Bou Ahmed

Si Ahmed ben Musa , Bou-Ahmed or Ba Ḥmad ( Abu Aḥmad ) (* 1840 in Marrakech ; † May 13, 1900 ibid) was from 1894 to 1900 great vizier at the court of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz and as such led the government for the initially still underage regents.

Life

Bou Ahmed was the son of the Grand Vizier Sī Mūsā, who was born a dark-skinned slave in one of the Sherif's palaces . He grew up with the crown prince Moulay al-Ḥasan I. on. When Mulai Ḥasan became sultan, he made Abu Mohammed chamberlain .

After the death of Mulai al-Ḥasan I in 1894 during a military expedition near Kasba Tadla , Bou Ahmed led the government. He arranged that not the firstborn but asan's youngest son ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz should be proclaimed the new sherif at the age of 13. There were a handful of descendants of the Prophet in the various Falzes of Rabat , Fez and Marrakech who could have claimed the throne with at least as much right for themselves. The most influential faction was in Rabat, therefore ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz should be proclaimed here as heir to Mulai al-Ḥasan I. Kasba Tadla was at least five days away from Rabat. In order to give the messenger who was supposed to initiate the proclamation of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz in Rabat a head start, the death of Mulai al-Ḥasan was initially not announced and the courtly ceremony with the corpse was carried out. Until the Sultan's body betrayed his death by the smell, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz was installed as regent and Bou Ahmed formed a coalition with Lalla Reqia, the mother of the new Sultan, a white slave from the Ottoman Caucasus region .

Bou Ahmed identified the war minister Si Mohammed Soreir and his brother Haj Amaati, the grand vizier, as possible rivals in Fez. Amaati was chained on his inaugural visit to the new sultan and chained to his brother Soreir, who had been arrested in front of his house, and sent to Tetuan . When Amaati died, the governor of Tetuan did not want to bury him, fearing that the sultan would punish him for letting him escape, and wrote to the Sherif for orders. Therefore, Si Mohammed Soreir remained chained to his deceased brother for eleven days until an answer came from the court. When in 1908 ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz was overthrown by his older half-brother ʿAbd al-Ḥāfiẓ , Soreir was released.

At the end of 1899, under Bou Ahmed, the Misfioua Berber rebellion in the Central Atlas was put down. Prisoners ran on the street, chained together in groups of 15 to 20. Their wives and children dragged themselves after them. Bou Ahmed had the city wall of Fez decorated with 50 cured misfioua heads. Other misfioua were beaten and the salt penalty applied. The palms were cut open, the cuts filled with salt, the fingers bent back, and a fist tied with wet sheepskin. When this dried, the hand was forever a useless ball of meat.

When it came to an end with Bou Ahmed, on the advice of doctors, he still ordered oxygen bottles in Europe, but he died of heart failure before they reached Morocco .

Bahia Palace

In 1867 Si Moussa had a palace built in Marrakech, which his son Bou Ahmed had a mosque , a hammam and a garden supplemented and called the Bahia Palace . The Bahia Palace today has 8000 m², 160 rooms, patios and riads.

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  painted wooden ceiling

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  Architectural decor of the upper door cheek

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  Lintel

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  Coffered ceiling

When Bou Ahmed died in 1900, Abd al-Aziz had his entire property confiscated.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ M. Th. Houtsma: EJ Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, 1987 p. 35
2. ^ Walter Burton Harris: Morocco That Was. William Blackwood, London 1921; Reprint: Redwood Burn Ltd. Trowbridge, Wiltshire, 1983, p. 21
3. ^ CR Pennell: Morocco Since 1830: A History . C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, p. 113
4. ↑ ArchNet Bahia Palace ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.