1806

1806

In 1806, Abdul Qadir Kan died.  Abdul Qadir Kan (c.1725-1806) was the founder of the Almamate of Futa Toro (Senegal) and was the ruler of Futa Toro from about 1776 until his death in 1806. Abdul Qadir was born into one of the most highly educated and devout noble Fulbe families of Futa Toro.  His grandfather had made the pilgrimage to Mecca in the late seventeenth century of the Christian calendar, when that was still extremely rare. His father had studied at the famous zawaya at Ja (Dia) on the upper Niger River, and then taught in Jolof and Salum. 

Abdul Qadir was born in his father’s village of Pafa Warneu, in Salum.  He was educated at Pir Sanoxor, Kajor, and in Mauritania.  He settled and taught in eastern Futa Toro, where he turned fifty before entering public life.  According to tradition, he was not a member of the reform movement launched by Sulaiman Bal, which had ousted the Denanke by the early 1770s. When Bal and his followers were killed in battle about 1775, a Denanke who promised to adhere to Islam was briefly restored to the throne.  However, a new clerical faction arose backing Abdul Qadir and forced the Denanke into exile.

Although he initially hesitated to assume power, Abdul Qadir proved the most forceful almamy in Futa Toro’s history.  He defeated the Brakna Moors, whose chronic raiding had helped provoke the revolution, and consolidated clerical rule at home.  He replaced the territorial administration with clerical appointees, reserving the top posts for his most trusted supporters.  These gradually became hereditary fiefs and the elite heirs the grand electors.  The principle was established that the Almamy should be chosen for his learning and piety, not by heredity.  The title of Almamy itself implied a religious rather than secular political leader.  Abdul Qadir sometimes also styled himself amir al-muslimin (commander of the Muslims) or amir al-mu‘minin (commander of the faithful), both titles that linked his rule with the early Caliphs of Islam.

Success at home inspired Abdul Qadir to invite neighboring peoples to join him.  His first formal diplomatic invitation to the rulers of Walo, Kajor, Bawol and Jolof were favorably received.  When a new ruler, Amary Ngone Ndela, succeeded in 1790 to the thrones of Kajor and Bawol, however, he refused to renew his predecessor’s allegiance, and Abdul Qadir called for a jihad.  In alliance with Jolof, he marched on Kajor in 1796-1797 at the head of the largest army yet known in the Senegambia. 

Calculating the odds, the Damel of Kajor scorched the earth and poisoned the wells.  In his own eastern provinces to save the kingdom.  The Almamy’s forces had to cross the wasteland for several days and arrived to find neither food nor water.  Parched and starving, they surrendered unceremoniously and were sold as slaves.  The Damel spared Abdul Qadir and kept him at court in style.  Then, when Abdul Qadir had been temporarily replaced as Almamy, the Damel released him and sent him home laden with rich gifts.

Abdul Qadir was reinstated as Almamy but never regained mastery of either the internal or external affairs of his regime.  All the neighboring states found his meddling in their internal affairs presumptuous.  In 1806, the eastern neighbors, Bundu and Karta, allied with dissidents led by Ali Dundu to invade Futa Toro and eventually overthrow the Almamy.  Abdul Qadir is said to have died on his prayer mat, in the midst of a losing battle, shot by the Almamy of Bundu, whose brother he had earlier killed.  His reign was the longest in Futa’s history.  After his rule, the state he created degenerated into an oligarchy dominated by a new hereditary clerical nobility.    

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{1220/1221 A.H. - MAR 21}

1806 C.C.

MUSLIM HISTORY

ASIA

The Ottoman Empire

Selim III recognized Napoleon as an emperor.

The Ottomans were unable to expand the Nizam-i Cedid conscription to the Balkans due to the resistance of the local ayans (June).

Ayan are local notables who participated in local provincial administration and controlled the province.  The increasing need for money toward the end of the 16^th century led the administration to contract out state lands to tax farmers, who, with their economic strength and increasing quasi-proprietary rights to public lands, contributed to the rise of the ayans.  Governors, instead of being present in their provinces were represented by deputies (mutesellim), who engaged in tax farming and generally had local power bases.

