Muhammad III as-Sadiq

2025-09-12T15:04:54Z

2405:9800:B661:5A66:E5A9:D402:342C:DB6A:

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title =
| name = Muhammad III as-Sadiq
| image = Sadok Bey.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Louis Simil]], 1865
| succession = [[Bey of Tunis]]
| reign1 = 22 September 1859 – {{nowrap|27 October 1882}}
| predecessor1 = [[Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn]]
| successor1 = [[Ali III ibn al-Husayn]]
| issue =
| house = [[Husainid Dynasty|Husainides]]
| house-type = Dynasty
| birth_name = Muhammad III as-Sadiq Bey
| birth_date = {{birth date|1813|2|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Le Bardo]], [[Beylik of Tunis|Kingdom of Tunisia]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1882|10|27|1813|2|7|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Le Bardo]], [[Beylik of Tunis|Kingdom of Tunisia]]
| place of burial = [[Tourbet el Bey]], [[Tunis]], [[Tunisia]]
| father = [[Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud]]
| mother = Lalla Fatima al-Munastiri
| religion = [[Islam]]
| spouse = [[Lella Kmar|Lalla Kmar]] (1877–1882)
| signature = Sadok Bey signature.svg
}}

'''Muhammad III as-Sadiq''' {{Post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of the Bath|GCB]]}} ({{langx|ar|محمد الثالث الصادق}}; 7 February 1813 – 27 October 1882)<ref>Ibn Abi Dhiaf, ''Présent des hommes de notre temps. Chroniques des rois de Tunis et du pacte fondamental'', vol. V, éd. Maison tunisienne de l'édition, Tunis, 1990, p. 11</ref> commonly known as '''Sadok Bey''' ({{langx|ar|الصادق باي}}), was the [[Husainid dynasty|Husainid]] [[List of Beys of Tunis|Bey of Tunis]] from 1859 until his death.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9laryrgGDL4C&dq=false&pg=PA11 Nadia Sebaï, ''Mustafa Saheb Ettabaâ. Un haut dignitaire beylical dans la Tunisie du XIX<sup>e</sup> siècle'', éd. Cartaginoiseries, Carthage, 2007, p. 11]</ref> Invested as [[Bey al-Mahalla]] (Heir Apparent) on 10 June 1855, he succeeded his brother [[Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn]] on 23 September 1859.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=P2N2dEnQ3cwC&dq=sadok+bey+23+septembre+1859&pg=PR97 ''Annuaire diplomatique et consulaire de la République française pour 1876'', éd. BiblioBazaar, Charleston, 2008, p. 97]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xqlia2fqZygC&dq=sadok+bey+23+septembre+1859&pg=PA22 Alexandre de Clercq, ''Recueil des traités de la France'', tome XIII, éd. BiblioBazaar, Charleston, 2008, p. 22]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Spuler|first=Bertold|title=Rulers and governments of the world|year=1977|publisher=Bowker|isbn=978-0-85935-009-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/rulersgovernment0000ross/page/516 516]|url=https://archive.org/details/rulersgovernment0000ross/page/516}}</ref> Named as divisional General in the Imperial [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Army on 10 June 1855, he was promoted to the rank of Marshal on 10 December 1859.

== Reign ==
In July 1860, the Bey was persuaded by the British consul, Richard Wood, to allow a British subject named Holt to set up the first official printing press,<ref>https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01402235/document p.283 Retrieved 9 May 2017</ref> as well as the first Arabic-language newspaper in the country, the ''[[Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia|ar-Ra'id at-Tūnisi]]''.<ref>Ibn Abi Dhiaf, ''op. cit.'', p. 36</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qyEVAAAAIAAJ&dq=sadok+bey+jounal+juillet+1860&pg=PA788 Clifford Edmund Bosworth, ''Encyclopédie de l'Islam'', fasicule 111, éd. Brill Archive, Leyde, 1989, p. 788]</ref> A [[telegraph]] concession was established, with a French interest taking it up in 1859.<ref>Ibn Abi Dhiaf, ''op. cit.'', p. 26</ref>

