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40-517: The Bardo Military Academy was established in 1840 in Tunisia by the government of Ahmad Bey . Its goal was to modernize the military in line with changing international standards and practices. Subjects taught included "military art and history, artillery, topography, French and Italian languages, and Arabic language and literature." As author Safwan M. Masri has noted, "Bardo was the first school in Tunisia not to be run by religious authorities," "marking

80-664: A Bey of Tunis had held a rank higher than Divisional General. The purpose of these honours was to emphasise the supremacy of the Ottoman Empire over the Regency of Tunis. Under a treaty with France signed in 1830 by Hussein Bey , a piece of land in Carthage had been ceded to allow the erection of a monument to Louis IX of France who had died there during the Eighth Crusade . On 25 August 1840

120-467: A donation of a large number of Arabic manuscripts to the Zaytuna mosque. State enterprise was also strongly encouraged. The businessman Mahmoud Ben Ayed was charged with building a small industrial complex to meet the needs of the new army. In 1840 a textile works was established at Tebourba , powered first by water-wheel and later by steam engines imported from Great Britain. Tanneries were also built, as

160-602: A large contingent of regular troops an Arab cavalry. Three days after his official entry into the city, the envoy presented himself at the Bardo Palace to formally invest Ahmad Bey with his insignia of office and present gifts. Named as a Divisional General in the Ottoman army in May 1838, he was later promoted by the Sultan to the rank of Marshal on 14 August 1840. This was the first time that

200-428: A new era of secular education." This Tunisia school-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ahmad I ibn Mustafa He succeeded his father Mustafa Bey on 10 October 1837. He had grand ambitions - to expand his army and create a modern navy; to build a new royal residence ( Mohamedia Palace ), a mint and modern institutions of education but neither he nor his brother-in-law

240-641: A position of supreme power in the Empire. It was during the Köprülü era that the Ottoman Empire reached its largest geographic expansion across Europe, Asia Minor, and Africa. In Ottoman legal theory, the Sultan was supposed to conduct affairs of state exclusively via the Grand Vizier, but in reality, this arrangement was often circumvented. As the Ottomanist Colin Imber writes, the sultan "had closer contact with

280-457: A strong state. Grand Viziers gained immense political supremacy in the later days of the Ottoman Empire. Power was centralized in the position of the Grand Vizier during the Köprülü era . Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was a powerful political figure during the reign of Mehmed IV, and was appointed to the office of Grand Vizier in 1656. He consolidated power within the position and sent the Sultan away from

320-736: The Deccan had substantially weakened. Asaf Jah I, however, refused to grant Chauth to the Maratha Confederacy during its onset in 1718 and in 1721, after the nobility of the Mughal Empire had the two Sayyid Brothers assassinated. However, the Marathas had already expanded up to the Narmada River , and entrenched themselves in that region thereafter. Baji Rao I later instigated war by collecting Chauth in 1723, and trying to expand Maratha rule in

360-600: The Hanafi school followed by the ruling families of the country who were of Turkish origin. All were appointed and salaried by the state and placed under the control of a sharia council dominated by the two leading jurists of their time, Sidi Brahim Riahi , the Maliki Grand Mufti and Mohamed Bayram IV , who was both the Hanafi Grand Mufti and the first in Tunisia to bear the title Shaykh al-Islam . The Bey also made

400-509: The Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbar . Saadullah Khan , Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Shah Jahan made the biggest contribution to the organization and administration of the Mughal Empire, he is considered the best of the long line of Mughal Grand Viziers. During the reign of Aurangzeb, Ali Quli Khan was bestowed this title. Later general Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung became Grand Vizier, his fame as one of

440-573: The 19th century, the Grand Viziers came to assume a role more like that of the prime ministers of contemporary Western monarchies. Forty nine Grand Viziers of Albanian ethnicity served the empire during the Ottoman period and most of them were southern Albanians ( Tosks ). Bairam Khan was the Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire, who led the forces of Akbar to victory during the Second Battle of Panipat . Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak , Grand Vizier of

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480-612: The 8th century AD. This position was later adopted by the Ottomans in the early 14th century, by the Seljuks of Anatolia. During the nascent phases of the Ottoman state , "vizier" was the only title used. The first of these Ottoman viziers who was titled "Grand Vizier" (French spelling: grand-vézir ) was Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder . The purpose in instituting the title "Grand Vizier" was to distinguish

520-657: The Deccan and beyond, causing the outbreak of the Later Mughal-Maratha Wars . Qamaruddin Khan was handpicked to be the Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire, by Asaf Jah I. He successfully repelled Baji Rao I during the Battle of Delhi (1737), and negotiated peace after the occupation of the Mughal Empire by the forces of Nader Shah . He fell in battle after being struck by a stray artillery shell, in battle against Afghan forces in

560-416: The Elder reformed the role of the vizier in several ways. Several viziers before him held an equivalent, but differently named office; he was the first who held the position of "Grand Vizier", during the reign of Murad I . He was the first advisor with a military background – his forerunners had come from a more scholarly class of men. It is also significant that he was the first of a political family that, at

