Saadi Sultanate in the context of "Morocco"

The Arab migrations to the Maghreb involved successive waves of migration and settlement by Arab people in the Maghreb region of Africa, encompassing modern-day Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The process took place over several centuries, lasting from the early 7th century to the 17th century. The Arab migrants hailed from the Middle East, particularly the Arabian Peninsula, with later groups arriving from the Levant and Iraq.

The influx of Arabs to the Maghreb began in the 7th century with the Arab conquest of the Maghreb, when Arab armies conquered the region as part of the early Muslim conquests. This initial wave of Arab migration was followed by subsequent periods of migration and settlement, notably during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and later Arab dynasties. However, the most significant wave of Arab migration occurred in the 11th century with the arrival of more Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula, such as Banu Hilal, Banu Sulaym, and Maqil. The last significant wave of Arab migration to the Maghreb was from Al-Andalus in the 17th century as a result of the Reconquista. These migrants established numerous Arab empires and dynasties in the Maghreb, such as the Aghlabids, Idrisids, Sulaymanids, Salihids, Fatimids, Saadians and 'Alawites.

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.

The Saadian Tombs are a historic royal necropolis in Marrakesh, Morocco, located on the south side of the Kasbah Mosque, inside the royal kasbah (citadel) district of the city. They date to the time of the Saadian dynasty and in particular to the reign of Ahmad al-Mansur (1578–1603), though members of Morocco's monarchy continued to be buried here for a time afterwards. The complex is regarded by many art historians as the high point of Moroccan architecture in the Saadian period due to its luxurious decoration and careful interior design. Today the site is a major tourist attraction in Marrakesh.

The Ḥasanids (Arabic: بنو الحسن, romanized: Banū al-Ḥasan or حسنيون, Ḥasanīyyūn) are the descendants of Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, brother of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī and grandson of Muhammad. They are a branch of the Alids (the descendants of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib), and one of the two most important branches of the ashrāf (the other being the descendants of Ḥasan's brother Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, the Ḥusaynids).

In Morocco, the term is particularly applied to the descendants of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, to distinguish them from the Idrisid dynasty, which is also of Ḥasanid descent. The Moroccan Ḥasanids proper have produced two dynasties, the Saadi dynasty, and the Alawite dynasty, which still reigns over the country.

Sharifism was the system in pre-colonial Morocco in which the shurafā'—descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (through his grandson Hasan ibn Ali, in the case of Morocco)—held a privileged religious and political position in society. Those who claimed this lineage were regarded as a kind of nobility and were privileged, in the words of Sahar Bazzaz, "as political agents, as interlocutors between various sectors of society, and as would be dynasts of Morocco". They were additionally believed to possess baraka, or blessing power. Claiming this lineage also served to justify authority; the Idrisi dynasty (788–974), the Saadi dynasty (1510–1659), and the 'Alawi dynasty (1631–present) all claimed lineage from Ahl al-Bayt.

Abdallah al-Ghalib Billah (Arabic: عبد الله الغالب; b. 1517 – d. 22 January 1574, r. 1557–1574) was the second Saadian sultan of Morocco. He succeeded his father Mohammed al-Shaykh as Sultan of Morocco.