Mohammed esh Sheikh es Seghir () (? – 30 January 1655) was the sultan of

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 t ...

from (1636 – 1655) under the

Saadi dynasty The Saadi Sultanate (also rendered in English as Sa'di, Sa'did, Sa'dian, or Saadian; ar, السعديون, translit=as-saʿdiyyūn) was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of West Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was l ...

Life

His father was

Zidan al-Nasir Zidan Abu Maali ( ar, زيدان أبو معالي) (? – September 1627; or Muley Zidan) was the embattled Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1603 to 1627. He was the son and heir of Ahmad al-Mansur by his wife Lalla Aisha bint Abu Bakkar, a lady o ...

(r. 1603–1627), he was the son of a Spanish mother and he had two Spanish wives. He spoke good Spanish which may have led to him to continue the long-time services of royal advisor Moses Pallache, nephew of

Samuel Pallache Samuel Pallache (Arabic: صامويل آل بالاتش, ''Shmuel Baylash'', Hebrew: 'שמואל פאלאץ, ''Shmuel Palach'', c. 1550 – February 4, 1616) was a Jewish Moroccan-born merchant, diplomat, and pirate of the Pallache family, who, ...

of the

Pallache family "Pallache" – also de Palacio(s), Palache, Palaçi, Palachi, Palacci, Palaggi, and many other variations (documented below) – is the surname of a prominent, Ladino-speaking, Sephardic Jewish family from the Iberian Peninsula, who spread mostl ...

. His portrait can be found in an engraving of Marrakesh by

Adriaen Matham Adriaen Matham (1590 – 1660) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, engraver and art dealer. He was part of an embassy to the Saadi dynasty of Morocco and also made some engravings while there. He married three times, once in Amsterdam and later lived ...

in 1640, made on the occasion of a visit by the ambassador of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to the sultan. Mohammed esh-Sheikh es-Seghir tried to concentrate the entire Moroccan foreign trade in Safi at the hands of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and to obtain

warships A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster an ...

from their king to prevent all trade with the south, but the sultan was afraid of breaking relations with the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and the French. In 1638, the Sultan sent his ambassador Muhammad bin Askar to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, who was carrying a letter to hasten King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

to send the required weapons and ammunition to Morocco and to suppress the English merchants who were selling weapons to the rebels. This was based on the treaty concluded between the two countries on September 20, 1637, which stipulated that no relationship should be established between the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, ...

and the sultan's enemies in Santa Cruz. Despite this, English merchants continued to smuggle weapons into the desert.السفراء والقناصلة بتطوان
عبد العزيز بنعبد الله

References

1655 deaths People from Marrakesh Sultans of Morocco Saadi dynasty 17th-century Moroccan people 17th-century monarchs in Africa Year of birth unknown 17th-century Arabs {{Africa-royal-stub

Life

See also

References