Since the peasantry suffered heavily from short-term tax farming, a different system was promoted from 1695 onward.  Under this approach, tax farms were assigned for life, with low annual tax payments.  Greater ayans could dominate lesser ayans at the level of kazas, or villages, by leasing out portions of tax farms to them.  Particularly in the 18^th century, the ayans became indispensable to the Sublime Porte for the provision of revenues and troops.  Ayans were also crucial for provincial and municipal administration.

Some of the greater ayans, also called hanedans (dynasties – such as Tepedelenli Ali Pasha (Albania), Karaosmanoglu (western Anatolia), and Capanoglu (central Anatolia) – controlled very large regions.  Mahmud II throughout his reign strove to diminish the political power of the ayans. During the Tanzimat period, ayans became members of administrative councils.

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War broke out between the Ottoman Empire and Russia (October 16).  The French emissary in Istanbul persuaded Sultan Selim III to tighten his grip on the disputed Danubian provinces (Moldavia and Wallachia), which led Russia to invade them.

Ottoman-French rapprochement occurred (December).

Russia occupied Moldavia and Wallachia (December).

Ottomans declared war on Russia (December 22).

Western Asia

A drought that afflicted the Hijaz until the end of the decade, along with the Wahhabi blockade of Mecca, caused great deprivation for the inhabitants of Mecca and led to the residents of Mecca have to resort to eating dogs.

Sa‘id ibn Sultan became sultan of Oman, Muscat and Zanzibar. When Sayyid Said (Seyyid Said ibn Sultan) became ruler of Oman, he embarked on a new policy of expansion along the East African coast.  Said established a main base on Zanzibar where clove planting was introduced in 1818.

Sa‘id ibn Sultan (Sayyid Said bin Sultan) is generally remembered as the greatest of the Al Bu Said rulers of Muscat.  Sa‘id’s rule began in 1806, when he assassinated his cousin Badr, and continued for half a century to 1856.  Anxious to re-establish Oman’s maritime position in the Gulf, which had been disrupted by the Qawasim “pirates,” he joined with British forces to defeat them.  Thwarted by the British imposed truce in his ambition to dominate the Gulf, he turned his attention to East Africa.  Said reasserted neglected Al Bu Sa‘id rule in Zanzibar and the adjacent coast and, through most of his rule neglected his domains in Oman.  He did add Dhofar to his empire, but upon his death it was divided between his two sons.

The construction of the Bayt ad-Din palace in Lebanon was completed.

Bayt ad-Din (Btiddin) is the site (near Dayr al-Qamar) on which Bashir II constructed his famous palace in 1806.  He later moved his seat of government there.  It was visited by travelers, including Lamartine.

Bashir II (1767-1840) was a ruler and mythical figure of Lebanon.  He was born in Ghazir in Kisrawan to the Shihabi family dynasty, which succeeded the Ma‘nid dynasty. Historians still argue over his religious faith.  Some say he was born a Sunni Muslim but later converted to the Maronite faith.  Others suggest he may have been a Druze.  It is almost certain that he died a Maronite.

Bashir grew up in the Burj al-Barajinah neighborhood outside of Beirut.  He may have received some education at the hands of monks.  He returned to Bayt ad-Din, where he managed an estate he had inherited.  He assumed the princedom of the Shihabi dynasty in 1788.  His seizure of power was not widely accepted and fellow princes within the family, supported by leaders of the Nakad Druze family, tried to unseat him.  He was ousted in 1793, despite support from Al-Jazzar, who had sponsored him.  He later assumed his previous position and exacted revenge on his Nakad enemies.  He was unseated again for supporting Al-Jazzar when confronted by the French expedition, and he left for Egypt.

