The Battle of Jouami' al-Ulama took place on 3 October 1700 near

Sétif Sétif () is the capital city of the Sétif Province and the 5th most populous city of Algeria, with an estimated population of 1.866.845 in 2017). It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is c ...

, Algeria. It was fought between the armies of the

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

and those of the

Deylik of Algiers The Regency of Algiers was an early modern semi-independent Ottoman province and nominal vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Africa from 1516 to 1830. Founded by the privateer brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Reis (also known as the Barbaro ...

commanded by the

Dey Dey (, from ) was the title given to the rulers of the regencies of Algiers, Tripolitania,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards. Twenty-nine ''deys'' held office from the establishment of the deylicate ...

Hadj Mustapha,André Raymond, ''Tunis sous les Mouradites : la ville et ses habitants au XVII^e siècle'', éd. Cérès, Tunis, 2006 and a newly elected Bey of Constantine, Ahmed ben Ferhat.Mouloud Gaïd, ''Chronique des beys de Constantine''

Background

In 1699 Tunisian troops reinforced with Tripolitanian ones invaded the

Beylik of Constantine The Beylik of Constantine (), Beylik of the Sunrise or Beylik of the East ( or ) as was its official designation, was one of the three Beyliks of the Regency of Algiers (the other two being the Beylik of Titteri, also known as the Beylik of M� ...

, at the same time as the Moroccan ones invaded western Algeria. The Bey of Constantine at the time, Ali Khodja Bey, was more prepared than his Mascaran counterpart, although he failed decisively in a battle near

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 g ...

against

Murad III Bey Murad III Bey (, 1680–9 June 1702) was the last bey of Ottoman Tunisia to rule from the Muradid dynasty from 1699 until his assassination in 1702, during the Revolutions of Tunis, a period of crisis that preceded the rise to power of Husayn I B ...

, and his commander

Ibrahim Sharif Ibrahim Sharif al-Sayed () is an opposition political activist in Bahrain, currently serving as the General Secretary of the secular socialist National Democratic Action Society (Wa'ad).

. Although his goal was not necessarily clear, he most likely wanted to incorporate

Kabylia Kabylia or Kabylie (; in Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ; ), meaning "Land of the Tribes" is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is ...

and Constantinois into Tunisia in a similar fashion to the Hafsid Kingdom.

Battle

After Ali Khoudja's decisive defeat, the

Dey of Algiers This is a list of the Beylerbeys, Pashas and Deys of the Regency of Algiers: Beylerbeys of the Regency of Algiers (1517–1588) Pashas (1577–1659) * Dely Ahmed 1586–1589 * Hızır Pasha 1589–1591 * Hadji Shaban Pasha 1591–1593 * Mu ...

Hadj Mustapha decided to elect Ahmed ben Ferhat as the new Bey of Constantine. The Tunisian army consisted of about 700 tents, while the Algerian army was barely 100. Thus,

Murad Murad or Mourad () is an Arabic name. It is also common in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Turkish, Persian, and Berber as a male given name or surname and is commonly used throughout the Muslim world and Middle East. Etymology It is derived ...

was absolutely amused at the number of Algerian troops, and ordered his troops to rest. The Algerians themselves were uneasy, and thus Hadj Mustapha decided that the only way for them to succeed would be to ambush them. During the night while the Tunisians were asleep, the Algerian army mainly composed of light tribal cavalry moved in and attacked the Tunisians, and massacred about 7,000 of them. Murad and his commanders had to flee, while the Algerians moved into the ruins of their camps. This defeat caused a rout, and Murad III had to retreat back to Tunisian territories, abandoning all of his gains. He attempted to raise another army to attack Algiers again. He also sent his commander Ibrahim Sharif to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

to recruit additional

janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

Aftermath

In 1702,

was raising an army for another offensive on

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. Ibrahim Shariff returned from

with a large number of Turkish

which pleased Murad III. although unknown to him,

, acting on secret orders from

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Mustafa II Mustafa II (; ''Muṣṭafā-yi sānī''; 6 February 1664 – 29 December 1703) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. Early life He was born at Edirne Palace on 6 February 1664. He was the son of Sultan Mehmed IV (1648–87 ...

, on 2 June he assassinated Murad III and killed his entire family, and restored Ottoman control over the territory, and ending the

Muradid dynasty The Muradid dynasty was a dynasty of beys that ruled Tunisia from 1613 to 1702. They were succeeded in 1705 by the Husainid dynasty. History The dynasty was founded by Murad I Bey, a janissary of Corsican origin. Ramdan Bey, ruler of Tunis, had ...

. He signed a peace treaty with the Algerians a few weeks later, ending the war with a ''

status quo ante bellum The term is a Latin phrase meaning 'the situation as it existed before the war'. The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no ...

''.Ibn Abi Dhiaf, ''op. cit.'', p. 95

References

Notes

{{Reflist, group=notes 17th century in the Regency of Algiers Jouami' al-Ulama Jouami' al-Ulama 1700 in Africa Jouami' al-Ulama