ایالت طرابلس غرب Eyālet-i Trâblus Gârb (1551–1864) ولايت طرابلس غرب Vilâyet-i Trâblus Gârb (1864–1911) |
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Eyalet and Vilayet of Ottoman Empire | |||||
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Tripolitania Eyalet in 1609 | |||||
Capital | Tripoli | ||||
History | |||||
• | Siege of Tripoli | 15 August 1551 | |||
• | Italo-Turkish War | 18 October 1911 | |||
Today part of | Libya |
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The coastal region of what is today Libya was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911, as the Eyalet of Tripolitania (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت طرابلس غرب Eyālet-i Trâblus Gârb) or Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary from 1551 to 1864 and as the Vilayet of Tripolitania (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت طرابلس غرب Vilâyet-i Trâblus Gârb) from 1864 to 1911. It was also known as the Kingdom of Tripoli, even though it was not technically a kingdom, but an Ottoman province ruled by pashas (governors). The Karamanli dynasty ruled the province as de facto hereditary monarchs from 1711 to 1835, despite remaining under nominal Ottoman rule.
Besides the core territory of Tripolitania, Barca was also considered part of the kingdom of Tripoli, because it was de facto ruled by the Pasha of Tripoli, also the nominal Ottoman governor-general.
A remnant of the centuries of Turkish rule is the presence of a population of Turkish origin, the Kouloughlis.
By the beginning of the 16th century the Libyan coast had minimal central authority and its harbours were havens for unchecked bands of pirates. Spain occupied Tripoli in 1510, but the Spaniards were more concerned with controlling the port than with the inconveniences of administering a colony. In 1530 the city, along with Malta and Gozo, were ceded by Charles I of Spain to the Knights of St John as compensation for their recent expulsion from Rhodes at the hands of the Turks. Christian rule lasted then until 1551, when Tripoli was besieged and conquered by famed Ottoman admirals Sinan Pasha and Turgut Reis. Declared Bey and later Pasha of Tripoli, Turgut Reis submitted the tribes of the interior and several cities like Misrata, Zuwara, Gharyan, and Gafsa in the next decade. These efforts contributed to cement the foundations of a statal structure in what is today Libya, but control from Constantinople remained loose at best, much like in the rest of the Barbary Coast.