Draft:Slimane Kahia

Biography

Agha in Béja

Born as a young Mamluk, he was introduced to the palace of Bardo to be raised in the language and the religion of the country and to receive military instruction. Once he reached adulthood, he was sent to the northwest of the country as agha of the odjak of Béja (commander of the military garrison). In 1807, he brought aid to the army of Hammouda Pasha in Constantine, in Algeria, becoming the main actor of his victory over the troops of the dey of Algiers on the banks of the Wadi Serrat. Through this action, Hammouda Pasha secured the border and put an end to Algiers interference in Tunisian affairs.

Proximity to the sovereign

Agha Slimane was then promoted to kahia of the camp's bey, a general who commands the biannual military expedition responsible for raising taxes and dispensing justice among the tribes in the hinterland. He spent eight years in this position before moving to the service of prince Mahmoud, who became bey after having his cousin Osman Bey assassinated. The new sovereign gives him his daughter, Princess Lalla Aziza bint Mahmoud Pasha Bey, in marriage. Their wedding was celebrated in one of the most beautiful palaces in the medina of Tunis which he bought and had rebuilt for the occasion, the current Dar Ben Abdallah.

surpression of the janissaries

In April 1816, he narrowly saved the Hussainid throne by suppressing a final uprising by the Turkish militia of Tunis; Turkish soldiers had revolted against the distance that the Regency of Tunis was taking with the Ottoman Empire and the multiple treaties and concessions granted to European nations. In addition, the Husseinite beys relied more and more on the indigenous tribal regiments, which did not fail to arouse the jealousy and distrust of the Turkish soldiers. It is precisely these contingents of cavalry, called "makhzenians" (in the service of the State or makhzen), that Slimane Kahia uses to repress the Janissariess, the 30 April 1816. He also solicited the local kouloughlis, descendants of Turks, and the few janissaries who remained loyal to the Husseinites. Many soldiers were massacred, but most retreated to La Goulette where they requisitioned ships and embarked for the Levant.

Minister of War

In retribution, the bey named him commander-in-chief of the Tunisian Beylical Army, a position which is more akin to that of Minister of War, and that it combines with that of caïd of the tribes of Ouled Amdoun and Ouled Bou Salem. He is helped in this task by his two sons, one of whom succeeds him at the head of the Béja garrison. When Mahmoud's son, Hussein II Bey, acceded to the throne in 1825, Kahia's power, his age and his ascendancy over the new sovereign meant that he often eclipsed Hussein Khodja , his principal minister. He began military reforms to replace the Turkish militia, reforms which were later implemented by Chakir Saheb Ettabaâ and Moustapha Agha, his successor at the head of the Tunisian army.

As he became older, he gradually retired from business in his property in La Marsa, a year before his death. Died on December 4, 1838, he was buried in the presence of the sovereign, Ahmed I Bey, in the hall of ministers of Tourbet El Bey.

Tributes

Dar Ben Abdallah is also called Dar Kahia in his honor. The Slimane Kahia palace, in the middle of an orchard in La Manouba, a western suburb of Tunis, is located in the district that bears his name. A station on line 4 of the Tunis light metro also bears his name.