al-Khalifa al-Alawiyyin

[TLS]

الخلافة العلويين
al-Khalifa al-Alawiyyin
Alawite Caliphate



National Statistics as of 1725
Population: 4,300,000
Languages: Arabic, Berber
Prestige: C
Tech Level: 2.5

Political Organization
Official Title: Alawite Caliphate
Conventional: Alawites, Maghreb
Political System: Absolute Monarchy
Capital: Fez
Sovereign: Caliph Ismail

Economy:
Population: 4.3 Million
Ports: 4 (Rabat, Tangiers, Algiers, Tunis)
Craft Center: 1 (Fez)
Resource: 2 (Marrakesh, Algiers)
Commercial Fleets: 6 (12 fleets)
Total Income: 14.1 Points

Military

Manpower
Regulars: 57,700 (out of 129,000)
Reserves: 27,500 (out of 301,000)

Naval Forces [23,200 regulars, 10,000 reserves, 6.75 points]

Fixed Installations [10,000 reserves, .5 points]
-1 Naval Yards [10,000 reserves, .5 points]

Rabat Squadron (Rabat) [14,800 regulars, 4 points]
-6 BB2s [4,800 regulars, 1.5 points]
-10 FF1s [5,000 regulars, 2 points]
-5 PatRons [5,000 regulars, .5 points]

Tangiers Squadron [2,800 regulars, .75 points]
-1 BB2 [800 regulars, .25 points]
-2 FF1s [1,000 regulars, .4 points]
-1 PatRon [1,000 regulars, .1 points]

Algiers Squadron [2,800 regulars, .75 points]
-1 BB2 [800 regulars, .25 points]
-2 FF1s [1,000 regulars, .4 points]
-1 PatRon [1,000 regulars, .1 points]

Tunis Squadron [2,800 regulars, .75 points]
-1 BB2 [800 regulars, .25 points]
-2 FF1s [1,000 regulars, .4 points]
-1 PatRon [1,000 regulars, .1 points]

Ground Forces [34,500 regulars, 17,500 reserves, 7.35 points]

Fixed Positions [7,000 regulars, 17,500 reserves, 4.1 points]
-7 Fortress (Fez, Rabat, Tangiers, Algiers, Tunis, Marrakesh, Algiers) [7,000 regulars, 3.5 pts]
-6 Garrisons (Fez, Tangiers, Algiers, Tunis, Marrakesh, Algiers) [17,500 reserves, .6 pts]
-7 Depots (Fez, Rabat, Tangiers, Algiers, Tunis, Marrakesh, Algiers)

Jaysh al-Maghreb (Marrakesh) [10,000 regulars, 1.25 points]
-3 Infantry Brigades [7,500 regulars, .75 pts]
-1 Cavalry Brigade [2,500 regulars, .5 pts]

Jaysh ash-Sharq (Tunis) [17,500 regulars, 2 points]
-5 Light Infantry Brigades [12,500 regulars, 1 pts]
-2 Cavalry Brigades [5,000 regulars, 1 pts]

[Kilani]

In the winter of 1701 a diplomatic delegation from the Commonwealth arrives in Tangiers, bringing gifts and a desire to speak with Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif regarding a potential treaty between the two nations.

[TLS]

In the winter of 1701 a diplomatic delegation from the Commonwealth arrives in Tangiers, bringing gifts and a desire to speak with Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif regarding a potential treaty between the two nations.

Following negotiations between the King and the English delegation, it is announced that a Treaty of Peace and Friendship is to be signed between the King of Morocco and the English Majlis, currently chaired by the Wazir "Kroomweel", and all of their successors. As a token of friendship, the King personally pays the ransom of 10,000 "English" in the ports and cities under his control. Of course, the Moroccans are not deeply cognizant of the differences between the different petty kingdoms of Europe, and many Dutchmen, Irishmen, and Scandinavians are released under the pretense of being "English", but there is no evidence that this is due to anything other than the inability of the Moroccans to tell one guttural pale fisherman from another.

[TLS]

The Caliphate of the West

1703-1709

The French expedition against the Barbary Pirates earlier in the decade left the proud states of the Barbary Coast destitute, their fleets sunk, their sultans presiding over nothing more than burnt-out husks of ports. The royal families which remained were often simply deposed by the ragtag bands of corsairs who remained, many of them fleeing into exile in neighboring Morocco, which had been funneling arms and information to the various states. While the Ottomans swept back into Libya, inheriting that burned out husk of coastline, they did not seek to push into Tunisia or Algeria, while the pirates were effectively cowed and prohibited from taking to the Mediterranean again.

In neighboring Morocco, however, the King, Moulay Ismail, recognized that his treaty with the English would not be enough to save him if the French decided to come knocking. First and foremost, he had to deal with his own pirate problem. While it would deny him the ability to call upon them in a time of need, they had proven to be fickle subjects in the past. A brief and brutal campaign against the corsairs culminated in much of their fleet being seized by the King, who set about building his own naval deterrent. Meanwhile, Algeria and Tunisia slipped further and further into chaos, as the states which had previously be bound by ties of loyalty to the Ottoman Porte were loosed upon each other with a ferocious desire to settle old scores.

