Siege of Graciosa | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Moroccan-Portuguese conflicts | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Portugal | Wattasid dynasty | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Gaspar Jusarte Diego Fernandes de Almeida | Muhammad al-Wattasi | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,500 men | 4,000 cavalry Large number of infantry | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Heavy | Heavy |
The siege of Graciosa was a military campaign launched in 1489 by the Wattassid sultan Mohammed al-Wattasi in order to take the Portuguese stronghold of Graciosa. The Portuguese forces eventually capitulated, then evacuated the place.
In 1481, king Afonso died and was succeeded by his son, John. Jon decided to continue his predesscor policy of expansion in Morocco. John began working on strengthening the Portuguese position by establishing a fortress in the interior, which could be easily supplied and reinforced by sea. In February 1489, an expedition was launched led by Gaspar Jusarte with the mission of establishing a fort next to the Loukkos River which received its name as Gracisoa. Diego Fernandes de Almeida was given the governance of the fort. [1] [2]
The vessels went to the river with no difficulty, and workers were disembarked to build. The site, however, proved to be disadvantageous despite being protected by cannons from the fort and Caravels. The river was sluggish and was surrounded by marshy swamps, serpentine coils, and oxbow lakes. Aware of the Portuguese activity, the Moroccan sultan, Muhammad al-Wattasi, rushed to the fort in an attempt to dislodge them from there. [3] [4]
As summer approached, the Moroccan tribes came from the hills and began surrounding the Portuguese fort, harassing the enemy. In July, Muhammad had arrived to participate in the siege with a force of 4,000 cavalry and a large amount of infantry. [5] [6] [7] The garrison had a total of 1,500 men. [8] The Portuguese artillery and Caravals fired at the Moroccans day and night, which kept the Moroccans at bay. In response, the sultan had brought cannons with him to engage with the enemy. By mid-August, casualties were mounting up on both sides, and the river mud was stained with blood from both sides. [9] [10]
Seeing that the siege was prolonged, the sultan, on the advice of a renegade, had all the oak trees cut and embedded on the Loukkos river, which blocked the river two leagues downstream. Now the Moroccans had no need to fight. The trapped Portuguese ships were incapable of escaping, and the Portuguese were forced to captiulate. Both sides signed a peace treaty on August 27. A ten-year truce was signed, and the Portuguese were allowed to evacuate with all their baggage. [11] [12] [13]
After the siege, John made no attempt to expand Portuguese influence in Morocco and was stopped for the moment. [14] [15] Although disappointed, John kept searching for any Christian allies in Africa who could help him outflank the Muslim kingdoms. [16] The Portuguese withdrawal prompted the Moroccans to establish the town of Larache on the mouth of the river. [17]
The Battle of Alcácer Quibir was fought in northern Morocco, near the town of Ksar-el-Kebir and Larache, on 4 August 1578.
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.
The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) around Gibraltar. It was named after the Banu Marin, a Zenata Berber tribe. The sultanate was ruled by the Marinid dynasty, founded by Abd al-Haqq I.
The Saadi Sultanate was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of West Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was led by the Saadi dynasty, an Arab Moroccan Sharifian dynasty.
The Wattasid dynasty 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. These viziers assumed the powers of the Sultans, seizing control of the Marinid dynasty's realm when the last Marinid, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq, who had massacred many of the Wattasids in 1459, was murdered during a popular revolt in Fez in 1465.
MawlayMohammed al-Shaykh al-Sharif al-Hassani, known as Mohammed al-Shaykh, was the first sultan of the Saadian dynasty of Morocco (1544–1557). He was particularly successful in expelling the Portuguese from most of their bases in Morocco. He also eliminated the Wattasids and resisted the Ottomans, thereby establishing a complete rule over Morocco.
Mehdya, also Mehdia or Mehedya, is a town in Kénitra Province, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, in north-western Morocco. Previously called al-Ma'mura, it was known as São João da Mamora under 16th century Portuguese occupation, or as La Mamora under 17th century Spanish occupation.
Moroccan–Portuguese conflicts refer to a series of battles between Morocco and Portugal throughout history including Battle of Tangier, Fall of Agadir and other battles and sieges in the Moroccan coast.
Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad, also Sultan Ahmad, or Ahmad al-Wattasi, was a Sultan of the Moroccan Wattasid dynasty. He ruled from 1526 to 1545, and again between 1547 and 1549.
The Graciosa fortress was established on the coast of Morocco by the Portuguese in 1489. It was established on a small river island, about three leagues from the sea, at the junction of river Lucus and river el-Mekhazen, a few kilometers inland from modern Larache. The island had been yielded to the Portuguese by Abu Zakariya Muhammad al-Saih al-Mahdi through a treaty following the Portuguese capture of Arzila.
Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Ziyan al-Wattasi (abū zakarīyā' yaḥyā ben ziyān al-waṭṭāsī Arabic: أبو زكرياء يحيى بن زيان الوطاس was a vizier of the Marinid sultan of Fez, regent and effective strongman ruler of Morocco from 1420 until 1448. He is the founder of the Wattasid dynasty of viziers and later sultans, and as such often designated as Yahya I in Wattasid lists. He was also known by his nickname Lazeraque, as found in Portuguese chronicles.
The Battle of Tangier, sometimes referred to as the siege of Tangiers, and by the Portuguese, as the disaster of Tangier, refers to the attempt by a Portuguese expeditionary force to seize the Moroccan citadel of Tangier and its defeat by the armies of the Marinid Sultanate in 1437.
Sayyida al Hurra, real name Lalla Aicha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami, was Hakimat Titwan between 1515–1542 and a Moroccan privateer leader during the early 16th century. She became the wife of the Wattasid Sultan Ahmad ibn Muhammad. She is considered to be "one of the most important female figures of the Islamic West in the modern age".
The history of Marrakesh, a city in southern Morocco, stretches back nearly a thousand years. The country of Morocco itself is named after it.
Abu Said Uthman III, was Marinid ruler of Morocco 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 from the Emirate of Granada in 1410. In 1415 the Portuguese seized the port of Ceuta. 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 of rulers of Morocco.
The Pahang Sultanate also referred as the Old Pahang Sultanate, as opposed to the Modern Pahang Sultanate, was a Malay Muslim state established in the eastern Malay peninsula in 15th century. At the height of its influence, the Sultanate was an important power in Southeast Asian history and controlled the entire Pahang basin, bordering to the north, the Pattani Sultanate, and adjoined to that of Johor Sultanate to the south. To the west, it also extended jurisdiction over part of modern-day Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
The last two Gujarat Sultans, Ahmad Shah III and Mahmud Shah III, were raised to throne when they were young so the nobles were ruling the Sultanate. The nobles divided territories between themselves but soon started fighting between themselves for supremacy. One noble invited the Mughal emperor Akbar to intervene in 1572 which resulted in the conquest of Gujarat by 1573 and Gujarat becoming the province of the Mughal Empire.
The Battle of Mamora was a military engagement between the Wattasid Moroccans and the Portuguese army who landed in Mamora. The Wattasids were victorious, and the Portuguese were decisively defeated.
Portuguese Asilah covers the period of Portuguese rule over Asilah, today a city in Morocco. The territory was ruled by the Kingdom of Portugal from 1471 to 1550 and again between 1577 and 1589.
The siege of Mazagan of 1769 was the last engagement between Morocco and the Portuguese in Mazagan. The Moroccan army under Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah was victorious and the Portuguese evacuated their last garrison in Morocco, bringing an end to their 354-year-long conflict.