He returned to rulership following the death of Al-Jazzar.  Between 1804 and 1819, Bashir II consolidated his government and extended his authority over parts of what is today Lebanon. After killing many of his enemies, he did not feel safe in the government seat at Dayr Al-Qamar, and he relocated to Bayt Ad-Din, where he built a magnificent palace, designed by European architects.  It remains today a tourist site, open to visitors and managed by the Lebanese government. Prior to the Egyptian occupation (1831-1840) of Syria and Lebanon, Bashir acted ruthlessly against a Druze rebellion and had Bashir Jumblat, the ultimate Druze leader, strangled.  The Druzes never forgave the prince for this crime.

Under Egyptian rule, Bashir acted hesitantly, wanting to please Muhammad ‘Ali (the Egyptian ruler without openly defying the Ottoman Porte.  However, he was ordered to be subservient to Egyptian rule in the course of the occupation.  When rebellions broke out against Egyptian rule, Bashir II loyally provided assistance.  But what caused Bashir II and the region the most harm, and eventually undermined the Egyptian presence, was the heavy demands on the prince to conscript citizens.  Bashir II also participated in Egyptian campaigns to disarm the Druzes of the Shuf.  In 1840, a revolt spread against the rule of Bashir II, and he was sent into exile in Malta. 

The Baku khanate was occupied by Russian troops.

The Baku khanate is an Azerbaijani principality that was centered around the town of Baku.  Arising in 1747, after the assassination of Iran’s ruler Nadir Shah, its economy was based on agriculture, salt, and oil extraction, as well as on the transit trade.  The Baku Khanate was occupied by Russian troops in 1806 during the first Russo-Iranian War (1804-1813).  Russian conquest of the khanate was ratified by the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) in which Iran renounced its sovereignty over a large part of northern Azerbaijan.  Russia’s rule was further acknowledged by the Treaty of Turkmanchai (1828) following the second Russo-Iranian War (1826-1828).  After the Turkmanchai settlement the Baku Khanate was abolished and the area became a part of the Russian Empire.

Russian troops put down an uprising in the Kuba khanate.

The Kuba khanate was a principality in Azerbaijan that arose following the assassination of the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah in 1747.  It was centered on the city of Kuba.  From 1758 to 1789 it was headed by Fath Ali Khan, who united and controlled all of the Caspian lands of Azerbaijan as far as Ardabil in the south.  However, in 1784 Russia forced him to relinquish most of his conquests.  Following Fath Ali Khan’s death in 1789, the khanate fell into decline and was occupied by Russian troops, who put down an uprising there in 1806.  Russian hegemony over the khanate was confirmed by the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813.  In the 1820s Russian military authorities abolished the Kuba khanate.

Central Asia

Muhammad Rahim became the khan of Khiva.  He would reign until 1825.

Southern Asia

Akbar Shah II became the Delhi Emperor. 

Akbar Shah II refused to meet Lord Hastings on equal terms in 1813 when he became the Governor General.  But Akbar Shah II did meet with Lord Amherst who became Governor General in August of 1823.

In Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Muslim laws were sanctioned by the British administration.

Southeastern Asia

British forces seized Bangka.

Bangka is a large island located between Sumatra and Kalimantan.  It has been the site of major tin mines since 1710.  The island was operated by the sultan of Palembang who began to introduce laborers from China, Siam, and Vietnam. British forces seized Bangka in 1806 and abolished the sultanate in 1816, but later in 1816 the island was restored to the Dutch who continued tin mining as a government enterprise.  The island also became a major exporter of white pepper in the 19^th century of the Christian calendar, producting ninety percent (90%) of the world’s supply.

The Batavian Republic was incorporated into the French Empire.

