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In 1698, the Alawite Sultan Moulay Ismail appointed Abdellah Benaïcha as ambassador to the French court of King Louis XIV. The Rabatian, of Moorish origin, left Rabat for France on November 11, 1698, in order to negotiate a treaty between Morocco and France. The visit was widely reported in the French press, including by Nabil Matar in his book Le Mercure Galant and Le Gazette de France.In Christian Lands: Tales of Arabian Travel in the Seventeenth Century» (In Christian Lands: Arabian Travel Writing in the Seventeenth Century, Routledge, 2013).
But before he became the envoy of the Sultan of Alaudiya, Abdellah Benaïcha was one of the most famous Salencian pirates of the 17th century. Historian Leïla Maziane tells her history of him until 1698, the date of his appointment by Moulay Ismail.Sarre and his pirates, 1666-1727» (Publishers of the University of Rouen-Havre, 2008). “The source first reveals his existence in 1671; she reports that he was then the captain of a “new frigate of 100 tons, 2 decks, 14 guns, 150 men”. Abdellah Benaïcha was 24 years old at the time and was described as a “tall mulatto” man.
The famous privateer “Admiral Sarrey”
Eleven years later, he became the “Admiral of Sarre” before being captured by the British. “Another captive/slave was the privateer Abdullah bin Aisha, who remained in England for three years until King Charles released him without paying a ransom due to the intervention of James II,” historian Nabil Matar recalled in his book.The Turks, Moors, and British in the Age of Exploration» (Turks, Moors, and Britons in the Age of Exploration, Columbia University Press, 2012).
Illustration of French and British ships attacked at sea /Dr.
On November 15, 1786, he (Abdellah Benaïcha, ed.) resumed his previous activities, taking over a ship from Honfleur whose crew had been reduced to slavery and brought back to Salé. In 1687, Ben Aïcha commanded a ship of 22 guns and on March 12 seized the Mercier, a 6-gun ship of Le Havre, which was bound for Marseilles with a full load of wheat and brought it back to Algiers. On March 20, he returned to Salé with a rich French prize, Saint-Esprit and Saint-Marie, two chequered cloths filled with alum, rice, wine and hazelnuts.
Leila Mazian
By 1691, the doubling of his catches had made Benaïcha a hero in Salé. Just a few months before his appointment as Sharif Sultan, Abdallah Benaïcha put his pirate career on hold.
Official diplomatic missions
On November 11, 1698, Abdallah Benaïcha, accompanied by his secretary Ahmad Sousan and lieutenant Mohammad Al-Thughiry, as well as other members of the Moroccan delegation whom Aisha refused to name, left Morocco for Brest to sign a treaty with France as part of a negotiating mission.
Portrait of Sultan Moulay Ismail. / Dr.
“Although the negotiations failed, the visit allowed Benecha and his entourage to see the grandeur and novelty of France and to mingle with royalty and nobility,” historian Nabil Matar wrote in “The Land of Christians: Travels in Arabia in the Seventeenth Century.”
“Benecha remained in Brest for two months until discussions on his status (whether he was to be an envoy or an ambassador) were concluded. It was a humiliating delay, but Benecha endured it patiently, firmly standing his ground but ready to participate in her social activities and functions.”
Nabil Matar
Nabil Matar also noted that Moulay Ismail’s ambassador “did not speak French, but was fluent in Spanish and English”. “He always had to rely on French interpreters and commercial agents, which allowed him to develop strong friendships,” said the historian. On January 12, 1699, Benaïcha finally left Brest after the French king allowed him to visit Paris. “On his way through Rennes, Nantes, Angers, Tours and the Loire Valley, he was welcomed by official parties, including women who flocked to talk to him,” said Nabil Matar.
Marie Anne de Bourbon, known as “Mademoiselle de Blois” (first name)1, Princess of Conti (1680), was the daughter of King Louis XIV of France. / Ph.D.
There is also an unofficial
In the 146th issue of the monthly review,Dawat Haque» Published by the Habsburg and Islamic Affairs Ministry, Benecha is said to have “arrived in Paris on February 5” before arriving at Versailles on February 16, 1699, to meet King Louis XIV.
On February 26, negotiations began in Versailles. “The French wanted to impose a treaty almost similar to that of 1682 (hence the 7th article on the release of prisoners, which proposed a mutual ransom of 30,000 pounds per person); he refused,” says the Crono Base website, which lists a chronology of the major events during the Moroccan ambassador’s mission. On May 5, the ambassador left Paris for Brest. On June 10, he landed in Salé on the French warship Dauphin.
Although his diplomatic mission failed, with France and Morocco refusing to sign the treaty negotiated at Versailles, history will also remember Benecha as the man who proposed marriage to the Sultan, Louis XIV’s daughter Marie-Anne de Bourbon. . Daaouat Al Haq magazine noted that “due to differences in habits and customs between Moroccans and French, fighting did not occur.”
Illustrative photograph of Moulay Ismail and the portrait of Louis XIV’s daughter. / Dr.
But, despite Roger Coindreau reporting, “Pirates of Saree» (Editions Eddif, 2006), “The last campaign of the Salatine corsairs took place in 1698, that is, a year before the embassy to Versailles”, Leïla Maziane has another version. She states that “in the summer of 1711, during a campaign in Portuguese waters, Admiral Dessaray, accompanied by his son and four other officers, was captured by Dutch pirates on board the Witte Paard or White Horse”. The historian also states that “Sultan Moulay Ismail even released all Dutch subjects in order to free the admiral and other Moors imprisoned in Lisbon.” Once a pirate, always a pirate…
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