Origin and marriage Lalla Khanata's full name was Khanatha bint
Sheikh Abu Bakar al-Gul bin Ali bin Abdallah. She was born to the chieftains of the M'gharfa tribe, part of the
Awlad Hassān caste among the
Beidanes. The
Awlad Hassān were the armed aristocratic caste of the
Beidane people and her family of the Awlad Abdalla clan in the M'gharfa tribe. Her father was the
Grand Sheikh Abu Bakkar Al M'gharfi, the chieftain of the M'gharfa tribal confederation. She has also been claimed to be the daughter of the Emir of
Brakna. Most likely, she was confused with the
Brakna princess who appeared before Moulay Ismail in 1690. The historic confusion resided because this princess, perhaps
Nassira el-Salwi, is Lalla Khanatha's distant cousin, as hailing from the Oulad Mbarek
Hassāns, cousins of the M'gharfa. She married Moulay Ismail in 1678 and became a
Princess henceforth. Her marriage happened when that very year,
Sultan Moulay Ismail led a Saharan expedition to counter the influence of his rebellious nephew, Moulay Ahmed ben Mehrez, who had proclaimed himself
Emir of
Sous in the mid-1670s. His goal was to encircle him to the point of an embargo. Thus, he circled from the
Souss (here meaning the Sahara) and the oasis of
Touat to the provinces of
Sakia El Hamra, there the
Sultan received embassies from the M'ghafra tribe and allegiance from
Grand Sheikh Abu Bakkar Al M'gharfi, the chieftain. The latter gave his daughter, Khanatha, as bride to the Sultan, to seal his tribe's allegiance.
Reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail Moulay Ismail had thousands of slave concubines in his harem, four legal wives he constantly replaced by divorce and hundreds of children. At some point around 1708 his wedded wives were simultaneously: Khnata bent Bakkar herself,
Halima Al Sufyaniyah,
Lalla Aisha Al Mubaraka and
Lalla Umm al-Iz at-Taba. Lalla Khnata and
Sultan Moulay Ismail issued children together, among them
Sultan Moulay Abdallah. Khnata bent Bakkar was famous for her beauty, intelligence, and learning. She devoted herself to private study in the palace, and came to be regarded as learned within both Islam and the sciences. She came to be one of the favorites of her husband, and as such in a position of influence. She was one of the few people from which Moulay Ismail took advice. She acted as
de facto First Minister and
Secretary for her husband. In 1721, she acted as a mediator between the Sultan and the British ambassador
Charles Stewart, during the negotiations about a peace treaty between Morocco and Great Britain, which was successfully completed in 1722 with her assistance. However, contemporary sources cite
Lalla Umm al-Iz at-Taba as the mediator since the author of the correspondence signed her name, implying she authored it. The confusion residing in Charles Stewart addressing her as "Powerful Lady, Mother of Muley Abdallah"
Mother of the Sultan Sultan Moulay Ismail died in 1727. After his death, there followed a period of internal turmoil, in which her husband's ten sons with various wives and concubines competed with each other for power. She supported her own son
Sultan Moulay Abdallah and wielded great power and influence in his government during his reign. She was appointed
Foreign affairs minister in his government and has been referred to as the first woman in
Morocco in such a position. She was buried in the Royal Mausoleum at
Fez al-Jadid. == Descendance ==