Historic Background Of Tunisia

Tunisia was once part of the ancient Empire of Carthage established by the Phoenicians. Phoenician merchants traders founded the city of Carthage in 814 BC at a location slightly northeast of the site of modern Tunis. Carthage became the capital of a mighty empire that dominated most of northern Africa and part of the Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia and Sicily.

The growing power of Carthage threatened the mighty Roman Empire and resulted in a series of battles known as the Punic Wars. During the Third Punic War (149-146 BC), Rome defeated the Carthaginians and completely destroyed their capital and the region now constituting Tunisia became part of the Roman province of Africa. The Romans lost this part of their empire to the Teutonic tribe known as the Vandals in 439 AD. The Vandals moved through the Iberian Peninsula, crossed the Mediterranean, and established their sovereignty over Carthage. The Byzantine general Belisarius regained this region for Rome after 100 years of Vandal rule.

The Byzantine in turn lost it to the Arab adherents of Islam in the 7th century. The Arabs proved to be most influential of all conquerors. Carthage saw a period of peace and prosperity from 1207-1574 AD under the rule of the Almohads who appointed the Hafsid family as their governors. During this period of Arab domination the region came to be known as Tunis, or Tunisia, from its chief city. The Arab rulers replaced the Roman-Christian culture with a Muslim way of life. The Ottoman Turks thereafter defeated the Hafsids and Tunisia came under their rule. In 1574, the armies of the Ottoman Empire conquered the region and established their hegemony over Tunisia. The Ottoman Sultans ruled Tunisia through administrators called ‘deys’ or ‘beys’ – the first of them, al-Husayn ibn Ali (1705-1740) founded the Husaynid dynasty, which ruled Tunisia in a semi independent way.

In 1881, the reigning bey signed the Treaty of Kasser Said, known also as the Bardo Treaty, which made Tunisia into a French protectorate. The early decades of the 20th century saw a growing dissatisfaction with colonial rule and the birth of an independence movement under Bourguiba. The French remained in charge of Tunisia through the Second World War, till November 1956 when the Tunisian National Assembly deposed the bey, threw out their colonial masters and proclaimed Tunisia an independent country. Bourguiba became the head of the country but was overthrown in 1987 by his Interior Minister Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Ben Ali went on to win the general elections in 1994 and 1997, giving legitimacy to his rule. Modern Tunisia is one of North Africa’s most stable and moderate Arab countries with good relations with most western countries.