History of Ottoman-era Tunisia
Encyclopedia
The History of Ottoman era Tunisia presents the Turkish presence in Ifriqiya
during the course of three centuries. Eventually including all of the Maghrib
except Morocco
, the Ottoman Empire
began with the takeover of Algiers
in 1516 by a Turkish corsair and ally. Not until 1574 did it permanently acquire its last country, the former Hafsid Tunisia.
Initially under Turkish rule from Algiers, soon the Ottoman Porte appointed directly for Tunis
a governor called the Pasha
supported by janissary
forces. Before long, however, Tunisia
became in effect an autonomous province, under the local Bey
. This evolution of status was from time to time challenged without success by Algiers. During this era the governing councils controlling Tunisia remained largely composed of a foreign elite who continued to conduct state business in the Turkish language
.
Attacks on European shipping were made by corsairs, primarily from Algiers, but also from Tunis and Tripoli, yet after a long period of declining raids the growing power of the European states finally forced its termination. Under the Ottoman Empire, the boundaries of Tunisia contracted; it lost territory to the west (Constantine
) and to the east (Tarabulus).
In the 19th century, the rulers of Tunisia became aware of the ongoing efforts at political and social reform in the Ottoman capital
. The Bey of Tunis then, by his own lights but informed by the Turkish example, attempted to effect a modernizing reform of institutions and the economy. Tunisian international debt grew unmanageable. This was the reason or pretext for French forces to establish a Protectorate
in 1881.
of the Iberian peninsula, which was followed by the first Spanish settlements in America. Spain then formulated an African policy: a series of presidio
s in port cities along the African coast. For their part, the Ottoman Turks had fulfilled their long-term ambition of capturing Constantinople
in 1453, then successfully invaded further into the Balkans
(1459–1482), and later conquered Syria and Egypt (1516–1517). Then Turkish corsairs became active from bases in the Maghrib.
Spain captured and occupied several ports in North Africa, including Mers-el-Kebir
(1505), Oran
(1509), Tripoli (1510), and Bougie
(1510); Spain also established treaty relations with a half dozen others, e.g., with Algiers
(1510), which included Spanish occupation of the off-shore island Peñón de Argel, with Tlemcen
(1511), a city about 40 km. inland, and with Tunis
, whose Spanish alliance lasted on-and-off for decades. Near Tunis, the port of Goletta
was later occupied by Spanish forces who built there a large and strong presidio; they also constructed an aqueduct
to Tunis for use by the kasbah
.
The Hafsid dynasty
had since 1227 ruled Tunisia
, enjoying prestige when it was the leading state of the Maghrib, or barely surviving in ill-favored times. Extensive trade with European merchants continued over some centuries, an activity which led to state treaties. Yet the Hafsids also harbored corsairs who raided merchant shipping. During the 15th century the Hafsids employed as bodyguards a Christian force of hundreds, nearly all Catalans
. In the 16th century the Hafsid rule grew weak, limited often to Tunis; the last three Hafsid sultans al-Hasan, his son Ahmad, and his brother Muhammad made inconsistent treaties with Spain.
Yet the cross-cultural Hafsid alliance with Spain was not as unusual as it might seem, given the many Muslim-Christian treaties—despite recurrent hostilities. Indeed during the early 16th century France allied with the Ottomans against the Spanish King Carlos
. As an indirect result of Spain's Africa policy, a few Muslim rulers encouraged Turkish forces to enter the region to counter the Spanish presence. Yet the Hafsid rulers of Tunis came to see the Turks and their corsair allies as a greater threat and entered a Spanish alliance, as also did the Sa'dids
of Morocco. Nonetheless many Maghriban Muslims strongly preferred Islamic rule, and the Hafsid's decades-long Spanish alliance was not generally popular, indeed anathema to some. On the other hand, the Saadi dynasty
sultans of Morocco
successfully played off Iberian against Turk, thus managing to remain both Muslim ruled and independent of the Ottoman grasp.
In this naval struggle, the Ottoman Empire
supported many corsairs, who raided European commercial shipping in the Mediterranean. The corsairs later would make Algiers
their principal base. The "architects of Ottoman rule in the Maghrib" were Aruj
[Oruç] (c.1474–1518) and his younger brother Khizr "Khayr al-Din" [Arabic epithet] (c.1483–1546). Both were called Barbarossa ("red beard"). The Muslim brothers hailed from obscure origins in the Greek island of Medelli or Mytilene [ancient Lesbos].
After acquiring fighting experience in the eastern Mediterranean (during which Aruj
was captured and spent three years at oars in a galley of the Knights of St. John before being ransomed), the two brothers arrived in Tunis as corsair leaders. By 1504 they had entered into a privateer
agreement with the Hafsid sultan Mohammad b. al-Hasan (1493–1526). By it the 'prizes' (ships, cargoes, and captives) were to be shared. The brothers operated from Goletta
[Halq al Wadi]; they ran similar operations from Djerba
in the south, where Aruj was governor. During these years in Spain, those who remained non-Christian were required to leave
, including Muslims
; at times Aruj employed his ships to transport a great many Moorish Andalucians to North Africa, especially Tunisia. For these efforts Aruj won praise and many Muslim recruits. Twice Aruj joined the Hafsids in unsuccessful assaults on Bougie
, held by Spain. Then the brothers set up an independent base in Djidjelli east of Bougie, which attracted Hafsid hostility.
In 1516 Aruj
and his brother Khayr al-Din, accompanied by Turkish soldiers, moved further east to Algiers, where he managed to wrestle control away from the shaykh of the Tha'aliba tribe, who had treatied with Spain. By intra-city political cunning, in which the tribal chief and later 22 notables were killed, control of Algiers passed to the Barbarossa brothers. The Turkish brothers were already Ottoman allies. Yet in 1518 when Aruj led an attack against Tlemcen
, then held by a Spanish ally (since 1511), Aruj was killed by Muslim tribal forces and the Spanish.
His younger brother Khayr al-Din inherited control of Algiers, but left that city and for some years was based to its east. After returning to Algiers, in 1529 he captured from Spain the offshore island Peñón de Argel whose guns had controlled the port; by constructing a causeway joining these islands he created an excellent harbor for the city. Khayr al-Din continued to direct large-scale raids on Christian shipping and against the coast lands of Mediterranean Europe, seizing much wealth and taking many captives. He won several naval battles and became a celebrity. In 1533 Khayr al-Din was called to Constantinople where the Ottoman sultan made him Pasha
and the admiral [Kapudan-i Derya] over the Turkish navy; he acquired control over many more ships and soldiers. In 1534 Khayr al-Din "taking adbantage of a revolt against the Hafsid al-Hasan" invaded by sea and captured the city of Tunis from Spain's allies.
Yet the following year the Emperor
Charles V
(Carlos, Rey de España) (r.1516–1556) organized a fleet under Andrea Doria
of Genoa
, composed predominantly of Italians, Germans, and Spaniards, which proceeded to recapture Tunis in 1535, following which the Hafsid sultan Mawlay Hasan was reestablished. Yet Khayr al-Din escaped. Thereafter, as supreme commander of naval forces
for the Ottoman Empire, Khayr al-Din was largely preoccupied with affairs outside the Maghrib.
A few decades passed until in 1556 another Turkish corsair Dragut (Turgut), ruling in Tripoli, attacked Tunisia from the east, entering Kairouan
in 1558. Then in 1569 Uluj Ali
Pasha, a renegade corsair, now the successor to Khayr al-Din as the Beylerbey of Algiers, advanced with Turkish forces from the west, and managed to seize the Spanish presidio Goletta and the Hafsid capital, Tunis. After the key naval victory of the Christian armada at Lepanto
in 1571, Don Juan de Austria in 1573 retook Tunis for Spain and the Empire
, restoring Hafsid rule. Yet Uluj Ali returned in 1574 with a large fleet and army, and captured Tunis with finality. To the Turkish sultan he then sent by ship, imprisoned, the last ruler of the Hafsid dynasty
.
The Spanish-Ottoman truce of 1581 quieted the Mediterranean rivalry between these two world powers. Spain kept a few of its Maghriban presidios and ports (e.g., Melilla and Oran). Yet both Spanish and Ottoman Empires had become preoccupied elsewhere. The Ottomans would claim suzerainty over Tunisia for the next three centuries; however, its effective political control in the Maghrib would prove to be of short duration.
an states in comparison, business was in decline and their governments weak and divided. The long-term future seemed to present the possibility, or probability, of an eventual 'reconquest' of North Africa from the north. Accordingly, the intervention by another rising foreign power, co-religionists from the east, namely the well-armed
Ottoman Turks, appeared crucial. It tipped the scales in the Maghrib, allowing for several centuries of continued rule by the older Muslim institutions, as redone per Turkish notions. Furthermore, the successful but questionable tactic of mounting raids on European commercial shipping by the corsairs of Barbary fit well enough into the Mediterranean strategy pursued by the Ottoman Porte at Constantinople.
So for the first time the Ottomans entered into the Maghrib
, eventually establishing their governing authority, at least indirectly, along most of the southern coast of the Mediterranean. During the 16th and subsequent centuries their empire was widely recognized as the leading Muslim state in the world: Islam's primary focus. The Ottoman Empire was "the leader of all Islam for nearly half a millennium." The Turkish sultan
became the caliph
.
This Ottoman contact enriched Tunisia by its distinctive Islamic culture and institutions, which differed markedly from the familiar Arab world. For more than half a millennium Islamic doctrines had filtered through Turkish experience, whose ethnic origin lay in Central Asia
, resulting in unique developments, and new perspectives. For example, Turks wrote their own gazi sagas of frontier warfare, no doubt following Islamic traditions of early Arab conquests, yet informed by legends of their own derived from life on the steppes of Central Asia. Due to the exingencies of rule, and its large geographic jurisdiction, the Ottoman state took the lead in Muslim legal
developments for some centuries. Sources of imperial law included not only Islamic fiqh
, and inherited Roman-Byzantine codes
, but also "the traditions of the great Turkish and Mongol
empires of Central Asia". The Turkish jurist Ebu us-Suud Efendi (c.1490–1574) was credited with the harmonization for use in Ottoman courts of the qanun
(regulations of the secular state) and the şeriat (sacred law).
Ottoman popular literature and much of the learning of its elites was expressed in the Turkish language
. Turkish became the idiom for state business in Tunisia and its unique flavors perculated throughout Tunisian society. After Arabic
and Persian, it is the third language of Islam and for centuries has "played a very important role in the intellectual life" of Muslim culture. In addition, the Turks brought their popular customs, such as their music, clothing, and the coffee house (kahvehane or "kiva han").
