Abu Said Uthman III () (Abu Said Uthman ibn Abi l-Abbas ibn Abi Salim), (1383 – 21 October 1420) was

Marinid The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

sultan from 19 March 1398 to 1420, the last effective ruler of that dynasty. He ascended to the throne at the age of sixteen. He succeeded his brother, Abu Amir Abdallah ibn Ahmad. His forces were involved in an unsuccessful attempt to acquire

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

from the

Emirate of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Emirate, Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western ...

in 1410. In 1415 the Portuguese seized the port of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

. Abu Said Uthman III failed in an attempt to recover Ceuta, and was shortly after assassinated. His vizier gained control of the kingdom, establishing the

Wattasid dynasty The Wattasid dynasty (, ''al-waṭṭāsīyūn'') was a ruling dynasty of Morocco. Like the Marinid dynasty, its rulers were of Zenata Berber descent. The two families were related, and the Marinids recruited many viziers from the Wattasids. T ...

of rulers of Morocco.

Siege of Gibraltar

The garrison of Gibraltar rebelled in 1410 against the Granadan ruler, Yusuf III, and declared allegiance to Abu Said Uthman III. Abu Said Uthman III sent his brother, Abu Said, to take charge with an army numbering some 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. They occupied a number of castles in the area as well as the ports of

Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...

and

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

. A Granadan counter-offensive in 1411 drove Abu Said back to Gibraltar, where he took refuge. Yusuf III's son Ahmad laid siege to Gibraltar and defeated several Moroccan attempts to break out. Eventually a Granadan sympathizer in the garrison helped the besiegers to gain entrance. They stormed the

Moorish Castle The Moorish Castle is the name given to a medieval fortification in Gibraltar comprising various buildings, gates, and fortified walls, with the dominant features being the Tower of Homage and the Gate House. Part of the castle itself also hous ...

, forcing Abu Said to surrender, and restored Granadan control over Gibraltar. Back in Morocco, Abu Said Uthman III reacted by writing to Yusuf III to ask him to execute Abu Said for disloyalty. Instead, the Granadan sultan gave Abu Said an army and sent him back to Morocco to launch an ultimately unsuccessful rebellion against Abu Said Uthman III.

Ceuta

In 1415 King

John I of Portugal John I ( WP:IPA for Portuguese, �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in 1383–85 crisi ...

seized

. This conquest marked the beginning of overseas European expansion. The Portuguese capture of Ceuta in 1415 had taken the Moroccans by surprise. In 1419 Abu Said Uthman III led an army to recover it, but his siege of Ceuta failed. The besieging forces included those of Abu Said Uthman III and allied forces from the

. The Portuguese garrison of Ceuta was led by Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real. The Portuguese gathered a fleet under the command of princes

Henry the Navigator Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese ...

and John of Reguengos to relieve Ceuta. According to the chroniclers, the relief fleet turned out to be quite unnecessary. In a bold gambit, D. Pedro de Menezes led the Portuguese garrison in a sally against the Marinid siege camp and forced the lifting of the siege before the relief fleet even arrived.

Assassination and succession

The failure to recapture Ceuta led to widespread disaffection with the sultan and instability in the Marinid state. This culminated in a coup in Fez in 1420, in which the sultan Abu Said Uthman III was assassinated, leaving behind only a one-year-old child, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq II as son and heir. A succession struggle broke out immediately as other pretenders quickly emerged. Opportunistically, the

Nasrid The Nasrid dynasty ( ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; ) was an Arab dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada from 1232 to 1492. It was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty-three sultans ruled Granada from the foun ...

rulers of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and the

Abdalwadid The Zayyanid dynasty or Ziyanids (, ''Ziyāniyyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids (, ''Bānu ʿAbd āl-Wād'') was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of Tlemcen in northwest Algeria. The ...

s of the

Kingdom of Tlemcen The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen () was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached ...

intervened, each sponsoring different candidates for the Moroccan throne. At the time, Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi was serving as the long-time governor of

Salé Salé (, ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Along with some smaller nearby towns, Rabat and Salé form together a single m ...

for the Marinids. Hearing the news of the sultan's assassination, Abu Zakariya hurried from Salé and seized control of the royal palace of Fez, proclaiming the orphan child Abd al-Haqq as the new Marinid sultan and appointing himself his regent and chief minister (

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

). Morocco quickly descended into disorder and strife. Granadan and Tlemcen interventions and intrigues continued, regional governors seized control of their districts, selling and re-selling their allegiance to the highest bidder,

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

-inspired religious radicals drummed up mobs to seize control of urban centers and take to the field, while rowdy rural nomads, the Hilalian

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

tribesmen, availed themselves of the general breakdown of law and order to launch a series of bandit raids on smaller towns and settlements. However, the vizier Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi eventually gained control, becoming the effective ruler of Morocco, founder of the

of viziers and later sultans.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Said, Uthman 1420 deaths 14th-century Berber people 14th-century monarchs in Africa 14th-century Moroccan people 15th-century Berber people 15th-century monarchs in Africa 15th-century Moroccan people 15th century in Gibraltar History of Ceuta Marinid sultans Royalty from Fez, Morocco People of the Reconquista