On 23 April 1861 he promulgated the first written [[Constitution of Tunisia|constitution]] in the Arab world,<ref>Ibn Abi Dhiaf, ''op. cit.'', p. 64</ref> separating executive, legislative and judiciary powers, through a new Supreme Council, legislature and court system, thus limiting the powers of the Bey. This constitution guaranteed equality of rights to Muslims, Christians (effectively, therefore, to Europeans) and to [[History of the Jews in Tunisia|Jews]]; in particular, concerning the right to own property. This created a new legal environment which encouraged Europeans to set up businesses in Tunisia; thus new French traders appeared, along with non-Muslim religious schools.<ref>Ibn Abi Dhiaf, ''op. cit.'', p. 26</ref>

On 26 April 1861, the Bey changed the order of succession to the throne; henceforth it would be the oldest prince in the beylical family who would inherit, rather than the oldest son of the late sovereign.
[[File:King Sadok Bey.jpg|left|thumb|Portrait of Sadok Bey by [[Johan Fredrik Höckert]], 1862]]
[[File:Trust Pact - Pacte fondamental de 1857 - Pacte de confiance - عهد الأمان.jpg|left|thumb|[[Tunisian Constitution of 1861|"Ahd al-Amān"]] The First Constitution in Tunisia and Africa, 1861]]
Since the time of [[Hammuda Pasha Bey|Hammouda Pasha]] two hundred years before, French interests in Tunisia had been housed in the [[Fondouk of French]], a [[caravanserai]] in the [[Medina of Tunis|medina]]. Now the Tunisian government had a new French consulate built, on what was to become the Avenue de la Marine (now [[Avenue Habib Bourguiba]]), and it was formally opened by the Bey on 12 January 1862.

The Bey commissioned the [[Marseille]] engineer Colin to repair the [[Zaghouan Aqueduct#Later usage|Zaghouan aqueduct]] providing a fresh water supply to the capital. In 1865 he began demolishing the walls around the medina, some of which were so unsound they threatened to collapse. It is during this period that Tunis lost a number of its historic gates - [[Bab Cartagena]], [[Bab Souika]], [[Bab Bnet]] and [[Bab El Jazira]]. The bronze cannon on the city walls and the fortifications of [[La Goulette]] were sold off in 1872. Europeans began to settle near the former [[Bab el Bhar]], in streets close to the old walls and along the Avenue de la Marine, now planted with fig trees. Room for building was limited in nearby areas by European cemeteries, particularly opposite the new consulate building, and by market gardens along the [[Lake of Tunis]] which extended as far towards the city as the present Avenue de Carthage.
However, intrigues among his ministers, notably [[Mustapha Khaznadar]] and [[Mustapha Ben Ismaïl]], constant pressure from European [[Consul (representative)|consuls]] and the looming bankruptcy of the state, provoked the [[Mejba Revolt]] of 1864,<ref>Bice Slama et Charles-André Julien, ''L'insurrection de 1864 en Tunisie'', éd. Maison tunisienne de l'édition, Tunis, 1967, p. 18</ref> compelled him to secure debts which he could not repay, and opened the door to foreign occupation despite the efforts of his [[Grand Vizier]] [[Hayreddin Pasha|Kheireddine Pacha]].

France gained an important foothold in Tunisia in 1869 by means of a tripartite Debt Commission, constituted with the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] to manage the country's financial commitments to its creditors.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books? id=2M4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA153&dq=bey+commission++1869&hl=fr&ei=K0B5TOyGCpTk4gatv4D7Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=bey%20commission%20%201869&f=false G. S. van Krieken, ''Khayr al-Dîn et la Tunisie, 1850-1881'', éd. Brill, Leyde, 1976, pp. 150-152]</ref> In April 1881, a border incident with [[French Algeria]] involving raids by [[Khroumire]] tribesmen who were subjects of the Bey provided the final pretext for the dispatch of a [[French conquest of Tunisia|French expeditionary force]] which took [[El Kef]], and for the landing of French troops at [[Bizerte]] on 1 May. The French army occupied Tunis on 11 May. The Bey was therefore compelled to sign the [[Treaty of Bardo]] on 12 May, establishing the [[French protectorate of Tunisia]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=C-IHkSRopE0C&q=sadok+bey+&pg=PA174 Jean-François Martin, ''La Tunisie de Ferry à Bourguiba'', éd. L'Harmattan, Paris, 1993, p. 173]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Scawen Blunt|first1=Wilfred|last2=Nourallah|first2=Riad|title=The future of Islam|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-7007-1460-5|page=176}}</ref>