The new energy of Turkish rule was welcome in Tunis and other cities, and the regime's stability appreciated by the clerical ulama
. Although the Ottomans preferred the Hanifi school of law, some Tunisian Maliki
jurists were admitted into administrative and judicial positions. Yet the rule remained one of a foreign elite. In the countryside, efficient Turkish troops managed to control the tribes without compromising alliances, but their rule was unpopular. "Ottomans' military prowess enable them to curb the tribes rather than placate them. An image of Turkish domination and Tunisian subordination emerged everywhere." The rural economy was never brought under effective regulation by the central authority. For revenues the government continued to rely primarily on corsair raids against shipping in the Mediterranean, an activity then more 'profitable' than trade. With a Spanish-Ottoman accord in 1581 Spain's attention turned away and corsair activity increased. Yet peaceful trade and commerce suffered.
Introduction into Tunisia of a Turkish
-speaking ruling caste, whose institutions dominated governance for centuries, indirectly affected the lingering divide between Berber and Arabic
in the settled areas. This bipolarity of linguistic culture had been reactivated by the 11th-century invasion of the rebellious Arabic-speakinng Banu Hilal
. Subsequently Arabic had gained the ascendancy, and use of Berber had been thereafter gradually eroding. Then this assertive presence of a Turkish-speaking elite seemed to hasten the submergence of Berber speech in Tunisia.
was eventually appointed by the Porte. "Pasha" (Trk
: paşa: "head, chief") is Ottoman imperial nomenclature indicating a high office, a holder of civil and/or military authority, e.g., the governor over a province. During its first few years under the Ottomans, however, Tunisia was ruled from the city of Algiers by a corsair leader who held the Ottoman title beylerbey (Trk
: "bey of beys" from Turkish beğ: "gazi commander"].
When armed forces loyal to the Ottomans began arriving in the Maghrib
, its coastal regions particularly the Algerian were in political disarray and fragmented. One of its quasi-independent sea ports Algiers
[ancient Ikosim] became among the first to fall under permanent Turkish control (in 1516). Its early capture gave Algiers some claim to primacy within the expanding Turkish Empire. It was only under the Ottomans that Algiers became a favored city. Before, Algiers was not particularly significant; the middle Maghriban coast (present-day Algeria) for the most part had long lain in the shadows of Tunis to its east and of Morocco or Tlemcen
to its west.
During early Ottoman rule, Tunisia lost control (in the 1520s) over Constantine
(historically within Hafsid domains), which fell to attacks led by the beylerbey Khayr al-Din of Algiers. Later Tunisia also lost Tripoli (Tarabulus, in present-day Libya), ruled by another Turkish corsair, the renegade Dragut or Turgut Reis (1553).
In 1518 the younger Barbarossa Khayr al-Din became the first Ottoman beylerbey in Algiers. His rule was autocratic, without the moderating advice of a council (diwan). As Beylerbay he captured Tunis in 1534, holding it only a year. In 1536 Khayr al-Din left the Maghrib, promoted to command the Ottoman fleets. Four beylerbeys in succession (1536–1568) then ruled in Algiers and over areas of North Africa fallen to Ottoman control. The renegade corsair Uluj Ali
(1519–1587) was appointed Pasha of Algiers and its last Beylerbey in 1568; the Porte instructed him to capture Tunis. He was perhaps "with Khayr al-Din the greatest figure in Turkish rule" of the Maghrib. In 1569 Uluj Ali took Tunis, holding it four years, yet in 1574 he again took possession of the city. Tunis thereafter remained under the Beylerbey in Algiers, Uluj Ali, until his death in 1587. The office was then abolished.
Perhaps due in part to these few brief periods of Algerian rule over Tunis in the early Ottoman era, later Turkish rulers in Algiers more than once tried to exercise control over Tunisian affairs by force, e.g., during intra-dynasty conflicts. Yet eventually such interference by Algiers was each time checked.
The beylerbey had "exercized the authority of suzerain in the name of the Ottoman sultan over [Tunis]. [The beylerbey] was the supreme Ottoman authority in the western Mediterranean, and responsible for conducting the war against the Christian enemies of the empire... ." When Uluj Ali died, the Turkish sultan discontinued the office, in effect normalizing the administration of the Maghriban provinces in acknowledgement of an end to the long struggle with Spain. In its place, for each province (present day Algeria
, Libya
, Tunisia
), the office of pasha was established to oversee provincial government.
Thus in 1587 a Pasha
became Ottoman governor of Tunisia. Under the Pasha served a Bey
, among whose duties was the collection of state revenue. From 1574 to 1591 a council (the Diwan
), composed of senior Turkish military (Trk: buluk-bashis) and local notables, advised the pasha. The language used remained Turkish
. With permanent Ottoman
rule (imposed in 1574) the government of Tunis acquired some stability. The prior period had been made insecure and uncertain by the fortunes of war.
Yet the new Ottoman Pasha's grip on power in Tunisia was if anything of short duration. Four years later, in 1591 a revolt within the ranks of the occupying Turkish forces (the janissaires
) thrust forward a new military commander, the Dey
, who effectively took the Pasha's place and became the ruling authority in Tunis. The Pasha remained as a lesser figure, who nonetheless continued to be appointed from time to time by the Ottoman Porte. Within a few decades, however, the Bey of Tunis added to his office the title of Pasha; soon thereafter, the Bey's growing power began to eclipse that of the Dey. Eventually the Bey of Tunis became the sole ruling authority. The Beys of Tunis always kept well apart from any Ottoman attempts to compromise their political grip on power. Yet the Beys as Muslim rulers were also dignified by the honor and prestige associated with the title of Pasha, with its direct connection to the Ottoman Caliph
, whose religious significance included being the 'Commander of the Faithful' (Arb
: Amīr al-Mu'minīn).
taken from their occupying forces in Algiers; the troops were primarily Turkish, recruited from Anatolia
. Janissary corps were under the immediate command of their Agha (Trk
: "master"). The junior officers were called deys (Trk: "maternal uncle"); each dey commanded about 100 soldiers. The Ottoman Porte did not thereafter maintain the ranks of the janissaries in Tunis, but its appointed Pasha
for Tunisia himself began to recruit them from different regions.
The janissaries (yeni-cheri or "new troops") were an elite institution peculiar to the Ottoman state, though deriving from an earlier practice. Christian youth called devshirme [Trk: "to collect"], often from Greece and the Balkans, were impressed into military training and compelled to convert to Islam; when mature they provided an elite corp of soldiery. Kept apart in their barracks and forbidden marriage, they were under a strict code of toilet and dress, and regimented by rules of the Hurufi sect (later the Bektashi Sufi). Begun in the 15th century as a type of slavery, the janissaries later came to enjoy privileges and might rise to high positions. A well-known symbol of their collective force was the huge kazan [Trk: "kettle"], beside which they ate and talked business. Eventually Muslims became members; the janissaries gained the right to marry and evolved into a powerful caste
. They were then liable to riot and loot if not appeased, and "not less than six Sultans were either dethroned or murdered through their agency." At first a small elite of 10,000 by the 19th century before the institution was terminated "the number on the [Ottoman] payroll had reached... over 130,000."
In the Maghrib
under Ottoman control, however, the janissaries were originally Turkish or Turkish-speaking. There existed some rivalry between the janissaires and the corsairs, who were composed in large part of Christian renegade
s, and as against other Turks. Also the janissaries viewed with suspicion, as potential enemy combatants, the local tribal forces and the militias of the Maghrib. Called collectively the ojaq [Trk: "hearth"], the janissary corp maintained a high degree of unity and élan.
In Tunisia until 1591 the corps of janissaries was considered to be under the control of the local Ottoman Pasha. In 1591 janissary junior officers (deys) overthrew their senior officers; they then forced the Pasha to acknowledge the authority of one of their own men. This new leader was called the Dey
, elected by his fellow deys. The Dey took charge of law and order in the capital and of military affairs, thus becoming "the virtual ruler of the country". The change defied the Ottoman Empire, although from the Tunisian perspective political power still remained under the control of foreigners. The existing state diwan (council) was dismissed, but to placate local opinion some Tunisian Maliki
jurists were appointed to some key positions (yet the Ottoman Hanafi
jurists still predominated). The janissary Dey enjoyed wide discretion, being quite free in the exercise his authority, yet his reach was at first limited to Tunis and other cities.
Two very effective Deys were 'Uthman Dey (1598–1610) and his son-in-law Yusuf Dey (1610–1637). Able administrators, they displayed tact, enhancing the dignity of the office. Neither being fond of luxury, treasury funds were made available for public projects and new construction (e.g., a mosque, fortress, barracks, and repair of aqueduct
s). Rebellious tribes were subdued. A long period of chronic social turbulence in Tunisia was brought to a close. The resulting peace and order allowed for some measure of prosperity. The Dey's ruling authority was both supported by, and relied upon, the Qaptan of the corsair fleet and the Bey who collected taxes.
Yet under Yusuf Dey, various interest groups emerged which maneuvered to outflank his ruling strategies. Many such were Tunisian, e.g., the local military, the urban notables including the disbanded diwan, and most rural tribes; also included at least to some extent was the distant sultan
in Constantinople. During the 1620s and 1630s the local Turkish Bey managed to enlist these social forces, thus augmenting his authority and coming to rival the Dey, then overtaking him. That the political reign of the Dey and his janissaries had slowly evaporated was clearly demonstrated when in an attempt to regain power their uprising of 1673 failed.
, by Japanese wakō
, by English sea dogs
, and recently by bands of Somalis. A corsair
(or privateer
) may be clearly (or not so clearly) distinguished from a pirate in that the former operates under explicit government authority, while the later carries no papers. The Mediterranean region during the late Middle Ages and renaissance became the scene of wide-scale piracy (and privateering) practiced both by Christians (aimed more at Muslim shipping in the east) and by Muslims (more active out of the Barbary Coast
in the west, with its many targets of Christian merchant ships).
The first "great age of the Barbary corsairs
" occurred in the 16th century, between 1538 and 1571. Ottoman sea power in the Mediterranean was supreme during these decades, following their naval victory at the Preveza
. Ottoman supremacy, however, was effective broken at Lepanto
, although Ottoman sea power remained formidable. In the early 17th century corsair activity again peaked. Thereafter Algiers began to rely more on 'tribute' from European nations in exchange for safe passage, rather than attacking merchant ships one by one. Ottoman Empire treaties with European states added a layer of conflicting diplomacy. Lastly, during the wars following the French Revolution (1789–1815), Barbary corsairs activity briefly spiked, before ending abruptly.
