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| 1574 |
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| ESTABLISHMENT OF OTTOMAN RULE IN TUNIS. The Ottomans captured Tunis for the third and final time, putting an end to the Hafsid dynasty and the Spanish presence. They established direct control of the province but this changed in 1591, when a group of local Janissaries revolted, formed a council (divan), and elected a leader (dey) to share power with the governor. The authority of the dey was based in urban areas, while a bey appointed by him handled the administration of the countryside and the collection of taxes there. The beys, who commanded a military force, soon emerged as a rival center of power to the military elite in Tunis. | 1 |
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| 1577 |
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| Ottoman conquest of Fezzan, the southern province of Libya. | 2 |
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| 1580 |
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| French consul established in Algiers. The British also had a representative admitted in 1584. | 3 |
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| 1609–1711 |
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| Regime of the deys in Tripoli. The Janissaries revolted in 1609 and proclaimed one of their junior officers the governing authority, with the title of dey. Although the Ottomans continued to send pashas to Tripoli, their presence became symbolic. The deys, selected by the Janissaries or the corsairs, were the real power. | 4 |
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| 1609–14 |
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| Immigration of the Moriscos, Muslims who were only nominally Christian, from Spain. About 100,000 Morisco refugees arrived in Tunisia and Algeria. They were slowly absorbed into their new North African environment. In various localities they founded their own suburbs and villages and introduced innovations in irrigation. In Tunis they started the felt cap (shashiyya) industry and retained their own representative for tax collection. | 5 |
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| 1612–31 |
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| MURAD BEY, FOUNDER OF THE MURADID DYNASTY IN TUNISIA. This Corsican renegade distinguished himself as bey, or governor of the Tunisian countryside, and was awarded by the Ottoman sultan the title of pasha and the right to pass the office on to his descendants. With this official recognition as well as the control of force and of the revenue from taxation, Murad Bey and his successors emerged as the real center of power in Tunisia, overshadowing the deys based in the capital. The Muradid dynasty, which lasted until 1702, provided Tunisia with relative peace and prosperity. | 6 |
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| 1622–83 |
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| English and French conflicts with Algiers. Foreign relations between Algiers and European powers were strained in the 17th century by the Algerian capture of ships and Christian prisoners. England, Holland, and France were frequently at war with the regime and, in an effort to enforce or promote a treaty, the terms of which were quickly broken, often blockaded or shelled the port. Ineffectual negotiations thus resulted in English bombardments in 1622, 1655, and 1672. The French, moved by a similar antagonism and an unrealized desire to launch a crusade, bombarded Algiers in 1661, 1665, 1682, and 1683. | 7 |
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| 1630 |
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| French consul appointed in Tripoli. He was forced to leave in 1632 after an ineffectual protest concerning corsair raids. Despite this diplomatic rupture, French merchants continued to arrive in Tripoli and often performed diplomatic duties. | 8 |
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| 1632–49 |
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| Muhammad Sakizli, a corsair leader in Tripoli, seized power and gained the support of the Turkish militia. A skilled administrator, he established a program of taxation that ensured peace in the countryside. His foreign policy expanded privateering to include raids aimed at coastal towns throughout the Christian Mediterranean. | 9 |
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| 1659 |
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| French consul and merchant residence (funduq) established in Tunis. The site became the center of French commercial life in North Africa and housed all European merchants except the English and Dutch. In contrast with Algiers and Tripoli, trade with Europe, particularly France, developed as an important part of the local economy during the 17th century. Sicilians, Maltese, Neapolitans, and Calabrians also established informal commercial relations. | 10 |
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| 1659–1711 |
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| Restructuring of the Algerian regime. The Janissaries, who held effective power in Algiers from the late 16th century, revolted against the Ottoman governor in 1659 and appointed their agha, or commanding officer, as the governing authority. The aghas ruled with the aid of the Janissary council (divan) until 1671, when the corsair captains replaced the rule of the agha with that of a dey elected by them, and from 1689, by the Janissaries. Governors continued to be sent from Istanbul until 1711, when the dey was able to obtain from the Ottomans the office and title of governor. This system of government, based on a military oligarchy, lasted until the French occupation in 1830. The deys acknowledged Ottoman suzerainty but the Algerian state was quasi-independent. | 11 |
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| 1660 |
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| Construction of the al-Jadid Mosque (or Mosque of the Fishery) in Algiers, on the initiative of the military leaders. It bore Ottoman architectural features. | 12 |
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