Juifs au Maroc et leurs Mellahs-David Corcos
Les rues des deux Mellahs furent purifiees, pavees, tandis que le souverain faisait construire en 1869 une nouvelle Kasba avec de tres belles maisons pour y loger des marchands, juifs pour la plupart, que Mogador continuait d'attirer, la Kasba al־Kadima (l'ancienne) devenant trop petite pour lozer tant de monde.
Depuis 1808 il n'y avait pas et des lors, il n'y aura plus de Mellahs dans les villes marocaines autres que ceux de Fes, Marrakech, Meknes, Tetuan, Sale, Rabat et et Mogador , mais en 1894, un Mellah fut cree dans un gros bourg de montagne, a l'est
de Marrakech, Demnat, ou quelque 2000 Juifs avaien
t vecu jusque la en parfaite entente avec les Musulmans. Depuis 1864, ces Juifs avaient subi maintes persecutions. Pour les protegcr, Moulay Hassan decida la creation d'un Mellah avec enceinte, dont l'uniquc porte etait fermee toutes les nuits. Ce "Ghetto" fut fonde contre l'agrement des Juifs qui furent contraints d'y habiter
. Par contre, dans le nord-est du pays, chez les Ai't Izdeg, sur l'Oued Outat, les Juifs, assez nombreux, construisirent eux-memes lcur Mellah, un tirremt (village fortifie): "On les y a attaques, ils ne se sont pas contentes de fermer leurs portes, ils ont riposte a coups de fusils et rendu coup pour coup, et depuis lors, ils traitent avec les Musulmans de puissance a puissance.
Au Maroc, il etait donc devenu normal que des Juifs habitent au "Mellah", une situation qui, dans la grande majorite des cas, avait fini par provoquer la decheance de ceux a qui elle etait imposee. Dans l'interieur, au sein des Mellahs ou tous les Juifs etaient forces dc vivre, a Fes, Meknes et Marrakech, il y avait depuis toujours des rues residentielles avec de tres belles demeures. Cet avantage ne valait que pour quelques dizaines de families riches. Quand dans l'une ou l'autre des villes marocaines, il n'y avait pas de Mellah a proprement parler, les Juifs de la 'seconde classe' se voyaient obliger, par la force des choses, d'habiter dans des quartiers pauvres ou ils se groupaient souvent corame en des temps plus lointains; mais l'espace n'y etait pas strictement limite. Aussi, n'y avait-il pas dans ces quartiers la profonde misere et l'incroyable malproprete des Mellahs de la deuxieme rnoitie du siecle dernier, de ces Ghettos surpeuples et etouffants. Cet etat de choses s'etait aggrave, si l'on peut dire, apres la mort de Moulay Hassan en 1894 L'instabilite du pouvoir avait cree l'anarchie qui fut naturellement suivie par une situation economique desastreuse. Les pauvres gens en furent, bien entendu, les principals victimes. En cette fin du XIX״ siecle, dans les milieux juifs, si deux classes sociales s'etaient affirmees plus nettement separees que jamais, il restait toujours et chez tous, pour le present et pour l'avenir, la foi en Dieu et la solidarite humaine.
Jerusalem, Janvier 1969
Studies in the history of the jews of Morocco
Studies in the history of the jews of Morocco
David Coreos was the scion of an ancient family. Few Jewish families can be compared with the Coreos: it has a genealogy that is known for almost eight centuries and has produced an array of distinguished men. In Spain and later in other countries the name Corcos was borne by respected rabbis, influential merchants, by men who were 
counsellors and aides to kings, and by leaders of the Jewish community
According to an old tradition the family is called after a townlet in the province of Valladolid, in Castile. However, the name possibly appears as Corcos of Carcosa in an old funerary inscription found in Tortosa and dating perhaps from the 10th century. A branch of the family lived in the 13th and 14th centuries in Catalonia and was indeed called Carcosa. If the Carcosa in Catalonia and Aragón and the Corcos in Castile (and others called Carcause, etc.) were branches of the same family, which is quite possible, the family has existed for one thousand years
The first member of the family in Castile whose name and activities are known to us lived in the second half of the 13th century. This was Abraham Corcos, who won a reputation as a great scholar. A son of his, Solomon, who was a student of R. Judah ben Asher, lived in Avila and, in 1332, wrote a commentary on the astronomical work Y'sod Olam of Isaac Israeli. A contemporary of this Solomon Corcos was a namesake, another Solomon Coreos, who was likewise a rabbinical scholar and corresponded with R. Solomon ben Adret. The annals of Spanish Jewry in the 14th century contain the name of several Corcos who lived in Briviesca, in Torquemada and in some towns of Aragón. Yomtobh Corcos, who lived in Monzón, was one of the Jewish delegates who took part in the disputation of Tortosa in 1413-14
When the Jews were expelled from Spain the Corcos spread over several countries. Some went to Portugal, like the rich Judah ben Abraham who formerly lived in Zamora. Others settled in Rome, where they were prominent in the Jewish community for two centuries. Solomon ben David Corcos was a dayyan in Rome, where he signed documents in 1536, 1540 and 1542. His sons Elijah and Joshua, who founded a bank in 1537, were leaders of the Jewish community in the middle and second half of the 16th century. Elijah was also a rabbinical scholar. Juridical decisions of his are still extant. In the first half of the 17th century Hezekiah Manoah (called also Rafael) ben Solomon Corcos was a dayyan in Rome. He was appointed in 1620 and died before 1650. He was an outstanding scholar and handed down juridical decisions. In the official register of the Jewish community he is called "the excellent judge, the exalted one, the great rabbi, the unique in his times, whose name spread in all parts of Italy and beyond its frontiers". A grandson (a son of his daughter), Manoah Hezekiah Hayyim (in Italian, Tranquillo Vita) Corcos, was a well-known rabbi. He was appointed rabbi in 1702 and held the post until his death in 1730. He was a stout champion of Judaism and took steps to oppose the activities of the renegade Paolo Medici. He wrote several treatises rebutting the accusations of anti-Semites, and claiming civic rights for the Jews, and was also the author of a book on the M'zuza (printed in Rimini, 1713). Other members of the Corcos family held posts as rabbis in Sinigaglia, Venice and other cities of Italy. The statements of some Christian scholars about the conversion of several members of the Corcos family in Rome are highly questionable
Studies in the history of the jews of Morocco David Corcos
Another branch of the Corcos family went to Morocco where they were foremost among the leaders of the "exiled" (m'gurdshim), as the Spanish Jews proudly called themselves. Several members of the family figure among those who signed the takkandt (ordinances) of the Spanish Jewish communities: Hayyim Corcos signed a takkana in 1549, Joshua was a well-known rabbi in the middle of the 16th century and a firmatory of several takkandt, while Joshua's grandson, Joshua ben Jacob, was a leader of the Moroccan Jews in the second half of the 16th century. Ere long the Corcos were called to other Mediterranean countries. Everywhere they occupied the position of esteemed spiritual leaders of the Jewish communities. Moses ben Abraham Corcos, born in Fez, was in the second half of the 16th century dayyan in Tunis, and Joseph ben Joshua Corcos lived in the 18th century in Gibraltar, where he wrote his Yoseph Hen, homiletic commentaries on the Pentateuch (printed in Leghorn, 1825) and his Shfur Koma, a liturgical work containing texts from the Zohar (printed in Leghorn, 18 ll)
It goes without saying that some members of this family, which distinguished itself through the centuries by its faithfulness to Judaism, went to Palestine. One of them was Isaac Corcos, who lived in the first half of the 16th century. He was first rabbi in Egypt and then in Jerusalem. Another was Joseph Corcos, the author of a commentary on the Mishne Tora, the great codex of Maimonides. He lived in the second half of the 16th century in Palestine. His work was printed in Smyrna in 1757 and most recently in Jerusalem in 1958 and 1966. He wrote commentaries on sections of the Talmud, for example K'thubhot, and also left juridical decisions, some of which are included in the collection of Joseph Caro called Abhkat Rokhel.