Having secured himself at home, Ismail began to make brief forays into the neighboring states of the High Atlas. He found the going easier than he, or many of the states, had expected: their exhausting war against the French had drained many of the fighting spirit, and the Moroccans had the benefits of an effective and united state behind them. Soon, some of the exiled princes and emirs of the Barbary Coast began to make pledges to the King of Morocco: in return for help regaining their lands, they would swear eternal loyalty to him as their lords.

From 1705-1707, the Moroccans--with their local allies--either drove out, bribed, or persuaded the states along the coast to make similar pledges to the King. Numerous factors played a roll; the fear of the French, who were re-building their forces across the sea, the simultaneous absence and strength of the Ottomans, who were right up on their borders, and a desire to finally be free of the murderous domination of the corsair clans. The Dey of Algiers, who spearheaded both the resistance to the French and the push to refuse Ottoman suzerainty, recognized that it was better to swear loyalty to a fellow Maghrebi than a distant and tyrannical ruler, be they kuffar or a Turk. The last bastion of armed resistance, the half-Turkish Bey of Tunis, was crushed by early 1708.

Recognizing that his regime needed to be predicated on something more, the King's advisors--first and foremost among them they Dey of Algiers, who quickly rose to be the Grand Vizier of the King--pushed the idea that Ismail needed a greater claim to rival those of his increasingly powerful rivals. Arguing that the Ottomans had abandoned their temporal and spiritual duties as Caliphs when they abandoned the Barbary Coast to the depredations of the French, the claim was put forth that the Caliphate lay vacant. Though hesitant to lay claim to a title that was already asserted, Ismail was eventually convinced through convoluted legal reasoning (the historical presence of previous Caliphates in the Maghreb, such as Cordoba and the Almohads, not to mention the precedence of Caliphates being declared contemporaneously with others when the original holders were found wanting) to take the title for himself.

With the Ottoman Empire seemingly exhausted after years of wars on the frontier, resulting in much of their armies being worn down by combat, the starts finally seemed to align for the rising Maghrebi power. Thus, on Shawwal 1, 1120 (December 13, 1708), the date of Eid al-Fitr, Ismail was proclaimed Caliph Ismail. It was a precipitous rise of the Alawite dynasty, which had only fifty years prior claimed the Kingdom of Morocco for itself. From his capital at Fez Ismail set about establishing a center of Islam to rival those of the west, though his self-proclaimed Caliphate still paled in comparison to that of the Ottomans to the east. The Alawites quickly began reaching out across the Dar al-Islam, particularly the Sunni powers discontent with the leadership of Constantinople, to verify their claim. Though Ismail did not bother to make theological claims to his European counterparts, he made a point of notifying the European powers (such as the Spanish and French) that North Africa would not be as easy a mark as the French found it before.

[Ottoman]

The Ottomans react to news of rival Khalifah in North Africa with annoyance. With some Viziers remarking at least the Ottomans fought and won the title of Khalifah unlike these upstarts in North Africa. However the news does give enough backing to the Ottoman Admiralty to push the Sultan to fund a naval program to build up strength in eastern Med and Indian ocean.

[Kilani]

The Commonwealth continues to express its friendship for the burgeoning empire - even going so far as to increase trade, where possible, as well as helpfully providing funds and selling weapons to the new Caliph.

[Lefty]

In 1714, a CruRon makes a stop in Rabat seeking an audience with the Caliph. The mission is one of peace and prosperity, with the Commonwealth agents seeking to establish relations and seek out trade opportunities. .1 points worth of gifts are brought along.

[TLS]

The Aging Caliph: The Alawites Through 1725

Caliph Ismail, the founder of the Alawite Caliphate, has successfully vaulted himself into the list of great rulers of the Maghreb, a peer to the Umayyads, the Almoravids, and Almohads. He has ejected the Spanish from the Berber coast, brought the pirates to heel, and even managed to launch brutally effective raids on the Iberian mainland. The Alawite navy has become a notable force on the Mediterranean Sea, the ports of the Caliphate are secure behind their high walls and heavy cannonry, and the army is the dominant military force from the Pillars of Hercules to the Libyan desert.

The Caliph is strong and accomplished, but also gray and nearing the end of his days. He has lived a virile life, but perhaps too virile: Ismail has literally hundreds of sons, and though only a handful can effectively contest the throne on his death that is more than enough to raise the specter of implosion. Even if the Caliphate does not collapse on his death, his heir will be weakened and need to ensure stability through impressive feats of statecraft, likely on the battlefield. Though the rise of the Caliphate has in the previous two decades ensured a modicum of stability in the Western Mediterranean, the Caliph’s passing could result in a far more chaotic political situation.

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