600-578: The Ottoman Empire. However, after there were troubles between the Turkish grand vizier Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger and Sultan Mehmed II (who had him executed), there was a rise of slave administrators ( devshirme ). These were much easier for the sultans to control, as compared to the free administrators of Turkish aristocratic origin. The term vizier was originally used in the Abbasid Caliphate in

640-463: The Ottoman history, the Grand Viziers have also been termed sadr-ı âlî ( صدر عالی , "sublime vizier"), vekil-ı mutlak ( وكیل مطلق , "absolute attorney"), sâhib-ı devlet ( صاحب دولت , "holder of the State"), serdar-ı ekrem ( سردار اكرم , "most noble [commander-in-]chief"), serdar-ı a’zam ( سردار اعظم , "grand [commander-in-]chief") and zât-ı âsafî ( ذات آصفی , "vizieral person"). Halil Pasha

680-548: The city on hunting trips, thus stopping Mehmed's direct management over the state. Next, he forcibly removed any officers suspected of corruption; those who did not leave were executed. He also conducted campaigns against Venice and the Habsburgs, as well as quelling rebellions in Anatolia. On his deathbed five years later, he convinced Mehmed to appoint his son (Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha) as the next Grand Vizier, thus securing his dynasty

720-635: The effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world . It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate . It was then held in the Ottoman Empire , the Mughal Empire , the Sokoto Caliphate , the Safavid Empire and Cherifian Empire of Morocco . In the Ottoman Empire, the grand vizier held the imperial seal and could convene all other viziers to attend to affairs of

760-458: The fact that he had been received with the honours customarily reserved for an independent sovereign, displeased the Ottoman authorities as the Bey was, at least theoretically, an Ottoman vassal. According to the Tunisian historian Mohamed Bayram V , the Bey's reforms were focused on state structures, the army and education. He established a modern structure of government and gave his high officials

800-543: The first stone was laid in the cathedral of Carthage . Ahmad Bey also permitted the Christian community of Tunis, consisting mainly of European merchants, to enlarge their small church near the Bab el Bhar . In June and July 1846 the Duke of Montpensier , son of King Louis Philippe of France visited Tunis and Carthage. He was received with great solemnity by Ahmad Bey. During this visit

840-412: The holder of the sultan's seal from other viziers. The initially more frequently used title of vezir-ı a’zam ( وزیر اعظم ) was gradually replaced by another one, sadr-ı a’zam ( صدر اعظم from Arabic صَدْر "front part, bosom, forehead, lead, forefront" and أعْظَم "superior, major, maximal, paramount, grand", informally pronounced sadrazam ), both meaning "grand vizier" in practice. Throughout

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880-604: The idea of a reciprocal visit of the Bey to France was proposed. This visit was organised by his advisor Giuseppe Raffo (whose sister was married to his uncle) and the French consul, and took place in November 1846. King Louis Philippe received Ahmad Bey with great ceremony. This visit confirmed the Bey's wish to modernise his country by learning from Europe. An 1897 article in La Revue tunisienne described its effect on his plans: Among all

920-435: The insignia of office. The Ottoman envoy, Osman Bey, arrived in la Goulette on 15 May 1838 on board a frigate. The following day, Osman Bey made his official entry into Tunis on horseback, preceded by all the ministers of the beylical cabinet who went before him until he was two leagues from the city. Before him were carried the sword of honour and the caftan to be presented to the Bey. He was escorted by spahis and followed by

960-414: The lack of expertise in his government. Although most other rulers of his dynasty in the 18th and 19th centuries maintained a harem as well as having official wives, Ahmad Bey had only one wife and one concubine. Before the abolition of slavery, he habitually offered to his courtiers any odalisques given to him as presents. He had two children who died in infancy, so he died without direct issue. and

1000-473: The marvels he had occasion to admire, he was most particularly struck by the ingenious applications of industrial engineering; he conceived at that time the noble project of pulling native industry out of the routine into which it had fallen by encouraging it to embark on the road to progress and of endowing his country with modern industry, equipped with the means of production, of which the economic benefits had been revealed to him. The Bey's visit to France, and

1040-593: The military academy at Bardo in March 1840, which supported the development of the beylical army, numbering as many as 5,000 men in seven infantry regiments, four artillery regiments and two cavalry regiments. At the same time, the Bey reformed religious education at the Al-Zaytuna Mosque , bringing in thirty professors, of whom fifteen were for the Maliki school of jurisprudence which prevailed in Tunisia, and fifteen followed

1080-461: The most greatest military leaders in the Mughal Empire would lead to his downfall when rogue generals executed him in a power struggle after the death of Aurangzeb. In 1718, Balaji Vishwanath , leader of the antagonistic Maratha Confederacy , secured the right to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from the Subahs of the Mughal Empire by the rogue Vizier Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha , whose grip over

