Just as Tunisia was a pioneer in the opening of the last decade by sparking the Arab Spring revolutions, it was also a pioneer 175 years ago in announcing the abolition of slavery, the closure of slave markets, the abolition of taxes collected by the state against the background of that activity, and the emancipation of children born into families of slaves.
Tunisia revived yesterday, Saturday, the National Day for the Abolition of Slavery and Slavery, which coincides with January 23 of each year, a memory dating back to 1846 when Ahmed Pasha Bey I (the ruler of Tunisia at the time) decided to abolish slavery in the country.
Tunisia is one of the first countries in the world that decided to abolish slavery and human trafficking, and issued an official decree to that effect since the middle of the nineteenth century, and in 2018 Tunisia received official documents for recording its experience in abolishing slavery with the "Memory of the World" by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization "UNESCO" (UNESCO).
Early cancellation
On January 23, 1846, Ahmed Pasha Bey approved a decree that permanently and officially abolished slavery and slavery in the country.
It is noteworthy that Ahmed Pasha ruled between 1837 and 1855, and he was the tenth of the Beys of the Husaynis in Tunisia, who were a dynasty that ruled the Ottoman province of Tunisia since 1705, and then took their country to the country.
With this decision, Tunisia preceded the United States, which was witnessing civil conflicts between the northern states led by President Abraham Lincoln, and the southern states led by the President of the Confederate States Jefferson Davis, which rejected Lincoln's efforts to free "slaves", the issue that revolved around the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865 between Union (United States) and the Confederate States.
Before the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of slaves in Tunisia, Ahmed Bey I issued an order on the sixth of September 1841 prohibiting the trafficking of slaves and selling them in the country's markets, and also ordered the demolition of the shops that sell slaves.
In December 1842, Ahmed Bey issued an order declaring those born on Tunisian soil free and not sold or bought, then he issued an order requiring the emancipation of all slaves in the country and the final abolition of slavery on January 23, 1846.
Early progressive decision
Historians consider the decision to abolish slavery as one of the most important documents in the Tunisian archive, and one of the most prominent social reforms that enshrined Tunisia’s leadership on the Arab and Islamic levels. It is seen as a pioneering progressive decision compared to its time. France, for example, did not actually abolish slavery until 1848, while the United States abolished it in the year 1848. 1865.
In the context, the Tunisian historian and reformer Ahmed bin Abi Al-Diaf (1802-1874) says in his book “The People of Time’s Encyclopedia of the News of the Kings of Tunisia and the Era of Safety” that “this decision met with a great echo with the nations of freedom, mainly in England.”
Ahmed Pasha Bey's conviction in the necessity of abolishing slavery is first due to his “inclination for civilization that is based on freedom,” second because he did not practice slavery in his court, and thirdly because he was influenced by the campaign that Britain had led since 1839 to abolish slavery, according to what was mentioned in the same book.
Historians point out that Ahmed Bey chose a gradual abolition of slavery, and in 1941 he issued an order prohibiting the sale of slaves in all markets of the country, and abolished the performance (tax) that was imposed on this trade, and in 1842 he recognized freedom for the children of slaves born in the country.
The official decision was not issued in 1846 until it was approved by both the Pashmufti (chief mufti) al-Hanafi Muhammad Bayram, and Sheikh al-Maliki Ibrahim al-Riahi, considering that this decision was in line with Islamic law.
Ahmed Pasha Bey document that abolished slavery (from the website of the Tunisian Ministry of Justice)
The text of the decision, in which the Tunisian Ministry of Justice keeps a copy of its orders: “It has been proven in us that there is no doubt that most of our people in this age do not have a good ownership of those Sudan who are unable to do anything, according to what is in the origin of the validity of their ownership of the words among scholars, as His face has not been fixed, and the morning of faith has shone in their eyes since long ago, and whoever possesses his brother according to the legal method recommended by the master of the messengers at the end of his era in the world and the beginning of his reign in the Hereafter even that from his law which he brought with mercy to the worlds, the slave released his master by causing harm, and the street is shown freedom. So our consideration and this situation necessitated the companionship of those poor in their world and their owners in their lasts, that we prevent people from this permissible and disputed status in this situation, lest they fall into the forbidden investigation agreed upon, and repel their harm to their brothers whom God placed them under their hands, and we have a political interest in that, including not resorting to a sanctuary Governors who are not accused, so we appointed the righteous Sidi Mehrez, Sidi Mansour and Al-Zawiya Al-Bakriah. They write to everyone who comes asking for an argument in our judgment of his emancipation against his master, and it is submitted to us to seal it. "
Ali's order was issued on May 29, 1890, stipulating the compilation of the provisions relating to the abolition of slavery in the Kingdom of Tunisia, and it stated:
And yet, it is no secret that the holy man, the cousin of our cousin Sidi Ahmed Pasha Bey, issued his order dated 25 Muharram al-Haram year 1262 AH (January 23, 1846) to abolish slavery from the kingdom, taking into account the religious, humanitarian and political interests of his interest, and that he and his successors were among our ancestors. The sanctified ruled the annulment of the markets in which the sale of slaves took place, and all those who came to the queen were freed on the status of ownership and issued permission for workers to terminate to the ministry the violations related to property and warn them of the risk of neglect.