In 1794-1795, French revolutionary troops joined “patriots” (patriot-ten) in overthrowing the conservative Dutch Republic, founding the Batavian Republic, which survived until its incorporation into the French Empire in 1806.  Among the various reforms undertaken by the new state was to replace the VOC’s Heeren XVII in 1795 with a Comite tot de Zaken van de Oost-Indische Handel en Bezittin-gen (Committee for the Affairs of the East Indies Trade and Possessions) and to take possession of the VOC on March 17, 1798.  When the VOC charter, which governed Indies affairs, lapsed at the end of 1799, the Republic set up a Raad van Aziatischen Bezittingen en Etablissementen (Council for Asian Possessions and Establishments) and in 1803 promulgated a colonial Charter, preserving most of the existing system by making the colonial government responsible for the first time to the metropolitan government.  In 1806, the Charter was replaced by a more liberal “Reglement op het Beleid der Regeering enz.” The effect of these measures was limited, however, by the Napoleonic Wars and the occupation of the Indies colonies by Britain. The Republic ceased to exist when the Netherlands was occupied by France in 1811.

AFRICA

North Africa, Egypt and Sudan

Muhammad Ali campaigned in the Delta against his opponents.

Moroccan war vessels were stationed in the Straits of Gibraltar to intercept Russian warships at the request of the Ottoman Sultan.  This was done because Russia was at war with the Ottoman Empire.

West Africa

By 1806, about 150 tons of palm oil were shipped to Liverpool, and the figures rapidly increased as palm oil and palm kennel began to take prominence over the slave trade.

Oil River in Nigeria was the name given by British merchants to the delta region of the Niger River and its surroundings.  This area extended from the Benin River to the Cameroon.

The area got its name from the fact that there was an abundant supply of palm oil, which was needed in the soap factories in Liverpool.  Trading in palm oil started very early.  In 1884, the British entered into treaties with the Chiefs of the area who feared that the treaties might undermine their middleman role.

However, in the end, they yielded.  In 1885, the British proclaimed the area to be under their protection and called it the Oil Rivers Protectorate.  In 1886, the British also gave a charter to the National African Company, later known as the Royal Niger Company, a trading company in the area to ensure the smooth running and administration of the Oil Rivers.  In 1893, the Oil Rivers Protectorate became the Niger Coast Protectorate.

EUROPE

Southeastern Europe

Another Russo-Ottoman War erupted (December).

The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, which first occupied Moldavia, then Valachia and Bessarabia.

Belgrade fell. 

Mustafa Bayraqdar became the new leader of the revolt in Bulgaria.

The first genuinely Bulgarian printed book was published in Bulgaria.

Notable Births

Ahmad Bey (Ahmad I ibn Mustafa), the tenth Husainid ruler of Tunisia, was born.

Ahmad Bey (1806-1855) reigned from October 10, 1837 to May 30, 1855.  During his reign, he initiated important reforms designed to protect Tunisia from foreign encroachment.  Ahmad superimposed many ideas and institutions borrowed from the West on a political and social system still bound to traditional values and practices.

In the military field, he purchased up-to-date equipment, hired European officers as advisers, created a military training school at the Bardo Palace, and inaugurated the practice of conscripting Tunisian peasants for military service.  In support of his army, and to enhance Tunisia’s self-sufficiency, he also established foundries, textile mills, and other small factories.  Ahmad hoped his abolition of the slave trade in 1841 and the subsequent (in 1846) emancipation of the slaves in his realm would persuade the European powers of his progressivism and discourage any thoughts of intervention.  Although these reforms proved ruinously expensive, with few projects surviving Ahmad’s death, the years of his reign gave many of Tunisia’s future leaders their first real exposure to Western practices and ideology.

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The Husainids comprised the ruling dynasty of Tunisia from 1705 to 1957.  The Husainids are the descendants of Husain ibn Ali who presided over Tunisia during a period of increasing external pressures, which culminated in the establishment of the French protectorate in 1881.  The family retained the title bey throughout the years of French control that followed, but the office lacked any real power.  In a major political reform soon after independence, Amin, the last Husainid ruler, was deposed and the monarchy abolished in favor of a republican government.

The early years of the dynasty were plagued by the related threats of civil war and Algerian intervention.  While generally successful in coping with these problems, the Husainids, who were not themselves natives of Tunisia, realized the necessity of developing as broad a base of support in the country as possible.  With that in mind, the beys began to integrate tribal warriors into their army and to elevate members of the urban bourgeoisie, especially the ulama, to positions of responsibility in the government. 

