Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/29

* MOROCCO. 17 MORONG. crushing defeat at the hands of the French at Isly in 1S44. ilogudor was bombarded and peace soon followed. In 185'J a Spanish force under Marshal O'DonncU invaded iloroeco. Two battles were fought, several ports were bombard- ed, and Tetuan was taken. A treaty was signed April 27, 1800, by which the .Sultan ceded some portions of his territory and granted commercial privileges to Spanish mer- chants. Since that time the history of Morocco has been externally uneventful ; but the steady weakening of the Sultan's power has made future complications with foreign States not unlikely. Local revolts in IS'M nearly led to the interven- tion of the Powers, but mutual distrust still keeps them in cheek. Jlulai Hassan, who be- came Sultan in 1S73, died in 1894, and was suc- ceeded by his son, Mulai Abd-el-Aziz, born Feb- ruary 24, 1878. The younf; Sultan was the son of a Circassian slave and had received an excel- lent education, which served to imbue him with a fondness for Western civilization. The Govern- ment, however, was in the hands of the powerful Grand Vizier, Sidi-Ahmed ibn-Musa. who left little opportunity for the Sultan to put his ideas into effect. After the Vizier's death, in May, 1900, Mulai Abd-el-Aziz assumed personal eharfie of the Government, and almost immediately entered upon a series of reforms looking toward the re- construction of Morocco on something of a Euro- pean basis. The improvement of the State prisons, which had become iftere plague spots where atrocious cruelties were practiced on the prisoners, first received his attention. He also set about reducing the onerous customs duties which were levied on goods, especially food prod- ucts, carried from port to port within the Em- pire. European influence was welcomed at the capital, British interests being especially favored. The mass of the population regarded the progres- sive policy of their sovereign with great dissatis- faction, and the introduction of such Western innovations as the railway and the automobile aroused profound disgust. A growing spirit of hatred for foreigners speedily asserted itself. In October, 1902, an English missionary was mur- dered by a fanatic in Fez and on the murderer's seeking refuge in a mosque, the Sultan caused him to be seized and punished, an act which was regarded by the Moslems as a breach of sanctuary and served to stir up further dissatisfaction. A formidable insurrection among the Berber tribes broke out late in 1902 under the leadership of one Omar Zarabuni. known also as Bu Hamara or Son of the She Ass. He proclaimed himself an elder brother of the Sultan and succeeded in rallying around him the tribes between Fez and Mekinez. Unchecked by several reverses, he suc- ceeded finally in defeating the royal troops under a brother of the Sultan (November 29th). and to- ward the end of December made himself master of the country around Fez. In January. 1903, the capital was invested by the forces of Bu Hamara. Bibliography. Eohlfs, Adventures in Momcco, etc., trans. (London, 1874) ; Leared, Morocco and fhr- Moors (ib., 187.t) : Amicis. Morocco and Its People, trans, (ib., 1879) ; Conrinj;. Mnroklco, Le Maroc (Paris. 188.5) ; Erckniann, Le ^faroc moderne (Paris, 188.5) ; Stutfield, El Maqhreh (London, 1886) ; De Campon, Vn empire qui croule. le Maroc contemporain (Paris, 1886) ; Thompson, Travels in the Atlas and fiouthem Morocco (London, 1889); MartiniSre, Morocco (ib., 1889), which has a bibliography; Bonsai, Morocco us It /s(il)., 1892) ; Uiercks, Matvrialien zur Kciinlnis der Maroklio-l'rage (Berlin, 1894) ; Ganniers, Lc Muroc d'aHJourdhui. d'hier et de dcmaiii (Paris, 1894) ; Keane, Africa (London, 1894) ; Harris, Lund of an African Hultan (ib., 1889) ; Hay, Morocco and the Moors (ib., 1890) ; Castellanos, Historia de Marruecos (Tangier, 1898) ; Niessel, Le Maroc: aperQii giographique (Paris, 1901); Meakin, The Moorish ICmpire (London, 1899) ; id.. The Land of the Moors 1 ib., 1901); Canal, Gcogruphie general du Maroc (Paris, 1903) ; Fischer, "Marokko," in Geo- graphische /etfsc/iriff (Leipzig, 1903) ; and Play- fair and Brown, Bibliography of Morocco (Lon- don, 1892). MOROCCO, or MAROCCO. One of the cap- itals of the Sultaiuite of -Morocco. It is situ- ated on the north slope of the Great Atlas Range, 90 miles from the Atlantic coast and 250 miles southwest of Fez (Map: Africa, D 1). Its location is very favorable. The city has a liealth- ful climate, but is in a very backward and dilapidated condition. It covers a large area, surrounded by high walls, now more or less in ruins. A large part of the space within is occu- pied by gardens, open areas, and market places, but in the built-up portions the streets are nar- row, crooked, and dirty, and the houses are ill- kept, one-storied, lime-and-earth buildings, with unglazed window-openings. There are nineteen mosques in the city. The Imperial Palace com- prises an irregular conglomeration of buildings and gardens in the southern part of the city, covering 180 acres, and surrounded by a wall. Of late years it is but seldom visited by the Sul- tan. The industries of the city are unimportant. There is still considerable local trade carried on with the surrounding country and with the port of Mogador ( q.v. ). Traffic is largely in the hands of the .Jews, who number about 7000, but live under repressive conditions in a separate quarter of the city. The entire popidation is estimated at 50.0(10 to 60,000. There are no ])ermanent European residents. Morocco was founded about 1072. It reached the height of its prosperity in the thirteenth, and fourteenth cen- turies, when its population is said to have been 700,000. It was then a famous Mohammedan seat of learning. Its decline was brought about by .several centuries of civil wars and rebel- lions. MORON, or Mor6n de l.v Froxter.. mA'ron' da la fron-ta'ra. A town of Southern Spain, in the Province of Seville, 32 miles southeast of the city of that name, on the Guadaira ( Jlap: Spain, C 4). On one of the high and steep hills sur- rounding the town are the remains of a once almost impregnable castle erected by the Moors on Roman foundations, and sinrounded by triple walls and towers. The castle was occupied by the French in 1810, and was blown up by them on their departure. Tlie inhabitants are engaged in the production of olive oil, and in the vicinity are marble quarries and mines of red hematite. Population, in 1900, 14,4.59. MORONG. A town of Central Luzon. Philip- pines, in the Province of Rizal (ifap: Philippine Islands. F 5). It is situated on the north shore of the Laguna de Bay, 17 miles east-southeast of
 * dns Land und die Lentc (Berlin. 1884) : Marcet,