Empire of Morocco, great African empire in the westernmost part of Barbary, formed of the kingdoms of Morocco, Fez, Talifet, and Sus, and the province of Dara. See M. Saint-Olon. [1]

This empire may span 250 leagues from north to south and 104 from east to west; it is bordered on the northern coast by the Mediterranean, to the east and west by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Dara River. However, Christians occupy certain places along the coast: the Spanish have Ceuta, Meilila, and Oran on the Mediterranean coast, and the Portuguese possess Magazan on the ocean.

All the rest belongs to the Empire of Morocco , which was created during the last century. The illustrious Mouley-Archi, king of Talifet, and his brother Moula-Ishmael united the kingdoms of Morocco, Fez, Talifet, and Sus, and the vast province of Dara, under the same regime.

Thus in the olden days, this empire, comprising part of Mauritania, was placed under the sole authority of Juba by Caesar Augustus. It is populated by former Moors, Arabic Bedouins who followed the conquering caliphs and live in tents as their forefathers did, Jews hounded by Ferdinand and Isabella, and blacks who reside beyond Mount Atlas.

One finds in the countryside, in the houses, and in the battalions an assortment of blacks and mixed-bloods.

According to M. de Voltaire, these people had always traded in Ghana; they crossed the deserts to the coasts where the Portuguese arrived by sea. They only ever knew the sea as the element of pirates. Eventually, this entire vast African coast, from Damietta to Mount Atlas, had become barbaric; at the same time that our Northern peoples, who previously had been even more barbaric, were emerging from this sorry state, endeavoring to attain one day the civility of the Greeks and Romans.

1. François Pidou de Saint-Olon, Etat présent de l’empire de Maroc . Paris, 1694.