THE DWELLERS IN TUNISIA.
The wave of conquest has five times at least swept over Tunis, but, with
the exception of the Arabs, none of the conquering races have left any
visible imprint on the present population of the country. The levelling
influences of Islamism has well-nigh obliterated all differences of
origin, and the natives of Tunis are very often described generically as
Arabs. Of Arabs _pur sang_, strange to say, there are none, and the name
can only with any show of correctness be applied to the nomadic tribes
of the interior, which have all mixed more or less with the indigenous
Berbers. The term Bedouin is also frequently indiscriminately used when
speaking of the tribesmen of Northern Africa. This, too, is an error.
The term Bedouin in its strict sense is applicable exclusively to the
dwellers on the borders of the Great Desert.
The following classification of the inhabitants of Tunis may be
conveniently adopted, viz.:—(1) Moors, (2) Arabs, (3) Berbers or
Kabyles, (4) Turks, (5) Koulouglis, (6) Jews. The remaining race
distinctions, always excepting the large European colony, have no
practical importance.
The term Moors demands some explanation. It formerly served to denote
generally an inhabitant of Mauritania. This use of the word has now
entirely passed away. It then served to describe the Saracens, who left
Africa to conquer Spain and parts of France and Italy, and who at last
returned to the countries from which they came. The Spanish Moors form
in Tunis an exclusive and aristocratic clan. The word Moor is also
applied to the townspeople of the cities of North Africa, who are
essentially members of a more or less mixed race.
The picture of the Tunisian Moors has been drawn over and over again.
They constitute the most admirable type of the Moslem population. They
are generally well made, of almost fair complexion, and possess regular
and often noble features. Although they are no longer warlike
themselves, they are deeply attached to the religious and political
teachings of their creed, and have a considerable influence over their
uneducated although more hardy compatriots of the interior. Nearly all
the Spanish Moors in Tunis have adopted some kind of trade, and they
invariably show a marked preference for those callings which allow a
minimum of exertion and a maximum of indolence. They retail silks,
perfumes, incense, jewellery, drugs, and bric-à-brac, and it is
difficult to say whether foreigners are more impressed by their
dignified languor or their suave politeness. A scent-seller in Souk-el-
Attarín (Bazaar of Essences) at Tunis is a lineal descendant of the
Abencerrages, while his next-door neighbour (a living portrait of our
own Henry VIII. in his prime) represents the lordly race of the
Almoravides. They possess pedigrees of wonderful length and correctness,
and retain as heirlooms the rust-eaten keys of their long lost
Andalusian homes. They look on trade as no disgrace, and spend their
time in filling and sealing hermetically small phials of the otto of
roses and jessamine, in gossiping with their neighbours, and in reading
and discussing the orthodox _Jowaib_, the official organ of the
Panislamite enthusiasts at Stamboul. They look on the Bey of Tunis
rightly or wrongly as a traitor to the Sultan, anathematise the French
invaders under their breath, and await with patience the time when a
European complication will allow Abdul Hamíd to have his own again in
the Tunisian Pachalik. The Moors have a quick sense of humour, and are
able at an emergency to indulge in a keenly pointed repartee. The report
of the _procès_ Roustan-Rochefort translated into classical Arabic has
afforded them unceasing amusement since the beginning of the year, but
their excessive mirth over the adventures of the French Minister and his
friends the Musallis led them into indiscretion. Their proceedings
reached the ears of General Japy, who summoned one of the most venerable
members of the ancient confraternity of Moorish scent-sellers to appear
before him. “You are always talking against the French,” said the
general, “and you must be punished.” The luckless Moslem in vain
protested the contrary. The general informed him that he was sentenced
to lose his tongue. The instruments essential to the operation were then
produced upon a tray. Then and then only did the Moor forget his
dignity. Forgetting his ancestors of Granada and Cordova, he embraced
with feverish eagerness the feet of his judge. I need hardly say he was
pardoned, and that General Japy was only indulging his sense of humour,
and at the same time giving the offender a wholesome lesson in prudence.
The incident, however, will become a tradition of the Souk-el-Attarín,
and will not be forgotten when the good time does arrive.
The present Bey of Tunis has turned one of his picturesque old city
palaces into a public school for the Moorish youth. It was at the
Sadikya college I first perceived by experience the Moorish capability
of witty repartee. It was just after our defeat by the Zulus, and
General Sir A. Cunynghame, G.C.B., was going over the institution. He
was requested to examine the boys of the first class. The first question
he asked was an unfortunate one:—Could the students point out the
provinces lost by Turkey during the late war? If a thunderbolt had
fallen in the midst of the room, the sensation of horror produced could
not have been greater. The head-boy, with wonderful _sang froid_,
pointed out the states in question one after another, but he added,
“Perhaps _mon genéral_ will condescend to show us the province in which
the English have been so often beaten _ces jours çi_.” General
Cunynghame took the boy’s shrewd sarcasm in good part, and carried away
with him a high idea of the intelligence of the rising generation of
Tunisian Moors.
