Al-Husayn I ibn Ali

حسين بن علي التركي

1675 CE · 1086 AH† – 1740 CE · 1153 AH† †

† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.

Qayrawan

Al-Husayn I ibn Ali (1675–1740), Husayn ibn Ali (may God be pleased with him) al-Turki, was the founder of the Husainid dynasty of Tunis ¹. A Kouloughli born at Le Kef, son of the Cretan-born janissary officer Ali Turki and a Tunisian mother of the Charni tribe, he rose through the last Muradid beys' service and Ibrahim Sharif's, and on Ibrahim's capture by the Dey of Algiers took command of the Turkish army and was proclaimed bey on 12 July 1705, taking office on 15 July ². He unified the country, built madrasas and the El Jedid Mosque, and settled the succession on his sons; his nephew Ali Pasha's revolt, backed by Algiers, defeated him at Smindja on 4 September 1735, and after five years holding out at Kairouan he was captured and beheaded there in 1740 — the French, Italian and Spanish articles give 13 May, the English 13 September ³.