When the Jews were again allowed to live in England, some members of the Corcos family settled there. Judah ben Yehiel Corcos (d. 1733) was one of the first members of the congregation of "Spanish and Portuguese Jews" in London. In 1742, Joshua ben Joseph Corcos, a rich merchant, settled in London. Other Corcos were in the 18th century successful merchants in Algiers and Leghorn, then one of the most active ports of the Mediterranean and the seat of a flourishing Jewish community.
However, the achievements of all these branches of the Corcos family cannot be compared with the great role that it played in the economic life of Morocco and in the life of Moroccan Jewry. For a long period the Corcos fulfilled the task of "the sultan's trader" and held a high position at court. First Abraham ben Judah Corcos (d. 1797) became "sultan's trader" and his descendants held this position until 1893. In the course of time the members of this distinguished family were also entrusted with the representation of the interests of Christian powers, and duly appointed consuls. From the foundation of Mogador, the Corcos family held a foremost place in it. Maimon ben Isaac Corcos (d. 1799), a rich merchant, was one of the founders of the Jewish community in Mogador. In 1822 Solomon ben Abraham Corcos became the British consular agent. His sons Jacob (d. 1878) and Abraham (d. 1883) undertook various missions for the sultan. Abraham, in 1862 appointed United States consul in Mogador, received Moses Montefiore and aided him in his activities on behalf of Moroccan Jewry. After his death his son Meyer (d. 1931) was American consul in Mogador. He was also learned in Jewish lore and wrote a book about the laws of the Sabbath and Passover. This book, called Ben Meir, was printed in Jerusalem in 1912. A cousin of Meyer's, Joshua ben David Hayyim of Marrakech (d. 1929), was banker to the sultan and for forty years the spokesman of Moroccan Jewry.
Some Corcos emigrated to Central and North America and there too they distinguished themselves in public life. Among these members of the family there should be mentioned Moses who returned with his wife Stella from England to Mogador. In 1884 Stella Corcos founded in Mogador a school for Jewish girls whose language of instruction was English. Other members of the ramified Corcos family lived in France. Fernand Corcos (1875-1956) was a highly esteemed lawyer in Paris and wrote several books. He was also a fervent Zionist and published a two-volume book: Le Sionisme au travail (Paris 1923-25).
Studies in the history of the jews of Morocco- David Corcos
David Corcos, author of the present papers, was born in Mogador in 1917, son of Jacob Corcos (d. 1951) and Hannah Abulafia. He was thus on his mother's side too the scion of a famous family and he was perfectly right in combining both family names, according to the old Spanish fashion, and calling himself Corcos Abulafia
He was brought up by his father in a way befitting the son of a family imbued with Jewish and Western culture, and was faithful to the tradition of his ancestors. His father engaged private teachers who gave him lessons in all branches of secular knowledge and others who taught him Jewish lore, Talmud and even Zohar
Like so many members of his family, he became a merchant. The Jews of Mogador, and not least the Corcos, had always carried on overseas trade and had close relations with French and English ports. David Corcos too was a successful merchant, engaged in export and import activities, such as the export of almonds, grain, carob, etc. to England, France and Germany, and the import of tea and linen to Morocco. In the course of his commercial activities he often travelled to France and England. Life seemed set fair
But in the years following the foundation of the State of Israel, life in the newly independent Arab states became more and more difficult for the Jews and everywhere a mass exodus began. The great majority of the upper classes, the rich and the intelligentsia, chose France. The Jews belonging to these classes were not only imbued with French culture: they felt themselves to be Frenchmen. Many, like the Algerian Jews, were indeed French citizens. People belonging to the lower classes of Jewry went to the State of Israel. The rich and intellectual settled in France, and as their attachment to Judaism had been somewhat weakened by an assimilationist education, their descendants, or most of them, are lost to the Jewish people. The sons and grandsons of these Moroccan and Algerian Jews will no longer be Jews. David Corcos chose Israel and settled in 1959 in Jerusalem. He frankly avowed that he did it for one reason: he had realized that only by going to Israel could he be sure that his children would remain Jewish and not betray the traditions of his family, so dear to him
In Israel, he was at first engaged in commercial activities. But before long he withdrew from commerce, seeing that he could not succeed in a country whose social framework and style of life were unfamiliar to him. Thereafter he occupied himself with the study of the history of the Jews in Morocco and began to publish learned papers, in French, English and Hebrew. His interest in history was genuine. In talking with him about historical studies, one had the feeling that he had finally found the opportunity to devote his time to what he considered not only a fascinating activity, but also the fulfilment of a sacred duty. He believed that a great heritage, the achievements of Moroccan Jewry, should be fittingly commemorated and that historical records and data referring to it must be saved, now that the millenary existence of North African Jewries had come to an end
How was his great interest in historical studies aroused? As a child, he surely heard many stories about the achievements of his forefathers. But perhaps we shall not be wrong in explaining it also by the care he took of the family archives
The Corcos of Mogador, who were for several generations on close terms with the Royal Palace, carefully kept the letters exchanged with the Moslem rulers. So there came into being true family archives comprising documents of almost two centuries, the 18th and the 19th. These letters deal with commercial transactions, such as the purchase of various articles commanded by the sultan's government, others with services rendered to the Royal Palace, recommendations, etc. Some letters are purely personal, congratulations or condolences; others are documents referring to the civic status of Moroccan Jewry
Studies in the history of the jews of Morocco
A great part of the collection has unfortunately been lost. At the request of Mr. Masoud Corcos, an uncle of David Corcos and head of the firm M. Corcos and Co. in London, these documents were sent to him and he deposited a good part of them in the Mocatta Library. After the death of Masoud Corcos in 1936 and the tragic end of his eldest son and his wife (the son perishing in an accident in the Swiss mountains and the mother, wife of Masud Corcos perishing in the search for him), David Corcos made great efforts to locate and recover the documents. But all his endeavours were in vain. Apparently they were destroyed during the Second World War
