Abu l-Hasan Ali I ( ar, أبو الحسن علي باش; 30 June 1688 – 22 September 1756), also known as Ali Pasha and Ali Bey I,) was the second leader of the

Husainid Dynasty The Husainid dynasty or Husaynid dynasty ( ar, الحسينيون) was a ruling dynasty of the Beylik of Tunis, which was of Greek origin from the island of Crete. It came to power under al-Husayn I ibn Ali in 1705, succeeding the Muradid dynast ...

and the ruler of Tunisia from 1735 to 1756.

Biography

He was a grandson of Ali Turki, governor of

Kef Kef may refer to: Places * El Kef (also transliterated as ''Al-Kāf'' or ''Le Kef''), a city in northwestern Tunisia *Kef Governorate, Tunisia Others *''Aram Bajakian's Kef'', a 2011 album by guitarist Aram Bajakian * ISO 639:kef or Ewe languag ...

, and the nephew of Husayn I Bey. After the latter came to power in 1705, he was appointed governor of

Sousse Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...

and then named

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

(1706). In 1724 he obtained the title of

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

from the

Ottoman sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...

. Two years later, Husayn replaced him as heir with his son Muhammad; Ali therefore revolted, and, with the help of the

dey of Algiers Dey (Arabic: داي), from the Turkish honorific title ''dayı'', literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 on ...

, defeated Husayn in 1735. Soon after his entrance in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, however, he was forced to pay a large indemnity to the Algerian troops camped under the city's walls, amounting to the load of 35 mules in silver, and to promise a yearly tribute of 50,000 rials to the dey. Husayn fled to Kairouan and tried to continue governing in

and the

Tunisian Sahel The Tunisian Sahel ( ar, الساحل) or more precisely the Central East Tunisia Region is an area of central eastern Tunisia and one of the six Tunisian regions. It stretches along the eastern shore, from Hammamet in the north to Mahdia in ...

. Ali ordered his son Younes to besiege him. Husayn was captured and executed in 1740, but the latter's sons,

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

and Ali, fled and continued the civil war, one from

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

and the other from

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. In 1741 Ali conquered the island of

Tabarka Tabarka ( ar, طبرقة ') is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia, close to the border with Algeria. Tabarka's history is a mosaic of Berber, Punic, Hellenistic, Roman, Arabic, Genoese and Turkish culture. The town is dominated b ...

from the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

, deporting 1,500 Christians to Tunis. In the same year he sent an expedition against the French

Cap Nègre A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal s ...

, which was captured by his son Younes. Médersa El Bachia Tunis

In his later years Ali had to face two rebellions. The first one was that led by Younes himself, who was able to seize Tunis, having the local authorities proclaim him bey. Ali besieged him in the citadel and forced him to flee to Algiers. The second came from the sons of Husayn, who were able to gain support from the dey of Algiers and invaded Tunisia with an army led by the dey of Constantine. The army reached Tunis, whose walls Ali had restored and strengthened with a ditch in the meantime. However, this did not prevent the Algerians from storming the city on 31 August 1756. Ali was deposed on 2 September and brought in chains to Algiers, where he was stripped naked and strangled twenty days later by partisans of his successor

Muhammad I ar-Rashid Muhammad I ar-Rashid ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد الرشيد باي; 1710 – 12 February 1759) was the third leader of the Husainid Dynasty and the ruler of Tunisia from 1756 until his death. See also *Rejeb Khaznadar Rejeb K ...

References

18th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century Tunisian people 1688 births 1756 deaths Beys of Tunis 18th-century rulers in Africa Tunisian royalty {{Tunisia-politician-stub