ASILAH

also called Arzila, Spanish Arcila, city on the Atlantic coast of western Morocco. Built on the site of an ancient Phoenician-Carthaginian settlement (Zili), it later fell to the Romans. It passed to the Idrisids, who in the early 11th century repulsed several attacks by Normans. From AD 972 on, it was dominated by the Marinids, until in 1471 the Portuguese occupied Asilah, which they fortified as a military base (the walls of which remain). The Spaniards followed the Portuguese (who in 1578 had been decimated by 'Abd al-Malik at the Battle of the Three Kings) but ceded the town to Moulay Ahmad al-Mansur in 1589. Thereafter, it was peopled by migrants from the Rif Mountains. In 1911 the Spaniards reoccupied the city, which remained part of Spanish Morocco until it was returned to the Moroccan kingdom in 1956. Asilah is now a fishing port and a trading centre for cereals, cattle, and sheep. Pop. (1982) 18,781.