The dramatic upturn to the economy during the Napoleonic Wars helped to solidify the relationship between the beys and their subjects, but the absence of effective Husainid leadership following the death of Hamuda Bey in 1814 left the country weak and vulnerable.  A series of disastrous harvests and a widespread commercial slump, aggravated by a depression gripping the Mediterranean world, provided European merchants with an opportunity to insinuate themselves into the center of the Tunisian economy by lending money to Tunisians on the verge of financial ruin.  The French occupation of Algeria in 1830 heightened the already serious risk posed by this European economic penetration by placing a major creditor on Tunisia’s borders, where its influence could easily be brought to bear on the bey’s government.  An Ottoman reassertion of direct control over Tripolitania in 1835 similarly jeopardized the bey’s autonomy.

Determined to avert both French and Ottoman intervention in Tunisia, Ahmad Bey launched a campaign to strengthen the central government and to make the country more self-sufficient.  However, the expense of such an undertaking necessitated tax increases that further undermined the economy.  More importantly, Ahmad’s unchecked spending left his successors with no choice but to borrow money abroad.  The highly unfavorable terms of the loans they arranged set off a spiral of indebtedness that placed Tunisia firmly in the grasp of its European creditors.

In the quarter century between Ahmad’s death and the imposition of the French protectorate, the Husainids struggled to maintain their autonomy.  Those years were marked by intense competition between France and Great Britain for economic and political domination in the country.  The eagerness of many of the beys’ officials to enrich themselves by collaborating with foreign governments and by participating in the ventures of European businessmen in Tunisia produced a debilitating atmosphere of graft and corruption in the capital.  In the hopes of appeasing the foreign powers, the Husainids consented to demands for such “reforms” as the Ahd al-aman and the Constitution of 1861, but this agenda primarily served the Europeans’ own purposes and failed to bring either political or economic stability to the country.  When statesmen at the Congress of Berlin reached an agreement on the disposition of Tunisia, a French occupation became inevitable.

The Treaty of Bardo signed in the wake of the French invasion in 1881, left Muhammad al-Sadiq on the throne, but without any real authority.  For the next 75 years, the Husainids reigned but did not rule.  The power of the Husainids was circumscribed by French officials.  This long period of political impotence, the beys’ lack of interest in (or sympathy for) the nationalist movement (with the possible exception of Munsif and the enormous popularity of Habib Bourguiba all contributed to the ease with which the monarchy was ultimately abolished and to the lack of controversy that its demise aroused after Tunisian independence.

Michele Amari (July 7, 1806 – July 16, 1889), an Italian patriot and historian who wrote extensively on the Muslim control of Sicily, was born.

 

Born at Palermo, Michele Amari devoted a great part of his life to the history of Sicily, and took part in its emancipation. Amari was also an Orientalist.  He is famous for throwing light on the true character of the Sicilian Vespers and served as the Kingdom of Italy's first minister of public education.

Amari became an important figure during the Risorgimento. He was a link between Prime Minister Camillo Benso di Cavour and influential Sicilians, helping to convince them to support Italian unification. Amari did so expecting Cavour to grant Sicily some regional autonomy after unification.

Amari's historical works focus on Medieval Sicilian history, including extensive works on the period of Muslim control. His efforts earned him acknowledgment as one of 19th century Europe's premier translators of Medieval Arabic writings. His Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia (History of the Muslims of Sicily, 1854) was translated into many languages, including Arabic by a group of Egyptian scholars in 2004.

Michele Amari died at Florence in 1889.

Bahram Mirza Moezz-od-Dowleh Qajar, the son of Abbas Mirza and the grandson of Fat’h Ali Shah Qajar, was born.

Bahram Mirza Moezz-od-Dowleh Qajar (1806–1882) was the second son of Abbas Mirza who was the youngest son of Fat'h Ali Shah Qajar. He was an educated and erudite man expert on many subjects, which won him the nickname of Mollah Bahram (Knowledgeable Bahram). As the uncle of Naser al-Din Shah, he was the minister of justice during his reign.

