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Timeline: Idrisid {791-974}
Timeline
Idrisids, Idrisid Dynasty, Idrissides, الأدارسة, al-Adārisah, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵉⴷⵔⵉⵙ, Aït Idris
The Idrisid Dynasty (Idrissides, الأدارسة, al-Adārisah, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵉⴷⵔⵉⵙ, Aït Idris) was founded by Idrīs ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥasan II (Idris I), who claimed descent from the Prophet Mohammed through Ali. After surviving the suppression of the Shiite revolts and the massacre of Fakh in 786/169 AH, Idris left for the Maghreb and settled with the Awraba Berbers in Volubilis, who declared him an imam. From there, he expanded his dominion over most of the modern state of Morocco and beyond. After he was assassinated on the order of the Abbasids in 791/174 AH, he was succeeded by his son, Idris II.
Upon Idris II's death in 828/212 AH, the dynasty’s territory was divided among his sons, and the eldest, Muhammad, received Fes. The newly fragmented Idrisid power would never again be reunified. The territories governed by Idris II's descendants were concentrated in the north of Morocco, along with some possessions in the Tadla plains and in the deep south of the country. They ruled alongside several local dynasties.
The most important event of the Idrisid dynasty was the establishment of the city of Fes. Though medieval accounts attribute the city's founding to Idris II, it is now clear that part of the city was founded early in the reign of his father, Idris I, as the name Madinat Fas appears on coins struck in 801 and 805. Urbanization was a hallmark of the Idrisid reign, and they are often seen as founders of the modern state of Morocco. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that areas of the modern nation of Morocco remained outside Idirsid control, including the Emirate of Nekor in the Rif, the Berghwata Confederacy in the coastal region south of Salé, and the Emirate of Sijilmassa in the southeast.
Eventually, the Idrisids were caught up in the confrontation between the Umayyad caliphs of Córdoba and the Fāṭimids of Cairo. They were expelled from Fes in 926 and defeated in the north of Morocco in 974. About a decade later, the last Idrīsid ruler was killed while still a prisoner of the Umayyads.
Sources:
Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. 1987. A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Barrucand, Marianne. 2003. Idrisid. Oxford Art Online. [Basingstoke, England] : Macmillan.
Bloom, Jonathan M. 2020. Architecture of the Islamic West. Yale University Press.
Eustache, D., “Idrīsids,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 29 August 2022 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3495>
Laroui, Abdallah. 2015. History of the Maghrib. Princeton University Press.
Marcais, Georges. 1926. Manuel d’Art Musulman: L’Architecture: Tunisie, Algérie, Maroc, Espagne et Sicile. Vol. 1. Ausguste Picard. pp. 4-6.
Maṭālsī, Muḥammad. 2000. The Imperial Cities of Morocco. Vilo International.
Park, Thomas Kerlin, and Aomar Boum. 1996. Historical Dictionary of Morocco. Lanham, Md: The Scarecrow Press.
Y.B. n.d. “Qantara - Les Idrissides (789- 926).” Qantara. Patrimoine Méditerranéen. Accessed August 29, 2022. https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=867&lang=fr. Archived at: https://perma.cc/JB5C-U3DX.
Learn More:
Chafik T. Benchekroun, « Les Idrissides entre Fatimides et Omeyyades », Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée [En ligne], 139 | 2016, mis en ligne le 01 juillet 2016, consulté le 29 août 2022. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/remmm/9412 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.9412.
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Timeline: Idrisid {791-974}
Timeline
Idrisids, Idrisid Dynasty, Idrissides, الأدارسة, al-Adārisah, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵉⴷⵔⵉⵙ, Aït Idris
The Idrisid Dynasty (Idrissides, الأدارسة, al-Adārisah, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵉⴷⵔⵉⵙ, Aït Idris) was founded by Idrīs ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥasan II (Idris I), who claimed descent from the Prophet Mohammed through Ali. After surviving the suppression of the Shiite revolts and the massacre of Fakh in 786/169 AH, Idris left for the Maghreb and settled with the Awraba Berbers in Volubilis, who declared him an imam. From there, he expanded his dominion over most of the modern state of Morocco and beyond. After he was assassinated on the order of the Abbasids in 791/174 AH, he was succeeded by his son, Idris II.
Upon Idris II's death in 828/212 AH, the dynasty’s territory was divided among his sons, and the eldest, Muhammad, received Fes. The newly fragmented Idrisid power would never again be reunified. The territories governed by Idris II's descendants were concentrated in the north of Morocco, along with some possessions in the Tadla plains and in the deep south of the country. They ruled alongside several local dynasties.
The most important event of the Idrisid dynasty was the establishment of the city of Fes. Though medieval accounts attribute the city's founding to Idris II, it is now clear that part of the city was founded early in the reign of his father, Idris I, as the name Madinat Fas appears on coins struck in 801 and 805. Urbanization was a hallmark of the Idrisid reign, and they are often seen as founders of the modern state of Morocco. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that areas of the modern nation of Morocco remained outside Idirsid control, including the Emirate of Nekor in the Rif, the Berghwata Confederacy in the coastal region south of Salé, and the Emirate of Sijilmassa in the southeast.
Eventually, the Idrisids were caught up in the confrontation between the Umayyad caliphs of Córdoba and the Fāṭimids of Cairo. They were expelled from Fes in 926 and defeated in the north of Morocco in 974. About a decade later, the last Idrīsid ruler was killed while still a prisoner of the Umayyads.
Sources:
Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. 1987. A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Barrucand, Marianne. 2003. Idrisid. Oxford Art Online. [Basingstoke, England] : Macmillan.
Bloom, Jonathan M. 2020. Architecture of the Islamic West. Yale University Press.
Eustache, D., “Idrīsids,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 29 August 2022 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3495>
Laroui, Abdallah. 2015. History of the Maghrib. Princeton University Press.
Marcais, Georges. 1926. Manuel d’Art Musulman: L’Architecture: Tunisie, Algérie, Maroc, Espagne et Sicile. Vol. 1. Ausguste Picard. pp. 4-6.
Maṭālsī, Muḥammad. 2000. The Imperial Cities of Morocco. Vilo International.
Park, Thomas Kerlin, and Aomar Boum. 1996. Historical Dictionary of Morocco. Lanham, Md: The Scarecrow Press.
Y.B. n.d. “Qantara - Les Idrissides (789- 926).” Qantara. Patrimoine Méditerranéen. Accessed August 29, 2022. https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=867&lang=fr. Archived at: https://perma.cc/JB5C-U3DX.
Learn More:
Chafik T. Benchekroun, « Les Idrissides entre Fatimides et Omeyyades », Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée [En ligne], 139 | 2016, mis en ligne le 01 juillet 2016, consulté le 29 août 2022. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/remmm/9412 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.9412.
Additional Archnet Resources:
Collections:
Key Figures:
Major Cities:
Find dozens of other records by searching Archnet using the term Idrisid