When you
are visiting a country, then it’s always interesting to know more about the
history of the country. So, every night, before bedtime, we read each a piece
from the history book of Tunisia, which was available in our hotel room. I will
tell you now a brief summary of the history I read during our visit in Tunisia.
First of
all, this country is a sovereign republic. The country’s name changed
essentially more than once over the course of millennia. Some names were
ancient, like “ancient Tunisia”. Nonetheless, Tunisia will be used throughout
the history. Tunisia was called “Ifrīqiyyah” in the early centuries of the
Islamic period. This name comes from the Roman word which stands for “Africa”
and the name is also given by the Romans to their first African colony
following the Punic Wars against the Carthaginians.
Tunisia is
the smallest of the Maghrib states and consequently the most cohesive. By the
beginning of the 19th century, virtually all of its inhabitants spoke Arabic. The
earlier language of the Maghrib, namely Berber, survived in Tunisia mainly in
the extreme south. The Berber language is brought to Northwest Africa by tribes
from the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia.
Berber Language
This about
the language and the name of the country. Now I’m going to tell you something
about Tunisia nowadays. Because If I would, I could tell you- using the history
book of course- a lot of interesting things about the history of Tunisia.
So, in 1574
Tunisia was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. During the next three centuries,
many Tunisians were pirates. They got a name, mainly the “Barbary pirates”. The
word Barbary is derived from Berber (the language they spoke). Occasionally,
European powers took action against these pirates. The Europeans demanded
various treaties none of which ended the piracy.
Tunisia
achieved independence from France in 1956 led by Habib Bourguiba, who later
became the first Tunisian President.
You can
find, on the link below, a summary of a piece of history, what I haven’t told
in my summary.
End of the
history for this evening and now it’s time to sleep. Good night everyone!
Sources:
It's unbelievable that despite all the foreign invasions, such as the Romans, the Turks and the French, the old Berber language survived. Personnaly I think it is a very interesting language.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI really liked our visit to Tunisia, I would very much like to go back some day!
It is funny how a name of a country can change through the years.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenDuring our visit in Tunisia, we were completely in the style of the ancient times. It would have been nice if we could go back in time because I really want to meet the pirates!