There remained with David Corcos about 250 documents, dating mainly from the reigns of Moulay cAbdarrahman b. Hisham (1822-59), his son Moulay Muhammad (1859-73) and his grandson Moulay Hasan (1873-94). Most of them are letters addressed to Solomon Corcos (d. 1854) and his sons Jacob (d. 1878) and Abraham (d. 1883). All these ancestors of David Corcos were "merchants of the sultan" and leaders of South Moroccan Jewry. It goes without saying that this collection of letters and documents, which is surely unique, throws much light on the status and achievements of a certain group of rich Jewish bourgeois in a 19th-century Moslem country
David Corcos was not a professional scholar, university-trained. Neither was he a specialist in rabbinical lore, nor an Arabist. Nevertheless he had recourse to the responsa of North African rabbis and quotes in some of his papers data found there. He also made use of the Hebrew manuscripts in his own collection. On the other hand, a great part of the Arabic sources for North African history has been translated into French and David Corcos used them diligently. Another category of sources which he used for his historical studies with great success are the travelogues and memoirs written by Europeans who travelled in Morocco or spent some years there. David Corcos searched their books systematically. He had inherited from his father a rich library and himself purchased many other old and precious books. They were not simply stored, but served him as an important source of information. Many of these writings are permeated with rude anti-Semitism. David Corcos accordingly adopted a very critical attitude towards them, wary of being misled by their statements. Generally speaking, the reader of his papers will be impressed time and again by the thorough and logical analysis of the data. David Corcos was a critically-minded historian
In addition to literary sources, David Corcos had recourse to his comprehensive personal knowledge of conditions in Morocco. He had travelled in various provinces of the country and everywhere made inquiries into the remnants of two thousand years of Jewish history. He asked old people who remembered historical events and visited old, abandoned Jewish cemeteries. But, above all, he was deeply rooted in the traditions of Moroccan Jewry, he knew old customs and had heard much in the bosom of his family. As his interest comprised all periods of the history of the Jews in Morocco and he was convinced of its basic continuity, he often compared phenomena in different periods and regions, drawing conclusions from what happened much later as to earlier phases. His eagerness to collect data about the history of Moroccan Jewry was so great that he made efforts to find them in the most disparate sources. His knowledge of the modern scientific literature was truly astonishing
David Corcos had not only his own method of historical research, but also a conception of his own. In his view, the attitude of the Moslems towards the Jews was basically tolerant, although this tolerance was different from the tolerance of West Europeans. Outbreaks of fanaticism were on the whole exceptional phenomena, not characteristic of Moslem-Jewish relations. The Jews were considered in Morocco as aulad al-bilad, as true Moroccans. Hence David Corcos often contested generally held views, above all the conception of the Jews in Morocco being through many centuries a direly oppressed minority, living in narrow and dirty ghettos, the so-called mellahs
Studies in the history of the jews of Morocco David Corcos
His paper on "The attitude of the Almohadic rulers towards the Jews" is characteristic of this approach. He belittles the value of the writings of Arabic historians of the Near East as sources for the history of North Africa, showing that a much esteemed Syrian historian like Shams ad-din adh-Dhahabi (d. 1348) made great blunders in dealing with the history of the Almohads. Whereas Almohad rule is depicted in all standard works as one of the darkest periods in the history of North African Jewry, Corcos tries to prove that there was never a systematic persecution. He would like to show that at least during a long time there was no official decree against Judaism, but a rather gradual deterioration of the Jews' status.
There was no forced conversion from the beginning of Almohad rule and what happened in Tunis was an exception. It was not before the days of Abu Yusuf Ya'kub (1184-1199) that the Jews were everywhere forcibly converted and this pressure did not last longer than his reign. Under his successor Muhammad an-Nasir (1199-1214) the situation of the Jews changed for the better. Although this view will remain controversial, the paper has the great merit of all treatises of this kind: it challenges accepted ideas and compels us to think them over and re-examine the data.
The paper about "The Jews under the Merinids" shows another typical aspect of David Corcos' historical writing. In order to explain the favourable attitude of the new dynasty towards the Jews, Corcos adduces various arguments. One of them is the supposition that the Jews as an autochthonous element in Morocco's population (and as warlike as other Moroccans) took an active part in the military campaigns which resulted in the establishment of the Merinid rule. The participation of Jews in warfare is indeed a subject to which Corcos came back time and again. In the same paper he refers to the part Jews took in the Merinids' campaigns in Spain. These Jewish warriors were, Corcos believes, Zenata, i.e. Berber nomads, as is borne out by their names. Consequently one could explain the protection that the Merinids granted to the Jews as an expression of the solidarity of nomads. David Corcos was interested in all aspects of Jewish history, the economic activities of the Jews not least. In this paper he dwells on the Jews' great role in the gold trade with the Western Sudan. This supposition has been later corroborated by a French scholar who had recourse to other sources. David Corcos also deals in this paper with the downfall of the Wakkàsâ, a family of court Jews, in April 1302. Corcos, who knew conditions in Morocco so well, maintains that their fall did not entail a persecution of the Jews. It was simply the consequence of the sultan's need for their money. Certainly this is true, but seeing this episode in a wider context one may be tempted to view it as belonging to a more general outbreak of Moslem fanaticism. Around the year 1300 the non-Moslems were persecuted in Persia, Iraq, Syria and Egypt too. The consciousness of the continuity in the history of the Jews in the diaspora is a leitmotif in the papers of David Corcos. He tries to show that the history of Jewries in various Christian and Moslem countries is not a "passive" one, but that Jews preserved their character, pursued their activities and strove for their aims, although living in Moslem or Christian states as a minority. In his paper "The Jews of Morocco from the expulsion of Spain until the middle of the 16th century" he stresses the warlike attitude of Moroccan Jews who engaged also at the beginning of the 16th century in active warfare. In this paper too he dwells on the economic activities of the Jews: they developed the sugar industry in Morocco and had still a great share in the gold trade with the Western Sudan, which supplied the Mediterranean countries with gold through so many centuries.
