Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The government of the Bey dynasty in Tunisia, in power from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, originated in protest against Turkish hegemony as the regional janissary corps of the Ottoman empire sought autonomy and local administration over the province. Tunisia emerged as a territory of independent principalities and harbor cities, setting the stage for wars between the Hafsid dynasty, the Ottoman empire, and the French and Spanish. In 1534, Khizirkhayn al din, also known as Barbarossa, distinguished himself by capturing Bizerte, la Goulette, and Tunis from the Hafsid dynasty, which had ruled them for three centuries. In 1535, Tunis was taken for Spain by Charles V, to be relinquished only in 1560 when the Ottoman navy under the command of Piyale Pasha and Turgut Reis defeated the fleet of Spain's Philip II in the Battle of Djerba. Shortly afterward, Spain returned Hafsid Sultan Hamid to the throne of Tunis. In 1569, Uluj Ali, the Pasha of Algiers, seized Tunis and held it until 1573, when Don Juan of Austria recaptured it for Spain. In 1574, returning with a large fleet, Uluj Ali defeated Spain and returned Tunis to the Ottoman empire. Domination of the Ottoman province remained fragile, especially in central Tunisia. In 1590, 4,000 janissaries in Tunis launched an insurrection and placed a Dey in power, with a Bey under his command. The Beys were responsible for military ... log in or subscribe to read full text