Napoleon Bonaparte extended a hand in friendship to Persia, deeming the alliance a helpful strategy for his ambitious and never accomplished plan to conquer India. Many military advisers were sent to Persia for the training of the Persian army. Bahram Mirza received such training under the tutelage of General Gardanne, which resulted in his authoring a book called the Discipline of War. Only one surviving lithographed copy of this book exists today, which is in the Moezzi family archives.

Bahram Mirza Moezzeddoleh is the founder of the Moezzi family. The Moezeddoleh title was reduced to Moezzi under the new law decreed by Reza Shah Pahlavi after the 1925 coup and ultimately the end of the Qajar dynasty. He died at the age of seventy six in 1882, leaving 82 progeny.

Bulus Mas‘ad, a Maronite patriarch, was born.

Bulus Mas‘ad (1806-1890) was born in ‘Ashqut and educated by a priest in Bshirri.  He entered ‘Ayn Waraqah school and learned Syriac, Arabic, Italian, and Latin.  He went to Rome for advanced religious study at the Maronite College, returning to Lebanon in 1830 to work as the secretary of Patriarch Yusuf Hubaysh.  In 1854, he was elected to the Maronite patriarchate.  He left several works on Christian theology.

İrşadi Baba (1806–1877), one of the most famous Sufi masters of his time in Northeast Anatolia, was born.

Irsadi Baba was born in Bayburt in modern day Turkey. He worked as an imam and he was affiliated with one of the Uwaysi lineages of Naqshbandi Tariqa. He wrote Sufi poems. He also started writing Stories of Prophets (Kisas-ul Enbiya) in a poetical form. His grandson Aglar Baba completed these series of poems. However, he lost the only copy of this book during World War I. Other poems of İrşadi Baba are well-preserved and published in the Turkish language. Unlike his grandson Aglar Baba, İrşadi Baba used a simple language in his poems. He was more of a folkloric poet and he rarely referred to the Scripture and Tradition. Some of the major themes he was preoccupied were divine love (Ilah-i Ask), Reality (Hakikat) and Asceticism (Zuhd).

Mawlawi Tawagozi (Ebdulrehîm Mela Seîd Mawlawi Tawagozi) (1806-1882), a Kurdish poet and Sufi, was born. His pen name was Madum or Madumi, but he is also known as Mewlewi Kurd.

Mawlawi Tawagozi was born in the village of Serşatey Xwarû in the Tawegoz region in Iraqi Kurdistan. He began studying under supervision of his father and later continued his religious studies in the famous schools of Ardalan and Baban principalities. He received his religious certificate from Mela Ebdurehman Nodşeyî in Sulaimaniya. Then he focused on training young students and writing literary works and poems. He was a follower of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. He was in close contact with other Kurdish poets and also Ardalan and Baban rulers such as Ahmad Pasha and Reza Quli Khan.

The works of Mawlawi Tawagozi include:

1. Eqîdey Merzîye, a book on Islamic faith and the science of Kalam in Kurdish. Mawlawi Tawagozi began writing the book in 1863 and finished it by 1865. It has been published three times so far.  Mawlawi also wrote two other books on the same subject: Al-Fazila in Arabic, and Al-Fawatih in Persian.

2. Eqîdey Mewlewî, a book on the Islamic faith.

3. Collection of Poems, Mawlawi Tawagozi’s most important work. It is written in Kurdish in a dialect with a mix of Sorani and Hewrami. 

Mirza Taqi Khan (1806-1852), a noted Iranian reformer, was born. 

     Mirza Taqi Khan was the son of a steward in the royal household, and through this proximity to people in authority, he was accepted for government work and rose steadily through the bureaucracy.  He traveled in Russia and worked for an extended period of time in Turkey.  His position in the royal household also brought him into extensive contact with foreigners, broadening his outlook regarding Western innovations.

