al-Istiqsa li-Akhbar Duwal al-Maghrib al-Aqsa

al-Istiqsa li-Akhbar Duwal al-Maghrib al-Aqsa (The Thorough Investigation into the History of the Dynasties of the Far Maghrib) is a comprehensive chronicle of Moroccan history written by the Moroccan historian and state official Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Nasiri (1250–1315 AH / 1835–1897 CE) al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1.

Composition and Purpose

The initial nucleus of the project was a historical monograph focused specifically on the Marinid dynasty titled Kashf al-'Arin 'an Luyuth Bani Marin (Unveiling the Den Regarding the Lions of Banu Marin), for which al-Nasiri drew heavily upon the earlier chronicles of Ibn Abi Zar' and Ibn Khaldun Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…. His postings in various administrative centers—including Casablanca, Marrakesh, Mazagan, Tangier, and Fes—granted him access to diverse historical documents and regional records, leading him to expand the work into a comprehensive history of Morocco Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1.

Al-Nasiri completed the primary draft on 15 Jumada al-Akhirah 1298 AH (15 May 1881 CE) and dedicated it to Sultan Mawlay al-Hasan Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…. Following the sultan's death, al-Nasiri continued expanding and updating the narrative until the ascension year of Sultan Mawlay Abd al-Aziz, preparing it for publication Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al….

Scope and Content

The work gathers and synthesizes dispersed political narratives from older chronicles and biographical dictionaries (tabaqat) into a continuous historical record Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…. Its chronological scope begins with the early Islamic conquests of North Africa—including a detailed enumeration of the Companions who participated in the campaigns—and continues through the successive ruling dynasties of Morocco, covering the Idrisids, Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids, Saadians, and the Alaouite dynasty Fatawa al-Shabaka al-Isla…+1. It also incorporates parallel accounts of Andalusian history, the central Maghrib (Algeria), and the migrations, distributions, and branches of Arab and Berber tribes al-Istiqsa li-Akhbar Duwa…+1.

Beyond political and military events, the work discusses administrative affairs, foreign treaties, warfare provoked by foreign intrigues, legal cases (nawazil), doctrinal critiques of Sufi practices that diverged from the Sunnah, and literary selections al-Istiqsa li-Akhbar Duwa…+1.

Reception and Editions

The chronicle was widely received as a major contribution to Moroccan historiography and became a standard reference for the history of North Africa Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…. Contemporary scholars composed panegyrics praising its exhaustive scope, including the Moroccan scholar Ahmad ibn al-Ma'mun al-Bulghaythi and Ibrahim al-Azhari al-Istiqsa li-Akhbar Duwa…+1. European scholars also took interest in the text; its final section on the Alaouite dynasty was translated into French and published in Archives Marocaines Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al….

The book was first printed in Cairo in four volumes in 1312 AH (1894 CE) Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1. A later critical edition was prepared by the author's sons, Ja'far al-Nasiri and Muhammad al-Nasiri, and published in Casablanca in nine volumes Jamharat Tarajim al-Fuqah…+1.