Ahmad Bey (Husaynid ruler of Tunis, 1837–1855)

Ahmad Bey was the tenth Husaynid ruler of Tunis, reigning from 1837 to 1855. He sought to modernise the army and the state on western lines, abolished slavery in 1846, and left a treasury exhausted by his ostentation.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), article signed G. Yver and M. Emerit, describes Ahmad Bey as the tenth ruler of the Husaynid dynasty (1837–1855). He proclaimed himself commander-in-chief and tried to modernise the army. He sent Tunisian officers to Europe, engaged European advisers and French officers, but the French could not instil discipline or form reliable regiments. A 10,000-man contingent sent to the Crimean war was quartered in the Caucasus, where epidemics destroyed it. He founded a polytechnic in 1838 to train officers, which ceased after the campaign; he also tried to create a navy at Porto Farina, but the frigate built there was unseaworthy and the port silted up. ¹

He resisted Ottoman claims to suzerainty and tribute, and sought French support, which kept the Porte from interfering in Tunisia. In 1846 he visited Paris and received from the Porte a khatt-i sherif that recognised him as an independent sovereign. He built the Muhammadiyya palace near Tunis, which was still unfinished at the end of his reign. His favourites and ministers, Raffo and the Greek Mustafa Khaznadar, who was finance minister from 1837 to 1873, drained the treasury. Revolts in 1840 and 1842 were suppressed, but he could not impose his will on the mountain tribes. ¹

Ahmad also introduced reforms. In 1841 he prohibited the sale of slaves and freed his household slaves, and in 1846 he formally abolished slavery throughout the Regency. He promoted education: the abbé Bourgade, who had been allowed to build the chapel of Saint Louis at Carthage, founded a hospital in 1843 and two years later the Saint Louis college, open to boys of all creeds. French influence became dominant in Tunisia through education and the commerce of Marseilles. ²