page_title: Ismail Ibn Sharif
section_title: Diplomacy
hierarchical_section_title: Ismail Ibn Sharif / Character and policies / Diplomacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Mohammed_bin_Hadou_Moroccan ambassador to Great Britain 1682
context_page_description: Moulay Ismail Ben Sharif, born around 1645 in Sijilmassa and died on 22 March 1727 at Meknes, was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672–1727, as the second ruler of the Alaouite dynasty. He was the seventh son of Moulay Sharif and was governor of the Kingdom of Fez and the north of Morocco from 1667 until the death of his half-brother, Sultan Moulay Rashid in 1672. He was proclaimed sultan at Fez, but spent several years in conflict with his nephew Moulay Ahmed ben Mehrez, who also claimed the throne, until the latter's death in 1687. Moulay Ismail's 55-year reign is the longest of any sultan of Morocco.
  The reign of Moulay Ismail marked a high watermark for Moroccan power. His military successes are explained by the creation of a strong army, originally relying on the 'Guichs' and on the Black Guard, black slaves who were totally devoted to him. As a result, the central power could be less reliant on tribes that often rebelled. Moulay Ismail successfully campaigned against the Ottomans in Algiers and their vassals and expelled the Europeans from the ports they had occupied: Larache, Asilah, Mehdya, and Tangiers. He took thousands of Christians prisoner and nearly took Ceuta.
context_section_description: Morocco's relations with the Ottoman empire and its possessions in North Africa were often very strained. The two powers always distrusted one another and this was particularly true during Ismail's reign. The Ottomans supported Ismail's rivals within Morocco both financially and militarily, repeatedly mounting expeditions to support them. Conversely, Moulay Ismail led several invasions and raids of their territory, often with the support of anti-Ottoman Arab tribes in Algeria, such as the Benu Amer. The two empires repeatedly signed peace treaties, notably in 1678, 1692, and 1693, none of which lasted very long. A final treaty, in 1701, held until the end of Ismail's life.
  Following the approach to foreign policy begun by Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I, Moulay Ismail sought good relations with France and Great Britain in order to ensure trade relations. These relations centred on the sale of Christian sailors captured at sea by the Salé Rovers and others, but also the creation of military alliances. Moulay Ismail repeatedly sought French assistance in his wars with Spain, without success. However, an alliance with France and the Bey of Tunis against Algeria was arranged.
  In 1682, Moulay Ismail sent Mohammad Temim on an embassy to France. He succeeded in negotiating a treaty of friendship between Morocco and France, which was signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. A request for the hand in marriage of Mlle de Nantes, one of Louis XIV's illegitimate children, was not successful. A second embassy to France was led by Abdallah ben Aisha in 1699. However, the accession of Louis XIV's grandson Philip to the Spanish throne in 1710 doomed this alliance, resulting in the breaking of diplomatic relations with France and Spain and the departure of the French and Spanish merchants and consuls from Morocco in 1718. The French diplomats considered Moulay Ismail extremely greedy. They complained that he undertook negotiations and made agreements solely in order to receive presents, denying whatever they had proposed once he had gotten what he wanted.
  Despite Ismail's conquest of Tangiers in 1684, the British supported him against the Spanish and signed several treaties of friendship and commerce.  The British participated in the blockade of the Spanish port of Ceuta in 1704, during Ismail's siege of the city. After the break of relations with France, Moroccan ties with Britain increased. Abdelkader Perez was sent on two embassies to Britain, in 1723 and 1737.  Moulay Ismail also sent several embassies to James II after he was deposed, offering him aid and asking him to convert to Islam.
caption: Mohammed bin Hadou, Mulay Ismail's Moroccan ambassador to Great Britain in 1682[33]
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