ABU AL-HASAN 'ALI

born c. 1297 died May 24, 1351, Hintato, Mor. Marinid sultan of Morocco (reigned 1331-51) who increased the territories of his dynasty and, for a brief time, created a united North African empire. In 1331 Abu al-Hasan succeeded his father, Abu Sa'id, to the throne. With the goals of expelling the Christians from Spain and uniting all the Islamic lands of North Africa, Abu al-Hasan attacked and captured Algeciras and Gibraltar in Spain (1333). He next attacked the Algerian territories of the 'Abd al-Wadid dynasty and after a three-year siege took the strategic town of Tlemcen (1337). Taking advantage of the internal weakness of Spain, he won a brilliant naval victory in the Strait of Gibraltar on April 5, 1340, but was defeated six months later at the Battle of Rio Salado and was forced to abandon his "holy war" against Spain. Abu al-Hasan expanded his influence in Tunisia and married a daughter of Abu Bakr, the Hafsid ruler of Tunisia, which by 1342 had become a virtual vassal state. After Abu Bakr's death Abu al-Hasan invaded Tunisia and captured Tunis (Sept. 15, 1347), but in the following April he was badly defeated by a confederation of Tunisian tribes at Kairouan. Forced to flee Tunisia by sea during December 1349, he landed at Algeria in January and set out for Morocco to put down a rebellion led by his son Abu 'Inan. Deserted by his troops, he abdicated in favour of Abu 'Inan in 1351, and he died shortly afterward of an infected wound.