Ahmad I ibn Mustafa
Ahmad I (Arabic: أبو العباس أحمد باشا باي), born 2 December 1805 in Tunis[1] died 30 May 1855 at La Goulette,[2] was the tenth Husainid Bey of Tunis, ruling from 1837 until his death.[1] He was responsible for the abolition of slavery in Tunisia in 1846.[3]
Ahmad I ibn Mustafa
10 October 1837 – 30 May 1855
2 December 1805
30 May 1855 (aged 49)
He succeeded his father Mustafa Bey on 10 October 1837.[4] He had grand ambitions - to expand his army and create a modern navy; to build a new royal residence (Mohamedia Palace), a mint and modern institutions of education but neither he nor his brother-in-law the young Mustapha Khaznadar who served as his finance minister, had a clear idea of what such initiatives would cost. As a result, many of his projects became expensive failures which damaged the financial health of the country.[5]
Family life[edit]
Although most other rulers of his dynasty in the 18th and 19th centuries maintained a harem as well as having official wives, Ahmad Bey had only one wife and one concubine. Before the abolition of slavery, he habitually offered to his courtiers any odalisques given to him as presents. He had two children who died in infancy, so he died without direct issue.[21] and was succeeded by his cousin Muhammad Bey.[22]
He died in 1855 in the summer palace of Sharfiya, at La Goulette, and was buried in the Tourbet el Bey in the Medina of Tunis.[23]