When Muhammad Mirza Shah died in 1848, his 16 year old son Naser al-Din Shah succeeded to the throne.  His first official act was the appointment of Mirza Taqi Khan as his chief minister.  Escorted safely from Tabriz, the seat of the crown prince, to Tehran by his new chief minister, the monarch gave the title Amir Kabir to Mirza Taqi Khan which proclaimed him “first man of the realm.”  As regent for the teenaged Naser al-Din Shah, Amir Kabir retained complete authority from 1848 to 1851, a period marked by fundamental policy changes which set the course that Persia and the government would follow for the next 40 years.

During his earlier travel experiences, Amir Kabir began to visualize a modern Iran developing independently of British and Russian influence.  He began his reform campaign by increasing the size and strength of the Persian Army, endeavoring to create an entity which could defend the country with no allied troops.  He continued in the tradition of Abbas Mirza by sending young men to Europe for technical and scientific training, and put the financial affairs of the country in order which stabilized the economy.  The first regularly published newspaper was founded with his support, and the groundwork was laid for the development of a postal system.  The most enduring accomplishment of Amir Kabir’s regency was the establishment of the Dar al-Fonun polytechnic school in 1851, the first Western oriented institute of higher learning in Iran and the forerunner of the country’s university system.

Amir Kabir maintained complete authority to guide the country on its progressive path.  When the controversial Babi Movement began to cause civil disturbance, he stepped in and ordered the execution of the bab in 1850, more to restore the order of the state than as an act of Islamic piety.  The total control that Amir Kabir exerted from 1848 to 1851 turned the young Naser al-Din Shah into a virtual cipher.  The power and position of Amir Kabir was cemented with his marriage to the sister of the new king.  However, through a sinister blend of court conspiracies, foreign interference, and the immaturity of Naser al-Din Shah, the “first man of the realm” was dismissed from his powerful position in 1851.  Kept under house arrest for almost a year, Amir Kabir was executed by order of the Shah in 1852.  His death slowed the change process and brought independent initiatives to a halt.

Richard Wood (1806-1900), the British consul general in Tunis from 1855 to 1879, was born.

     The efforts of Richard Wood to promote British investments and strengthen the beys’ ties with the Ottoman Empire made the years of his service in Tunisia an era of intense Anglo-French rivalry.  He believed that substantial infusions of European capital would expedite the development of Tunisia’s resources and would shore up the country’s depleted treasury, while earning handsome profits for investors.  Wood’s carefully cultivated friendship with Prime Minister Mustafa Khaznadar facilitated the formation of the Anglo-Tunisian Bank in 1857 and guaranteed a sympathetic hearing for British proposals to augment Tunisia’s infrastructure with the construction of railway and telegraph lines.  In order to ensure the security of such ventures, Wood joined his French counterpart, Leon Roches, in urging Muhammad Bey to enat the Abd al-aman and the Constitution of 1861.  The consul further solidified the British position in Tunisia by negotiating in 1863 an Anglo-Tunisian convention giving British businessmen certain advantages in return for the adherence to Tunisian law.

     The establishment of the International Finance Commission did little to impede the relationship between Wood and Khaznadar.  Indeed, Khaznadar continued to award lucrative concessions to British subjects in the hope that Great Britain would support him in his rivalry with the commission’s chairman, the reform minded Khair al-Din al-Tunsi, and his French patrons.  Wood’s endorsement of Khaznadar could not, however, insulate the prime minister from the wrath of the French and Italian members of the commission, who demanded that the bey dismiss him in 1873. 

     The opportunistic Wood lost no time in opening lines of communication with his successor, Khair al-Din.  The new prime minister’s interest in a good relationship with the Ottoman Empire, combined with his desire not to become wholly dependent on France, enabled the British consul to continue to exert some influence over Tunisian affairs, at least until Great Britain’s Mediterranean policy, particularly its commitment to the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, shifted during the 1870s.  Wood, finding his superiors in the Foreign Office less and less interested in his plans for augmenting British influence in Tunisia, distanced himself from Khair al-Din.  French investors stepped into the breach with a vigor that alarmed the prime minister.  This British reversal, by depriving Khair al-Din of a strong European ally, doomed his efforts to temper French ambitions and he was driven from office in 1877.  Thus, despite Wood’s twenty-year struggle, the prospect of Tunisia’s entering the French orbit was a near certainty by the time of his departure from the country in 1879.

