Abou Mahalli vs. the Saadians: Religion, Power and Collapse in 1600s Morocco
Update: 2025-06-02
Description
In this episode, I unpack the rise and fall of Abou Mahalli—preacher, warlord, self-declared Mahdi—who nearly rewrote Morocco’s fate in the 17th century. His life is a window into a country unraveling after its golden age, torn between dynastic decay, foreign interference, and a people’s longing for salvation. This is the story of a man who tried to fill the silence left by collapsing empirewith God, with poetry, with war.
Sources
– Al Ifrani, Nozhet el Hadi: Chronicles of the Saadian Dynasty (d. 1743)
– J. Brignon, Histoire du Maroc
– A. Péretié, “Le Raïs El Khadir Ghailan,” Archives marocaines, published by the Scientific Mission of Morocco
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