In 16th-century Algiers under the new Ottoman regime, the customs and practices of the pre-existing Barbary corsairs
were transformed and made into impressive institutions. The activity became highly developed, with modes of recruitment, corps hierarchies, peer review, private and public financing, trades and materials support, coordinated operations, and resale and ransom markets. The policies developed in Algiers provided an exemplary model of corsair business (often called the taife reisi, or "board of captains"), a model latter followed by Tunis and by Tripoli, and independentlly by Morocco.
Crews came from three sources: Christian renegades
(including many famous or notorious captains), foreign Moslems (many Turkish), and a few native maghribans. Seldom did a native attain high rank, the exception being Reis Hamida a Kabyle
Berber during the last years of the corsair age. Captains were selected by the ship's owners, but from a list made by a Diwan
of the Riesi, an authoritative council composed of all active corsair captains. Also regulated was location of residence. "Captains, crews, and suppliers all lived in the western quarter of Algiers, along the harbor and docks."
Private capital generally supplied the funds for corsair activity. Investors essentially bought shares in a particular corsair business enterprise. Such investors came from all levels of society, e.g., merchants, officials, janissaries, shopkeepers, and artisans. The financing made money available for the capital and expenses of ship and crew, i.e., naval stores and supplies, timbers and canvas, munitions.
After the corsair "golden age", the state of Algiers, mainly under the control of its Turkish janissaries, came to own many of the corsair vessels and to finance many of their expeditions. Strict rules governed the division of the prizes
captured at sea. First came Algiers as the state representative of Allah; next came the port authorities, the custom brokers, and those who kept the sanctuaries; then came that portion due the ship owners, and the captain and crew. The merchant cargo seized was sold "at auction or more commonly to European commercial representatives resident in Algiers, through whom it might even reach the port of its original destination."
Ransom or sale of captured prisoners
(and auction of cargo) was the main source of private wealth in Algiers. Payment for captives was financed and negotiated by religious societies. The conditions of the captivity varied, most being worked as slave labor. Yet often the Muslim masters granted these Christians some religious privileges. During the early 17th century in Algiers more than 20,000 Christian prisoners were being held, coming from more than a dozen countries. "To the people of Barbary captives
were a source of greater profit that looted merchandise." Yet in Tunis corsair activity never became paramount as it long remained in Algiers.
The Bey
[Turkish: gazi commander] in Tunisia was leading officer who "supervised the internal administration and the collection of taxes." In particular, the Bey's duties included control and collection of taxes in the tribal rural areas. Twice a year, armed expeditions (mahallas) patrolled the countryside, showing the arm of the central authority. For this purpose the Bey had organized, as an auxiliary force, rural cavalry (sipahis), mostly Arab, recruited from what came to be called "government" (makhzan) tribes.
Ramdan Bey had sponsored a Corsica
n named Murad Curso since his youth. After Ramdan's death in 1613, Murad then followed his benefactor into the office of Bey, which he exercised effectively (1613–1631). Eventually he was also named Pasha, by then a ceremonial post; yet his position as Bey remained inferior to the Dey. His son Hamuda Bey (r.1631–1666), with the support of the local notables of Tunis, acquired both titles, that of Pasha and that of Bey. By virtue of his title as Pasha, the Bey came to enjoy the social prestige of connection with the Sultan
-Caliph
in Constantinople
. In 1640, at the death of the Dey, Hamuda Bey maneuvered to establish his control over appointments to that office. As a consequence the Bey then became supreme ruler in Tunisia.
Under Murad II Bey (reigned 1666–1675), son of Hamuda, the Diwan again functioned as a council of notables. Yet in 1673 the janissary deys, seeing their power ebbing, rose in revolt. During the consequent fighting, the janissaries and urban forces commanded by the deys fought against the Muradid Beys supported by largely rural forces under tribal shaykhs, and with popular support from city notables. As the Beys secured victory, so did the rural Bedouin
leaders and the Tunisian notables, who also emerged triumphant. The Arabic language
returned to local official use. Yet the Muradids continued to use Turkish
in the central government, accentuating their elite status and Ottoman connection.
At Murad II Bey's death, internal discord within the Muradid family led to armed struggle. The Turkish rulers of Algeria
later intervened on behalf of one side in this struggle born of domestic conflict; these Algerian forces remained after the fighting slowed, which proved unpopular. Tunisia's unfortunate condition of civil discord and Algerian interference persisted. The last Muradid Bey was assassinated in 1702 by Ibrahim Sharif, who then ruled for several years with Algerian backing. Hence, the dynasty of the Muradid Beys may be dated from 1640 to 1702.
A gradual economic shift occurred during the Muradid era (c.1630s-1702), as corsair raiding decreased due to pressure from Europe
, and commercial trading based on agricultural products (chiefly grains) increased due to an integration of the rural population into regional networks. Mediterranean trade, however, continued to be carried by European shipping companies. The Beys, in order to derive the maximum advantage from the export
trade, instituted government monopolies
which mediated between the local producers and foreign merchants. As a result, the rulers and their business partners (drawn from foreign-dominated elites well-connected to the Turkish-speaking ruling caste) took a disproportionate share of Tunisia's trading profits
. This precluded the development of local business interests, whether rural landowners or a wealthy merchant
strata. The social divide persisted, with the important families in Tunisia identified as a "Turkish" ruling caste
.
the Husaynid Dynasty effectively ruled Tunisia as sovereigns from 1705 to 1881; thereafter they continued to merely reign until 1957. In Ottoman theory perhaps until 1881 the Bey of Tunis remained a vassal of the Ottoman Empire (the Friday prayer was pronounced in the name of the Ottoman Sultan, money was coined in his honor, and an annual ambassador once brought gifts to Constantinople) but for centuries the Ottomans were not able to depend on, or exact, the obedience of the Tunisian Bey. In 1881 the French created their protectorate
which lasted until 1956. During this period the beylical institution was retained; the Husaynid Bey served as titular head of state
but it was the French who actually ruled the country. After achieving its full independence
Tunisia declared itself a republic in 1957; the beylical office was terminated and the Husaynid dynasty came to an end.
The dynastic founder Husayn ibn Ali
(1669–1740, r.1705–1735), an Ottoman cavalry officer (agha of the spahis) of Cretan
origin, managed to acquire the sovereign power in 1705. His military units were included in those Tunisian forces that fought and defeated the then Algerian invasion. The Turkish janissary
then selected their own Dey as the new ruler. Husayn ibn Ali, however, opposed the Dey and sought the backing of Tunisian khassa (notables), the ulama
and the religious, as well as local tribes. Thus, though also a Turkish-speaking foreigner, he worked to obtain native loyalties against the Turkish soldiery and eventually prevailed. Accordingly, as ruler he sought to be perceived as a popular Muslim interested in local issues and prosperity. He appointed as qadi
a Tunisian Maliki
jurist, instead of an Hanafi
preferred by the Ottomans. He also restricted the legal prerogatives of the janissary and the Dey. Under Husayn b. Ali as Bey of Tunis support was provided to agriculture, especially planting olive orchards. Public works were undertaken, e.g., mosques and madrassa (schools). His popularity was demonstrated in 1715 when the kapudan-pasha of the Ottoman fleet sailed to Tunis with a new governor to replace him; instead Husayn Bey summoned council, composed of local civil and military leaders, who backed him against the Ottoman Empire, which then acquiesced.
In 1735 a succession dispute erupted between his nephew Ali (1688–1756, r.1735–1755) and his son Muhammad
(1710–1759, r.1755–1759) who challenged his cousin. A divisive civil war was fought; it ended in 1740 with Ali's uncertain victory. This result was reversed in 1756 after ten more years of fighting, but not without further meddling by Algeria.
Early Husaynid policy required a careful balance among several divergent parties: the distant Ottomans, the Turkish speaking elite in Tunisia, and local Tunisians (both urban and rural, notables and clerics, landowners and remote tribal leaders). Entanglement with the Ottoman Empire was avoided due to its potential ability to absorb the Bey's prerogatives; yet religious ties to the Ottoman Caliph
were fostered, which increased the prestige of the Beys and helped in winning approval of the local ulama
and deference from the notables. Janissaries were still recruited, but increasing reliance was placed on tribal forces. Turkish was spoken at the apex, but use of Arabic increased in government use. Kouloughlis (children of mixed Turkish and Tunisian parentage) and native Tunisians notables were given increased admittance into higher positions and deliberations. The Husaynid Beys, however, did not themselves intermarry with Tunisians; instead they often turned to the institution of mamluks for marriage partners. Mamluks also served in elite positions. The dynasty never ceased to identify as Ottoman, and thereby privileged. Nonetheless, the local ulama were courted, with funding for religious education and the clerics. Local jurists (Maliki
) entered government service. Marabouts of the rural faithful were mollified. Tribal shaykhs were recognized and invited to conferences. Especially favored at the top were a handful of prominent families, Turkish speaking, who were given business and land opportunities, as well as important posts in the government, depending on their loyalty.
The French Revolution and reactions to it negatively affected European economic activity leading to shortages which provided business opportunities for Tunisia, i.e., regarding goods in high demand but short in supply, the result might be handsome profits. The capable and well-regarded Hammouda Pasha
(1782–1813) was Bey of Tunis (the fifth) during this period of prosperity; he also turned back an Algerian invasion in 1807, and quelled a janissary revolt in 1811.
After the Congress of Vienna
in 1815, Britain and France secured the Bey's agreement to cease sponsoring or permitting corsair raids, which had resumed during the Napoleonic conflict. After a brief resumption of raids, it stopped. In the 1820s economic activity in Tunisia took a steep downturn. The Tunisian government was particularly affected due to its monopoly positions regarding many exports. Credit was obtained to weather the deficits, but eventually the debt would grow to unmanageable levels. Tunisia had sought to bring up to date its commerce and trade. Yet different foreign business interests began to increasingly exercised control over domestic markets; imports of European manufactures often changed consumer pricing which could impact harshly on the livelihood of Tunisian artisans, whose goods did not fare well in the new environment. Foreign trade proved to be a Trojan Horse
.
Under the French Protectorate (1881–1956) the Husaynid Beys continued in a largely ceremonial rôle. Following independence a republic was declared in 1957, ending the Husaynid dynasty.