Studies in the history of the jews of Morocco
To refute the generally accepted view of the centuries-long suppression of Moroccan Jewry, living in narrow ghettos, was a major aim of David Corcos' literary activities. Completely rejecting this view, he believed that its refutation was a foremost task of historical research on North African Jewry. In his paper "Les Juifs du Maroc et leurs mellahs" he shows that the Jews of Morocco were not always confined to the mellah. The mellah of Fez dates from 1438, that of Marrakech from 1557, whereas the mellah of Meknes was founded in 1682. Insofar as there was a general obligation to live in mellahs, it dates only from the beginning of the 19th century and was due to the bigotry of Sultan Moulay Sulaiman, who confined the Jews of Tetuan, Sale-Rabat and Mogador to mellahs in 1807. Furthermore, the author dwells on the fact that for long centuries the Jewish quarters of Morocco were spacious and clean. They changed their character, becoming overcrowded and dirty in a relatively late period, when as a consequence of anarchy and insecurity many Jews formerly living in the countryside left their villages for the towns.
Time and again David Corcos stresses the faithfulness and high moral standards of the upper classes within Moroccan Jewry. The descendants of the Jews who were exiled from Spain in 1492 considered it incumbent upon them to take revenge and to fight against Spain through the centuries. This is borne out, shows Corcos, by the story of Samuel Pallache, ambassador of Morocco to the Netherlands. In his paper "Samuel Pallache and his London trial", which is exhaustively documented, he shows convincingly that the Jewish ambassador was not a pirate, but faithful to his nation and imbued with that old Spanish pride, the consciousness of the Jewish-Spanish aristocracy so characteristic of its descendants through the centuries—last but not least of David Corcos himself.
Research in the onomasticon of Moroccan Jewry was a subject which fascinated him. Indeed, it served as a guideline for research and in almost all his papers he drew conclusions from the names of Moroccan Jews. He was not the first to make these studies and, on the other hand, a thorough philological training is absolutely necessary for the research in the bewildering and complex nomenclature consisting of Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish and Berber elements. But thanks to his thorough knowledge acquired on the spot and his great zeal his papers about the names of the Jews of Morocco are a very valuable contribution to this research.
Certainly there will be different opinions on the literary activities of David Corcos, but are the scholarly achievements of the professional historians appreciated in the same way by colleagues and by readers of their writings?
Whatever the verdict of future generations, all those who knew David Corcos felt bereaved when he passed away on Februray 21st, 1975, after a relatively short illness. We felt that by his untimely death research into Jewish history had lost an enthusiastic student. But surely not less than the scholar we bewailed the death of a great gentleman and of a good friend. A gentleman and a friend—these words express the character of David Corcos. Gentle and helpful to everybody, he behaved as the scion of an old family of Jewish aristocrats should do. He loved people and people appreciated and loved him. And when he was buried on the slope of the Mount of Olives, facing the hill where in bygone days the Temple stood, those accompanying him on his last journey saw before their eyes the eternal vicissitudes of Jewish fate and the unconquerable continuity of Jewishness. The last of the leaders of Jewry in South Morocco, born in the Atlantic port of Mogador, was buried in Jerusalem.
We shall not forget him.
- Ashtor
Jerusalem, February 1976
THE JEWS OF MOROCCO UNDER THE MARINIDES By David Corcos
THE JEWS OF MOROCCO UNDER THE MARINIDES By David Corcos, Jerusalem
Introduction
In the last years of his reign, cAbd al-Haq ben Abu Sa'id, who was king of Morocco from 824 (1421) until 869 (1465), had a Jewish Vizir, Harun ben Batas. In a revolt which broke out in Fez, instigated by the religious party, a party of fanatic ascetics, both the Sultan and his Vizir were assassinated. Abd al-Haq was the last sovereign ruler of the Beni-Merin, Marinides, as European historians term them, who occupied the throne of Morocco without interruption for about two centuries. The murder of Abd al-Haq and of Harun brought in its train a massacre of the Jews not only in the capital but also in other towns of Morocco. This was one of the few pogroms in which the Jews of the Maghrib suffered. It was however the most significant, taking place at the end of a dynasty under whose rule Jews had been unusually favored, in striking contrast to the policy of the preceding fanatic Almohads. The downfall of the dynasty, as was to be expected, was particularly harmful to urban Jewry in Morocco. The important event which led to the catastrophe is itself symbolic of the nature of the ties which existed between Berbers and Jews. Yet the rare studies and even rarer full works, often of a relative value, which are concerned with the past history of the Jews in Morocco, give to the period of the Marinides only a passing notice. We do not pretend to fill in this gap. We merely seek to call the attention of Jewish scholars and historians of Judaism to a geographical area to a period which for most people, it must be admitted, is like virgin soil in a terra incognita.
Many of the facts referred to in this study are doubtless well known. Yet in order to demonstrate their full significance they ought, we feel, to be set into their true context. Some information still lies buried in the numerous texts of Arab, Jewish and Christian writers and even then it appear in such isolated scraps that perhaps specialists have not found it of great interest. If we now wish to link the events to, one another and bring out their full significance, they must be explained within the history of Morocco itself and, above all, established in their exact sequence. We should, however, stress that the limitation of an article is not sufficient for a true or complete picture of the position of the Jews under the rule of the Marinide dynasty. In spite of our desire to enter into all aspects, we, must be content to clarify in particular the political and social picture. Even this cannot be exhaustively studied as, according to our method, the chronology of events must be followed to the end of the dynasty, which exterminated the Jews in a bloodbath by its royal representative and his loyal subjects. Our study, however, concludes with the death of ABU-YAKUB.
The rise and establishment of the Marinide dynasty cover a period of sixty years, from about 1250 until 1307. It is during this period that the Jews, having survived the Almohad storm, reappear, by apparently inexplicable routes, first in the far West of the Maghrib, where they later formed unusually active communities. In order to shed light on the period and explain this strange event, we must not only look farther back into the past but also take note of Moroccan history after the end of the Marinide era. Indeed, here more than ever it is true to say that the present explains the past and vice versa. Many aspects of the way of life which the Marinides introduced into Morocco persist to-day, particularly in regard to the attitude of the Moslem governments towards Jews. Here, too, the Marinide period has much to offer that is interesting and instructive.
