The Dynasties of Morocco
Idrisids to Alaouites — 1,200 years of rulers, capitals, and power shifts
The Idrisids came first. Idris I, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, fled the Abbasid massacre in 786 and established the first Muslim state in Morocco. His son Idris II founded Fes in 808. The dynasty was small, fragile, and short-lived — but it gave Morocco its first capital and its claim to Sharifian legitimacy that persists to this day.
The Almoravids emerged from the Sahara. Amazigh Sanhaja nomads, veiled warriors, they conquered from Senegal to Spain under Youssef ibn Tachfin, who founded Marrakech in 1070. They built an empire on religious reform and military discipline. Their architecture was austere — no ornament, no excess.
The Almohads destroyed them. Another Amazigh movement, Masmuda from the High Atlas, led by Ibn Tumart and his successor Abd al-Mu'min. The Almohads were builders — the Koutoubia mosque, the Giralda in Seville, the Hassan Tower in Rabat, the ramparts of Marrakech. Their empire stretched from Libya to Portugal. It was the largest Berber empire in history.
The Marinids took Fes and made it their capital. They were scholars more than warriors — the Bou Inania and Attarine madrasas in Fes are their masterpieces. But they could not hold the periphery, and their power slowly contracted.
The Saadians brought sugar and gold. They defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of the Three Kings in 1578 — one of the most significant military victories in Moroccan history. They built the Saadian Tombs and El Badi Palace in Marrakech with Saharan gold from Timbuktu.
The Alaouites, the current dynasty, took power in 1631 and have held it since. Moulay Ismail built Meknes. Mohammed V led the country to independence. Mohammed VI modernised it. The dynasty's longevity — nearly 400 years — is unmatched in the Arab world.
The pattern is consistent: each dynasty rises from the margins, conquers the centre, builds magnificently, then weakens as the next movement gathers force in a different corner of the country.
Explore the full interactive module — with dynasty timelines, territorial maps, and the complete architectural inventory of each ruling house — at Dancing with Lions: https://www.dancingwiththelions.com/data/dynasty-timeline
Interactive Module
Data and visualisation by Dancing with Lions