The abolition of slavery in Ottoman Tunisia
In his book "The Abolition of Slavery in Ottoman Tunisia" published in 2013 by the University of Florida Press, Academician Ismail Montana emphasized that Tunisia was the first to abolish the institution of ancient slavery in the Islamic world.
The book collected many Tunisian and European archive data and Arab legal documents to document the abolition of slavery in Tunisia, considering that the Tunisian rulers pragmatically responded to the increasing European economic and political interference in North Africa, seeking to protect the country's independence, and freed the enslaved blacks.
The book deals with the internal conflicts that revolved around the decision to abolish slavery in Tunisia, and it is believed that the Bey's decision was not largely supported by the population at the beginning, but the ruler adopted the abolition of slavery as a progressive reform measure to protect the integrity and sovereignty of his country and avoid the justifications for foreign intervention.
Montana, professor of history at North Illinois University, reviews the complexities of Tunisian society and culture, and reveals how European capitalism, political pressure (especially British), and evolving social dynamics across the Western Mediterranean region helped shape abolitionist policies.
The book examines the impact of the Tunisian Bey's decision on the slave trade that flourished and took root in North Africa and across the Atlantic, considering that the bold step triggered many debates between scholars and Muslim societies in view of a rich Islamic heritage that encourages the emancipation of slaves, mechanisms to enable slaves to free themselves, and encourage the integration of freedmen. From them in society, explaining how the Bey inferred texts from Islamic law to legislate the abolition of slavery.
The book "The Abolition of Slavery in Ottoman Tunisia" by its academic author Ismail Montana published by the University of Florida Press (Al-Jazeera)
For its part, the Ottoman central government later banned the smuggling of enslaved Africans into the empire (1857), however European (and British in particular) calls to abolish slavery and suppress the slave trade were read as another colonial attempt to regulate social practices and cultural values.
The Bey's decision was also influenced by his knowledge of the atrocities and suffering inflicted on the victims being transported across the desert to Tunisia, and the Bey, who was of Janissary origins, had an intimate experience with slavery, as his mother was a slave girl from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia around 1798.
During his reign, he undertook a number of ambitious modernization projects such as the establishment of the regular infantry army (New Order) modeled on the most modern European and Ottoman military institutions, and he saw the slave trade and slavery as immoral and inconsistent with justice and the spirit of history, and he was a preserver of the Qur’an and a master of the Turkish and Italian languages.
However, Tunisian society did not fundamentally change following the Bey's decisions, as slavery was mostly common only among notables and court officials, and on the other hand, his reforms and major projects - such as building the gunpowder factory, the Ahmadiyya library and establishing an advanced naval force - caused the country’s treasury to be exhausted, and starting from In 1869, European countries directly intervened in the affairs of the Tunisian treasury, and starting from 1881, according to the Treaty of Bardo, Tunisia came under French protection.
Montana's book criticizes the French researcher Robert Braunschweig who considered that Tunisia abolished slavery as a result of direct European pressure, presenting alternative explanations for abolition within the framework of modernization and westernization schemes such as those initiated by Muhammad Ali in Egypt and the reforms of the Ottoman organization, stressing that the main force that encouraged abolition was the Tunisian ruler. Himself.
In the third chapter of the book, the author discusses the slave trade, as is the case with other sectors, indicating that it was affected by the economic reforms of the ruling Husaynid family, and the desire to increase capital by expanding European trade.
The book "A Slave Between Empires ... A Transnational History of North Africa" (Al Jazeera)
It is exposed to the regional context of the Bey's decision. After the Napoleonic Wars, the years 1815-1841 witnessed an increase in British naval dominance over the Mediterranean, the French occupation of Algeria, and Ottoman maneuvers to confront these military interventions, and during this period, the Tunisian Beys borrowed heavily from European merchants, and this led to the intervention European aggressive in politics and economy in Tunisia.
Another recent book by Princeton University history professor Muhammad my father entitled "A Slave Between Empires .. A Transnational History of North Africa" by Columbia University Press sheds light on the biography of General Hussein, who was an educated slave whose origins traced back to the Caucasus and Circassian countries, before he He is sold in the Ottoman Empire and rises to the rank of military general.
The book tells the story of the struggle over the general's wealth after his death, analyzing the "supranational" dimensions of North African history.
The author places General Hussein - who moved between the two shores of the Mediterranean between Tunisia at the time of the Ottomans and Italian Florence - in the international context of the struggle between the Ottoman and French forces for control of the Mediterranean, and explains how this conflict affected socially and culturally the population.