Midlist Writer: Military History Photo Friday: Kasbah Tourit, Ouarzazate, Morocco

Friday 2 October 2015

Military History Photo Friday: Kasbah Tourit, Ouarzazate, Morocco

Hello from Morocco! As many of you know, I'm spending October in Tangier writing my next novel. It's set here, so my being here isn't just writerly indulgence. :-) Internet access will be a bit sporadic so I probably won't be blogging as regularly as usual. In fact, this post was written before I left!

This fine castle is the Kasbah Tourit, in Ouarzazate, southern Morocco. Kasbahs are fortified homes or walled private villages for the various tribal rulers of premodern Morocco, and this one is one of the best-preserved and most famous. It was one of the many forts of the Glaoui Berber tribe. They ruled over much of southern Morocco and the Atlas Mountains and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were one of the most powerful tribes in North Africa.

Under the rule of T'hami Glaoui (ruled 1912-1956), they were at the height of their power. He held the title of Pasha of Marrakesh, and his rule extended far beyond that important city. He was one of the richest men in the world and hobnobbed with the leading figures of his day, including Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth. On the other hand, he ruled like a feudal monarch. When he wasn't torturing people in his dungeons or putting the severed heads of rebels and thieves on the city walls, he was building golf courses in the desert or relaxing with his large harem of concubines.

He also played politics, steering the course of Morocco's future as it went from being a colony to an independent state and securing lasting rights for the Berber peoples in the face of Arab domination of the government. He also left behind numerous fine buildings such as this one.

Below is a back view. Both photos are from Wikimedia Commons. I visited this Kasbah many years ago, but didn't have the time this week to dig out my old shots, made back when I still had a film camera. Remember when we had to pay for every picture?

Hope to blog again soon!

1 comment:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...: Sounds like he was a mixed bag of good and bad.
Funny how the back side looks like ruins while the front looks like a living castle.; 3 October 2015 at 07:02

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

The Case of the Purloined Pyramid

The Last Hotel Room

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet. Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change? A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

Warpath into Sonora

Arizona 1846: Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter. But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages. Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

Radio Hope

In a world shattered by war, pollution and disease. . . A gunslinging mother longs to find a safe refuge for her son. A frustrated revolutionary delivers water to villagers living on a toxic waste dump. The assistant mayor of humanity's last city hopes he will never have to take command. One thing gives them the promise of a better future--Radio Hope, a mysterious station that broadcasts vital information about surviving in a blighted world. But when a mad prophet and his army of fanatics march out of the wildlands on a crusade to purify the land with blood and fire, all three will find their lives intertwining, and changing forever.

Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2)

When you only have one shot, you better aim true. In a ravaged world, civilization’s last outpost is reeling after fighting off the fanatical warriors of the Righteous Horde. Sheriff Annette Cruz becomes New City’s long arm of vengeance as she sets off across the wildlands to take out the cult’s leader. All she has is a sniper’s rifle with one bullet and a former cultist with his own agenda. Meanwhile, one of the cult’s escaped slaves makes a discovery that could tear New City apart. . . Refugees from the Righteous Horde continues the Toxic World series started in Radio Hope, an ongoing narrative of humanity’s struggle to rebuild the world it ruined.

The Scavenger

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times. The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of the worst wasteland he knows--a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive. Set in the Toxic World series introduced in the novel Radio Hope, this 10,000-word story explores more of the dangers and personalities that make up a post-apocalyptic world that's all too possible.

Trench Raiders

September 1914: The British Expeditionary Force has the Germans on the run, or so they think. After a month of bitter fighting, the British are battered, exhausted, and down to half their strength, yet they’ve helped save Paris and are pushing toward Berlin. Then the retreating Germans decide to make a stand. Holding a steep slope beside the River Aisne, the entrenched Germans mow down the advancing British with machine gun fire. Soon the British dig in too, and it looks like the war might grind down into deadly stalemate. Searching through No-Man’s Land in the darkness, Private Timothy Crawford of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry finds a chink in the German armor. But can this lowly private, who spends as much time in the battalion guardhouse as he does on the parade ground, convince his commanding officer to risk everything for a chance to break through?