The Marinide Berbers—Zenata-David Corcos
The Marinide Berbers—Zenata
Ibn-Khaldun distinguishes two branches of the Berber people, Branes and Botr. The main group within the Botr is the Zenata, in turn subdivided by the historian into a first and second race, or first and second period. The Jerawa, the Meghrawa, the Miknasa and the Beni-Ifren, for example, belong to the Zenata of the first race, while the Marinides are of the second race.
The Zenata, among whom, as has been established, some Judaization took place, at any rate in the early stages of their history, opposed the first Arab invasion of the Maghrib was more successfully than did other Berbers. The leading tribe of the Maghrib more successfully than did the other Berbers. The leading tribe of the Zenata was formed by the Jerawa of Ores. These Jerawa, Ibn Khaldim, explicitly states were Jews. It was their Queen, Kahina, that 'Deborah of the Berbers', who not only symbolized but herself led African opposition to Islam and to Arab influence in the Maghrib. After she had been beaten and finally killed, the Zenata, no longer able to organise their resistance, had to bow before the conqueror. Yet not all were prepared to bend the knee. Many took the road to the desert steppes, to the Sahara itself or to the Eastern side of the Atlas range in Morocco. Under pressure from the Moslem army, the majority were finally converted to Islam. Arab officialdom then, sought to make these convert Berbers pay the capitation tax (Jezia) imposed by law only on infidels, whether Jewish or Christian. This policy has been seen as simply an irritating measure taken by the contemptuous and greedy Arab conquerors : It can, of course, also be explained by the persistence of many Jewish and Christian features, or by the fact that a large number of Branes and Zenata Berbers remained attached to Christianity and to Judaism respectively. In any case, this threat combined with the well known Berber spirit of independence making them adopt the Kharijite heresy imported from the East, was for the purpose of preventing the newcomers from dominating them. The African disciples of Kharajism were almost all Zenata. The new converts, once admitted to Kharijism, accepted their brethren who had remained Jews or Christians providing they said the Sahada with the following modification: "Mohammed was sent by God to the Arabs but not to us".
By dint of great effort and the dispatch of troups from the East, the Arabs succeeded in strangling Kharijism for a while, but were finally beaten; the heresy then flourished and its disciples were able to form independent states.
In the far West, on the Atlantic coast of Safi, at Salee, a state was constituted among the Bergwata, a tribe of the most authentically autochthonous group in Morocco, the Masmada. It was a Zenata, a Jew, who laid the foundations of the new state. His name was Tarif and he was thought to the tribe of Simeon; he was therefore called Tarif ibn Simaun ibn Yakub ibn Ishaq. According to the source of information El-Bekri, the geographer, he exercized royal power over the Zenata. His son and heir, Salih, founded an entirely new religion, strongly marked by Judaism, doubtless in accordance with the aspirations of his Bergwata subjects, who had been joined by a large number of Zenata. We know the essential features of this religion from El-Bekri, and other details from Ibn Adhara, Ibn-Abi-Zar, and Ibn Khaldun. The Judaized kingdom of the Bergwata created about 740 C.E. was brought to an end by the attacks of the Almohads in the second half of the nth century.
The Marinide Berberes – David Corcos
The Abadite kingdom, with Tahert as capital, in the central Maghrib, lasted for one hundred and fifty years (761-909), while that of Sijilmassa, in Tafilalet, also a Kharijite kingdom founded by the Miknassa Zenata, continued to flourish for more than two centuries, from 751 until 976. Fervently Jewish communities were to be found in both kingdoms. Judah ibn Koreich was born and lived in Tahert, and there was a greatly active centre of learning with their famous rabbis in Sijilmassa.
Tahert : Les débuts de la période musulmane
La localité romaine est détruite en 681 lors de l'invasion musulmane de l'Afrique du Nord par Okba ben Nafi et les nouveaux arrivants, Berbères comme les précédents habitants, auraient rebâti sur ses ruines une ville nommée Tahert.
Puis, en 761, le gouverneur de Kairouan, le kharidjite Abder Rahman Ben Rostem, chassé par les Abbassides, se réfugie dans la région avec ses fidèles, et ayant obtenu le soutien des habitants y fonde « Tahert la Neuve » (Tahert al-Gadida), la première Tahert devenant alors « Tahert la Vieille » (Tahert al-Qadima).
In the South, in the Sahara oases of Towat and Gowara, a Jewish majority of the population had mixed with more or less Judaized Zenata. A Jewish kingdom had even been formed in these regions which disappeared at the end of the XVth century. Further East, in the oasis of Wargla, the inhabtants of which were Kharijites, Jews were greatly feared, as the following incident shows: In the first half of the Xlth century the inhabitants of Tozeur had quarrelled among themselves; they belonged to two different sects who took up arms and engaged in a fierce battle, One of the leaders fled after the defeat of his party. He saw approaching him a man of the other party whom he took to be a Jew. As soon as he saw him, he cried, "Don't kill me, I am a Jew."