The sense of urgency for such reform stemmed from the intrusion of modernism
. The cultural stream of interest and invention coming from the Christian Europeans caused many Muslims to search for a proper and adequate response. Merely to learn the foreign ways risked becoming alienated from one's own people and faith, yet modern science and technology, and perhaps government and social culture also, were becoming an ever-increasing challenge. The desire to reform appeared across the Muslim world, among the Ottomans and among the more remote Iranians and Mughals, as well as the Arabs. If for no other reason than the performance of European armies and fleets, these modern ways were necessary to master. Devout Muslims realized that a proper place must be located in their tradition for this wealth of the new.
Several early reformers presented different remedies, which when repeated were often expressed as general ideologies, e.g., the pan-Islamic, the pan-Arabic, the pan-Turkic
, the nationalist. Some Islamic reforms were sourced wholly within Islam and actually pre-dated the modern, making no reference to it, e.g., wahabism. Yet reformed or not, Muslims were adopting the European inventions one piece at a time, day after day, year after year. If Muslim societies continued to so evolve under the influence of the modern, yet without a context of understanding, the coherence of tradition might come apart. Christians, too, of Europe and of the Americas, were faced with similar dilemmas, had been for centuries; their various solutions were complex and not always satisfactory, nor for everyone. Yet for Muslims the problem was different. Christians experienced modernity as generated mainly by their own creativity, which gave its possessors an initial edge over others. Muslims noticed in them a widespread increase in non-belief.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Ottoman
rulers pursued a broad range of difficult reforms, e.g., in education, in justice, in government, and not least in the military. The second major wave of reform, called the Tanzimat
[Turkish: "regulations"], began in the early 19th century and lasted into the 20th. In 1839 the well-known Hatt-i Sherif [Turkish: "Noble Decree"] was ceremoniously read from the Gülhane ["Rose Garden"] to an assembled elite; it outlined anticipated changes in several substantive policies: a) taxes, their fair assessment and collection (avoiding the use of monopolies to raise revenue and terminating the tax farm); b) the military, the conscription of soldiery to be equitable and proportionately spread over the provinces; c) civil liberties, citizens to be secure in their property, criminal procedure to be public, and the different religions treated equally; and, d) the new Council of Judicial Ordinances (established in 1838) designated as the consultative and legislative body, and charged to carry out this work. This articulation of broad principles led to its very gradual and fragmented implementation during the next 40 years. The course of Ottoman reform was erratic, the source of division among elites, and while continuously pursued could prove dangerous to its proponents.
by many more foreign merchants, especially Italians. In 1819 at French insistence the Bey agreed to quit with finality corsair
raids. Also the Bey agreed with France to terminate his revenue policy whereby government agents dominated foreign trade by monopolizing the export of Tunisian goods; this change in policy opened the country to international commercial firms. In 1830 the Bey (as in theory head of a de jure Ottoman province) reluctantly accepted responsibility to enforce in Tunisia the capitulation treaties negotiated by France, and various other European powers, with the Ottoman Empire over the course of several centuries. Under these treaties, European merchants enjoyed extraterritorial privileges while within Ottoman domains, including the right to have their resident consuls act as the judge in legal cases involving their national's civil obligations. Also in 1830 the French royal army
occupied the central coastal lands in neighboring Algeria
.
Ahmad Bey
(1806–1855, r.1837–1855) assumed the throne during this complex and evolving situation. Following the examples of the Ottoman Empire under sultan Mahmud II
(r.1808–1839), and of Egypt under Muhammad Ali
(r.1805–1849), he moved to intensify a program to update and upgrade the Tunisian armed forces. A military school was founded and various new industries started to supply an improved army and navy. In a major step, the Bey initiated the recruitment and conscription of individual Tunisians (instead of foreigners or by tribes) to serve in the army and navy, a step which would work to reduce the customary division between the state and its citizens. Yet the corollary of tax increases for these military innovations were not popular, nor adequate.
Regarding the Ottoman relationship, Ahmad Bey continued the previous beylical policy, in that he would decline or reject political attachment to the Ottoman state in order to remain free of imperial control, yet he welcomed religious ties to the Ottoman Caliphate
for the prestige it brought him domestically and to discourage European state interference. Accordingly, Ahmad Bey repeatedly refused to apply in Tunisia the Ottoman Tanzimat legal reforms concerning citizen rights, i.e., those of the Hatt-i Sherif of 1839. Instead, he instituted progressive laws of his own, showing native Tunisian authority in the modernizing project and hence the redundancy of importing any of the Ottoman reforms. The Slave trade was abolished in 1841, slavery in 1846. Yet for many Tunisians these civil law reforms had limited application.
As part of his maneuvering to maintain Tunisia's sovereignty, Ahmad Bey sent 4,000 Tunisian troops against the Russian Empire
during the Crimean War
(1854–1856). In doing so he allied Tunisia with Turkey, France, and Britain. {IN PROGRESS}
Ifriqiya
In medieval history, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria. This area included what had been the Roman province of Africa, whose name it inherited....
during the course of three centuries. Eventually including all of the Maghrib
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
except Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
began with the takeover of Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
in 1516 by a Turkish corsair and ally. Not until 1574 did it permanently acquire its last country, the former Hafsid Tunisia.
Initially under Turkish rule from Algiers, soon the Ottoman Porte appointed directly for Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
a governor called the Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
supported by janissary
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
forces. Before long, however, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
became in effect an autonomous province, under the local Bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
. This evolution of status was from time to time challenged without success by Algiers. During this era the governing councils controlling Tunisia remained largely composed of a foreign elite who continued to conduct state business in the Turkish language
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
.
Attacks on European shipping were made by corsairs, primarily from Algiers, but also from Tunis and Tripoli, yet after a long period of declining raids the growing power of the European states finally forced its termination. Under the Ottoman Empire, the boundaries of Tunisia contracted; it lost territory to the west (Constantine
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is the capital of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of Rhumel river...
) and to the east (Tarabulus).
In the 19th century, the rulers of Tunisia became aware of the ongoing efforts at political and social reform in the Ottoman capital
Tanzimat
The Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...
. The Bey of Tunis then, by his own lights but informed by the Turkish example, attempted to effect a modernizing reform of institutions and the economy. Tunisian international debt grew unmanageable. This was the reason or pretext for French forces to establish a Protectorate
History of French era Tunisia
The History of French-era Tunisia commenced in 1881 with the French protectorate and ended in 1956 with Tunisian independence. The French presence in Tunisia came five decades after their occupation of neighboring Algeria. Both of these lands had been possessions of the Ottoman Empire for three...
in 1881.
Mediterranean rivalry
In the 16th century control of the western Mediterranean was contested between Spaniard and Turk. Both were confident due to recent triumphs and consequent expansion. In 1492 Spain had completed her centuries-long reconquistaReconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
of the Iberian peninsula, which was followed by the first Spanish settlements in America. Spain then formulated an African policy: a series of presidio
Presidio
A presidio is a fortified base established by the Spanish in North America between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortresses were built to protect against pirates, hostile native Americans and enemy colonists. Other presidios were held by Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth...
s in port cities along the African coast. For their part, the Ottoman Turks had fulfilled their long-term ambition of capturing Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1453, then successfully invaded further into the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
(1459–1482), and later conquered Syria and Egypt (1516–1517). Then Turkish corsairs became active from bases in the Maghrib.
Spain captured and occupied several ports in North Africa, including Mers-el-Kebir
Mers-el-Kébir
Mers-el-Kébir is a port town in northwestern Algeria, located by the Mediterranean Sea near Oran, in the Oran Province.-History:Originally a Roman port, Mers-el-Kébir became an Almohad naval arsenal in the 12th century, fell under the rulers of Tlemcen in the 15th century, and eventually became a...
(1505), Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
(1509), Tripoli (1510), and Bougie
Bougie
Bougie, Bougis or Bougy as a place name or surname may refer to:- Places :*Bougy , village, Département Calvados, Normandy, France*Bougy-lez-Neuville, village, Département Loiret, France...
(1510); Spain also established treaty relations with a half dozen others, e.g., with Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
(1510), which included Spanish occupation of the off-shore island Peñón de Argel, with Tlemcen
Tlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
(1511), a city about 40 km. inland, and with Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
, whose Spanish alliance lasted on-and-off for decades. Near Tunis, the port of Goletta
La Goulette
La Goulette is the port of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The Kasbah fortress was built in 1535 by Charles I of Spain but was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1574...
was later occupied by Spanish forces who built there a large and strong presidio; they also constructed an aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
to Tunis for use by the kasbah
Kasbah
A kasbah or qassabah is a type of medina, Islamic city, or fortress .It was a place for the local leader to live and a defense when a city was under attack. A kasbah has high walls, usually without windows. Sometimes, they were built on hilltops so that they could be more easily defended...
.
Hafsid dynasty
The Hafsids were a Berber dynasty ruling Ifriqiya from 1229 to 1574. Their territories were stretched from east of modern Algeria to west of modern Libya during their zenith.-History:...
had since 1227 ruled Tunisia
History of medieval Tunisia
The medieval era opens with the commencement of a process that would return Ifriqiya, i.e., Tunisia, and the entire Maghrib to local Berber rule. The precipitating cause was the departure of the Shia Fatimid Caliphate to their newly conquered territories in Egypt. To govern Ifriqiya in their stead,...
, enjoying prestige when it was the leading state of the Maghrib, or barely surviving in ill-favored times. Extensive trade with European merchants continued over some centuries, an activity which led to state treaties. Yet the Hafsids also harbored corsairs who raided merchant shipping. During the 15th century the Hafsids employed as bodyguards a Christian force of hundreds, nearly all Catalans
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. In the 16th century the Hafsid rule grew weak, limited often to Tunis; the last three Hafsid sultans al-Hasan, his son Ahmad, and his brother Muhammad made inconsistent treaties with Spain.
