These Barbary pirates, operating mainly out of the northern port of Salé, ranged far and wide in their depredations, capturing men, women and children from as far away as Newfoundland, Iceland, Ireland and Cornwall. This monstrous construction project, which the sultan planned to connect his new capital – Meknes, just a few miles from the ancient capital of Fez – with the southern city of Marrakech, a distance of almost 200 miles, was commenced with the aid of vast numbers of slaves, captured for the sultan by his corsair fleet. In his fifty-five years as absolute monarch he humbled the wild mountain tribes of the Rif and Atlas, recaptured the coastal towns of Tangiers and Mamora, Asilah and Larache from foreign powers, maintained Moroccan sovereignty by defending it against the Ottoman Turks rebuilt mosques, shrines, bridges, kasbahs and of course the extraordinary palace complex in which THE SULTAN’S WIFE is set. In this, as in the extent and application of his power, he was the last sultan who can genuinely be said to have been on a par with his European counterparts. Another derives from his policy of exerting authority via display by generating awe in the populace through the pomp and grandeur that surrounded him. One clue to his success lies in the name by which he was often known by: ‘Safaq Adimaa’ or ‘The Bloodthirsty’. Moulay Ismail was the Sultan of Morocco from 1672 to 1727: a remarkably long time to rule over his ‘basketful of rats’.
Researching THE SULTAN’S WIFE (just rereleased with a beautiful new cover by Head of Zeus) turned up some fascinating historical background.
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