Ksar el Kebir

Ksar el Kebir , city (1994 pop. 107,065), N Morocco. The name also appears as Alcazarquivir and Al Qasr al Kabir. Near the city on Aug. 4, 1578, the Moroccans soundly defeated the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal had invaded Morocco in support of a pretender to the Moroccan throne. Abd al-Malik, ruler of Morocco, King Sebastian, and the Moroccan pretender, Muhammad, all died in the fighting. As a result of the battle, Portugal soon passed (1580) to Philip II of Spain, and the new Moroccan ruler, Ahmad al-Mansur, began his reign with tremendous prestige.

Ksar‐el‐Kebir, Morocco Oppidum Novum, Alcazarquiver ‘The Great Fortress’ from the Arabic al‐qasr and al‐kebīr ‘great’. A ksar, derived from the Latin Caesar, is a fortified stronghold often containing a large granary, ghorfa. Originally occupied by the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, who called it Oppidum Novum ‘New Town’, and Byzantines, the Arab town was founded in the 8th century. It was taken by the Spanish in 1912, their name for the town being a version of the Arabic name.

Tel-el-Kebir, Battle of (12–13 September 1882) A battle between British and Egyptian forces, 83 km (52 miles) east of Cairo. British troops under Sir Garnet Wolseley defeated an Egyptian army led by ARABI PASHA. Cairo fell on the following day, thus confirming the British conquest of Egypt.