Yet the cross-cultural Hafsid alliance with Spain was not as unusual as it might seem, given the many Muslim-Christian treaties—despite recurrent hostilities. Indeed during the early 16th century France allied with the Ottomans against the Spanish King Carlos
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
. As an indirect result of Spain's Africa policy, a few Muslim rulers encouraged Turkish forces to enter the region to counter the Spanish presence. Yet the Hafsid rulers of Tunis came to see the Turks and their corsair allies as a greater threat and entered a Spanish alliance, as also did the Sa'dids
Saadi Dynasty
The Saadi dynasty of Morocco , began with the reign of Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh in 1554, when he vanquished the last Wattasids at the Battle of Tadla....
of Morocco. Nonetheless many Maghriban Muslims strongly preferred Islamic rule, and the Hafsid's decades-long Spanish alliance was not generally popular, indeed anathema to some. On the other hand, the Saadi dynasty
Saadi Dynasty
The Saadi dynasty of Morocco , began with the reign of Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh in 1554, when he vanquished the last Wattasids at the Battle of Tadla....
sultans of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
successfully played off Iberian against Turk, thus managing to remain both Muslim ruled and independent of the Ottoman grasp.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
supported many corsairs, who raided European commercial shipping in the Mediterranean. The corsairs later would make Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
their principal base. The "architects of Ottoman rule in the Maghrib" were Aruj
Aruj
Aruj or Arouj was the elder brother of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and Ottoman Bey of Algiers and Beylerbey of the West Mediterranean...
[Oruç] (c.1474–1518) and his younger brother Khizr "Khayr al-Din" [Arabic epithet] (c.1483–1546). Both were called Barbarossa ("red beard"). The Muslim brothers hailed from obscure origins in the Greek island of Medelli or Mytilene [ancient Lesbos].
After acquiring fighting experience in the eastern Mediterranean (during which Aruj
Aruj
Aruj or Arouj was the elder brother of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and Ottoman Bey of Algiers and Beylerbey of the West Mediterranean...
was captured and spent three years at oars in a galley of the Knights of St. John before being ransomed), the two brothers arrived in Tunis as corsair leaders. By 1504 they had entered into a privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
agreement with the Hafsid sultan Mohammad b. al-Hasan (1493–1526). By it the 'prizes' (ships, cargoes, and captives) were to be shared. The brothers operated from Goletta
La Goulette
La Goulette is the port of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The Kasbah fortress was built in 1535 by Charles I of Spain but was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1574...
[Halq al Wadi]; they ran similar operations from Djerba
Djerba
Djerba , also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is, at 514 km², the largest island of North Africa, located in the Gulf of Gabes, off the coast of Tunisia.-Description:...
in the south, where Aruj was governor. During these years in Spain, those who remained non-Christian were required to leave
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
, including Muslims
Expulsion of the Moriscos
On April 9, 1609, King Philip III of Spain decreed the Expulsion of the Moriscos . The Moriscos were the descendants of the Muslim population that converted to Christianity under threat of exile from Ferdinand and Isabella in 1502...
; at times Aruj employed his ships to transport a great many Moorish Andalucians to North Africa, especially Tunisia. For these efforts Aruj won praise and many Muslim recruits. Twice Aruj joined the Hafsids in unsuccessful assaults on Bougie
Bougie
Bougie, Bougis or Bougy as a place name or surname may refer to:- Places :*Bougy , village, Département Calvados, Normandy, France*Bougy-lez-Neuville, village, Département Loiret, France...
, held by Spain. Then the brothers set up an independent base in Djidjelli east of Bougie, which attracted Hafsid hostility.
Aruj
Aruj or Arouj was the elder brother of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and Ottoman Bey of Algiers and Beylerbey of the West Mediterranean...
and his brother Khayr al-Din, accompanied by Turkish soldiers, moved further east to Algiers, where he managed to wrestle control away from the shaykh of the Tha'aliba tribe, who had treatied with Spain. By intra-city political cunning, in which the tribal chief and later 22 notables were killed, control of Algiers passed to the Barbarossa brothers. The Turkish brothers were already Ottoman allies. Yet in 1518 when Aruj led an attack against Tlemcen
Tlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
, then held by a Spanish ally (since 1511), Aruj was killed by Muslim tribal forces and the Spanish.
His younger brother Khayr al-Din inherited control of Algiers, but left that city and for some years was based to its east. After returning to Algiers, in 1529 he captured from Spain the offshore island Peñón de Argel whose guns had controlled the port; by constructing a causeway joining these islands he created an excellent harbor for the city. Khayr al-Din continued to direct large-scale raids on Christian shipping and against the coast lands of Mediterranean Europe, seizing much wealth and taking many captives. He won several naval battles and became a celebrity. In 1533 Khayr al-Din was called to Constantinople where the Ottoman sultan made him Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
and the admiral [Kapudan-i Derya] over the Turkish navy; he acquired control over many more ships and soldiers. In 1534 Khayr al-Din "taking adbantage of a revolt against the Hafsid al-Hasan" invaded by sea and captured the city of Tunis from Spain's allies.
Yet the following year the Emperor
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
(Carlos, Rey de España) (r.1516–1556) organized a fleet under Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria was an Italian condottiere and admiral from Genoa.-Early life:Doria was born at Oneglia from the ancient Genoese family, the Doria di Oneglia branch of the old Doria, de Oria or de Auria family. His parents were related: Ceva Doria, co-lord of Oneglia, and Caracosa Doria, of the...
of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, composed predominantly of Italians, Germans, and Spaniards, which proceeded to recapture Tunis in 1535, following which the Hafsid sultan Mawlay Hasan was reestablished. Yet Khayr al-Din escaped. Thereafter, as supreme commander of naval forces
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
for the Ottoman Empire, Khayr al-Din was largely preoccupied with affairs outside the Maghrib.
A few decades passed until in 1556 another Turkish corsair Dragut (Turgut), ruling in Tripoli, attacked Tunisia from the east, entering Kairouan
Kairouan
Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...
in 1558. Then in 1569 Uluj Ali
Uluj Ali
Uluj Ali was an Italian by birth who converted to Islam, became a pirate, and later became an Ottoman admiral and Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet in the 16th century.He was also known by several other names in...
Pasha, a renegade corsair, now the successor to Khayr al-Din as the Beylerbey of Algiers, advanced with Turkish forces from the west, and managed to seize the Spanish presidio Goletta and the Hafsid capital, Tunis. After the key naval victory of the Christian armada at Lepanto
Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto normally refers to the 1571 Holy League victory over the Ottoman fleet. There were also three earlier battles fought in the vicinity of Lepanto:*Battle of Naupactus in 429 BC, an Athenian victory during the Peleoponnesian War...
in 1571, Don Juan de Austria in 1573 retook Tunis for Spain and the Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, restoring Hafsid rule. Yet Uluj Ali returned in 1574 with a large fleet and army, and captured Tunis with finality. To the Turkish sultan he then sent by ship, imprisoned, the last ruler of the Hafsid dynasty
Hafsid dynasty
The Hafsids were a Berber dynasty ruling Ifriqiya from 1229 to 1574. Their territories were stretched from east of modern Algeria to west of modern Libya during their zenith.-History:...
.
The Spanish-Ottoman truce of 1581 quieted the Mediterranean rivalry between these two world powers. Spain kept a few of its Maghriban presidios and ports (e.g., Melilla and Oran). Yet both Spanish and Ottoman Empires had become preoccupied elsewhere. The Ottomans would claim suzerainty over Tunisia for the next three centuries; however, its effective political control in the Maghrib would prove to be of short duration.
Ottomans in the West
Absent the entry of the Turks into the western Mediterranean, the political situation favored the Christian north. In overall strength, the various European powers led by Spain continued to increase their lead. Among the local MaghribMaghrib
The Maghrib prayer , prayed just after sunset, is the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims.The formal daily prayers of Islam comprise different numbers of units, called rak'at. The Maghrib prayer has three obligatory rak'at. The first two fard rak'at are prayed...
an states in comparison, business was in decline and their governments weak and divided. The long-term future seemed to present the possibility, or probability, of an eventual 'reconquest' of North Africa from the north. Accordingly, the intervention by another rising foreign power, co-religionists from the east, namely the well-armed
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
Ottoman Turks, appeared crucial. It tipped the scales in the Maghrib, allowing for several centuries of continued rule by the older Muslim institutions, as redone per Turkish notions. Furthermore, the successful but questionable tactic of mounting raids on European commercial shipping by the corsairs of Barbary fit well enough into the Mediterranean strategy pursued by the Ottoman Porte at Constantinople.
"Turkey was frequently combated by native North African rulers, and never gained any hold over Morocco. But the Turks were none the less a powerful ally for Barbary, diverting Christian energies into eastern Europe, threatening Mediterranean communications, and absorbing those forces which might otherwise have turned their attention to reconquest in Africa."
Maghrib
The Maghrib prayer , prayed just after sunset, is the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims.The formal daily prayers of Islam comprise different numbers of units, called rak'at. The Maghrib prayer has three obligatory rak'at. The first two fard rak'at are prayed...
, eventually establishing their governing authority, at least indirectly, along most of the southern coast of the Mediterranean. During the 16th and subsequent centuries their empire was widely recognized as the leading Muslim state in the world: Islam's primary focus. The Ottoman Empire was "the leader of all Islam for nearly half a millennium." The Turkish sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
became the caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
.
This Ottoman contact enriched Tunisia by its distinctive Islamic culture and institutions, which differed markedly from the familiar Arab world. For more than half a millennium Islamic doctrines had filtered through Turkish experience, whose ethnic origin lay in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, resulting in unique developments, and new perspectives. For example, Turks wrote their own gazi sagas of frontier warfare, no doubt following Islamic traditions of early Arab conquests, yet informed by legends of their own derived from life on the steppes of Central Asia. Due to the exingencies of rule, and its large geographic jurisdiction, the Ottoman state took the lead in Muslim legal
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
developments for some centuries. Sources of imperial law included not only Islamic fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
, and inherited Roman-Byzantine codes
Corpus Juris Civilis
The Corpus Juris Civilis is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Eastern Roman Emperor...
, but also "the traditions of the great Turkish and Mongol
Yassa
Yassa was a secret written code of law created by Genghis Khan. It was the principal law under the Mongol Empire even though no copies were made available...
empires of Central Asia". The Turkish jurist Ebu us-Suud Efendi (c.1490–1574) was credited with the harmonization for use in Ottoman courts of the qanun
Qanun
Qanun refers to laws promulgated by Muslim sovereigns, in particular the Ottoman Sultans, in contrast to shari'a, the body of law elaborated by Muslim jurists. It comes from the Greek word kanon...
(regulations of the secular state) and the şeriat (sacred law).
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
. Turkish became the idiom for state business in Tunisia and its unique flavors perculated throughout Tunisian society. After Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Persian, it is the third language of Islam and for centuries has "played a very important role in the intellectual life" of Muslim culture. In addition, the Turks brought their popular customs, such as their music, clothing, and the coffee house (kahvehane or "kiva han").
