Crossing the Strait: Morocco, Gibraltar and Great Britain in the 18th and 19th Centuries

224 Pages·2012·0.919 MB·English

by  James A.O.C. Brown

Crossing the Strait
Studies in the History and Society of
the Maghrib
Series Editors
Amira K. Bennison, University of Cambridge
Léon Buskens, University of Leiden
Houari Touati, École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris
VOLUME 2

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/shsm
Crossing the Strait
Morocco, Gibraltar and Great Britain in the
18th and 19th Centuries
By
James A. O. C. Brown

LEIDEN • BOSTON
2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, James A. O. C.
 Crossing the Strait : Morocco, Gibraltar and Great Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries /
by James A.O.C. Brown.
  p. cm. — (Studies in the history and society of the Maghrib ; v. 2)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-20893-3 (hardback : alk. paper)
 1. Diplomatic and consular service, Moroccan—Gibraltar—History. 2. Great Britain—
Foreign relations—Morocco. 3. Morocco—Foreign relations—Great Britain. 4. Morocco—
Commerce—History. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in the history and society of the Maghrib ; v. 2.

DT317.B76 2012
327.6404—dc23
2012003769
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ISSN 1877-9808
ISBN 978 90 04 20893 3 (hardback)
ISBN 978 90 04 21601 3 (e-book)
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CONTENTS
List of Tables and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  vii

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ix
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    xi

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
1. Trade and the Moroccan State before 1790 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2. Moroccan Trade and Foreign Policy after 1790 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3. The Moroccan Consulate at Gibraltar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4. Trade between Gibraltar and the Gharb Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  121
5. Jewish and Muslim Intermediaries between the Gharb and
Gibraltar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
6. Gibraltar, the British and the Politics of the Gharb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  165

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  185

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  195
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  207

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Figures
1. Value of Goods Imported into Morocco, 1834-53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  134
2. Value of Goods Exported from Morocco, 1834-53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
3. Volume of Shipping in Morocco by Nation, 1835-52. . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
4. British Trade in Morocco, 1834-44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Tables
1. British Ships Calling at Moroccan Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
2. Number and Average Size of Ships at Moroccan Ports, 1837-43 . . 138
3. Number and Average Size of Moroccan Merchant Ships,
1836-45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
4. Average Trade of Moroccan Ports, 1836-45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5. Merchants Guaranteed by the Moroccan Consulate at Gibralt ar,
5 December 1831–1 December 1832 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
6. Moroccan Merchants Admitted to Gibraltar in 1832 and 1834 . . 153
7. Applications by Moroccans for Extended Stays in Gibraltar, 1832
and 1834-35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is impossible to acknowledge here all who have helped me to complete
this book. Without doubt there are those who deserve my thanks but
whom I have forgotten, as a result of poor memory or inflated ego. There
are others whom the course of life had already taken away before it was
finished, who certainly deserve my thanks but to whom I sadly cannot
express them. To the former I apologise and about the latter I express my
regret. It is equally impossible to indicate the extent of my debt to those
whom I can gladly acknowledge; but it is nevertheless a pleasure to try.
The Arts & Humanities Research Council provided generous financial
support without which I would not have been able to conduct the research
for my doctoral thesis that formed the foundation of this book. The
Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge
has been a very supportive host to my immediate post-doctoral career,
enabling me to transform the one into the other. I very grateful to all those
colleagues who have taken a generous interest in a nascent career: firstly,
and above all, to Dr. Amira Bennison, whose guidance and patience have
been invaluable during the many hours of advice and experience she has
shared as my doctoral supervisor and then as a senior colleague; to Dr.
Michael Brett, who cheerfully interrupted his retirement to guide my first
faltering steps into Moroccan history; to Prof. William Clarence-Smith and
Dr. William O'Reilly, both of whom gave excellent advice and encouraged
me to see the bigger picture; Dr. Kate Fleet kindly pointed an outsider in
the right direction on points of Ottoman history; and Prof. David Abulafia
gave helpful feedback and support after I completed my doctorate. Prof.
Mohammed El Mansour deserves particular thanks: firstly since it was his
ground-breaking work on Mawlay Sulaymān that encouraged me to tackle
this topic and to which this book is hugely indebted; and secondly for his
perceptive and kindly criticisms of an earlier draft. The work of Dr. Nadia
Erzini was similarly invaluable to me, as was her very kind assistance at
various points of my research and writing. Others also gave crucial advice
and help during the research process, particularly Ustadha Hasna Daud

in Tetuan; Dr. Khalid Ben Srhir in Rabat; and Dr. Sam Benady in Gibraltar.

The staff at the National Archives, the British Library and the Gibrlatar

Government Archives were unfailingly professional and helpful; those at
the Direction des Archives Royales and the Bibliothèque Royale in Rabat
x acknowledgments
equally so and wonderfully hospitable besides. During frequent moments
of self-doubt and frustration, I was extremely fortunate always to be able
to rely on the intellectual, emotional and culinary support of friends from
Cambridge, SOAS, and elsewhere in particular Avais Amin, Bilal Badat,
Dr. Mohsin Badat, Igor Chestich, Dr. George Damoulakis, Dr. Lejla Demiri,
Dr. Chiara Formichi, Dr. Shahid Hanif, Dr. Ashraf-ul-Hoque, Hasan Khoee,
Dr. Samir Mahmoud, Tahmer Mahmoud, Aiysha Malik, Faris Nasrallah,
Amina Nawaz, Dr. Mike Perfect, William Rook, Arash Sedighi and Mujadad
Zaman. Above even these dear and kind friends, I am hugely grateful for
the love and support of my wife, Karima Sbitri, and her family. But perhaps
most of all I am grateful to my parents, Dr. Barbara Cottman and Professor
Paul Brown, whose love, encouragement and practical support have been
unfailing, and to whom I could never adequately express my thanks. From
all these people, I should have learned much more; their efforts to teach
and help me are not sufficiently reflected in this book, the responsibility
for the errors and shortcomings of which is, of course, mine alone.