Timeline / 1300 to 2000 / MOROCCO
Date Country | Description
1304 A.D. Morocco
The great geographer Ibn Battuta, born in Tangiers, begins a 25-year journey that would take him to China in Asia and Timbuktu in Africa.
1349 A.D. Morocco
Sultan Abu Inan founds the library of the Qarawiyin Mosque in Fez.
1350 A.D. Morocco
Abu Inan builds the Buinaniya madrasa in Fez, where Marinid decorative arts find their full aesthetic expression.
1380 A.D. Morocco
Ibn Marzuq, celebrated historian of the Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hassan, dies in Fez.
1415 A.D. Morocco
The Portuguese take the town of Sebta.
1458 A.D. Morocco
The Portuguese take the town of Qsar al-Saghir.
1489 A.D. Morocco
A Portuguese column infiltrates Moroccan lands and begin work on the Graciosa fortress on the Loukkos River.
1497 A.D. Morocco
The Duke of Medina-Sidonia takes the town of Melilla.
1505 A.D. Morocco
The Portuguese found the fortress of Santa Cruz de Aguer near to the village of Founti.
1529 A.D. Morocco
Ibn Askar, author of the hagiographic dictionary Dawhat al-Nachir. is born in Chefchaouen.
1549 A.D. Morocco
The Sa‘dids crush the last Wattasids and enter Fez amid much ceremony. Date Country | Description
1552 A.D. Morocco
Death of the great geographer al-Hassan al-Wazzan (Leo Africanus), whose works, written in Latin, illuminated many aspects of civilisation in the Maghreb.
1578 A.D. Morocco
The Sa‘dids win the Battle of Oued al-Makhazin (Battle of the Three Kings – resulting in the death of ‘Abd al-Malik, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal and al- Mutawakkil) and the coronation of Ahmad al-Mansur al-Dhahabi (‘the golden’).
1578 - 1579 A.D. Morocco
Ahmad al-Mansur starts work on the al-Badi Palace (the Incomparable) in Marrakesh and reorganises sugar production in Chichaoua, Darâ and Essaouira regions.
1609 A.D. Morocco
Muslims and Jews expelled from Castile, La Mancha and Extemadura, Andalusia, Catalonia and Murcia begin to settle in Morocco and other countries in the Maghreb.
1631 A.D. Morocco
‘Alawid Sharif Mulay Ali al-Sharif is proclaimed Sultan of Morocco.
1672 A.D. Morocco
Mulay Isma‘ïl makes Meknes the capital of the kingdom and starts work on his royal fortress complete with palaces, granaries, lakes and stables. It is reminiscent of the Topkapi Sarayi Citadel in Istanbul.
1682 A.D. Morocco
Mulay Isma‘ïl takes the town of Mamora back from the Spanish and it is renamed al-Mahdiya.
1757 A.D. Morocco
Sultan Sidi Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdallah succeeds his father, opens up trading relations with Europe and undertakes a huge programme of construction and fortification of the Atlantic towns.
1765 A.D. Morocco
Sidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abdallah founds the port town of Essaouira and begin the economic reorganisation of the kingdom.
1844 A.D. Morocco Date Country | Description
Defeat of the Moroccan army by the occupying French forces in Algeria at the Battle of Isly.
1851 A.D. Morocco
French ships bombard the town of Salé.
1906 A.D. Morocco
The colonial powers sign the Act of Algeciras, proclaiming the independence of the Sultan of Morocco, the integrity of the empire and the economic equality of the colonial powers.
1912 A.D. Morocco
Mulay Hafid signs the treaty for the French protectorate in Morocco
1921 A.D. Morocco
Moroccan resistance fighters win the Battle of Annual in the Rif, defeating the Spanish army.