The new energy of Turkish rule was welcome in Tunis and other cities, and the regime's stability appreciated by the clerical ulama
Ulama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
. Although the Ottomans preferred the Hanifi school of law, some Tunisian Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
jurists were admitted into administrative and judicial positions. Yet the rule remained one of a foreign elite. In the countryside, efficient Turkish troops managed to control the tribes without compromising alliances, but their rule was unpopular. "Ottomans' military prowess enable them to curb the tribes rather than placate them. An image of Turkish domination and Tunisian subordination emerged everywhere." The rural economy was never brought under effective regulation by the central authority. For revenues the government continued to rely primarily on corsair raids against shipping in the Mediterranean, an activity then more 'profitable' than trade. With a Spanish-Ottoman accord in 1581 Spain's attention turned away and corsair activity increased. Yet peaceful trade and commerce suffered.
Introduction into Tunisia of a Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
-speaking ruling caste, whose institutions dominated governance for centuries, indirectly affected the lingering divide between Berber and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
in the settled areas. This bipolarity of linguistic culture had been reactivated by the 11th-century invasion of the rebellious Arabic-speakinng Banu Hilal
Banu Hilal
The Banu Hilal were a confederation of Arabian Bedouin tribes that migrated from Upper Egypt into North Africa in the 11th century, having been sent by the Fatimids to punish the Zirids for abandoning Shiism. Other authors suggest that the tribes left the grasslands on the upper Nile because of...
. Subsequently Arabic had gained the ascendancy, and use of Berber had been thereafter gradually eroding. Then this assertive presence of a Turkish-speaking elite seemed to hasten the submergence of Berber speech in Tunisia.
Pasha role in Tunis
After Tunisia's fall to the Ottoman Empire, a PashaPasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
was eventually appointed by the Porte. "Pasha" (Trk
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: paşa: "head, chief") is Ottoman imperial nomenclature indicating a high office, a holder of civil and/or military authority, e.g., the governor over a province. During its first few years under the Ottomans, however, Tunisia was ruled from the city of Algiers by a corsair leader who held the Ottoman title beylerbey (Trk
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: "bey of beys" from Turkish beğ: "gazi commander"].
When armed forces loyal to the Ottomans began arriving in the Maghrib
Maghrib
The Maghrib prayer , prayed just after sunset, is the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims.The formal daily prayers of Islam comprise different numbers of units, called rak'at. The Maghrib prayer has three obligatory rak'at. The first two fard rak'at are prayed...
, its coastal regions particularly the Algerian were in political disarray and fragmented. One of its quasi-independent sea ports Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
[ancient Ikosim] became among the first to fall under permanent Turkish control (in 1516). Its early capture gave Algiers some claim to primacy within the expanding Turkish Empire. It was only under the Ottomans that Algiers became a favored city. Before, Algiers was not particularly significant; the middle Maghriban coast (present-day Algeria) for the most part had long lain in the shadows of Tunis to its east and of Morocco or Tlemcen
Tlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
to its west.
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is the capital of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of Rhumel river...
(historically within Hafsid domains), which fell to attacks led by the beylerbey Khayr al-Din of Algiers. Later Tunisia also lost Tripoli (Tarabulus, in present-day Libya), ruled by another Turkish corsair, the renegade Dragut or Turgut Reis (1553).
In 1518 the younger Barbarossa Khayr al-Din became the first Ottoman beylerbey in Algiers. His rule was autocratic, without the moderating advice of a council (diwan). As Beylerbay he captured Tunis in 1534, holding it only a year. In 1536 Khayr al-Din left the Maghrib, promoted to command the Ottoman fleets. Four beylerbeys in succession (1536–1568) then ruled in Algiers and over areas of North Africa fallen to Ottoman control. The renegade corsair Uluj Ali
Uluj Ali
Uluj Ali was an Italian by birth who converted to Islam, became a pirate, and later became an Ottoman admiral and Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet in the 16th century.He was also known by several other names in...
(1519–1587) was appointed Pasha of Algiers and its last Beylerbey in 1568; the Porte instructed him to capture Tunis. He was perhaps "with Khayr al-Din the greatest figure in Turkish rule" of the Maghrib. In 1569 Uluj Ali took Tunis, holding it four years, yet in 1574 he again took possession of the city. Tunis thereafter remained under the Beylerbey in Algiers, Uluj Ali, until his death in 1587. The office was then abolished.
The beylerbey had "exercized the authority of suzerain in the name of the Ottoman sultan over [Tunis]. [The beylerbey] was the supreme Ottoman authority in the western Mediterranean, and responsible for conducting the war against the Christian enemies of the empire... ." When Uluj Ali died, the Turkish sultan discontinued the office, in effect normalizing the administration of the Maghriban provinces in acknowledgement of an end to the long struggle with Spain. In its place, for each province (present day Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
), the office of pasha was established to oversee provincial government.
Thus in 1587 a Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
became Ottoman governor of Tunisia. Under the Pasha served a Bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
, among whose duties was the collection of state revenue. From 1574 to 1591 a council (the Diwan
Divan
A divan was a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states, or its chief official .-Etymology:...
), composed of senior Turkish military (Trk: buluk-bashis) and local notables, advised the pasha. The language used remained Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
. With permanent Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule (imposed in 1574) the government of Tunis acquired some stability. The prior period had been made insecure and uncertain by the fortunes of war.
Yet the new Ottoman Pasha's grip on power in Tunisia was if anything of short duration. Four years later, in 1591 a revolt within the ranks of the occupying Turkish forces (the janissaires
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
) thrust forward a new military commander, the Dey
Dey
Dey was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tripoli under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards...
, who effectively took the Pasha's place and became the ruling authority in Tunis. The Pasha remained as a lesser figure, who nonetheless continued to be appointed from time to time by the Ottoman Porte. Within a few decades, however, the Bey of Tunis added to his office the title of Pasha; soon thereafter, the Bey's growing power began to eclipse that of the Dey. Eventually the Bey of Tunis became the sole ruling authority. The Beys of Tunis always kept well apart from any Ottoman attempts to compromise their political grip on power. Yet the Beys as Muslim rulers were also dignified by the honor and prestige associated with the title of Pasha, with its direct connection to the Ottoman Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
, whose religious significance included being the 'Commander of the Faithful' (Arb
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: Amīr al-Mu'minīn).
Janissary Deys
The Ottomans first garrisoned Tunis with 4,000 janissariesJanissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
taken from their occupying forces in Algiers; the troops were primarily Turkish, recruited from Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
. Janissary corps were under the immediate command of their Agha (Trk
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: "master"). The junior officers were called deys (Trk: "maternal uncle"); each dey commanded about 100 soldiers. The Ottoman Porte did not thereafter maintain the ranks of the janissaries in Tunis, but its appointed Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
for Tunisia himself began to recruit them from different regions.
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
. They were then liable to riot and loot if not appeased, and "not less than six Sultans were either dethroned or murdered through their agency." At first a small elite of 10,000 by the 19th century before the institution was terminated "the number on the [Ottoman] payroll had reached... over 130,000."
In the Maghrib
Maghrib
The Maghrib prayer , prayed just after sunset, is the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims.The formal daily prayers of Islam comprise different numbers of units, called rak'at. The Maghrib prayer has three obligatory rak'at. The first two fard rak'at are prayed...
under Ottoman control, however, the janissaries were originally Turkish or Turkish-speaking. There existed some rivalry between the janissaires and the corsairs, who were composed in large part of Christian renegade
Turncoat
A turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party...
s, and as against other Turks. Also the janissaries viewed with suspicion, as potential enemy combatants, the local tribal forces and the militias of the Maghrib. Called collectively the ojaq [Trk: "hearth"], the janissary corp maintained a high degree of unity and élan.
"They possessed a high sense of group solidarity and egalitarian spirit in the ranks, and elected their commander-in-chief, the agha, and a diwan [council] which protected their group interests. Being Turkish, they enjoyed a privileged position in the state: they were not subject to the regular system of justice in the regency, and were entitled to rations of bread, meat, and oil, to a regular salary, and to a proportion of the yields of piracy."
Dey
Dey was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tripoli under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards...
, elected by his fellow deys. The Dey took charge of law and order in the capital and of military affairs, thus becoming "the virtual ruler of the country". The change defied the Ottoman Empire, although from the Tunisian perspective political power still remained under the control of foreigners. The existing state diwan (council) was dismissed, but to placate local opinion some Tunisian Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
jurists were appointed to some key positions (yet the Ottoman Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
jurists still predominated). The janissary Dey enjoyed wide discretion, being quite free in the exercise his authority, yet his reach was at first limited to Tunis and other cities.
Two very effective Deys were 'Uthman Dey (1598–1610) and his son-in-law Yusuf Dey (1610–1637). Able administrators, they displayed tact, enhancing the dignity of the office. Neither being fond of luxury, treasury funds were made available for public projects and new construction (e.g., a mosque, fortress, barracks, and repair of aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s). Rebellious tribes were subdued. A long period of chronic social turbulence in Tunisia was brought to a close. The resulting peace and order allowed for some measure of prosperity. The Dey's ruling authority was both supported by, and relied upon, the Qaptan of the corsair fleet and the Bey who collected taxes.
Yet under Yusuf Dey, various interest groups emerged which maneuvered to outflank his ruling strategies. Many such were Tunisian, e.g., the local military, the urban notables including the disbanded diwan, and most rural tribes; also included at least to some extent was the distant sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
in Constantinople. During the 1620s and 1630s the local Turkish Bey managed to enlist these social forces, thus augmenting his authority and coming to rival the Dey, then overtaking him. That the political reign of the Dey and his janissaries had slowly evaporated was clearly demonstrated when in an attempt to regain power their uprising of 1673 failed.
Corsair enterprise
Piracy may be called "an ancient if not always honorable activity" which has been practiced at different times and locations by a wide variety of peoples, e.g., by Viking raidersViking expansion
The Vikings sailed most of the North Atlantic, reaching south to North Africa and east to Russia, Constantinople and the Middle East, as looters, traders, colonists, and mercenaries...
, by Japanese wakō
Wokou
Wokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...
, by English sea dogs
Sea Dogs
Sea Dogs received mixed views from critics on its release. IGN were impressed with it, calling it "one booty call you won't want to miss". Gamespot were also positive about the game saying it's "an adventure that can be enthralling despite its many problems"....
, and recently by bands of Somalis. A corsair
Corsair
Corsairs were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French Crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds...
