In this episode, we dive into the true story of the Corsair Republic of Salé — a powerful port city built by exiled Moriscos after their expulsion from Spain in 1609. Discover how these refugees turned a ruined fortress on Morocco’s Atlantic coast into a self-governed pirate state that raided European ships, defied empires, and reshaped the history of the Mediterranean. A tale of exile, resistance, and forgotten power.

SOURCES :

Salé au XVIIème siècle, terre d'asile morisque sur le territoire atlantique marocain, by Laila Maziane

Histoire du Maroc, by J. Brignon

Histoire du Maroc, by Daniel Rivet

Les morisques et l'édification de la ville de Rabat, by Safaa Monqid

CONTACT :

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @ayahchoukri

Website: www.ayahchoukri.com

In this episode we explore how Morocco lost its independence in the early 1900s. Through the power struggle between 2 royal brothers , rising foreign influences and a unique political and religious pact known as the Bay’a Hafidiyya, we trace the events that led to the French protectorate in 1912. Politics, betrayal, colonial pressure, and a turning point in Morocco’s history.

SOURCES

Histoire du Maroc, J. Brignon

Histoire du Maroc, M. Abitbol

Histoire du Maroc, D. Rivet

CONTACT

Instagram: @ayahchoukri

Email: [email protected]

Website : www.ayahchoukri.com

In this episode of Moroccan politics 101, the series where we break down how power works in Morocco one topic at a time, we begin a 2-part deep dive into the 2011 Constitution.

In this first part we unpack how the constitution came to be, what it is made of, the rights it lays out for Moroccan citizens and the King.

In part 2, we will move onto the institutions: the Parliament, the government, the judiciary, decentralisation, and the bodies meant to hold power accountable.

CONTACT

E-mail: [email protected]

Instagram: @ayahchoukri

In this episode we look at the strange and little known reign of Mohammed Al Burtughali : the Moroccan Wattasid sultan who spent his childhood as a Portuguese hostage and returned to rule a sultanate in shambles. Caught between Iberian expansion, Sufi-led resistance and the collapse of Wattasid authority all over the country his story raises deeper questions about what it means to lead the ruins of empire.

SOURCES

- Les Wattasides, une dynastie de transition by Mohamed Mezzine

- Histoire du Maroc by J. Brignon, Abdelaziz Amine, Brahim Boutaleb, …

- Histoire du Maroc by Daniel Rivet

- Leon l’African’s “Description de l’Afrique”

CONTACT

E-mail: [email protected]

Instagram @ayahchoukri

In this first episode of the series “Moroccan politics 101”, we break down how Morocco works as a constitutional monarchy; at the very least on the surface. Whether you’re Moroccan or just curious, this episode gives you the essential tools to understand one of the most complex and resilient political systems in the region.

Contact:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram : @ayahchoukri

YouTube : Ayah Choukri | History of Morocco

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayah-choukri-289724196?

In this episode, I unpack the rise and fall of Abou Mahalli—preacher, warlord, self-declared Mahdi—who nearly rewrote Morocco’s fate in the 17th century. His life is a window into a country unraveling after its golden age, torn between dynastic decay, foreign interference, and a people’s longing for salvation. This is the story of a man who tried to fill the silence left by collapsing empirewith God, with poetry, with war.

Sources

– Al Ifrani, Nozhet el Hadi: Chronicles of the Saadian Dynasty (d. 1743)

– J. Brignon, Histoire du Maroc

– A. Péretié, “Le Raïs El Khadir Ghailan,” Archives marocaines, published by the Scientific Mission of Morocco

In this episode, Idris I, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty in Morocco, takes center stage. After fleeing the Abbasid Caliphate, he established a new reign that shaped the future of Islamic North Africa. His influence marked a turning point in the region’s history, leaving a legacy that endures to this day.

SOURCES:

« Histoire des Berbères », by Ibn Khaldoun

« Les Idrissides: L'histoire contre son histoire », by Chafik T. Benchekroun

« Idrissisme et villes Idrissides », by M. Garcia-Arenal and E. Manzano Moreno

«Fès et sainteté: de la fondation à lave n'arment du protectorat » by Centre Jacques-Berque

« Le Maroc entre vocations et réalités » by M.

Fougerouse

The series is finally coming full circle: part 3 of Bou Hmara, the man who wanted to be sultan instead of the Sultan.

CONTACT:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @ayahchoukri

TikTok: @ayahchoukri

YouTube: Ayah CHOUKRI | History of Morocco

SOURCES:

« Lords of the Atlas : the rise and fall of the House of Glaoua, 1893-1956 » by Maxwell Gavin (page 82 onward)

« Bou Hmara’s European Connexion: The Commercial Relations of a Moroccan Warlord » by Ross E. Dunn

« Le Maroc d’ aujourd’hui » by Eugene Aubin

« Bou Hmara, faux sultan et vrai rebelle » by Mustapha Saha for La Une CED les Chroniques

CONTACT:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @ayahchoukri

TikTok: @ayahchoukri

YouTube: Ayah CHOUKRI | History of Morocco

SOURCES:

« Lords of the Atlas : the rise and fall of the House of Glaoua, 1893-1956 » by Maxwell Gavin (page 82 onward)

« Bou Hmara’s European Connexion: The Commercial Relations of a Moroccan Warlord » by Ross E. Dunn

« Le Maroc d’ aujourd’hui » by Eugene Aubin

« Bou Hmara, faux sultan et vrai rebelle » by Mustapha Saha for La Une CED les Chroniques

In this new 3-parts series, I take you through the story of Bou Hmara, a con artist who shook Morocco’s Alaoui dynasty in the early 20th century at the dawn of the European protectorates. Pretending to be a long lost prince, the brother of Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz, Bou Hmara used strategy, clever schemes and a good dose of lies to gain power wealth & influence over thousands of people.

His rise to the top was filled with betrayal battles, & the brutal realities of colonial rule. An episode of Moroccan history you donnot

CONTACT:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @ayahchoukri

TikTok: @ayahchoukri

YouTube: Ayah CHOUKRI | History of Morocco

SOURCES:

« Lords of the Atlas : the rise and fall of the House of Glaoua, 1893-1956 » by Maxwell Gavin (page 82 onward)

« Bou Hmara’s European Connexion: The Commercial Relations of a Moroccan Warlord » by Ross E. Dunn

« Le Maroc d’ aujourd’hui » by Eugene Aubin

« Bou Hmara, faux sultan et vrai rebelle » by Mustapha Saha for La Une CED les Chroniques