Notable Deaths

‘Uthman al-Bardisi, the Mameluke leader, died.

With Ibrahim Bey and others ‘Uthman al-Bardisi led the last attempt by Egypt’s Mamelukes to regain political control of the country following the withdrawal of the French in 1801.  Al-Bardisi benefitted from the decision in 1803 of Muhammad ‘Ali, leader of the Albanian regiment, to support him.  Muhammad ‘Ali deserted his former chief, Khusrau Pasha, the Ottoman governor, and pursued the latter to the coast, where Khusrau and his defenders were defeated.  With Khusrau imprisoned in Damietta by Muhammad ‘Ali, al-Bardisi assumed the office of Shaykh al-Balad, de facto Mameluke governor of Egypt.  His chief rival, Muhammad Bay al-Alfi was in England and thus unable to oppose him.

Al-Bardisi was soon placed under pressure from Muhammad ‘Ali, however, and by the competing claims of Muhammad Bay al-Alfi, who returned to Cairo in 1804.  Muhammad ‘Ali sought a large amount of back pay for his regiment, and Al-Bardisi attempted to raise the funds through stringent taxation, gaining him wide unpopularity.  Al-Bardisi’s inability to control the Mamelukes also aroused public feeling against him in Cairo.  In March 1804, al-Bardisi and his supporters fled to the south of Egypt after being attacked by Muhammad ‘Ali and his troops in the Citadel of Cairo. Al-Bardisi died in exile in 1806.

Mungo Park (1771-1806): Scottish explorer who was attacked and drowned at Bussa in Africa.

     Mungo Park was a renowned Scottish explorer who made two extensive trips through present day Mali. Park was the first known European explorer to visit eastern Mali.  His first voyage, which began in 1795, took him from the Gambia to the Senegal River and into the Bambara kingdom of Kaarta.  He was imprisoned by the Maures, escaped and then went on to Segou and Sansanding.  He was not permitted to enter Segou and was refused an audience by the Bambara king.  He then traveled west to Koulikoro and Bamako where he joined a caravan that took him through the Manding country to the Faleme River and back to the Gambia, where he arrived in 1797.

     In 1805, Park returned to West Africa, intent on sailing down the Niger River.  Reaching Bamako overland, he went on to Sansanding where he constructed a raft.  He left Sansanding on November 17, 1805, and was constantly attacked by hostile riverine people.  Unable to enter Timbuktu, he was killed, in present day Nigeria, during an attack on the Bussa Rapids.  His faithful servant Amadi Fatoumi, who finaly escaped from Bussa, brought back a description of Park’s final months on the Niger.

     Mungo Park was the first European to discover the easterly course of the Niger River and to take news back to Europe about this fact. In 1788, the African Association was formed in Britain for the purpose of the exploration of Africa and, more particularly, for discovering the route of the Niger River.  Mungo Park offered his services to the association, and in 1795 he started his first expedition beginning from Gambia.  On July 20, 1796, he caught sight of the Niger and noted that it flowed east.  He followed the river some distance and having lost his men – and being short of food – he turned back and reported what he had discovered.  Later, the British government became interested, and in January 1805, Mungo Park was entrusted with another expedition.  He then sailed to Gorce to organize the expedition which started in April 1805 with over 40 Europeans, including himself, his brother-in-law, Anderson, a priest, and a guide.  In August, they reached the Niger, but by then, most of his men had died, leaving only Park, Anderson and eight other Europeans.  By the time he actually started down the stream of the Niger River, Park himself wrote that of the 44 Europeans that left the Gambia, only five were then alive.  On November 19, 1806, Park’s boat started down the stream and was never heard of again.  He died with his men at the rapids of Bussa.