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| 1864 |
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| Tribal rebellion and suspension of the constitution. In 1864 the poll tax (majba) was doubled to meet the government's increasing foreign debt, triggering a rural uprising led by Ali ibn Ghadhahim (d. 1867), a tribal chieftain. Many tax collectors were killed as the unrest spread from farmers and tribesmen to the urban centers of Tunis, Susa, Sfax, and Qayrawan. The ulama and the military, previously tax exempt, also joined the revolt. The uprising was quelled when the bey promised to reduce taxes, retain local authorities as tax collectors, and rescind the constitution. | 1 |
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| 1866 |
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| Death of Mustafa ibn Azuz, a prominent member of the Rahmaniyya Sufi order, which he helped promote in Tunisia. At the government's request, he helped mediate an end to the revolt of 1864. | 2 |
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| 1869, July 5 |
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| TUNISIA'S BANKRUPTCY. Tunisia's major creditors—France, Great Britain, and Italy—formed the International Finance Commission to ensure Tunisia's repayment of its foreign debt, on which it had defaulted. The French gained a dominant role in the commission, which set up a repayment schedule and pressed for the bey to reduce government spending. The commission signaled Tunisia's loss of economic independence. | 3 |
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| c. 1872 |
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| Railway service between Tunis and La Goulette was established by a British firm. | 4 |
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| 1873–77 |
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| Reform ministry of Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi, the most prominent statesman of the century. He worked to reform government, education, and the economy, but he was forced out of office and moved to Istanbul in 1877. In 1867, he had published a manifesto called The Surest Path, which addressed the issues of European superiority and the importance of applying Western innovations that did not compromise Islamic precedent to strengthen the state. | 5 |
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| 1874 |
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| Death of the historian Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf, known as Bin Diyaf. He had served as a secretary (katib) for the beys for more than 30 years. His history illuminates the late 18th and 19th centuries and provides extensive biographical details of noteworthy personages. It is considered a major reference work. | 6 |
| Decree on the rights of sharecroppers (khammas). Sharecroppers traditionally received one-fifth of the harvest they worked on as pay, often given as a partial advance. The decree established a minimum wage, but bound the sharecropper to the farmer (fellah) by ensuring his perpetual indebtedness to his employer. The number of landless agricultural workers increased. | 7 |
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| 1875 |
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| Prime minister Khayr al-Din established Sadiqi College, the first educational facility not controlled by religious scholars. Instruction focused on European languages, sciences, and mathematics. Graduates assumed government positions previously taken by students of the Zaytuna Mosque college. The nationalist Young Tunisian movement was founded by graduates of the school. | 8 |
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| 1878 |
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| Death of Mustafa Khaznadar, prime minister under Ahmad Bey, Muhammad Bey, and Muhammad al-Sadiq Bey. A powerful but corrupt minister, he allowed European merchants access to Tunisian resources in return for shares and payments, a policy that earned him great wealth but increased his country's international debt and precipitated its economic decline. | 9 |
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| 1881, April 24 |
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| FRENCH INVASION. Troops advanced in a three-pronged attack on the pretext of a border dispute with Algeria. Muhammad al-Sadiq Bey signed the Treaty of Bardo (May 12), by which he retained the title of bey, but with severely curtailed authority. The French were given the right to secure the country's borders with their military forces. French control of the country was completed by 1882 and lasted until 1956. | 10 |
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| 1882–1902 |
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| ALI III (ALI BEY). The first bey to rule under the French protectorate retained only nominal authority. | 11 |
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| 1883, June 8 |
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| The Al-Marsa Convention officially established a French protectorate. Ali Bey renounced his authority and remained solely as a figurehead. The Husaynid dynasty continued in name only until the abolition of the monarchy in 1957, whereas real authority was vested in the hands of a French resident general, first installed in 1882. By 1884, the French supervised all government business. They left provincial governors in place and worked with cooperative members of the ulama. | 12 |
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| 1888 |
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| Foundation of al-Hadira, the weekly newspaper of the reformist followers of Khayr al-Din. This first private Arabic-language paper published by Tunisians promoted an agenda for social change that included both Western and Islamic components. It continued until 1910. | 13 |
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