I have been lately exploring old documents from a small town in the centre of Spain called Socovos and I came across a peculiar document: the certificate of baptism of a Muslim foreigner. He is an adult (46 years old, if I read that correctly) and he says he is “native of the city of Syla in the Barbary, jurisdiction of the King of Philet” (my own translation; the original text can be found here, with the relevant portion around the stain).
I have search for the city and the region but could not find anything about them. Do any of you, gentle scholars, know to which places the old names of Philet and Syla belong?
Thank you!
I decided to look into this a bit. I can't speak with certainty but I would strongly suspect that "Philet" refers to Tafilet and the "Filali" dynasty of Morocco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaouite_dynasty
I'm no African expert, but do you have a date for the document? (I'm guessing it's Early Modern, but beyond that I have no idea).
That might help to narrow down the possibilities for those who have more information on the history of the region and make an answer more likely.