Moroccan Royal Guard
الحرس الملكي المغربي
Country Morocco
AllegianceKing of Morocco
Branch Royal Moroccan Army
TypeGuard of honour
Royal guard
RoleClose protection
Size6,000
Part ofRoyal Moroccan Armed Forces
Commanders
CommanderGeneral Mimoun Mansouri
Insignia
Flag

The Moroccan Royal Guard (Arabic: الحرس الملكي المغربي) is officially part of the Royal Moroccan Army. However it is under the direct operational control of the Royal Military Household of His Majesty the King. The sole duty of the guard is to provide for the security and safety of the King and royal family of Morocco.

History

The Royal Guard traces its origins to the former Black Guard ('Abid al-Bukhari). The 'Abid al-Bukhari was created on the orders of the Alawi sultan Moulay Ismail in 1699.[1][2] It was a military corps of black slaves organized into permanent infantry and cavalry units. The corps was unofficially referred to as the "Black Guard" because its members were recruited from the Haratin, a black people from southern Morocco and/or originally from Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as from other black inhabitants of the region. The name 'Abid al-Bukhari (Arabic: عبيد البوخاري, lit. 'Slaves of al-Būkhārī') came from their practice of swearing their oaths of service upon a copy of the Sahih al-Bukhari, a famous collection of hadiths compiled by Muhammad al-Bukhari.[3]

The Guard was formerly known as the Cherifian Guard (because the King is a sharif or descendant of the Prophet Muhammad), the name was changed to Royal Guard after Morocco gained its independence in 1956. The Haratines are no longer part of the Royal Guard today.

Organization

A member of the Moroccan Royal Guard at the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.
Mounted members of the Moroccan Royal Guard at the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.
A pair of the Royal Moroccan Guards
A Royal Moroccan Guard mounted on a horse
White uniformed horse guard
White uniformed foot guard at the Rabat Mauzoleum.
A uniformed Royal Guardsman stands before the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco.

The Guard is currently organized as a Regiment of 6,000 troops as follows;

  • 4 Infantry Battalions, each of 25 officers and 1,000 troops.
  • 2 Cavalry Squadrons.

Other Guard units

The King is always accompanied by units of the Royal Guard whenever he is on Moroccan soil. All members of the Royal Guard wear a red beret. Red full dress uniforms of traditional style (white in summer) are worn by both cavalry and infantry on ceremonial occasions.

The King is also protected by two other units of the Royal Moroccan Army. They are, however, not an official part of the Royal Guard. These are:

  • The elite Parachute Brigade headquartered in Rabat (number of troops unknown).
  • The Light Security Brigade of 2,000 troops.

Weapons

Rifles

Submachine guns

Pistols

Machine Guns

Heavy machine gun

Rocket launchers

Anti-tank missiles

Mortars

Self-propelled artillery

Combat vehicles

Former commanders

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moroccan Royal Guard.
  1. ↑ El Hamel, Chouki (2002). "'Race', Slavery and Islam in Maghribi Mediterranean Thought: The Question of the Haratin in Morocco". The Journal of North African Studies. 7 (3): 29–52. doi:10.1080/13629380208718472. S2CID 219625829 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
  2. ↑ El Hamel, Chouki (2006). 'Blacks and Slavery in Morocco: The Question of the Haratin at the End of the Seventeenth Century' in Diasporic Africa: A Reader. New York: NYU Press. pp. 177–199. ISBN 978-0814731666.
  3. ↑ El Hamel, Chouki (2013). Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-02577-6.
  4. ↑ Dalle, Ignace (2011-03-09). Hassan II:Entre tradition et absolutisme.
  5. ↑ Mahjoub Tobji (2006-09-13). Les officiers de Sa Majesté:Les dérives des généraux marocains 1956-2006.

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article, accessed December 19, 2006.

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