Notes de Lexicographie Berbère, Journal Asiatique, 8th series, vol X. 1887, pp. 382-386; Nieger, Le Touat, Bull. Com. Afr. Fr., 1904, pp, 170-203, also Revue Géographique No. 4, 1st April, 1904, pp. 108-118; A.G.P. Martin, A la Frontière du Maroc, Les Oasis Sahariennes— Gourara, Touat, Tidekelt—Algiers, X908; E.F. Gautier, Sahara Algérien, Paris 1908, p. 251 ff. ; Ch. de la Roncière, Découverte d'une Relation de Voyage datée du Touat et décrivant en 1447 le bassin du Niger, Paris, 1919; by the same author La Découverte de l'Afrique au Moyen Age, I, l'Intérieur du continent, Cairo, 1924; G.S. Colin, Des Juifs Nomades retrouvés au Sahara au XVle siècle, Mélanges Lopès-Cènival, Lisbon, 1945 pp. 53-66; other sources quoted in Joseph J. Williams, He- brewisms of West Africa, New York, 1930, passim; on Jewish inscript- ions in Toowat cf. Robert Attal, פירסומים על יהדות צפון אפריקה
The persecutions of 1492 which brought the power of the Toowat Jews to an end, were set off by the sayings of a fanatic, Muhammed ben abd al-Karim al-Maghili. On these persecutions and their causes cf. Jean Léon l'Africain, Libellus de Viris quibusdam illustribus apud Arabes… in J.H. Hottengeri, Bibliothecarus Quadripartus, Tiguri, Stauffacher, 1664; by the same author, Description de l'Afrique, edition Epaulard (see infra note 26) pp. 436-7; Ahmad Bâbâ al-Sudâni, Naîl alibtîhaj bi-tatrîz ed-Dîbâj (XVIth century), lithographed in Fez 1317 (1899-1900) section relevant to the biography of al-Maghili; Muhammad al-Hafnawi al-Misri, Ta'arif al-halaf bi-rijal as-salaf (XVIIIth century), Algiers edition 2 vols., 1901, I, p. 167. The reports of these two authors has been summarised by I. Goldziher, Mélanges judéo-arabes, Revue des Etudes Juives, 60, 1910, p. 34 et seq. Concerning this important event there exists, to the best of our knowledge, only one reference in a single Jewish source, which is apparently however, contemporary with the catastrophe. And this reference has never been made use of. That is a question of a play on words which a scholar who is not particularly interested in Africa may well not understand. The reference is found in a 'Kinah' on the persecution of the Jews of Oran in 1509, reproduced by J. Schirman, קבץ על ים Book III, fasc. I, Jerusalem, 1940, p. 71. The following is the text in which the reference occurs:
15
- ועתה בימי אני גבר- ראה עני בשבט עברה
- קמו על-עדתי צוררים – זרע אדום ובני קטורה
- תחלה אנשי המערב – בעלי החצינה ומרה
- הרגו יחד איש ואשה – יחללו ספרי תורה
- יחפשו את-מצפוניהם – ימלאו כרשם מעדני אחי מר לי
- עוד מקרוב קם עלי – צורר נודע ממגלה
- הרג בתי גוררין ותאותי – יחלל בית נורא עלילה
- ואחריו בדרעה קם אויב – ידרס כל בית התפלה
- וגם שמו עליהם חקים – רעים וקשים בלי חמלה
- יאות לי על זה חנר שק – ואקרע לבבי ביגוני אחי מר לי
- מתוך ספרו של פרופסור בשן " פגיעות בחיי היהודים "
- בקינה אנונימית במחזור מנהג פאס בה מתוארות גזרות במאה ה-15 מופיעות השורות הברות המתייחסות לרדיפות אלה
- חלק מהקינה מופיע בספרו של הירשברג חלק א', עמוד 296 – 297. להלן מה שכתוב בספר של הנ"ל
- ייתכם שזכר המאורעות ההם נשתקע בקינתו של פייטן אלמוני, שפירסמה ח. שירמן. עיקרה של הקינה מוקדש לכיבוש ווהראן בידי הספרדים בשנת 1509, ועליו נעמוד להלן. אולם כרגיל מתחיל המקונן בצרות שקדמו. לאחר הזכרת גזירות קנ"א בא הקטע
- ועתה בימי אני גבר ראה עני בשבט עברה
- קמו על עדתי צוררים זרע אדום ובני קטורה
- תחילה אנשי המערב בעלי חציצה ומרה
- הרגו יחד איש ואישה וחיללו ספרי תורה
- וחיפשו את מצפוניהם ומלאו כרשם מעדני
- עוד מקרוב קם עלי צורר נודע ממגלה
- הרג בתי גוררין ותאוותי וחילל בית נורא עלילה
- ואחריו בדרעה קם אויב והרס כל בית התפלה
- וגם שמו עליהם חוקים רעים וקשים בלי חמלה
- לאחר חרוזים אלה בא תיאור החורבן בספרד ובפורטוגל, והקינה מסיימת בכיבוש ווהראן. לכאורה המסגרת ההיסטורית של מוקדם ומאוחר ברורה, ולפיה יש להניח כי במעשיהם של אנשי המערב התכוון הפייטן למאורעות פאס וערים אחרות בסוף שלטון בני מרין. עד כאן מספרו של הירשברג
The Marinide Berbers—Zenata- David Corcos
At the beginning of the Xth century the Miknassa founders of the city of Taza, with Musa ben Abi-l'Afia at their
head, supplanted the Idrissides in North Morocco and seized Fez. The Maghrawa replaced them after 990 and their Emir, Ziri ben Attiya, was able to form a Zenata kingdom with Fez as the capital.
- Musa ben Abi-l'Afia always passed for a Jew in the eyes of Ma- roccan Moslems; this was due to the fact that he was an enemy of the first Cherif dynasty of Morocco, the Idrisides.
The Zenata were expelled from there by the Almorávides in 1063 It was under the Zenata rule that Fez knew what may be termed the Golden Age of Moroccan Judaism. As evidence of this fact, one need only call to mind such Jewish names as Dhünas Ibn-Labrat, Hayuj, Samuel Ibn Hofni or Isaac al Fassi, to mention only the most famous. The Jews at that time, as El-Bekri wrote, were "more numerous in Fez than in any other town in the Maghrib; from there, they journey (in the interest of their trade) to every country in the world."
- הרג בתי גוררין ותאותי – יחלל בית נורא עלילה
- ואחריו בדרעה קם אויב – ידרס כל בית התפלה
- וגם שמו עליהם חקים – רעים וקשים בלי חמלה
יאות לי על זה חנר שק – ואקרע לבבי ביגוני אחי מר לי
The key of the riddle is line 21. The man of the 'Meghilla' Esther is Haman, persecutor of the Jews; he is also, in the context of the account of the persecutions about which Muhammad al-Meghilli or Maghili, of the Maghila tribe the author is speaking. Besides, these persecutions did in fact extend from Toowat to Draa, as the 'Kinah' specifies.
El-Bekri, p. 334. A dark spot in this picture: The Beni-Ifren Zenata, powerful in Salee, attacked the Maghrawa Zenata and captured Fez in May 1032. Their Emir, Abü'l-Kemal Témim persecuted the Jews in the town, brought about the slaying of more than six thousand and appropriation the wealth of the remainder, and turned over their wives to his soldiers (Qirtâs, transi. Beaumier, p. 150). On the capture of Fez and the massacres see Berbères, III, p. 222, where the Jews are not mentioned. Abu'l-Kemal's act may be explained not only by his "fanaticism and his ignorance" (cf. Qirtâs) but also by his habit of attacking, twice every year, his neighbors of Salee the more or less Judaized Bergwata. It is undoubtedly, this persecution which is referred to by the Gaon Samuel ben Hofni (d. 1034) in a MS text found in the Cairo Geniza. cf. JQR VII, 1916-17, p. 485, note 31.