The inhabitants of the interior of Tunis are, with very rare exceptions,
the descendants of the conquering Arab race, which quickly mixed with
the Berbers of the country. The Tunisian Arab is naturally dark
complexioned, and is generally bronzed by exposure to the sun. He is
muscular and robust, and presents a striking contrast to his Moorish co-
religionists. The Arab is always brave, and generally active and
energetic. M. Roustan knew nothing of the Arabs, or he would not have
observed jocularly to M. Saint-Hilaire that “four French soldiers and a
corporal could take Tunis.” African Arabs are as a rule given to
hospitality, and never refuse a meal to a stranger. Twelve months ago
travellers could pass unmolested from _douár_ to _douár_ (encampment to
encampment) over the whole face of the country from Khamír-land to the
Tripolitan frontier. The Arab Sheikh looks upon _diffa_, or the feeding
of wayfarers, as a crowning virtue. Any European could always count on
obtaining food and lodging, but an Englishman invariably commanded a
welcome. The very name of England was a talisman to the hearts of these
simple-hearted herdsmen. They loved to ask about our Queen and our
soldiers, to inspect our breechloaders and revolvers, and to talk of
their brethren under British rule in the Blad-el-Hind. All this is past
and gone now. We advised the Bey to acquiesce in the punishment of the
Khamírs by the French, and assured both him and his subjects that if he
“co-operated” with the invaders the expedition would go no further. He
acted on our advice, but the French never found the Khamírs, and in six
months overran the whole country from Tabarka to Jerba. From the day the
French troops appeared before the Kasr-es-Said palace, Englishmen were
reckoned with ordinary Roumis and Giaours. The Arabs are good horsemen,
and make the best of their wretched flint-lock guns. If they had
possessed better arms, the siege of Sfax and the march to Kairwán would
have been a very different matter.
The inhabitants of the Tunisian Regency outside the walls of its towns
are divided and subdivided into a large number of tribes and fractions
of tribes. A list of these clans would only tire the reader, and the
names of the most powerful of them will necessarily occur over and over
again in the course of the narrative of the war. Each large tribe is
ruled by its Caid, who has one or more subordinate Khalifas. The
Khalifas in their turn are superior to the Sheikhs, who sometimes only
control a small cluster of tents. All these officials are invested and
appointed by the Bey, and they all pay an annual tribute in proportion
to the extent of their different governments. The manipulation of these
nominations has from time immemorial been a source of great abuses, but
of late it has become almost intolerable. “A reform of the list of
Caids” sounds pleasantly enough to the European ear. The dwellers in
Tunisian tents know too well what it means and what it costs.
The Arabs are capable of real patriotic feeling, quite apart from
religious enthusiasm. A year ago the very existence of a community of
Arab sentiment was treated as a myth. Europe is almost convinced now
that there is some kind of understanding rife amongst them from Tangiers
to Cairo. They appear to have combined to make a last stand against
extinction or extermination. It was to a very great extent the sending
of letters written in blood by the surviving Sheikhs of the Chiaïa tribe
to all the great clans in the Regency, immediately after the regrettable
occurrences of the 30th March 1881, which provoked the general rising
that very soon afterwards took place.
In considering the question of the capability of the Arab tribes to
participate in a general and concentrated movement, an important element
in the discussion is almost invariably omitted. I allude to the growing
power of the _Khouan_, or semi-political semi-religious confraternities,
which seem destined to cover the whole of North Africa with a web of
Moslem freemasonry. At the head of the associations are the Senoussia,
the avowed opponents of the French “mission of civilisation,” of whom I
shall speak at length in a future chapter. This powerful brotherhood has
sprung into existence during the last thirty years, but it now threatens
to overshadow if not absorb the older but less militant corporations.
Thirty-five years ago a remarkable report was addressed to the Duc
d’Aumale upon this subject by M. De Neveu, chef du Service Géodésique de
l’Algérie. Even then the author wrote that “it is absolutely necessary
to ascertain the political object of those confraternities, which have
undoubtedly produced a remarkable power of combination amongst
individuals, have furnished the means for an almost incredible rapidity
of communication, and seem destined to play an important part in the
affairs of West and Central Algeria.”[10]
These various orders differ chiefly in form, but they are all ostensibly
based on the pure tenets of Islamism as expounded in the Koran. Each
confraternity claims to have had its origin in a dream of its founder,
who is supposed to have received a revelation from the Prophet as to the
_thrik_, or most acceptable way of salvation. The associations having
sway in Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli at the present time are seven in
number, viz.:—
1. The Senoussia, or followers of Muhamed es Senoussi, having their
headquarters at Djárdúb or Djaghdúb in the Libyan desert, twenty-two
days’ journey from Ben Ghazi in Tripoli.
2. The confraternity of Moulai Taïb, to which Muhamed es Senoussi
originally belonged.
