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Oujda

City in Oriental, Morocco

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at the heart of the city of oujda
TheNegativeOne47 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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History

Origins

There is some evidence of a settlement during the Roman occupation, which seems to have been under the control of Berbers rather than Romans.

The city was founded in 994 by Ziri ibn Atiyya, Berber chief of the Zenata Maghrawa tribe. Ziri was, with his tribe, authorized to occupy the region of Fas, but feeling insecure in that region and that town, and wishing to be nearer to the central Maghrib homeland of his tribe, he moved to Oujda, installed there a garrison and his possessions, appointing one of his relatives as governor.

11th to 19th centuries

In the mid-11th century, a new quarter with a wall was allegedly added to the primitive core. Yusuf ibn Tashfin occupied the city in 1079, and in the next century, it came under Almohad control, with its fortifications repaired and strengthened under the Almohad caliph Muhammad al-Nasir.

Oujda played an important strategic role between the Marinids, based in Fes, and the Abdalwadids of the Kingdom of Tlemcen. The Marinid sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub destroyed the city when he defeated Sultan Yaghmorasan in 1271. When his successor Abu Yaqub Yusuf conquered the city again in 1296, he destroyed the remaining fortifications but then rebuilt the town with the new walls, a palace, and a Great Mosque (the current one). The town continued to change hands, however. Around 1325, Sultan Abu al-Hasan took the city again during a series of campaigns which extended Marinid control into the central Maghreb for a brief period.

Because of its frontier position, the city was frequently contested between the Sharifian dynasties of Morocco – the Saadis, followed by the Alaouites – to the west and the Ottoman Empire to the east, from the 16th century onward. It was often attached to the province or region of Tlemcen, which itself also changed hands several times in this period. During the long reign of Moulay Isma'il (1672–1727), Oujda was firmly under Alaouite control and defended by new fortifications and garrisons built by the sultan. After Isma'il's death, however, political instability returned. It was only in 1795 that the city was retaken by the Alaouites and permanently incorporated into Morocco.

The French occupied Oujda in 1844 and again in 1859. To the west of the city is the site of the Battle of Isly which occurred in 1844. In 1907-1908, Oujda was reconquered by General Bugeaud and Marshal Lyautey and used as a French military base to control eastern Morocco. The city's modern infrastructure was initially developed during the French occupation.

20th century and present day

Anti-Jewish riots occurred in Oujda June 1948, during the 1948 Palestine war in the aftermath of the establishment of the State of Israel. Oujda, located near the border, was a departure point for Moroccan Jews seeking to reach Israel by crossing into French Algeria; at the time they were not permitted to do so from within Morocco. In the events, 47 Jews and one French person were killed, many were injured, and property was damaged.

During Thami El Glaoui's attempted coup against Sultan Mohammed V, the 1953 Oujda revolt occurred.

From the onset of the Algerian Independence War, in 1954, Morocco allowed Oujda to become the logistic center of the Oujda Group.

The Algeria-Morocco border is just east of Oujda; Maghnia, Algeria sits on the opposite side. Since 1994, the border has been closed.

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