The Zenata of the first race, or, to state more clearly what Ibn-Khaldùn had in mind, of the first period, that is to say, the Beni Ifren, the Miknassa and the Maghrawa, had not all penetrated into the depth of the Maghrib, the Maghrib el–,aqsa of the Arab writers. A considerabel number of these tribes had remained in other parts of North Africa, as nomads wandering between Tripoli and the Muluya. When the Al- moravides invaded Morocco, these Sanhaja Berbers (of the Branes group) met with strong resistance from their hereditary enemies, the Zenata. Consequently, immediately after the conquest of Northern Morocco the Zenata had to seek refuge beyond the Muluya where they found members of their race, such as the Methgara, champions of Kharijism in the first years of the Arab invasion, the Maghila, and others. The Beni-Illul, an ancient Jewish tribe, had settled in Nedromah, 15 centre of the Berber cult of Joshua ben Nun. The largest section of Berbers from the Maghrib al-aqsa who-aqsa who had professed Judaism at the time of the first Arab invasion, still lived on both banks of the Muluya. I refer to the Behlula, the Ghiata, the Fazaz, the Fendlawa and the Mediuna17 who, incidentally, had not all changed their religion even after the period of which we speak. The majority of them, however, had been forced to become converts by Idris I. between 788 and 791. If one bears in mind the state of Islamization of the Berbers even to-day, their sincerity in accepting a religion imposed on them by a handful of strangers at the point of the sword, can be imagined. The Zenata, shepherds, nomads and soldiers, formed an even more elusive element of the population than the other Berbers. During the period under review, a few groups who, as a result of a well-known process of evolution, had taken to a sedentary way of life their brethren, still nomads in the central Maghrib, in the steppes and in the desert. This explains how Ibn- Khaldun, with his predilection for synthesis, was able to write in the XlVth century that the Mediuna, "a Jewish tribe from the Maghrib al-'aqsa" already long since sedentary, were brethren of the Marinides who had not yet reached that state and were still nomads, as we have seen.
The Marinides, in the course of their history and before becoming the masters of Morocco, in their journeyings South, East and West of North Africa, met other members of their race so strongly marked by Judaism that traces still remain to the present day. It is therefore as much to the politico- religious reaction against the Almohads as to the influence felt throughout their constant wanderings that we must attribute the benevolence of the first Marinides towards the Jews, an attitude, which, without question, goes beyond the bounds of simple tolerance.
Apart from the frequent name Znati or Zenati, the meanings of which originated from Zenata tribes, a name found only among Jews of Morocco and Algiers, many of whom were and still are the Jews of North Africa we have among them the names of former Zenata tribes, such as the Mediouna (Mediouni), the Ghaiata (Ghaiat, sometimes turned into Khaiat, meaning tailor in Arabic), the Bahloula (Bahloul), the Maghila (Maghili), the Beni-Ifren (Ifrani or Oufrani or even Loufrani, a gallicized form) etc. It should be noted, and this seems of importance, that other family and first names at one time almost exclusively found among the Zenata, largely persist only among African Jews, Moslems having generally abandoned them: as e.g. Tabet, Ziri, Illul and Alloul, Ouazana, Ifrah, Ifergane, Iflah etc.
Almohads and Marinides- David Corcos
The Zenata of the second period, the Beni-Marin or Marinides were nomads in the region of Biskra itself at the time of the second great Arab invasion of the Maghrib. Towards the end of the Xlth century the Marinides were driven west by the newly arrived Arab tribes, the Beni-Hillal and the Beni-Soleim whom the Fatimides from Egypt had found dangerous and had consequently set on Ifriquya which was escaping from their hold.
Biskra (Arabic: بسكرة ; Berber: Tibeskert) is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987.
The Marinides then began to wander through the deserts which separate Figuig from Sijilmassa. For their provisions they periodically visited the townships between Guercif and Watat in the valleys of the Muluya. They remained outside the stream of events at the time of the Al- moravide rule and appear for the first time in history with the rise of the Almohads. A Zenata coalition, comprising among others the Maghrawa and the Beni-Illumi, had declared itself in favor of the Almorávides and cAbd-el־mu- men sent his ablest general to defeat them, he was successful in doing so. A section of the Zenata yielded, but the Marinides refused to serve the Almohads and sought refuge in the desert. They did not leave their retreat until 1196 when their leader, at the head of a contingent from his tribe, took part in the famous battle of Alarcos, where he received a wound from which he was later to die. At that particular time it was certainly not yet their religious conviction which made them volunteers in the Holy War, but rather the hope of a share in the booty as well as the desire to maintain their warlike activities. Their hostility towards the Almohads however did not abate, and this was not due to their attachment to Malekism, about which they doubtless knew very little.
cAbd-el-haq succeeded the hero of Alarcos. He was the originator of those who laid the foundation of Ma- rinide power and was considered the family ancestor. He was thought to be endowed with supernatural powers, and Arab authors, anxious to present him as a good Moslem, attribute exemplary piety to him.
Abd al-Haqq I ibn Mihyu ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hamama (died 1217) was the first Marinid (or Banu abd al-Haqq) sheikh, leader and an eponym for that dynasty
Around 1215, the new Almohad caliph, Yusuf II Al-Mustansir was still young and the Almohads had earlier suffered a severe defeat against Christian kingdoms of Iberia on 16 July 1212 in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The "Banu Marin" (or the Marinids) took advantage of the situation and attacked the Almohads who sent 10,000 men to fight them. The battle took place on the coast of the Rif region. The Almohads were defeated. During 1217, the Berber nomads and tribes clashed with the Marinids around Fes but were defeated. However Abd al-Haqq was mortally wounded during these clashes.
The Marinids took possession of the Rif and were able to maintain their control of the region despite attempted counter-attacks by the Almohads.
The Marinide conquest of Northern Morocco was begun between 1215 and 1244. Having settled in the region of Taza and North of it, ever since the rule of the Almohad Al-mustansir (1215-1224), the Marinides took advantage of the state of anarchy prevailing in the Almohad kingdom to invade the cultivated land extending up to the Atlantic. They were aided in this by the Zenata whom the Almorávides had driven East and who were established on the shores of the Muluya. The Almohad armies sent to fight the invaders were nearly always defeated and it was in the course of one of these combats that 'Abd-el-haq met his death. His sons in turn succeeded him. Abu-ihya, the third son, was able to take Fez, Meknes, Taza, Rabat and Salee as early as 1248, the first section of the Marinide kingdom had thus became established.
