ALAIN CLAISSE

Is the Makhzen, so evident in the history of Morocco, still a reality to-
day? Officially, it no longer exists, except for the administrative vestige
in the term "mobile Makhzen," which refers to the auxiliary police
forces. But the word "Makhzen" is still used in common parlance to
mean the state and its agents. Occasionally, the word can be heard in a
talk given by a high official who uses the term Dar el-Makhzen
(Makhzen's house), referring to the royal palace and more generally to
the king and his entourage. Without any doubt the Makhzen lives on.
Even if the notion of Makhzen is imprecise and evolving, it can provide
us with a better comprehension of the Moroccan state and its relation-
ship with citizens.

The concept of Makhzen derived from the verb khazana, to hide or
preserve, and found its way into English as "magazine," a place where
things are contained or preserved. It was used to describe the chest
where the emir of Ifrikiya Ibrahim al-Aghlab kept the taxes for the
caliph of Baghdad. When duties were no longer paid to Baghdad but
kept by local communities, it became a synonym of treasury. The house
(dar) of the Makhzen then became the Moroccan government and
everything related to it, notably the bureaucracy and the army.
Michaux-Bellair ( Michaux-Bellaire and Gaillard 1909) built a theory of
the Makhzen as a despotic authority, maintaining social disorder for its
own advantage. Thus the Makhzen is said to have fostered wars be-
tween the tribes in order to strengthen its position as mediator
( Michaux -Bellaire1954). Today, this analysis can still be found in the
works of some authors, such as Waterbury ( 1970), but it is criticized by

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