Abstract
The foundation of Mogador/Essaouira (al-Sawira, or al-Suwayra; Tassurt in Berber) by the Sultan Sidi Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah in 1764,1 and its rapid growth into Morocco's most active port and centre of trade mark a significant change in Makhzen policies and a new trend in Moroccan history. Ten years after its foundation, Mogador became Morocco's principal port and outlet for the 'Alawid capital of Marrakesh. It served as the main entrepot for the trans-Saharan caravans, the traders of the southern province of Sous, and European merchants. It maintained its pre-eminent position until the end of the nineteenth century, when the French conquered Timbuktu (1893), and other ports to the north (Casablanca above all) deprived Mogador of much of its former trade.
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