Two modern historians, Nauhm Slousch and L. Voinot maintain that the Jews reappeared in Fez during the reign of Abu-ihya. Slousch holds that the great fire which devastated the bazaars in the capital in 1248, a disaster which is referred to by Ibn-Abi-Zar, was a great disaster for the Jews. Then, he tells us, still basing himself on the Arab chronicler, who incidentally never made such a statement but whom Slousch quotes via A. Cahen. Abu-ihya, permitted the Jews to enjoy freedom of worship again, on condition that they pay special taxes and wear the yellow costume imposed on them by the last Almohads. L. Voinot, who also mentions the improved con- ditions of the Jews of Morocco dating back to the end of the Xllth century (sic), is simply restating the information given by Slousch without, incidentally, quoting him. It is however probable that the Zenata Jews of the areas which were once Marinide routes followed their armies to Morocco, not only to provide supplies but also to fight. We can understand the silence of Arab authors on this matter and should not, for this reason alone, reject the hypothesis without carefully examining it, The Jews of Morocco it must be remembered, fought in the Almoravide armies in the battle of Zallaka (1086), and Jewish warriors fought in the Atlas at the beginning of the XVIth century. 'Jewish warriors' whose presence has been established as certain at the end of the end of the Xlth century, cannot have disappeared only to reappear four centuries later. Some continuity must link the one event to the other. However this may be, the presence of Jews in Fez is only documented in the reign of Abu- yussef. Before we can speak of the reappearance of the Jews in the urban centres of Morocco, we must glance at their condition under the rule of the Almohads. During the period in question the latter are still established in Southern Morocco and their capital is still Marrakesh.
Almohads and Marinides- David Corcos
We do not intend to dwell on facts well known. Abraham Ibn Ezra's elegy on the destruction of the Jewish communities of Morocco, supplemented by the writings of several unknown authors describing the sufferings of the Jews in the rest of North Africa, frequently has been reprinted and referred to. Some modern historians believe that the account of these systematic persecutions by another Jewish author, a contemporary of the events, is exaggerated. Yet they are confirmed by Arab writers who will be quoted in the course of this brief exposé.
The Church, ever ready, in the Middle Ages, to find proof that Jews were guilty of the crimes it attributed to them, was happy about these persecutions, at the same time confirming their magnitude. Pope Gregory IX, in a letter addressed to the Christians of Marrakesh about 1235, told them "We rejoice to see the Church of Morocco, until now sterile, become fruitful to day, by the act of grace, and the synagogue of sinners being depopulated" In this particular case the last phrase should not be read as a metaphor—the synagogue was, at that time, being truely depopulated. The Pope also had hopes of bringing the Almohad Sultans into Christianity. The attitude of these Sultans will later warrant the attempt of Pope Innocent IV to persuade them, with many promises, to place their kingdom under the protection of the Holy See and to replace the Koran by the Gospels in their states.
The Almohads, who showed no mercy to any coreligionist of theirs disinclined to follow their lead, and who destroyed every vestige of Jewish life, took care to spare the Christians in their Empire. No dynasty in Morocco was less hostile than they to Christianity. From Abd-el-mumen (1130- 1163) to Es-said (1242-1248) we find nothing but acts of kindness, expressions of good will and treatise of alliance. St. Francis of Assisi had in 1208, already designed to convert Morocco. In 1210 En-nasser, son and heir to Al-mansur coldly dismissed ambassadors of the King of England who came with the proposal that he help their lord in return for which the king hinted he might become a convert to Islam. "Your king," En-nasser told them, "wishes to leave the Christian religion, so pure and so holy. God knows, and He knows all things, that if I had no religion I would choose it in preference to every other." This is a far cry from the conduct of the same sovereign in the matter of modifying the apparel imposed on the Jews by his father Al-mansur En-nasser, who as we know, replaced their clothes by yellow garments and turbans of the same color. This had been granted as a favor the severity of which may be realized when we are aware that the Jews were at the same time forced to profess Islam. There was not a single synagogue at that time in the towns of Morocco. On the other hand, an episcopal see was set up in Fez and later transferred to Marrakesh because of the arrival of the Marinide! To what should one attribute such discrimination between the two peoples of the Book, if one may use the phrase ? Its justification lay not only in the military aid received by the regime from countless Christian mercenaries; there were other reasons: the influence in the Harem of Christian women, some of whom gave birth to Almohad princes and, above all, the presence of Jews, even of a large number among the enemies of the regime. Indeed, ever since the first Almohad flare up, the Jews, as was natural, showed themselves very hostile to the movement. When Mahdi ibn-tumert surrendered in Aghmat, the town was immediately divided into two camps, 'believers' and 'infidels'. It is well known that Aghmat was ruled by Zenata princes before the Almorávides arrived there ; the Jews who were residents of the town and continued to be so were numerous, rich and powerful. Incidentally, their presence is confirmed by almost every account of the chroniclers in every centre of resistance to the new rulers. It is significant that such centres were found in the eccentric regions of Morocco where a Jewish population existed immediately preceding and following Al- mohad dominion.
- Berbères, III, p. 272 ff. The queen of Aghmat was the famous Zeineb who became the wife of Yussef ibn Tachfin the Almoravide. The paternal ancestors of Zeineb belonged to the Nefzawa of Tri- politania, of the Zenata race, among the very first Kharijites. Zeineb had great influence on Yussef ibn-Tachfin. This may perhaps explain both the favorable condition, enjoyed by the Jews of Aghmat and the attitude of Ibn-Tachfin towards the Berber Jews, very different from his attitude towards the Jews of Spain. There is much to be said on this subject, but it would take us outside of our present field.
All this leads us to believe that the Marinides, whose acceptance of Islam was far from wholehearted at the time,38 had preferred living in the desert to submission to Almohad rule, as much as to avoid paying taxes. They had no objection to being under the rule of foreign leaders; the Jews also had sufficient influence in the tribes to persuade the chiefs of the Marinides to choose poverty rather than become an instrument for imposing the rule of persecutors of their Jews.
However, there were Jews in one town in Morocco during the period of the last Almohads. We know that on one occasion they were in Marrakesh. This happened in the reign of Al-mamun (1227-1232), the Sultan who sought to counteract the acts of his predecessors and temporarily abolished the doctrine and traditions of the Unitarians. He had left Marrakesh when his rival Ihya, son of the Sultan El-nasser, previously mentioned, ascended the mountains with his Almohad troups, seized the town and massacred all the Christians and Jews there. They seized ah the possessions of the Jews. The Christians in the town were mercenaries in the pay Al-mamun, and the Jews had probably been given permission by the revolutionary monarch to cast aside the mask of Islam, imposed on them until then. On another occasion, in 1308, during the rule of the Marinides, also in Marrakesh, a Berber general, in revolt against the central power, entered the town and massacred all the Christians but spared the Jews. The attitude had indeed changed!