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| Karamanli dynasty | |
|---|---|
| Country | Tripolitania |
| Founded | 1711 |
| Founder | Ahmed Karamanli |
| Final ruler | Ali II Karamanli |
| Titles | Pasha |
| Deposition | 1832 |
TheKaramanli dynasty (also spelledCaramanli orQaramanli) was an autonomousdynasty that ruledOttoman Tripolitania from 1711 to 1835. Their territory comprisedTripoli and its surroundings in present-dayLibya. At its peak, the Karamanli dynasty's influence reachedCyrenaica andFezzan, covering most of Libya. The founder of the dynasty wasAhmed Karamanli, a descendant of the medievalKaramanids. The most well-known Karamanli ruler wasYusuf ibn Ali Karamanli who reigned from 1795 to 1832, who foughta war with the United States between 1801 and 1805. Ali II was the last of the dynasty.
In the early 18th century, theOttoman Empire was losing its grip on itsNorth African holdings, includingTripolitania. A period of civil war ensued, with no ruler able to hold office for more than a year.Ahmed Karamanli, aJanissary and popular cavalry officer, murdered the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and seized the throne in the1711 Karamanli coup. After persuading the Ottomans to recognize him as governor, Ahmed established himself as pasha and made his post hereditary. Though Tripolitania continued to pay nominal tribute to the Ottomanpadishah, it otherwise acted as an independent kingdom.
An intelligent and able man, Ahmed greatly expanded his city's economy, particularly through the employment ofcorsairs on crucialMediterranean shipping routes; nations that wished to protect their ships from the corsairs were forced to pay tribute to the pasha. On land, Ahmed expanded Tripolitania's control as far asFezzan andCyrenaica before his 1745 death.
Ahmad's successors proved to be less capable than himself, preventing the state from ever achieving the brief golden ages of itsBarbary neighbors, such asAlgiers orTunis.[1] However, the region's delicate balance of power allowed the Karamanli to survive several dynastic crises without invasion.[1]
'Ali ibn Mehmed neglected the affairs of state in the 1780s and delegated most of his power to his eldest son Hasan, whom he appointed as bey. The assassination of Hasan Bey in June 1790 by 'Ali's youngest sonYusuf Karamanli triggered a war of succession between Yusuf andHamet Karamanli ('Ali's middle son, whom he appointed as bey after Hasan's death). In 1793, Ottoman officerAli Burghul intervened, deposed Hamet and briefly restored Tripolitania to Ottoman rule. However, 'Ali, Hamet and Yusuf Karamanli returned to Tripolitania in January 1794 with the aid of the bey of Tunis, expelled Burghul and reestablished Tripolitania'sde facto independence under nominal Ottoman suzerainty. 'Ali formally abdicated in favour of Hamet, but Yusuf deposed Hamet within several months of the restoration, and ruled as bey of Tripoli during 1795–1832.
In 1801, Yusuf demanded a tribute of $225,000 fromUnited StatesPresidentThomas Jefferson. Jefferson, confident in the ability of the newUnited States Navy to protect American shipping, refused the Pasha's demands, leading the Pasha to unofficially declare war, in May 1801, by chopping down the flagpole before the American consulate. Jefferson responded by ordering the US Navy into the Mediterranean, successfully blockading Tripolitania's harbors in 1803. After some initial military successes, most notably the capture of theUSS Philadelphia, the pasha soon found himself threatened with invasion by American ground forces following theBattle of Derna and the reinstatement of his deposed brother, Hamet Karamanli, recruited by the American army officerWilliam Eaton. On June 10, 1805, he signed theTreaty of Peace and Amity ending the war.
Karamanli domination of the Fezzan was consolidated during the 18th century.[2] In the early 19th century, Yusuf expanded Karamanli influence further by sending expeditions south to consolidate control of the trans-Saharan trade routes leading toKanem–Bornu.[2] By 1807 he was able to force all the tribes of Cyrenaica and the Fezzan, including the Awlad Sulayman, to submit to him, and brought the Fezzan under direct control.[3] Military expeditions into the central Sahara helped to secure the trade routes in 1816.[2] In 1817, Muhammad al-Mukni, theBey of Fezzan under Karamanli authority, obtained permission from Yusuf to assistMuhammad al-Kanimi, thede facto ruler of Kanem–Bornu, in the latter's war against the neighbouring kingdom ofBaghirmi.[3] From 1819 onward Yusuf started planning for a conquest of Bornu,[3] but the military expeditions that did take place seemed to be focused on profiting from the slave trade rather than on establishing administrative control over the region.[2] In 1821, Mustafa al-Ahmar (al-Mukni's successor as Bey of Fezzan) led another expedition to theLake Chad region to assist al-Kanimi, which was successful and returned with a large number of slaves.[3][2] By 1821 Yusuf also agreed to aid the British in sending heir explorers to Bornu, but they encountered difficulties when al-Kanimi learned of Yusuf's designs on Bornu.[3] Yusuf prepared an army in the Fezzan for a major expedition against Bornu, but he needed external assistance to fund the campaign. Mustafa al-Ahmar's death in 1823 also led to delays. When his requests for a loan from the British failed in 1824, he abandoned his plans of conquering Bornu.[3]
By 1819, the various treaties of theNapoleonic Wars had forced the Barbary states to give up piracy almost entirely, and Tripolitania's economy began to crumble.[5] Yusuf attempted to compensate for lost revenue by encouraging thetrans-Saharan slave trade, but withabolitionist sentiment on the rise inEurope and to a lesser degree the United States, this failed to salvage Tripolitania's economy. As Yusuf weakened, factions sprung up around his three sons; though Yusuf abdicated in 1832 in favor of his son Ali II, civil war soon resulted. Ottoman SultanMahmud II sent in troops ostensibly to restore order, but instead deposed and exiled Ali II, marking the end of both the Karamanli dynasty and an independent Tripolitania.[6] A descendant family with the same name still exists in modern Tripoli-Libya.