My Wife Is Mostly Ismail Bloodline: A Chronicle of Ruling the World

For a hundred years, tribes have held sway over their own territories while foreign powers circle like wolves. The Sultan makes political marriage an ironclad rule and blood ties the foundation of royal authority. Five hundred tribes, five hundred alliances, to unite the shattered lands of North Africa. In the chaos of North Africa, the land is fractured and a hundred tribes vie for power. Swords can cut down rebels, but they cannot win hearts. Force can seize land, but it cannot end old feuds. Moulay Ismail inherits an empty throne. The nation has no laws, its borders no defenses, and its tribes no sense of allegiance. I establish a policy of iron and blood: pacify one tribe, forge one marriage alliance; take one noblewoman, secure one territory. Mountain Berbers, Arab plainsmen, coastal city-states, great Saharan tribes, border peoples, Ottoman vassals, European subjects brought to heel… Five hundred tribes, five hundred coldly calculated political marriages. The world mocks me for filling my palace with wives and concubines, for my lust and indulgence. The world does not understand: I have no interest in romance. I only govern. Five hundred marriage alliances are five hundred chains locking down rebellion, five hundred stones anchoring my realm. I rely neither on winning hearts through benevolence nor on currying favor with profit. I weave a net of blood ties and make my own body a chess piece, forging the myriad peoples of North Africa, divided for a hundred years, into a unified dynasty. A hard-edged historical account of nation-building through blood ties, with no romance or tenderness, only conquest and checks and balances.