IDRISID DYNASTY

also called al-Idrisiyun Arab Muslim dynasty that ruled in the Berber areas of Morocco from 789 until 921. The founder, Idris I (Idris ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Hasan II), who reigned 789791 at Walila, was a sharif, or princely descendant of Muhammad, and was one of the few survivors of the battle of Fakhkh, in which many of the 'Alids were slain by the 'Abbasids. He fled west and succeeded in conquering Berber tribes in northern Morocco and a part of the Atlantic plains. His son, Idris II (reigned 803828), resumed his work without, however, succeeding in subduing the whole country. Nevertheless, in 808, Idris II founded as a capital for his little kingdom the town of Fez (modern Fs), which henceforth became a political and religious centre. The Idrisids were the first to organize, outside the Berber tribal system, a central government that was partly composed of Arabs. They established the sharifian tradition in Morocco and were also responsible for making a part of northern Morocco linguistically Arabic. After the death of Idris II, however, the kingdom was divided up, and the power of the Idrisids declined. They were eventually crushed between the Umayyad caliphs of Crdoba and the Fatimids of Cairo. The last Idrisid ruler was killed while a prisoner of the Umayyads in 985.