The Fall of Agadir refers to the conquest of the city 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 ...

by the Saadians against the Portuguese in 1541.

Background

Establishment and trade role

Agadir had been a Portuguese base since 1505. Before that, a few unsuccessful attempts to capture it had been made by the Spanish Governor of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, in 1500 and 1504. The first Portuguese fort was built privately in 1505 by a Portuguese countryman, and the King of Portugal officially acquired it in 1513, also enlarging it and calling it ''Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gue''. Agadir was an important base, as it was sufficiently far south to connect to the

sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

trade, mainly dealing in gold and slaves. Its role was so important that the southern Saadians under Araj initially refrained from attacking the city, between 1513 and 1525, until the capture of

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, and instead attacked the cities of Safi and

Azemmour Azemmour or Azammur () is a Moroccan city, lying at the Atlantic ocean coast, on the left bank of the Oum Er-Rbia River, 75 km southwest of Casablanca. Etymology The word Azemmour comes from the Berber word ''Azemmur'' ("wild olive tree" ...

Siege

The conquest of Agadir was finally achieved by Saadian leader

Muhammad al-Shaykh ''Mawlay'' Mohammed al-Shaykh al-Sharif al-Hassani (), known as Mohammed al-Shaykh () (b. 1490 – d. 23 October 1557), was the first sultan of the Saadian dynasty of Morocco (1544–1557). He was particularly successful in expelling the Portugue ...

. He was able to mount the campaign as a peace had been signed with the northern Wattasids, through the 1527 Treaty of Tadla. He first built a

kasbah A kasbah (, also ; , , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term in Spanish (), which is derived from the same ...

on top of a hill to observe the city and direct his troops more efficiently. The Kasbah is still visible to this day, located about 7 kilometers from the city center. He then set up a siege that lasted 6 months, until the Portuguese Governor of Agadir had to surrender. He used Western artillery, which he had obtained from European traders.''The Cambridge history of Africa'' by J.D. Fage, John Desmond Clark, Roland Oliver, Richard Gray, John E. Flint, Neville Sanderson, Andrew Roberts, Michael Crowder p.405
/ref> The city had been poorly manned and provisioned by the Portuguese. Reinforcements were too sporadic. At one point a barrel of powder exploded which opened a gaping hole in the city's defenses. The Portuguese had also lost local support following the assassination of their allies Yahia u-Ta'fuft of Safi in 1518, and Malik ibn Mawud of Agadir in 1521.

Aftermath

After taking the city, Muhammad al-Shaykh reinforced its defences. The capture of the city was followed by the removal of the Portuguese presence in most of Morocco; the ports of Safi and Azammur were also evacuated by the Portuguese in October 1541. Ksar es-Seghir and Asila were also evacuated in 1550, after the Saadians captured Fez, capital of

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 ...

Morocco, in 1549. Only

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 ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

and Mazagan remained in Portuguese hands. This considerably reinforced Muhammed al-Shaykh's personal prestige, and opened the way to his conquest of the Moroccan throne. Under the Portuguese, Agadir had been an important trading center between Europe and Morocco, particularly for the products of Sus. Agadir later continued to develop as a trading base with Europe, receiving European

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is n ...

and

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

in exchange for

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

. At the end of the 17th century, the harbour fell under the rule of the Tazerwalt leaders, who were opposed to the Alaouites. When the Alouites gained supremacy in the 18th century, they closed the harbour of Agadir, in favour of the harbour of

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014. The foundation of the city of Essaouira was the work of t ...

further north.

Notes

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Portuguese colonisation in Africa Agadir 1541

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

16th century in Morocco

1541 in Portugal History of Agadir 1541 in Africa

Background

Establishment and trade role

Siege

Aftermath

See also

Notes