== Private life==
[[File:Ksar Said - Tunisia.jpg|left|thumb|Private chambers of Muhammad III as-Sadiq in Ksar Said]]

Muhammad as-Sadiq had several wives. The first was his cousin, the daughter of the [[Qaid]] Ahmed al-Munastiri, from a Turkish family which had been influential in the [[harem]] of the Beys of Tunis throughout the century; her mother and grandmother were respectively the second wives of [[Hussein II Bey]] et [[Mahmud ibn Muhammad]]. His second wife was Henani, daughter of Ali Laroussi, a rich merchant dealing in traditional Tunisian [[Chechia]] headgear. He also married a [[Circassians|Circassian]] [[odalisque]] [[Lella Kmar]], who was a gift from the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman sultan]].

His main residence was the Ksar Said palace, built in an Italianate style in front of the Bardo palace. It had been confiscated from the former minister and Keeper of the Seals, Ismail as-Sunni, who was accused of treason and executed in 1867. (This minister was the maternal grandfather of the future [[Muhammad VII al-Munsif|Moncef Bey]]). It was to one of the first floor staterooms of this palace that, on 12 May 1881, the French consul [[Théodore Roustan]] brought the French General Jules Aimé
Bréart to the [[Bey]]'s privy council to secure his signature on the [[Treaty of Bardo]].
In his later years, the Bey fell under the influence [[Mustapha Ben Ismaïl]], and died without issue. He was buried in the [[Tourbet el Bey]] mausoleum in the [[medina of Tunis]]. He was succeeded by his brother [[Ali III ibn al-Husayn]].

=== Homosexuality of the bey ===
According to the writer [[Nizar Ben Saad]], The Bey had many sexual affairs with several male ministers from his court, the most famous with his Grand Vizir [[Mustapha Ben Ismaïl]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Ben Saad|first=Nizar|title=Lella Kmar, destin tourmenté d'une nymphe du sérail|publisher=KA editions|year=2019|location=Tunis, Tunisia|pages=38–39}}</ref> The intimate meetings of the bey were always held in [[Dar El Bey]] at night to avoid being seen. Not only that, his marriage to [[Lella Kmar]] was never consummated, which made it easier for her to marry his brother Ali Bey after his death.

=== Descendants ===
The bey died without leaving any children to inherit the throne. Yet, he was the adoptive father of his nephew [[Muhammad V an-Nasir|Mohamed Naceur]], and Jnaina the spouse of his Vizie Ismail Ben Mustapha.<ref name=":0" />

