Yazid of Morocco


Yazid was an Arab Sultan of Morocco from 1790 to 1792, and was a member of the Alaouite dynasty. He was born in Fes. Yazid's first order of business was persecuting the Jews of the city of Tétouan. In deference to Yazid's father, Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah, the Jews of Tétouan denied financial support to Yazid and his effort to overthrow his father. Observers remarked that Yazid authorized his "black" troops to plunder Tétouan's Jewish quarter, historian Allan R. Meyers suggested the hereditary 'Abid soldiers were originally not sub-Saharan Africans but dark-complected indigenous North Africans. Also during his rule, he continued allowing Shiite refugees from the Ottoman Empire to reside and become prominent in the country.