History Of Morocco

70,000-7,000 B.C

Remains of Neanderthal men who first crossed the Sahara desert have been found along the coastal dunes of Morocco

7,000-2,000 B.C

First Moorish tribes are believed to have been established in Morocco

2,000-600 B.C

By around 1100 B.C the Phoenicians, traders from Syria, had established a network of harbours along the north African shore including Tangier, Rabat and Essaouria for trading in precious metals, oils, corn, ivory and timber with the local Berber tribes. With them they brought new skills of pottery, weaving, masonry, agriculture and metalwork.

600 B.C-41 A.D

The Moors found the kingdom of Mauretana (not to be confused with the modern country of Mauritania), extending from the Atlantic to Algeria. 

42-429

Mauretania becomes part of the Roman Empire and it includes the territories of what are now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and part of Libya. Although the Romans’ authority was continuously challenged by the Berber tribes, they built upon the built upon the Phoenician trade and settlement networks to develop a small, civilized and prosperous province.

429-900

The collapse of the Roman Empire was followed by a series of German Vandal invasions in 429 via Spain and later conquest attempts by the Byzantine Greeks in 535 who remained as rulers until the Arab invasions two centuries later which brought Islam to Morocco.

901-1727

In around 1070, the Almoravids, a confederation of Berber tribes from the Western Sahara, founded the city of Marrakech. They were succeeded by the Almohad, a collection of tribes from the High Atlas region whose empire eventually extended over Spain, Morocco, Algeria and western Libya until they were defeated by Spanish Christians in 1212. Stability in Morocco only recovered in 1248 when the Merenids (the Beni-Merin tribe) founded their dynasty, which ended in economic decline at the beginning of the 15th century. By the end of the15th century the Saadians, a powerful family from the Drâa Oasis Valley, expelled occupying Portuguese forces and founded the Saadian dynasty which lasted until 1668 when a prince from the Oasis of Tafilalt succeeded the throne. His family still holds the throne to this day.

1727 -1912

Civil wars breakout in 1727 but by 1781 a new ruler in Sultan Sidi Mohammad is crowned who expels the Portuguese and builds the Royal Palace in Rabat. His support for the Algerian Emirs causes the military intervention of the French in 1844. Following long and numerous negotiations, Morocco becomes a French protectorate although officially still governed by a Sultan. 

1912-1956

A peaceful period led to a rapid growth in population and trade and to the French-financed development of the country’s infrastructure including irrigation, roads, railways, administration, healthcare and power. The French gave up their control of Morocco in 1954 to focus on Algeria and the popular Moroccan king Mohammed V returned from exile in Madagascar. By 1956 Morocco is finally independent.

1956 -2007

Mohammed V rules until 1962 when Prince Hassan II succeeds him. While preserving the country’s deep and rich traditions and cultures, Hassan II manages to modernise the country.