| |
| 1859 |
| |
| Construction of a telegraph system begun by a French company. | 1 |
| |
| 1859–82 |
| |
| MUHAMMAD AL-SADIQ BEY. The last truly independent ruler of Tunisia was confronted by two major problems: European encroachment and state debt. Corruption in the bureaucracy and his own extravagance further weakened the state's finances. His capitulations to foreign interests and his repression of civil unrest made him hated by many of his subjects. | 2 |
| |
| 1860–83 |
| |
| The government printing press published 99 books, including texts on Western subjects as well as Islamic treatises. | 3 |
| |
| 1860, March |
| |
| Publication of the first Arabic-language newspaper, the government weekly al-Ra'id al-Tunisi. | 4 |
| |
| 1861 |
| |
| PROMULGATION OF THE CONSTITUTION, the first in the Islamic world. Issued in response to European demands, it promised a limited monarchy with an assembly (Majlis) composed of 60 members appointed from among the country's elite families. The Majlis was designed as a check on the bey's administration and had the power to make laws, set taxes, and direct the budget and military. | 5 |
| The constitution appealed to reform-minded government officials, but the ulama viewed it as a European-inspired infringement on their traditional role as advisers to the bey and authorities on Islamic law. It was abrogated in 1864 as a result of civil unrest and French pressure. | 6 |
| |
| 1863 |
| |
| The government contracted its first international loan from the French banking house of Erlanger at an interest rate of nearly 100 percent. Additional loans taken on onerous terms drove the treasury to bankruptcy by the end of the decade. | 7 |
| |
| Dec. 18 |
| |
| Anglo-Tunisian Convention. The agreement allowed British subjects resident in Tunisia, most of whom were Maltese, to own real property. | 8 |
| |
| |
