In 1601, sultan Ahmad Al-Mansur couldn't hide his obsession with America. The Saadi ruler wanted to conquer the New World and make Moroccans populate the land with the help of Queen Elizabeth I. Saadi sultan Ahmad Al-Mansur had great conquering ambitions when ruling the Kingdom of Morocco from 1578 to his death in 1603. But some of his plans to expand his Kingdom were cursed as they were bigger than his capacities. After conquering the Songhai Empire in eastern Mali to capture gold and slaves, the Moroccan emperor considered populating the New World. Ahmad Al-Mansur, to say the least, had an astounding obsession with America, a land he badly wanted to invade. His invasion schemes were shared with his European ally, the Queen of England. And based on their mutual enmity for Spain, the Moroccan sultan studied his plan to conquer the Americas. His plot was at the heart of a diplomatic mission sent to London in 1600. His diplomat Abdelouahed Anoun sailed to London, to mainly strengthen the Anglo-Moroccan alliance, carried a letter to the Queen. This letter explained the sultan's big ambitions, which included defeating the Spanish and conquering the Americas. Moroccans populating America to the exclusion of the English «During the visit of the Moroccan ambassador to London (…) Al-Mansur secretly proposed to Elizabeth a joint operation to seize the Spanish possessions in the Americas», wrote Gerald MacLean and Nabil Matar in their book «Britain and the Islamic World, 1558-1713» (OUP Oxford, 2011). Sultan Ahmad Al-Mansur. / Ph. DR In his letter to the British Queen, Al-Mansur explained that his military plans to invade the New World are mainly reliant on the help of the English. Driven by his hard-to-achieve ambitions, the Saadi sultan stated in his endeavor to convince the Queen that «he would underwrite a joint military venture with her only if the goal was not just to fight Spain but also to colonize the New World», MacLean and Matar reported. The two historians further explain that, in addition to defeating the Spanish enemy, Al-Mansur wanted to have «Moroccans populate the land (Americas) to the exclusion of the English». However, Al-Mansur's plan was not as clear as he tried to make it look in his letter to Queen Elizabeth I. In fact, the sultan, known for leading a powerful army, knew the potential of the American land and the benefits it would bring to the Moroccan coffers. According to the book of Mercedes Garcia-Arenal «Ahmad al-Mansur: The Beginnings of Modern Morocco» (Oneworld Publications, 2012), Al-Mansur was aware of the «notion that the American theatre was where the future of the mighty nations of his time would be played out». The end of an obsession Al-Mansur's obsession with the Americas showed his great «political perspicacity», his «extraordinary level of intelligence» and his «ability to see into the future», Garcia-Arenal declared. Queen Elizabeth I. / Ph. DR But Al-Mansur's daring scheme was too «good to be true» or «too unbacked to be true». The same historian argues that although the ruler wanted to «take part in an American venture», he «needed enough money to be admitted into the group of nations committed to missions of discovery and conquest». And that is exactly what happened with the Queen of England, who «seemed diffident about building an extensive overseas empire», recalled MacLean and Matar. Elizabeth knew that conquering the New World would need «well-trained troops to help her against Spain», which she couldn't afford. The Queen ended up not responding to Al-Mansur's letter and his plans to build a Moroccan empire in the Americas evaporated. «When Elizabeth did not offer assistance, Al-Mansur became convinced that she was useless for his grand schemes», the two historians revealed. Without the help of the English, Al-Mansur realized that he had to befriend his enemy. In October 1602, he signed a military cooperation agreement with Spain in an attempt to be protected from the Ottoman Empire. Although Queen Elizabeth did not agree with Al-Mansur's plans about America, she sent him a regretful letter before her death in 1603, calling him a brother and a relative.