==Honours==
{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Beylik of Tunis (1831–1881) and Tunisia (1881–1959).svg}} [[Beylik of Tunis]]: Founder of the Order of the Fundamental Pact, ''16 January 1860''
* {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}:
** [[Order of the Medjidie]], 1st Class in Diamonds, ''10 January 1860''
** [[Order of Osmanieh]], 1st Class in Diamonds, ''27 April 1862''
* {{flag|Austrian Empire}}:<ref>{{citation|chapter-url=https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1881&page=260&size=45|chapter=Ritter-Orden|title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie|date=1881|access-date=29 August 2021|pages=[https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1881&page=267&size=45 68], [https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1881&page=276&size=45 77]}}</ref>
** Grand Cross of the [[Order of Leopold (Austria)|Imperial Order of Leopold]], ''1862''
** Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary|Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen]], ''1870''
* {{flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}}: [[Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown|Grand Cross of Merit of the Bavarian Crown]], ''1870''<ref>''Hof- und - Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern'' (1879), "Königliche Orden". [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx3e6k&view=1up&seq=57&skin=2021 p. 27]</ref>
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]] (civil), ''6 February 1861''<ref>{{Citation |title=Almanach Royal Officiel |page=50 |date=1862 |chapter=Liste des Membres de l'Ordre de Léopold |chapter-url=https://archives.bruxelles.be/almanach/watch/AR/ALMANACH%20ROYAL%20OFFICIEL_1862_R%20208/ALMANACH%20ROYAL%20OFFICIEL_1862_R%20208#page/25 |language=french |via=Archives de Bruxelles}}</ref>
* {{flag|Denmark}}: [[Order of the Dannebrog|Grand Cross of the Dannebrog]], ''23 June 1860''<ref>{{cite book |year=1894 |orig-year=1st pub.:1801 |editor1-last=Bille-Hansen |editor1-first=A. C. |editor2-last=Holck |editor2-first=Harald |title=Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1881 |trans-title=State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1881 |url=https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/918025.pdf#page=34 |series=Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender |language=da |location=Copenhagen |publisher=J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri |pages=7–8 |access-date=30 August 2021 |via=[[:da:DIS Danmark]]}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag_of_France_(1794–1815,_1830–1958).svg}} [[Second French Empire|French Empire]]: Grand Cross of the [[Legion of Honour]], in Diamonds, ''17 September 1860''
* {{flag|Kingdom of Hawaii}}: Grand Cross of the [[Royal Order of Kalākaua|Order of Kalākaua]], ''July 1881''<ref>Kalakaua to his sister, 24 July 1881, quoted in Greer, Richard A. (editor, 1967) "[https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/186/JL05085.pdf The Royal Tourist – Kalakaua's Letters Home from Tokio to London] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019083943/https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/186/JL05085.pdf |date=19 October 2019 }}", ''Hawaiian Journal of History'', vol. 5, p. 96</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}: [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation|Knight of the Annunciation]], ''16 November 1862''<ref>{{cite book|author=Italia : Ministero dell'interno|title=Calendario generale del Regno d'Italia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn2ZaEDiAxUC&pg=PP7|year=1878|publisher=Unione tipografico-editrice|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn2ZaEDiAxUC&pg=PA38 38]}}</ref>
* {{flag|Monaco}}: [[Order of Saint-Charles|Grand Cross of St. Charles]], ''28 December 1864''<ref>[https://journaldemonaco.gouv.mc/var/jdm/storage/original/application/d0009daee4017568e843b2a9b5adc133.pdf Sovereign Ordonnance of 28 December 1864]</ref>
* {{flag|Netherlands}}: [[Order of the Netherlands Lion|Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion]], ''14 August 1861''
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892).svg}} [[Kingdom of Prussia]]: [[Order of the Red Eagle|Grand Cross of the Red Eagle]], ''9 February 1863''<ref name="prus">{{citation|title=Königlich Preussische Ordensliste|volume=1|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878864&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021|chapter=Rother Adler-orden|page=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878864&view=1up&seq=35&skin=2021 31]|lang=German|location=Berlin|year=1877|via=hathitrust.org}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[History of Spain (1810–1873)|Spain]]:<ref>{{cite book|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000910226&search=&lang=es|title=Guía Oficial de España|date=1881|access-date=30 August 2021|pages=134, 147, 190|language=es}}</ref>
** Grand Cross of the [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]], ''23 December 1862''
** Grand Cross of the [[Order of Charles III]], ''8 November 1864''
** [[Order of the Golden Fleece|Knight of the Golden Fleece]], ''31 October 1870''
* {{flagicon|Sweden|1844}} {{flagicon|Norway|1844}} [[Sweden-Norway]]:<ref>{{citation|title=Sveriges och Norges statskalender|year=1876|pages=[https://runeberg.org/sonkal/1876/0620.html 584], [https://runeberg.org/sonkal/1876/0753.html 717]|url=https://runeberg.org/sonkal/1876/0001.html|via=runeberg.org|access-date=30 August 2021|language=sv}}</ref>
** Commander Grand Cross of the [[Order of Vasa]], ''7 September 1860''
** [[Order of Saint Olav|Grand Cross of St. Olav]], ''2 May 1865''
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}: [[Order of the Bath|Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath]] (civil), ''1 June 1865''<ref>Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) ''The Knights of England'', '''I''', London, [https://archive.org/details/cu31924092537418/page/n299/mode/2up?view=theater&q=bey p. 209]</ref>
}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Africa}}
*[[History of the Jews in Tunisia]]
*[[Ottoman Tunisia]]
*[[History of French-era Tunisia]]
*[[The Mejba Revolt]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of Beys of Tunis|Bey of Tunis]]|before=[[Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn]]|after=[[Ali III ibn al-Husayn]]|years=1859–1882}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Rulers of Tunisia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad 3 es-Sadiq}}
[[Category:1813 births]]
[[Category:1882 deaths]]
[[Category:19th century in Tunisia]]
[[Category:Beys of Tunis]]
[[Category:Tunisian royalty]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class]]
[[Category:Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of Vasa]]
[[Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Kalākaua]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles]]

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Muhammad III as-Sadiq