Lalla Ruqaya
| Lalla Ruqaya | |
|---|---|
| Princess consort of Morocco | |
| Died | 1902 |
| Spouse | Hassan I of Morocco |
| Issue | Lalla Oum Kelthoum Lalla Nezha Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz Lalla Sharifa Moulay Abdulkabir |
| Dynasty | Alawi dynasty (by marriage) |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Lalla Ruqaya (Arabic: للا رقية; died 1902) was one of the wives of Sultan Hassan I and the mother of Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz.
Under Hassan
[edit]Lalla Ruqaya was a Circassian concubine given to Hassan I by the merchant Hajj Lʿarbi al-Humaydi Bricha. Bricha was a notable slave trader who provided slaves both to the Tetouani elite and the sultan's court. Slave women from the Ottoman Empire were valued, especially Circassian women. Ruqaya was sold or given to Hassan in 1878 along with Amina who became the mother of Abd al-Hafid.[1][2]
Lalla Ruqaya is described as a faqīha and a scholar. She was a woman who had acquired very advanced knowledge in Quranic studies.[citation needed]
Her son Moulay Abdelaziz was educated in the house of Sidi Mohammed al-Amrani, one of the main sharifs of the Alaouite court. With the latter her son Moulay Abdelaziz had received his education in accordance with the tradition of the dynasty. After the disgrace of his elder brother Sidi Mohammed, Sultan Moulay Hassan I hastened to name him official heir to the crown.[3] She became the favorite wife of Moulay Hassan I during the last years of his reign.[4]
Under Abd al-Aziz
[edit]Upon the ascension to the throne of her minor son, she was not granted the position of regent, Alawite traditions exclude women from this position. The regency was attributed to the vizier Ba Ahmed. Her position was limited to remaining one of her son's main advisors, a position she maintained until after he reached 21 years-old, according to contemporary sources.[citation needed] There was real intimacy between mother and son, as they dined together even as adults.[5] Lalla Ruqaya was a woman with open political ideas for her time, she advised her son to bring the kingdom's mode of governance closer to that of the West.[citation needed]
Ba Ahmed died in 1901. Moulay Abdelaziz was still subject to the influence of his mother for a time; she made him take as grand vizier al-Hadj al-Mokhtar ben Ahmed, first secretary of the deceased grand vizier. He also chose as minister of war a former mokhzani of Si Ahmed, Si Mehdi al-Menehbi.[6] Thus, the policy of the old Makhzen still continued, but the hands which wielded it no longer had the same vigor. The sultan grew and showed himself impatient with any tutelage, threatening to ruin the rotten edifice of the Moroccan government. Soon Moulay Abdelaziz only listened to his impulses; he rejected his mother's advice. In April 1901, tired of the observations of al-Hadj al-Mokhtar, he dismissed his grand vizier.[6]
Lalla Ruqaya died in 1902.[7]
Descendance
[edit]Lalla Ruqaya and Moulay Hassan I's children were:
- Lalla Oum Kelthoum;[8]
- Lalla Nezha;[8]
- Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz (February 24, 1881 – June 10, 1943);
- Lalla Sharifa;[8]
- Moulay Abdulkabir, he had a military career in the imperial armed forces in the service of his full-brother.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Dieste, Josep Lluís Mateo (2023-12-18). Remembering the Tatas: Domestic Women and Slavery in Tetouan (19th - 20th centuries). Brill. pp. 97–99. ISBN 978-90-04-68161-3.
- ^ Mateo Dieste, Josep Lluís (2024-06-27). "Mercy Releases: Manumission Practices in Tetouan, Morocco (1860–1960)". In Andreeva, Elena; McNeer, Kevin (eds.). Slavery in the Modern Middle East and North Africa: Exploitation and Resistance from the 19th Century - Present Day. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-7556-4793-4.
Some of the most powerful families in the city were those with strong ties to the makhzan and who worked as customs administrators or merchants, as in the case of Erzini in Gibraltar, or La'arbi Bricha, who provided two Circassian slaves to Sultan Mawlay Hasan I, mothers of the future sultans Mawlay 'Abd al-'Aziz and Mawlay Yusuf.
- ^ Ganān, Jamāl (1975). Les relations franco-allemandes et les affaires marocaines de 1901 à 1911 (in French). SNED. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
- ^ Burke III, Edmund (2009-02-15). Prelude to Protectorate in Morocco: Pre-Colonial Protest and Resistance, 1860-1912. University of Chicago Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-226-08084-0.
When 'Abd al-'Aziz came into his majority in 1900 upon the death of the regent, he was only nineteen years old and had spent most of his young life within the confines of the royal harem. His mother was Lalla Raqīya, a beautiful and intelligent Circassian slave woman who had been the favorite wife of Mawlay al-Hasan during the last years of his life. She had originally joined forces with Ba Aḥmad to insure the proclamation of her son and continued to have considerable influence over his decisions until her own death in 1902.
- ^ Aubin, Eugène (1908). Le Maroc d'aujourd'hui: avec trois cartes en couleur hors texte (in French). A. Colin. p. 150. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- ^ a b Aubin, Eugène (2004). Le Maroc dans la tourmente: 1902-1903 (in French). Eddif. p. 164. ISBN 978-9981-896-48-2. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- ^ Marfaing, Laurence; Germany), Zentrum Moderner Orient (Berlin (2004). Les relations transsahariennes à l'époque contemporaine: un espace en constante mutation (in French). KARTHALA Editions. p. 343. ISBN 978-2-84586-475-7. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- ^ a b c Morocco), Hassan II (King of (1979). Discours et interviews de SM Hassan II (in French). Ministère d'État chargé de l'information, Royaume du Maroc. p. 176. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ Lahnite, Abraham (2011). La politique berbère du protectorat français au Maroc, 1912-1956: Les conditions d'établissement du Traité de Fez (in French). Harmattan. p. 44. ISBN 978-2-296-54980-7. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
… à des expéditions successives de Moulay Abdel Aziz, sous divers commandements de son propre frère, Moulay Abdelkébir, de son oncle maternel, le chérif Moulay Abdelslem Al Amrani ou sous son propre ministre de la guerre.
