Badis was a town in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, 110 km southeast of

Tétouan Tétouan (, or ) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about E.S.E. of Tangier. In the 2014 Morocc ...

, between the territory of the Ghomara and the

Rif The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...

; the Banu Yattufat (Ait Yitufut) live in the area.

History

Badis was part of the

Kingdom of Nekor The Emirate of Nekor or Şālihid Emirate () was an Arab emirate centered in the Rīf area of present-day Morocco. Its capital was initially located at Tamsāmān, and then moved to Nekor. The ruling dynasty presented itself as of Himyarite A ...

, and after the

Idrisids The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids ( ') were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid dynasty descended from Mu ...

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

, and Marinids; the last three dynasties used it as a naval base. It had some importance under the Marinid sultan Abu Said () and paid the same taxes—1000 ''dinars''—as

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

and

Larache Larache () is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Many civilisations and cultures have ...

. Badis had an arsenal and shipyards. The population engaged in fishing and piracy and was the seat of the governor of the Rif that embraced the entire coast and some inland tribes (Bukkuya, Banu Mansur, Banu Khalid, Banu Yadir). In his visit to the town,

Leo Africanus Johannes Leo Africanus (born al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Wazzān al-Zayyātī al-Fasī, ; – ) was an Andalusi diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book '' Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica'', later publish ...

described it as having 600 households. About 100 meters, there are two rocky islets, the largest called ''Hajar Badis'', which the Spaniards call Peñón de Vélez, and which they occupied in 1508, an occupation that lasted until 1520. In 1526 the

Wattasid 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 ...

sultan Abu Hassun, dethroned by his brother, received as a feud the

, with his seat at Badis (for this reason he was called al-Badisi). In 1554 he ceded the city and island to his Ottoman allies in Algiers who made it a nest for pirates operating in the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

. The Saadid sultan

Abdallah al-Ghalib Abdallah al-Ghalib Billah (; b. 1517 – d. 22 January 1574, 1557–1574) was the second Saadian sultan of Morocco. He succeeded his father Mohammed al-Shaykh as Sultan of Morocco. Biography Early life With his first wife Sayyida Rabia, ...

saw this activity and the Ottoman presence with a very bad eye, as it could be a base for the conquest of his kingdom, and in 1564 he ceded the town and island to Spain; the Moroccan inhabitants were evacuated. The town was depopulated and soon fell into ruins. The rock is still preserved by the Spaniards and named Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.

Notable natives or residents

* Abd al-Haqq al-Badisi, a Moroccan biographer * Abu Yaqub Yusuf al-Zuhayli al-Badisi, a 14th century Moroccan saint and savant * Ali Abu Hassun,

sultan, lived in Badis from 1526 to 1549.

References

Sources

* {{coord, 35.16889, -4.28833, display=title Former populated places in Morocco