Hintata emirate

Origins

The Hintata were a leading Masmuda Berber tribe of the High Atlas, prominent since Almohad times. Under the Marinid Sultanate their chiefs served as governors of Marrakesh. When Marinid authority collapsed in 1465 the Hintata emirs became de facto independent rulers of the city and the Haouz plain.

Rule and society

The emirs governed a region of Atlas tribes and plains agriculture from the old imperial capital. They dealt with the Portuguese posts at Safi and Azemmour and are described by Leo Africanus, who visited in the early 16th century. Power rested on tribal alliances rather than a strong administration.

Decline and legacy

The Saadi Sultanate, rising in the Sous, pressed northward. The last important emir, Muhammad ibn Nasir Bu Shentuf, was assassinated in 1524, and the Saadis entered Marrakesh around 1525, making it their capital.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.