Mohammed ben Abdallah in the context of Matías de Gálvez

The 'Alawi dynasty (Arabic: سلالة العلويين الفيلاليين, romanized: sulālat al-ʿalawiyyīn al-fīlāliyyīn) – also rendered in English as Alaouite, 'Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning dynasty. They are an Arab Sharifian dynasty and claim descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandson, Hasan ibn Ali. Their ancestors originally migrated to the Tafilalt region, in present-day Morocco, from Yanbu on the coast of the Hejaz in the 12th or 13th century.

The dynasty rose to power in the 17th century, beginning with Mawlay al-Sharif who was declared sultan of the Tafilalt in 1631. His son Al-Rashid, ruling from 1664 to 1672, was able to unite and pacify the country after a long period of regional divisions caused by the weakening of the Saadi Sultanate, establishing the Alawi Sultanate that succeeded it. His brother Isma'il presided over a period of strong central rule between 1672 and 1727, one of the longest reigns of any Moroccan sultan. After Isma'il's death, the country was plunged into disarray as his sons fought over his succession, but order was re-established under the long reign of Muhammad ibn Abdallah in the second half of the 18th century. The 19th century was marked by the growing influence of European powers.

Essaouira (/ˌɛsəˈwɪərə/ ESS-ə-WEER-ə; Arabic: الصويرة, romanized: aṣ-Ṣawīra), known until the 1960s as Mogador (Arabic: موغادور, romanized: Mūghādūr, or موݣادور, Mūgādūr), is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014.

The foundation of the city of Essaouira was the work of the Moroccan 'Alawid sultan Mohammed bin Abdallah, who made an original experiment by entrusting it to several architects in 1760, in particular Théodore Cornut and Ahmed al-Inglizi, who designed the city using French captives from the failed French expedition to Larache in 1765, and with the mission of building a city adapted to the needs of foreign merchants. Once built, it continued to grow and experienced a golden age and exceptional development, becoming the country's most important commercial port but also its diplomatic capital between the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century.

Théodore Cornut, also Cornout, was a French mathematician and military architect of the 18th century, born in Avignon, who worked for the King of Morocco.

Cornut initially worked as an architect for military fortifications in Roussillon. He then entered the service of the English Crown, and participated to the Seven Years' War. Later, based in Gibraltar, he was invited by Sidi Mohamed ben Abdallah, an Alaouite Sultan, to build the city of Mogador (modern Essaouira) in 1766.

Ahmed el Inglizi (Arabic: أحمد الإنجليزي, lit. 'Ahmed the English'), also Ahmed El Alj or Ahmed Laalaj (Arabic: أحمد العلج, lit. 'Ahmed the Renegade'), was an English renegade architect and engineer who worked for the Sultan of Morocco Mohammed ben Abdallah in the 18th century. As described by his surname "El Alj", Ahmed el Inglizi was a "renegade", i.e. he had abandoned Christianity for Islam. He seems to have joined with the pirates known as the Salé Rovers.

He is known for building parts of Essaouira (particularly the harbour entrance), after Frenchman Théodore Cornut had designed and built the city itself, particularly the kasbah, corresponding to the Royal quarters and the buildings for Christian merchants and diplomats.

The Kasbah of Marrakesh is a large walled district in the southern part of the medina of Marrakesh, Morocco, which historically served as the citadel (kasbah) and royal palace complex of the city. A large part of the district is still occupied by the official royal palace, the Dar al-Makhzen, which serves as the residence of the King of Morocco when he visits the city. The rest of the district consists of various neighbourhoods and monuments. It was founded by the Almohads in the late 12th century, with most of the construction carried out by Caliph Ya'qub al-Mansur (r. 1184–1199). Two of its most important surviving structures today, the Kasbah Mosque and the main gate of Bab Agnaou, date from al-Mansur's reign.

The palace complex was neglected after the fall of the Almohads, but the Kasbah was restored and rebuilt by the Saadian dynasty in the 16th century, during the time of sultans Abdallah al-Ghalib and Ahmad al-Mansur, who created new palaces and extensive gardens. The Saadian Tombs and the ruins of the El Badi Palace date from this period. Abdallah al-Ghalib was also responsible for the creation of a Jewish quarter, the Mellah, adjoined to the Kasbah's eastern flank. Following another period of neglect and pillage, the palaces were rebuilt and redeveloped by the 'Alawi sultan Muhammad ibn Abdallah who gave the Royal Palace (Dar al-Makhzen) and its surroundings much of their present form.