Lalla Aisha Mubarka

Lalla Aisha Al Mubaraka , often referred to as Zaydana (died 1716), was a slave concubine of Moulay Ismail of Morocco (r. 1672–1727), and later became one of his four wives. She had an acknowledged influence over the affairs of state through her personal influence over the sultan. Some Europeans are even said to have called her the "Empress of Morocco" as a result.

Life

Identity

Lalla Aisha's real identity is subject to conflicting reports from historic sources and there are multiple theories regarding her origins. Some identify her as a black slave, others as a princess and some as a Barbuchi. Reports from European slaves at the court of Sultan Moulay Ismail identify her as a black slave concubine. Moroccan historians do not give account of her origins nor of her status as wife, but refer to her as "the noble Lalla Aisha Al Mubaraka". Al Nâsiri and Al Zayani both refer her as such.

Other studies identify her as the "Princess of Tuat", in the 17th century the Aït Atta were the tribe who lead the Emirate of Tuat before Sultan Sidi Mohammed of Tafilalet conquered the Emirate in 1652. Lalla Aisha's brother was Ali ben Atta, one of the Caids (Major) of Guich Al Udaya. As in the first half of the 17th century the Atta were the tribe who lead the Emirate of Tuat, if she was truly the Princess of Tuat it would make sense that her brother would bear as a part of his surname "Atta" as himself being filiated to the Aït Atta.

The third explanation of her origins cites Lalla Aisha as a Barbuchi, it is not precised if she is of the slave cast of this tribe. Some sources identify her as a woman born as Aisha bint Mubarak El Rehmani Al Berabuchi, in the Royal court of her husband Sultan Moulay Ismail she was surnamed the Udaya Queen. The first, also the eldest, is the ancestor of the Barbuchi. The Udayas as spelled in Guich Al Udaya do not concern the family name but the confederation of given Hassāni tribes. Guich Al Udaya thus include the following tribes: M'gharfa, the eponymous Udaya and Barbuchi. This explains why in this last theory Moroccan sources and European slaves at the court of Moulay Ismail refer to her as the Udaya Queen.

Marriage & children

Historic sources stipulate that Lalla Aisha also known as Zaydana was purchased for sixty ducats from Moulay Rashid to become a member of Moulay Ismail's harem as a slave concubine.

In accordance with Islamic law, the Sultan was allowed to have a harem of slave concubines in addition to his four wives, as long as the concubines were slaves. However, despite the fact that the sultans normally only married women from prominent families such as the Sharif families, Moulay Ismail formally married Zaydana. Sultan Moulay Ismail had thousands of slave concubines in his harem and hundreds of children, along with Lalla Aisha he had three additional legal wives: Lalla Halima Al Sufyaniyah, Lalla Umm al-Iz at-Taba and Lalla Khanatha bint Bakkar.

Zaydana managed to achieve a great emotional bond with Sultan Moulay Ismail, and thereby gain influence over the entire kingdom. She has been referred to in some European reports as the "Empress of Morocco", which is not to be taken literally. The Europeans often referred to the Sultan as "Emperor" or "King" rather than "Sultan", and to the Sultan's consorts as "Empress" or "Queen", which was the equivalent titles of their own rulers and their own ruler's wives; and whenever a woman entered the harem of the Sultan they referred to it as a "marriage", even when this may simply have been slave concubinage. The habit of European translators to equalize local customs to their own equivalents in this way may have caused confusion. In reality, there was no equivalent of an Empress consort or a Queen consort at a Muslim court, were the ruler could have many wives and concubines, and the first royal consort to bear an official title in Morocco is Lalla Salma.

Zaydana had several children with Sultan Moulay Ismail, among them:

Prince Moulay Mohammed Zaydan (1672–1708), Sultan Moulay Ali.

According to John Braithwaite although Moulay Ahmed was two years younger than his half-brother Moulay Abdelmalik, he was chosen by his father as successor. She claimed that he was preparing a coup to conquer the throne. While this was not initially true, he was in 1704 provoked to actually do so, after which he was captured by Moulay Zaydan in July of that year. He committed suicide in 1706 after his father had one of his hands and one of his feet amputated as punishment. It is widely believed that part of the motive for her disgrace was that she pushed The rebellion caused atrocities, with Marrakesh and Taroudant civilian population massacred on various criminal acts unsponsored by Moulay Ismail, which wouldn't have happened if her machinations were not pushed to the extreme. Moulay Ismail initially forgave her when she violated his seal on an initial trinket to dishonor Moulay Mohammed al-Alim and have her son as heir.