(or privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
) may be clearly (or not so clearly) distinguished from a pirate in that the former operates under explicit government authority, while the later carries no papers. The Mediterranean region during the late Middle Ages and renaissance became the scene of wide-scale piracy (and privateering) practiced both by Christians (aimed more at Muslim shipping in the east) and by Muslims (more active out of the Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast
The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary"...
in the west, with its many targets of Christian merchant ships).
The first "great age of the Barbary corsairs
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...
" occurred in the 16th century, between 1538 and 1571. Ottoman sea power in the Mediterranean was supreme during these decades, following their naval victory at the Preveza
Battle of Preveza
The naval Battle of Preveza took place on 28 September 1538 near Preveza in northwestern Greece between an Ottoman fleet and that of a Christian alliance assembled by Pope Paul III.-Background:...
. Ottoman supremacy, however, was effective broken at Lepanto
Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto normally refers to the 1571 Holy League victory over the Ottoman fleet. There were also three earlier battles fought in the vicinity of Lepanto:*Battle of Naupactus in 429 BC, an Athenian victory during the Peleoponnesian War...
, although Ottoman sea power remained formidable. In the early 17th century corsair activity again peaked. Thereafter Algiers began to rely more on 'tribute' from European nations in exchange for safe passage, rather than attacking merchant ships one by one. Ottoman Empire treaties with European states added a layer of conflicting diplomacy. Lastly, during the wars following the French Revolution (1789–1815), Barbary corsairs activity briefly spiked, before ending abruptly.
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...
were transformed and made into impressive institutions. The activity became highly developed, with modes of recruitment, corps hierarchies, peer review, private and public financing, trades and materials support, coordinated operations, and resale and ransom markets. The policies developed in Algiers provided an exemplary model of corsair business (often called the taife reisi, or "board of captains"), a model latter followed by Tunis and by Tripoli, and independentlly by Morocco.
Crews came from three sources: Christian renegades
Turncoat
A turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party...
(including many famous or notorious captains), foreign Moslems (many Turkish), and a few native maghribans. Seldom did a native attain high rank, the exception being Reis Hamida a Kabyle
Kabyle people
The Kabyle people are the largest homogeneous Algerian ethno-cultural and linguistical community and the largest nation in North Africa to be considered exclusively Berber. Their traditional homeland is Kabylie in the north of Algeria, one hundred miles east of Algiers...
Berber during the last years of the corsair age. Captains were selected by the ship's owners, but from a list made by a Diwan
Divan
A divan was a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states, or its chief official .-Etymology:...
of the Riesi, an authoritative council composed of all active corsair captains. Also regulated was location of residence. "Captains, crews, and suppliers all lived in the western quarter of Algiers, along the harbor and docks."
Private capital generally supplied the funds for corsair activity. Investors essentially bought shares in a particular corsair business enterprise. Such investors came from all levels of society, e.g., merchants, officials, janissaries, shopkeepers, and artisans. The financing made money available for the capital and expenses of ship and crew, i.e., naval stores and supplies, timbers and canvas, munitions.
"Because of the potential profits to be made from corsair prizes, the underwriting of expeditions was an attractive proposition. Shareholding was organized in the same manner as that of a modern stock company, with the return to individuals dependent on their investment. This type of private investment reached its peak in the seventeenth century, the 'golden age'."
Prize (law)
Prize is a term used in admiralty law to refer to equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of prize in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and its cargo as a prize of war. In the past, it was common that the capturing force would be allotted...
captured at sea. First came Algiers as the state representative of Allah; next came the port authorities, the custom brokers, and those who kept the sanctuaries; then came that portion due the ship owners, and the captain and crew. The merchant cargo seized was sold "at auction or more commonly to European commercial representatives resident in Algiers, through whom it might even reach the port of its original destination."
Ransom or sale of captured prisoners
Slavery on the Barbary Coast
Slavery on the Barbary Coast was a form of unfree labour which existed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the Barbary Coast area of North Africa....
(and auction of cargo) was the main source of private wealth in Algiers. Payment for captives was financed and negotiated by religious societies. The conditions of the captivity varied, most being worked as slave labor. Yet often the Muslim masters granted these Christians some religious privileges. During the early 17th century in Algiers more than 20,000 Christian prisoners were being held, coming from more than a dozen countries. "To the people of Barbary captives
Barbary Slave Trade
The Barbary Slave Trade refers to the slave markets which flourished on the Barbary Coast, or modern day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and western Libya between the 16th and 19th centuries. These markets prospered while the states were nominally under Ottoman rule, but in reality were mostly autonomous...
were a source of greater profit that looted merchandise." Yet in Tunis corsair activity never became paramount as it long remained in Algiers.
Muradid Beys
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
[Turkish: gazi commander] in Tunisia was leading officer who "supervised the internal administration and the collection of taxes." In particular, the Bey's duties included control and collection of taxes in the tribal rural areas. Twice a year, armed expeditions (mahallas) patrolled the countryside, showing the arm of the central authority. For this purpose the Bey had organized, as an auxiliary force, rural cavalry (sipahis), mostly Arab, recruited from what came to be called "government" (makhzan) tribes.
Ramdan Bey had sponsored a Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
n named Murad Curso since his youth. After Ramdan's death in 1613, Murad then followed his benefactor into the office of Bey, which he exercised effectively (1613–1631). Eventually he was also named Pasha, by then a ceremonial post; yet his position as Bey remained inferior to the Dey. His son Hamuda Bey (r.1631–1666), with the support of the local notables of Tunis, acquired both titles, that of Pasha and that of Bey. By virtue of his title as Pasha, the Bey came to enjoy the social prestige of connection with the Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
-Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. In 1640, at the death of the Dey, Hamuda Bey maneuvered to establish his control over appointments to that office. As a consequence the Bey then became supreme ruler in Tunisia.
Under Murad II Bey (reigned 1666–1675), son of Hamuda, the Diwan again functioned as a council of notables. Yet in 1673 the janissary deys, seeing their power ebbing, rose in revolt. During the consequent fighting, the janissaries and urban forces commanded by the deys fought against the Muradid Beys supported by largely rural forces under tribal shaykhs, and with popular support from city notables. As the Beys secured victory, so did the rural Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
leaders and the Tunisian notables, who also emerged triumphant. The Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
returned to local official use. Yet the Muradids continued to use Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
in the central government, accentuating their elite status and Ottoman connection.
At Murad II Bey's death, internal discord within the Muradid family led to armed struggle. The Turkish rulers of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
later intervened on behalf of one side in this struggle born of domestic conflict; these Algerian forces remained after the fighting slowed, which proved unpopular. Tunisia's unfortunate condition of civil discord and Algerian interference persisted. The last Muradid Bey was assassinated in 1702 by Ibrahim Sharif, who then ruled for several years with Algerian backing. Hence, the dynasty of the Muradid Beys may be dated from 1640 to 1702.
A gradual economic shift occurred during the Muradid era (c.1630s-1702), as corsair raiding decreased due to pressure from Europe
Early modern Europe
Early modern Europe is the term used by historians to refer to a period in the history of Europe which spanned the centuries between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century...
, and commercial trading based on agricultural products (chiefly grains) increased due to an integration of the rural population into regional networks. Mediterranean trade, however, continued to be carried by European shipping companies. The Beys, in order to derive the maximum advantage from the export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
trade, instituted government monopolies
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
which mediated between the local producers and foreign merchants. As a result, the rulers and their business partners (drawn from foreign-dominated elites well-connected to the Turkish-speaking ruling caste) took a disproportionate share of Tunisia's trading profits
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
. This precluded the development of local business interests, whether rural landowners or a wealthy merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
strata. The social divide persisted, with the important families in Tunisia identified as a "Turkish" ruling caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
.
Husaynid Beys
As holders of the office of BeyBey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
the Husaynid Dynasty effectively ruled Tunisia as sovereigns from 1705 to 1881; thereafter they continued to merely reign until 1957. In Ottoman theory perhaps until 1881 the Bey of Tunis remained a vassal of the Ottoman Empire (the Friday prayer was pronounced in the name of the Ottoman Sultan, money was coined in his honor, and an annual ambassador once brought gifts to Constantinople) but for centuries the Ottomans were not able to depend on, or exact, the obedience of the Tunisian Bey. In 1881 the French created their protectorate
History of French era Tunisia
The History of French-era Tunisia commenced in 1881 with the French protectorate and ended in 1956 with Tunisian independence. The French presence in Tunisia came five decades after their occupation of neighboring Algeria. Both of these lands had been possessions of the Ottoman Empire for three...
which lasted until 1956. During this period the beylical institution was retained; the Husaynid Bey served as titular head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
but it was the French who actually ruled the country. After achieving its full independence
History of modern Tunisia
In its modern history, Tunisia has become a sovereign republic, called the al-Jumhuriyyah at-Tunisiyyah. Tunisia has over ten million citizens, almost all of Arab-Berber descent. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north and east, Libya to the southeast, and Algeria to the west. Tunis is the capital...
Tunisia declared itself a republic in 1957; the beylical office was terminated and the Husaynid dynasty came to an end.
Al-Husayn I ibn Ali at-Turki
Al-Husayn I ibn Ali at-Turki was the founder of the Husainid Dynasty, which ruled Tunisia until 1957.-Biography:Husayn was of Cretan origin, although it is not known for sure whether Greek or Turkish...
(1669–1740, r.1705–1735), an Ottoman cavalry officer (agha of the spahis) of Cretan
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
origin, managed to acquire the sovereign power in 1705. His military units were included in those Tunisian forces that fought and defeated the then Algerian invasion. The Turkish janissary
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
then selected their own Dey as the new ruler. Husayn ibn Ali, however, opposed the Dey and sought the backing of Tunisian khassa (notables), the ulama
Ulama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
and the religious, as well as local tribes. Thus, though also a Turkish-speaking foreigner, he worked to obtain native loyalties against the Turkish soldiery and eventually prevailed. Accordingly, as ruler he sought to be perceived as a popular Muslim interested in local issues and prosperity. He appointed as qadi
Qadi
Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
a Tunisian Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
jurist, instead of an Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
preferred by the Ottomans. He also restricted the legal prerogatives of the janissary and the Dey. Under Husayn b. Ali as Bey of Tunis support was provided to agriculture, especially planting olive orchards. Public works were undertaken, e.g., mosques and madrassa (schools). His popularity was demonstrated in 1715 when the kapudan-pasha of the Ottoman fleet sailed to Tunis with a new governor to replace him; instead Husayn Bey summoned council, composed of local civil and military leaders, who backed him against the Ottoman Empire, which then acquiesced.
