani, head of the Glaoua family. With his tribal army he entered

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

on 18 August 1912 and was proclaimed Sultan there also. The decisive

Battle of Sidi Bou Othman The Battle of Sidi Bou Othman was an important battle fought at Sidi Bou Othman, some 40 kilometers north of Marrakesh, during the French conquest of Morocco. It saw the victory of a French column under Colonel Charles Mangin over the forces of ...

with the French took place near

on 6 September 1912. al-Hiba's forces were defeated by the French commanded by

Charles Mangin Charles Emmanuel Marie Mangin (6 July 1866 – 12 May 1925) was a French general during World War I. Early career Charles Mangin was born on 6 July 1866 in Sarrebourg. After initially failing to gain entrance to Saint-Cyr, he joined the 77th ...

, with the loss of some 2,000 tribal warriors. In January 1913, the Glaoua family, now allied with the French, drove al-Hiba back to the

Sous The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) ( ar, سوس, sūs, shi, ⵙⵓⵙ, sus) is an area in mid-southern Morocco. Geologically, it is the alluvial basin of the Sous River (''Asif n Sus''), separated from the Sahara desert b ...

. al-Hiba did not give up the struggle and continued to harass the French in his own area until his death on 23 June 1919 in Kerdous

Anti-Atlas The Anti-Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الصغير, shi, Aṭlas Mẓẓiyn), also known as Lesser Atlas or Little Atlas is a mountain range in Morocco, a part of the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of Africa. The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlanti ...

. Since then his struggle was carried on by his brother Merebbi Rebbu.

External links

* José Ramón Diego Aguirre, ''El Oscuro Pasado del Desierto. Approximación a la Historia del Sáhara.'' Casa de África, Madrid, 2004. .

References

1875 births 1919 deaths Pretenders to the throne of Morocco 19th-century Moroccan people Moroccan politicians Place of birth missing Moroccan Sunni Muslims 20th-century Moroccan people {{Morocco-bio-stub