Conflicts between the Regency of Algiers and the Cherifian dynasties or Algerian-Sherifian conflicts opposed the

Regency of Algiers The Regency of Algiers was an Early modern period, early modern semi-independent Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman province and nominal Tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Afr ...

and its allied local sultanates and tribal confederations, and on the other hand, the

Sharif Sharīf or Sherif (, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, from the fami ...

ian Saadian and

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

dynasties that had ruled Morocco since the 16th century. The origins of these conflicts were multiple and overlapping. The integration in 1520 into the Ottoman Empire of the state-owned enterprise of the Regency of Algiers in the central

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

as a new political center integrated into was at the expense of the Zayyanids of

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

to its west. Recurrent conflicts at the beginning of the sixteenth century with the Regency on the one hand and the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

on the other saw Tlemcen absorbed into the Regency. The weakening of the Zianides, aroused the covetousness of the Saadians who saw in it the opportunity to expand their territories to the East. Although the Regency of Algiers confirmed its control over Tlemcen and

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

ia, it did not have the means to launch long campaigns in the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

, which it delegated to various tribal confederations like the Ouled Sidi Cheikh. The Saadians were blocked to the north by the Spanish Empire but the Regency of Algiers then found a south-Saharan outlet for imperial expansion. These conflicts and resulting treaties foreshadowed the borders and delimitations of the modern nation-states of the Maghreb.

Establishment of the regency of Algiers (16th century)

Collapse of the Zayyanids of Tlemcen

The weakening of the Zayyanids of

, playing on their alliances with

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the Turks of Algiers and the

Wattasids 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. Th ...

to maintain themselves, opened up a political void in western Algeria. The founding of the Regency of Algiers (1512–1529) then its integration into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

was done at the expense of the Zayyanids in the west and the

Hafsids The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

in the east. The regency of Algiers, directed by the exogenous Turkish element of its militia, extended its influence to the west through the play of

marabout In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...

ic alliances and brotherhoods. However, the advent of the

ian

Saadians The Saadi Sultanate (), also known as the Sharifian Sultanate (), was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of Northwest Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was led by the Saadi dynasty, an Arab Sharifian dynasty. The dynas ...

in Fez in 1550 upset this game of alliances. The Regency of Algiers could not count on the support of maraboutics against sovereigns claiming descent from

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. Negotiations therefore began concerning the territories formerly under Zayyanid suzerainty, which were not successful.

Saadian attempts in Oran

In 1545, the Saadians allied themselves with the Spaniards. The Cherifian army took Tlemcen without fighting in 1550 and marched on Algiers. The

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the I ...

s of the Regency of Algiers and the Sultan of the Beni Abbas then concluded the pact of Aguemoun Ath Khiar. They retook Orania and Tlemcen in 1551; The victory was exploited politically by Algiers and played a role in the formation of Algeria (prefiguring its borders). This conflict opened a period of Algerian-Cherifian hostility which only ceased in 1585 with the intervention of the Ottoman sultan. From then on, for about a century, the border at the Moulouya river was respected. On the other hand, the fall of the Zayyanids of Tlemcen opened the way for the Saharan conquests of the Saadians, who were anxious to control the trans-Saharan

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over land or water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a singl ...

s that had been left vacant. The Regency could not engage in distant Saharan expeditions, but troops were sent from at the request of Ksourians facing rezzous from

Tafilalt Tafilalt or Tafilet (), historically Sijilmasa, is a region of Morocco, centered on its largest oasis. Etymology There are many speculations regarding the origin of the word "Tafilalt", however it is known that Tafilalt is a Berber word meaning ...

. The Touat and the Gourara were then subjected to a temptation of local withdrawal and were independent in fact.

Notable battles

* Campaign of Tlemcen (1551) * Capture of Fez (1554) * Campaign of Tlemcen (1557) *

Capture of Fez (1576) The Capture of Fez occurred in 1576 at the Moroccan city of Fez, when an Algerian-Ottoman force from the Regency of Algiers supported the prince Abd al-Malik in gaining the throne of the Saadi Sultanate against his nephew and rival claimant ...

* Battle of Wadi al-Laban (1558) *

Battle of Moulouya The Battle of Moulouya took place in May 1692 at a ford on the Moulouya River, Moulouya river in Morocco. It was fought between the armies of the Alawi Sultanate, Alawi sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif , Moulay Ismail and those of the Dey, Dey of Algiers ...

(1691) * Siege of Oran (1693) * Battle of Tlemcen (1700) * Battle of Chelif (1701) * Oran expedition (1707) * Laghouat Expedition (1727) * Capture of the Rif (1792)

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Cite book, last=Cour, first=Auguste, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sClyAAAAMAAJ&q=auguste+cour+rivalit%C3%A9, title=L'établissement des dynasties des Chérifs au Maroc et leur rivalité avec les Turcs de la Régence d'Alger: 1509–1830, year=2004, publisher=Editions Bouchène, isbn=9782912946782, language=fr Wars involving the Regency of Algiers Wars involving Morocco 16th-century conflicts 17th-century conflicts 18th-century conflicts * Military history of the Mediterranean