In 1735 a succession dispute erupted between his nephew Ali (1688–1756, r.1735–1755) and his son Muhammad
Muhammad I ar-Rashid
Muhammad I ar-Rashid was the third leader of the Husainid Dynasty and the ruler of Tunisia from 1756 until his death.-Biography:Muhammad had been named heir apparent by his father, Husayn I, Bey of Tunis, in 1725...
(1710–1759, r.1755–1759) who challenged his cousin. A divisive civil war was fought; it ended in 1740 with Ali's uncertain victory. This result was reversed in 1756 after ten more years of fighting, but not without further meddling by Algeria.
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
were fostered, which increased the prestige of the Beys and helped in winning approval of the local ulama
Ulama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
and deference from the notables. Janissaries were still recruited, but increasing reliance was placed on tribal forces. Turkish was spoken at the apex, but use of Arabic increased in government use. Kouloughlis (children of mixed Turkish and Tunisian parentage) and native Tunisians notables were given increased admittance into higher positions and deliberations. The Husaynid Beys, however, did not themselves intermarry with Tunisians; instead they often turned to the institution of mamluks for marriage partners. Mamluks also served in elite positions. The dynasty never ceased to identify as Ottoman, and thereby privileged. Nonetheless, the local ulama were courted, with funding for religious education and the clerics. Local jurists (Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
) entered government service. Marabouts of the rural faithful were mollified. Tribal shaykhs were recognized and invited to conferences. Especially favored at the top were a handful of prominent families, Turkish speaking, who were given business and land opportunities, as well as important posts in the government, depending on their loyalty.
The French Revolution and reactions to it negatively affected European economic activity leading to shortages which provided business opportunities for Tunisia, i.e., regarding goods in high demand but short in supply, the result might be handsome profits. The capable and well-regarded Hammouda Pasha
Hammuda ibn Ali
Hammuda ibn Ali was the fifth leader of the Husainid Dynasty and the ruler of Tunisia from 1782 until his death in 1814....
(1782–1813) was Bey of Tunis (the fifth) during this period of prosperity; he also turned back an Algerian invasion in 1807, and quelled a janissary revolt in 1811.
After the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
in 1815, Britain and France secured the Bey's agreement to cease sponsoring or permitting corsair raids, which had resumed during the Napoleonic conflict. After a brief resumption of raids, it stopped. In the 1820s economic activity in Tunisia took a steep downturn. The Tunisian government was particularly affected due to its monopoly positions regarding many exports. Credit was obtained to weather the deficits, but eventually the debt would grow to unmanageable levels. Tunisia had sought to bring up to date its commerce and trade. Yet different foreign business interests began to increasingly exercised control over domestic markets; imports of European manufactures often changed consumer pricing which could impact harshly on the livelihood of Tunisian artisans, whose goods did not fare well in the new environment. Foreign trade proved to be a Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
.
Under the French Protectorate (1881–1956) the Husaynid Beys continued in a largely ceremonial rôle. Following independence a republic was declared in 1957, ending the Husaynid dynasty.
Islamic Context
{In Process}The sense of urgency for such reform stemmed from the intrusion of modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. The cultural stream of interest and invention coming from the Christian Europeans caused many Muslims to search for a proper and adequate response. Merely to learn the foreign ways risked becoming alienated from one's own people and faith, yet modern science and technology, and perhaps government and social culture also, were becoming an ever-increasing challenge. The desire to reform appeared across the Muslim world, among the Ottomans and among the more remote Iranians and Mughals, as well as the Arabs. If for no other reason than the performance of European armies and fleets, these modern ways were necessary to master. Devout Muslims realized that a proper place must be located in their tradition for this wealth of the new.
Several early reformers presented different remedies, which when repeated were often expressed as general ideologies, e.g., the pan-Islamic, the pan-Arabic, the pan-Turkic
Pan-Turkism
Pan-Turkism is a nationalist movement that emerged in 1880s among the Turkic intellectuals of the Russian Empire, with the aim of cultural and political unification of all Turkic peoples.-Name:...
, the nationalist. Some Islamic reforms were sourced wholly within Islam and actually pre-dated the modern, making no reference to it, e.g., wahabism. Yet reformed or not, Muslims were adopting the European inventions one piece at a time, day after day, year after year. If Muslim societies continued to so evolve under the influence of the modern, yet without a context of understanding, the coherence of tradition might come apart. Christians, too, of Europe and of the Americas, were faced with similar dilemmas, had been for centuries; their various solutions were complex and not always satisfactory, nor for everyone. Yet for Muslims the problem was different. Christians experienced modernity as generated mainly by their own creativity, which gave its possessors an initial edge over others. Muslims noticed in them a widespread increase in non-belief.
Ottoman Tanzimat
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rulers pursued a broad range of difficult reforms, e.g., in education, in justice, in government, and not least in the military. The second major wave of reform, called the Tanzimat
Tanzimat
The Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...
[Turkish: "regulations"], began in the early 19th century and lasted into the 20th. In 1839 the well-known Hatt-i Sherif [Turkish: "Noble Decree"] was ceremoniously read from the Gülhane ["Rose Garden"] to an assembled elite; it outlined anticipated changes in several substantive policies: a) taxes, their fair assessment and collection (avoiding the use of monopolies to raise revenue and terminating the tax farm); b) the military, the conscription of soldiery to be equitable and proportionately spread over the provinces; c) civil liberties, citizens to be secure in their property, criminal procedure to be public, and the different religions treated equally; and, d) the new Council of Judicial Ordinances (established in 1838) designated as the consultative and legislative body, and charged to carry out this work. This articulation of broad principles led to its very gradual and fragmented implementation during the next 40 years. The course of Ottoman reform was erratic, the source of division among elites, and while continuously pursued could prove dangerous to its proponents.
European trade
Starting early in the 19th century, Tunisia under came increasingly under European influence. Under the Husaynid Beys, trade and commerce with the Europeans increased year after year. Permanent residences were established in TunisTunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
by many more foreign merchants, especially Italians. In 1819 at French insistence the Bey agreed to quit with finality corsair
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...
raids. Also the Bey agreed with France to terminate his revenue policy whereby government agents dominated foreign trade by monopolizing the export of Tunisian goods; this change in policy opened the country to international commercial firms. In 1830 the Bey (as in theory head of a de jure Ottoman province) reluctantly accepted responsibility to enforce in Tunisia the capitulation treaties negotiated by France, and various other European powers, with the Ottoman Empire over the course of several centuries. Under these treaties, European merchants enjoyed extraterritorial privileges while within Ottoman domains, including the right to have their resident consuls act as the judge in legal cases involving their national's civil obligations. Also in 1830 the French royal army
Military history of France
The military history of France encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years across areas including modern France, greater Europe, and European territorial possessions overseas....
occupied the central coastal lands in neighboring Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
Ahmad Bey
Ahmad I ibn Mustafa
Ahmad I ibn Mustafa was the tenth leader of the Husainid Dynasty and ruled Tunisia as Bey of Tunis from October 10, 1837 to his death on May 30, 1855.-References:...
(1806–1855, r.1837–1855) assumed the throne during this complex and evolving situation. Following the examples of the Ottoman Empire under sultan Mahmud II
Mahmud II
Mahmud II was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. He was born in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Abdulhamid I...
(r.1808–1839), and of Egypt under Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
(r.1805–1849), he moved to intensify a program to update and upgrade the Tunisian armed forces. A military school was founded and various new industries started to supply an improved army and navy. In a major step, the Bey initiated the recruitment and conscription of individual Tunisians (instead of foreigners or by tribes) to serve in the army and navy, a step which would work to reduce the customary division between the state and its citizens. Yet the corollary of tax increases for these military innovations were not popular, nor adequate.
Regarding the Ottoman relationship, Ahmad Bey continued the previous beylical policy, in that he would decline or reject political attachment to the Ottoman state in order to remain free of imperial control, yet he welcomed religious ties to the Ottoman Caliphate
Ottoman Caliphate
The Ottoman Caliphate, under the Ottoman Dynasty of the Ottoman Empire inherited the responsibility of the Caliphate from the Mamluks of Egypt....
for the prestige it brought him domestically and to discourage European state interference. Accordingly, Ahmad Bey repeatedly refused to apply in Tunisia the Ottoman Tanzimat legal reforms concerning citizen rights, i.e., those of the Hatt-i Sherif of 1839. Instead, he instituted progressive laws of his own, showing native Tunisian authority in the modernizing project and hence the redundancy of importing any of the Ottoman reforms. The Slave trade was abolished in 1841, slavery in 1846. Yet for many Tunisians these civil law reforms had limited application.
As part of his maneuvering to maintain Tunisia's sovereignty, Ahmad Bey sent 4,000 Tunisian troops against the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(1854–1856). In doing so he allied Tunisia with Turkey, France, and Britain. {IN PROGRESS}
See also
- History of medieval TunisiaHistory of medieval TunisiaThe medieval era opens with the commencement of a process that would return Ifriqiya, i.e., Tunisia, and the entire Maghrib to local Berber rule. The precipitating cause was the departure of the Shia Fatimid Caliphate to their newly conquered territories in Egypt. To govern Ifriqiya in their stead,...
- Hafsid
- Barbary CoastBarbary CoastThe Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary"...
- List of Beys of Tunis
- Tunisian ItaliansTunisian ItaliansThe Italian Tunisians were the Italians living in Tunisia who promoted the possession of this northern African country by the Kingdom of Italy and even promoted a form of Italian irredentism of Tunisia during the era of Fascism....
- History of French era TunisiaHistory of French era TunisiaThe History of French-era Tunisia commenced in 1881 with the French protectorate and ended in 1956 with Tunisian independence. The French presence in Tunisia came five decades after their occupation of neighboring Algeria. Both of these lands had been possessions of the Ottoman Empire for three...
- French occupation of TunisiaFrench occupation of TunisiaThe French conquest of Tunisia occurred in two phases in 1881: the first consisting of the invasion and securing of the country before the signing of a treaty of protection, and the second consisting in the suppression of a rebellion...
- Tunisian Campaign
- TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
- History of TunisiaHistory of TunisiaThe History of Tunisia is subdivided into the following articles:*Outlines of early Tunisia*History of Punic era Tunisia*History of Roman era Tunisia*History of early Islamic Tunisia*History of medieval Tunisia*History of Ottoman era Tunisia...
- History of AfricaHistory of AfricaThe history of Africa begins with the prehistory of Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, continuing into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Agriculture began about 10,000 BCE and metallurgy in about 4000 BCE. The history of early...