is Arabic, but French is often used, especially
in commerce. In the millennia since it was first
settled, Tunisia has been used as a regional center
by a series of conquerors. including the Romans,
Arabs, Ottomans, and French.
With its jagged coastline, fine harbors, and
location in the central Mediterranean, near impor-
tant shipping routes, Tunisia was settled around
1100 b.c.e. by the Phoenicians. By about the sixth
century b.c.e. the city-state of Carthage, near
the present-day capital of Tunis, had become an
important power, dominating the western Medi-
terranean. This led to a series of wars with Rome
and resulted in Carthage’s destruction in 146 b.c.e.
The region was incorporated into the Roman
Empire, and, except for a brief period of conquest
by the Vandals, it remained under Roman rule
until it was conquered by Arabs in the seventh
century c.e. The indigenous Berbers converted
to Islam, and immigrants from other parts of the
Islamic empire—including Andalusian Muslims
and Jews—led to Tunisia becoming a center of
arab culture and learning. Tunis was the capital of
the early Shii Fatimid dynasty (909–1073) and of
the Sunni Hafsid dynasty (1228–1574). It was also
home to the zay tUna mosqUe-University, one of
the oldest and most important centers of learning
in Sunni Islam. Several North African Sufi groups
established branches there, including the Qadiris,
Rahmanis, and the Tijanis. In 1570–74 Tuni-
sia was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
Although the Ottomans ruled the region until the
19th century, Tunis was virtually independent.
During the 19th century, trade with Europe
increased, and many foreign merchants estab-
lished permanent homes in Tunisia. This also
led to increased European interest in the region.
By the late 1800s, France and Italy were both
vying for control in Tunisia. In 1881 a French
army occupied Tunisia, which became a French
protectorate. During World War II Tunisia came
under French Vichy rule, and some of the major
battles of the North African campaign were fought
in Tunisia.
A nationalist movement had developed in
Tunisia as early as 1920, but only after the end
of World War II did France begin to heed the
call for independence. Tunisia was recognized as
an independent state in 1956. Habib Bourguiba
(1903–2000), who had led a radical pro-indepen-
dence faction, became its first president.
Bourguiba dominated Tunisia’s political and
cultural life for 31 years. He quickly enacted a
controversial measure, the Personal Status Code,
which gave Women in Tunisia full citizenship
rights and challenged some traditional Muslim
practices. The code banned such traditions as
secret divorce, polygamy, and women wearing the
hijab. It also introduced compulsory free edUca-
tion and reformed the judicial system, replacing
the former Islamic, Christian, and Jewish courts
with a uniform secular court system. To further
reduce the power of the Ulama. Bourguiba nation-
alized the lands that had belonged to religious
endowments. Today, the government controls and
subsidizes mosques and pays the salaries of prayer
leaders; it also pays the salary of the Grand Rabbi
of the Jewish community in Tunisia.
Despite Bourguiba’s attempts to repress politi-
cal Islam, an Islamic revival group, the nonviolent
Islamic Tendency Movement (MTI), developed in
Tunisia in the 1970s. It was made up of Muslims
who were unhappy both with the secular state as
envisaged by Bourguiba and with the reversals
suffered by Arab peoples as a result of the arab-
israeli conFlicts. It was inspired by the ideology
of the mUslim brotherhood and led by rashid
ghannoUshi (b. 1941), a charismatic philosophy
professor with degrees from Zaytuna University
and the University of Damascus, and Abd al-Fat-
tah Muru. a lawyer. In 1988 the MTI changed its
name to the Renaissance Party (Hizb al-Nahda)
and called for a return to Islamic values and a
more democratic political process. The party was
able to pressure the government to make some
concessions, but it ceased to be an effective politi-
cal force by 1989 because of measures taken by
the government against it.Tunisia 673 J