1120-472: The pages of the privy chamber, the kapi agha , the kizlar agha or with other courtiers than he did with the Grand Vizier, and these too could petition the sultan on their own or somebody else’s behalf. He might, too, be more inclined to take the advice of his mother, a concubine, or the head gardener at the helm of the royal barge, than of the Grand Vizier". After the Tanzimat period of the Ottoman Empire in

1160-518: The royal palaces at the Bardo , La Goulette and Mohamedia . The latter, known as the Salehia after the name of the local saint Sidi Saleh, was rarely used by the Bey despite the enormous cost of its construction. Although he had a great desire for reform, particularly in economic and military matters, his initiatives ultimately had little success because of a poor understanding of their financial consequences and

1200-501: The security home of Ahmad Bey's reforms wasted money, such as the large frigate built at La Goulette that could not make it through the channel to the sea. of Tunis and Mohamed Lasram IV as Minister of the Pen. The historian Ibn Abi Dhiaf was the Bey's private secretary. Among Ahmad Bey's successes may be counted the abolition of slavery in January 1846. To this may be added the formation of

1240-400: The siege was won by Mehmed II , the Younger was executed for his opposition. After his death, the position of Grand Vizier was chosen nearly exclusively from the kul system. Often, the men who were chosen had a Byzantine or Balkan background. According to Gábor, this was usually a political move, designed to appease powerful European factions to Ottoman supremacy. In fact, it was easier for

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1280-669: The state; the viziers in conference were called " Kubbealtı viziers" in reference to their meeting place, the Kubbealtı ('under the dome') in Topkapı Palace . His offices were located at the Sublime Porte . Today, the Prime Minister of Pakistan is referred to in Urdu as Wazir-e-azam , which translates literally to grand vizier. Initially, the grand viziers were exclusively of Turk origin in

1320-455: The sultan to control an enslaved and non-Turk administrator. In the Ottoman Empire, executing a Grand Vizier of Turkish origin (in the event they were rebellious) and an enslaved foreigner would also give rise to different reactions. Further, the devshirme were less subject to influence from court factions. From the very beginning, the Turcoman were a danger that undermined the Sultan's creation of

1360-451: The time, rivaled the Ottoman dynasty itself. Several of Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder's kin went on to hold the office of Grand Vizier in the decades following his death. Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger , the grandson of Pasha the Elder, was also highly influential in shaping the role of the Grand Vizier. During the reign of Mehmed II, the Younger opposed the siege of Constantinople and the ongoing hostilities with Christians. Two days after

1400-506: The title of 'minister'. His senior ministers were his Grand Vizier Mustafa Sahib at-Taba'a , Mustapha Khaznadar , Minister of Finance and of the Interior, Mustafa Agha as Minister of War, Mahmoud Khodja as Minister of the Navy and Giuseppe Raffo as Foreign Minister. At certain times Mahmoud Ben Ayed also served as Trade Minister, Kuchuk Muhammad in the honorific post of Minister in charge of

1440-440: The year 1748. After defeating Ahmad Shah Durrani , the new Mughal emperor, Ahmad Shah Bahadur , posted Safdarjung , Nawab of Oudh as Mughal Grand Vizier, Feroze Jung III as Mir Bakshi and Muin ul-Mulk (Mir Mannu) , the son of late Grand Vizier Qamaruddin Khan , as the governor of Punjab . Safdarjung 's efforts to defend the reign of Ahmad Shah Bahadur from treacherous subjects failed. Shuja-ud-Daula served as

1480-429: The young Mustapha Khaznadar who served as his finance minister, had a clear idea of what such initiatives would cost. As a result, many of his projects became expensive failures which damaged the financial health of the country. Soon after his accession, Ahmad Bey received the traditional Firman from the Sublime Porte which formally invested him with authority to rule from the Ottoman Empire and furnished him with

1520-414: Was a cannon foundry at Bardo, a gunpowder works and a flour-mill at Djedeida . Supporting these innovations were new government offices - the rabta managing state grain silos; the ghaba in charge of olive oil forests; and the ghorfa , the central state procurement office, as well as a mint at Bardo. Not all of his initiatives were successful however – he had a new frigate built at La Goulette which

1560-450: Was so large it could not fit in the channel down to the sea. Ahmad Bey's modernisations had little impact on the economy or the life of Tunis, or on the institutions of the Regency. He did not appear to be much interested in urban developments or the improvement of Tunis, other than rebuilding the Bab al Jazira mosque, and restoring the Bab el Bhar in 1847 and 1848. More of his attention went on

1600-550: Was succeeded by his cousin Muhammad Bey . He died in 1855 in the summer palace of Sharfiya, at La Goulette, and was buried in the Tourbet el Bey in the Medina of Tunis . Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( Persian : وزيرِ اعظم , romanized :  vazîr-i aʾzam ; Ottoman Turkish : صدر اعظم , romanized :  sadr-ı aʾzam ; Turkish : sadrazam ) was the title of

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