Black Guard
E826531
The Black Guard was an elite corps of enslaved and later hereditary Black soldiers who formed the backbone of Sultan Moulay Ismail’s powerful standing army in Morocco during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
elite military corps
ⓘ
historical military organization ⓘ military unit ⓘ |
| activeInPeriod |
early 18th century
ⓘ
late 17th century ⓘ |
| allegiance | Sultan Moulay Ismail NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedDynasty | Alaouite dynasty NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| baseCity | Meknes NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| commandLanguage | Arabic ⓘ |
| commandStructure | directly subordinate to the sultan ⓘ |
| country | Morocco ⓘ |
| disbandmentTrend | gradual decline after Moulay Ismail’s death ⓘ |
| equipment |
firearms
ⓘ
lances ⓘ swords ⓘ |
| ethnicComposition | Black Africans ⓘ |
| garrisonLocation | Meknes NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| governanceImpact | strengthened royal absolutism in Morocco ⓘ |
| historicalCategory |
African military history
ⓘ
slave soldiers ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance | one of the earliest large-scale Black standing armies in North Africa ⓘ |
| languageOfCommand | Arabic ⓘ |
| laterLegalStatus | semi-free hereditary soldiers ⓘ |
| laterStatus | hereditary military caste ⓘ |
| legalStatusUnderMoulayIsmail | state slaves ⓘ |
| militaryBranch |
cavalry
ⓘ
infantry ⓘ |
| notableRulerAssociated | Moulay Ismail NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf | Moulay Ismail’s army NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| politicalRole |
counterweight to tribal forces
ⓘ
instrument of centralization of power ⓘ |
| primaryFunction |
field army
ⓘ
internal security force ⓘ palace guard ⓘ |
| recruitmentMethod | enslavement and conscription of Black Africans ⓘ |
| recruitmentRegion |
Sahel
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Sub-Saharan Africa NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| region | North Africa ⓘ |
| religion | Islam ⓘ |
| role | backbone of the sultan’s standing army ⓘ |
| socialStatusAtFormation | enslaved soldiers ⓘ |
| statusTransmission | hereditary within Black Guard families ⓘ |
| timeOfGreatestStrength | reign of Moulay Ismail ⓘ |
| typeOfArmy | standing army ⓘ |
| uniformColorAssociation | black ⓘ |
| usedFor |
campaigns against European and regional rivals
ⓘ
protection of royal palaces ⓘ suppression of internal revolts ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.