3. The Aissaoua.
4. The Kaderia, or disciples of Sidi Abd-el-Kadir el Djelani.
5. The Rahmania, founded by Abd-er-Rahman Bon Kobarín.
6. The Hausalia (a brotherhood of little practical importance).
7. The Tijania, or confraternity of Sidi Ahmed Tijáni.
The supreme director of an order is called the _Khalifa_ or
“lieutenant,” and who has _Mokaddem_ or “vicars” in each town. The
_Khalifa_ transmits his orders to his subordinates, who furnish him in
return with details concerning all political events which may occur in
their different jurisdictions. The seat of the order in any particular
locality is called a _Zaouia_, which seems to be at once a chapel, a
school, a place of refuge, an hospital, a library, and a political
debating club. The brethren are charged with the task of preserving a
complete record of contemporaneous events. The ceremony of initiation in
a confraternity is termed “taking the rose.” On two strangers meeting,
one often asks the other, “What rose do you wear?” If the person to whom
the query is addressed belongs to a brotherhood, he answers, “I wear the
rose of Sidi So-and-so;” if not, he merely replies, “I wear no rose, but
I am the servant of God and pray to Him with devotion.”
I am unable to pursue further an examination of the nature of the Moslem
orders, the influence of which it is impossible to underrate. As I shall
show hereafter, two of them at least have played already a considerable
part in the opposition offered to the French advance eastwards, and it
cannot be doubted that they are destined to a very great extent to
promote the cause of a Moslem union against Christian aggression.
The Kabyles, or indigenous Berbers, unlike the Arabs, are not nomadic.
They are not numerically important as far as Tunis is concerned, and are
almost exclusively confined to the mountainous districts of Kef and
Bizerta. Most of the masons, porters, gardeners, and manual labourers in
the city of Tunis are Kabyles or Djebelia. They differ somewhat in
appearance from the Arabs, and are perhaps not quite as hospitable. They
hold, however, in great veneration the _anaya_ or safe-conduct given by
their chiefs, and have never been known to violate it. They live for the
most part in stone huts covered with thatch.
The number of Turks in Tunis is inconsiderable, and so is that of the
Koulouglis or descendants of Turkish fathers and Moorish mothers.
The Jewish population in the Regency of Tunis exceeds 60,000, of which
about half reside in the capital. They are quite as powerful now as they
were once oppressed and maltreated. Some of their ancestors arrived in
Tunis soon after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus; a second
immigration took place in the time of the Emperor Adrian, and a third
was contemporaneous with the Spanish persecutions of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries. Their complete emancipation only dates from the
reign of the present Bey. During the time of his predecessor, the
English and French fleets came to Goletta, owing to Muhamed Bey
sanctioning the execution of an Israelite on a charge of blasphemy. At
the present moment the commerce of the country is almost entirely in
their hands.
The population of the city of Tunis does not at present much exceed
130,000 persons, which are distributed as follows, viz.:—Moors, 60,000;
Jews, 36,000; Europeans, 20,000; and miscellaneous native races,
including 2000 Algerians, 14,000. The European colony in the capital
consists of 10,000 Italians, 8000 Maltese and English, together with
2000 French. The story of the dealings of the rulers of Tunis with the
governments of the European colonists forms the most important part of
the annals of the Regency.
Some but not many of the Europeans now living in Tunis are the
descendants of Christian slaves. Up to the month of May 1816, the great
nations of Europe were compelled to repurchase those of their citizens
who had the misfortune to become prisoners of the cruisers of the Beys
of Tunis on the high seas. A large mass of correspondence still exists
in the British Consulate General on the subject of these humiliating
bargains, which were generally arranged by the fathers of the Roman
Catholic Mission. St. Vincent de Paul was himself a prisoner in Tunis.
The ransoms demanded generally varied from 500 to 1000 francs. A priest
who visited the Regency on an errand of this kind in 1700 has left a
most interesting account of his travels in a series of letters addressed
to his Superior.[11] The writer describes the thirteen _bagni_ or
prisons in which the slaves resided. He seems to have been pelted with
stones and soundly beaten when passing through the streets, and tells us
that the son of the French Consul was disabled by the blow of a Turk.
After much negotiation four slaves were purchased, and the priest was
requested to perform mass before the Bey, who kept all the necessary
vessels in a chest in his room. At the end of the eighteenth century
there were still a large number of Christian slaves at Tunis, but M.
Chateaubriand declares they were generally treated with kindness. The
ransom for sailors was then fixed at 230 Venetian sequins, but 460 were
asked for captains and women of all ages.
In 1842, at the instance of the British Consul-General, Colonel Sir
Thomas Reade, Ahmed Bey declared that the children born of slaves should
henceforth be considered free. A little later he enfranchised all his
own slaves, and his example was very generally followed throughout the
country. Finally slavery was formally abolished, and the market, on the
site of the modern jewellery bazaar, closed for ever. There is still a
large number of eunuchs and other negro servants in Tunis, but these
enjoy at least nominal freedom. From time to time a solitary negro takes
refuge in the British Consulate General, but a certificate of freedom is
always granted as soon as it is asked for. No Mussulman potentate has so
earnestly and so honestly endeavoured to carry out his obligations with
Europe in the matter of slavery as the Bey of Tunis and his predecessor.