It seems nations are to be governed always by setting up one
portion of the people against the other.
Muley Abd Errahman was chosen by his uncle, on account of his pacific
and frugal habits, educated as he was by being made in early life the
administrator of the customs in Mogador, and as a prince likely to
preserve and consolidate the empire. The anticipations of the uncle have
been abundantly realized by the nephew, for Muley Abd Errahman, with the
exception of the short period of the French hostilities, (which was not
his own work and happened in spite of him), has preserved the intact
without, and quiet during the many years he has occupied the throne.
His Moorish Majesty, who is advanced in life, is a man of middle
stature. He has dark and expressive eyes, and, as already observed, is a
mulatto of a fifth caste. Colour excites no prejudices either in the
sovereign or in the subject. This Emperor is so simple in his habits and
dress, that he can only be distinguished from his officers and governors
of provinces by the _thall_, or parasol, the Shereefian emblem of
royalty. The Emperor's son, when out on a military expedition, is also
honoured by the presence of the Imperial parasol, which was found in
Sidi Mohammed's tent at the Battle of Isly. Muley Abd Errahman is not
given to excesses of any kind, (unless avarice is so considered), though
his three harems of Fas, Miknas, and Morocco may be _stocked_, or more
politely, adorned, with a thousand ladies or so, and the treasures of
the empire are at his disposal. He is not a man of blood; [4] he rarely
decapitates a minister or a governor, notwithstanding that he frequently
confiscates their property, and sometimes imprisons them to discover
their treasures, and drain them of their last farthing. The Emperor
lives on good terms with the rest of his family. He has one son,
Governor of Fez (Sidi Mohammed), and another son, Governor of Rabat. The
greater part of the royal family reside at Tafilett, the ancient country
of the _Sherfah_, or Shereefs, and is still especially appropriated for
their residence. Ali Bey reported as the information of his time, that
there were at Tafilett no less than two thousand Shereefs, who all
pretended to have a right to the throne of Morocco, and who, for that
reasons enjoyed certain gratifications paid them by the reigning Sultan.
He adds that, during an interregnum, many of them took up arms and threw
the empire into anarchy. This state of things is happily past, and, as
to the number of the Shereefs at Tafilett, all that we know is, there is
a small fortified town, inhabited entirely by Shereefs, living in
moderate, if not impoverished circumstances.
The Shereefian Sultans of Morocco are not only the successors of the
Arabian Sovereigns of Spain, but may justly dispute the Caliphat with
the Osmanlis, or Turkish Sultans. Their right to be the chiefs of
Islamism is better founded than the pretended Apostolic successors at
Rome, who, in matters of religion, they in some points resemble.
I introduce here, with some unimportant variations, a translation from
Graeberg de Hemso of the Imperial Shereefian pedigree, to correspond with
the genealogical tableaux, which the reader will find in succeeding
pages, of the Moorish dynasties of Tunis and Tripoli.
GENEALOGY OF THE REIGNING DYNASTY OF MOROCCO.
1. Ali-Ben-Abou-Thaleb; died in 661 of the Christian Era; surnamed "The
accepted of God," of the most ancient tribe of Hashem, and husband of
Fatima, styled Ey-Zarah, or, "The Pearl," only daughter of Mahomet.
2. Hosein, or El-Hosein-es-Sebet, _i.e._ "The Nephew;" died in 1680;
from him was derived the patronymic El-Hoseinee, which all the Shereefs
bear,
3. Hasan-el-Muthna, _i.e._ "The Striker;" died in 719; brother of
Mohammed, from whom pretended to descend, in the 16th degree, Mohammed
Ben Tumert, founder of the dynasty of the Almohadi, in 1120.
4. Abdullah-el-Kamel, _i.e._ "The Perfect;" in 752, father of Edris, the
progenitor or founder of the dynasty of the Edristi in Morocco, and who
had six brothers.
5. Mohammed, surnamed "The pious and just soul;" in 784, had five
children who were the branches of a numerous family. (Between Mohammed
and El-Hasem who follows, some assert that three gererations succeeded).
6. El-Kasem, in 852; brother of Abdullah, from whom it is said the
Caliphs of Egypt and Morocco are descended.
7. Ismail; about 890.
8. Ahmed; in 901.
9. El-Hasan; in 943.
10. Ali; in 970, (excluded from the genealogy published by Ali Bey, but
noted by several good authorities).
11. Abubekr; 996.
12. El-Husan, in 1012.
13. Abubekr El-Arfat, _i.e._ "The Knower," in 1043.
14. Mohammed, in 1071.
15. Abdullah, in 1109.
16. Hasan, in 1132; brother of a Mohammed, who emigrated to Morocco.
17. Mohammed, in 1174.
18. Abou-el-Kasem Abd Errahman, in 1207.
19. Mohammed, in 1236.
20. El-Kaseru, in 1271, brother of Ahmed, who also emigrated into
Africa, and was father of eight children, one of whom was:
21. El-Hasan, who, in 1266, upon the demand of a tribe of Berbers of
Moghrawa, was sent by his father into the kingdom of Segelmesa (now
Tafilett) and Draha, where, through his descendants, he became the
common progenitor of the Maroquine Shereefs.
22. Mohammed, in 1367.
23. El-Hasan, in 1391, by his son, Mohammed, he became grandfather of
Hosem, who, during 1507, founded the first dynasty of the Hoseinee
Shereefs in Segelmesa, and the extreme south of Morocco, which dynasty,
after twelve years, made itself master of the kingdom of Morocco.
24. Ali-es-Shereef, _i.e._ "The noble," died in 1437, was the first to
assume this name, and had, after forty years elapsed, two sons, the
first, Muley Mahommed, by a concubine, and the second:
25.
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