Jalluli family
JALLULI FAMILY
A family important in the commercial elite of nineteenth-century Tunisia.
The Jalluli family was influential at the bey's court, and thus secured iltizam (tax farms), monopolies, and supply contracts. They were also qaʾids of Sfax, and thereby responsible for the collection of taxes and security in that city.
Important members of the family in the nineteenth century were Mahmud (d. 1839), Muhammad (d. 1849), and Hassuna. In the 1830s Mahmud made his fortune as a corsair. