El Menebhi

Sid Mehdi el Menebhi GCMG (* 1870 ) was the Moroccan Minister of War of Sultan Abd al-Aziz (Morocco) from 1900 to 1903 .

Life

The Grand Vizier Bou Ahmed had recommended el Menebhi as his successor on his deathbed. From April 1900 to April 1901, Bou Ahmed's cousin, Hajji el-Mokhtar, was Grand Vizier. Subsequently, Bou Ahmed declared himself unable to lead the office of Grand Vizier and appointed Si Feddoul Gharnit as Grand Vizier. Si Feddoul Gharnit sent el-Menebhi to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the German Empire. He sent the Foreign Minister Abdelkrim Ben Sliman († September 1907) to France. In the summer of 1901 Menebhi made state visits to Edward VII and Wilhelm II , and the French authorities tried to stop the trip. Meanwhile, menebhi was intrigued at court and he had to end his trip early and return to Morocco. His removal as Minister of War was prevented by sharp protests from the British ambassador.

War with Muley Mohamet

A competing candidate for the caliphate was Muley Mohamet, who was called Bou Hamara (father, owner of the donkey ) by the sultans in Fez . In November 1902, Abd al-Aziz left Fez for Rabat. The start of this Harka had been delayed because of an uprising by the supporters of Bou Hamara. But the situation seemed to have calmed down and an army of the sultan was sent to Taza to quell the uprising. Abd al-Aziz had appointed his brother Mulai el-Kebir as commander-in-chief. In response to Walter Burton Harris ' objection that this was a child, the Sultan replied: "That's true, but my other brothers had already been commissioned with expeditions and now it's Mulai el-Kebir's turn, who has not yet had the opportunity to raise any money to earn". Taza was captured by forces under Menebhi on January 29, 1903. In June 1903, around 600 soldiers of the Sherif Army led by Menebhi were killed in a battle against supporters of Bou Hamara. El Menebhi was replaced as war minister by Mohammed Guebbas of the Tazi family, did a Hajj and then lived in Tangier . As a result of Menebhi's dismissal, his British military advisor, Hamet Jaiya, was arrested in the summer of 1904 and his property was confiscated.

Dar Menebhi

Menebhi had a palace, the Dar Menebhi, built in Marrakech . Harris reports in Maroco that was about a photograph that was taken in Dar Menebhis after 1908: The ex-Sultan Abd al-Aziz is sitting on a sofa with his half-brother, Sultan Abd al-Hafiz, who was in power at the time of the recording veiled women, in the background are men dressed in western style. Harris explains that the women are French tourists posing with their purchases at a party and that the men in the background are from the Diplomatic Corps . Harris reports on the scandal that photography caused in the harem of Mulai Abd al-Hafiz. The Marrakech Museum has been housed in Dar Menebhi since 1997 .

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  patio

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  Dar Menebhi

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  Dar Menebhi

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  Dar Menebhi hall ceiling

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wikisource 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica / Abd-el-Aziz IV
2. ↑ M. Th. Houtsma EJ Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, 1987 p. 35
3. ^ New York Times , June 11, 1901 King Edward Receives the Moor
4. ^ Walter Burton Harris, Morocco That Was , William Blackwood 1921, Paperback: Redwood Burn Ltd. Trowbridge, Wiltshire, 1983 pp. 67 f.
5. ↑ David Littmann Jews under Muslim Rule- II: Morocco 1903-1912 (PDF; 1.8 MB) p. 6 f
6. ^ Pennell p. 129
7. ^ New York Times , Aug 13, 1904, BRITISH PROTEST TO MOROCCO .; Arrest of El Menebhi's Principal Secretary Causes Indignation
8. ^ Harris p. 156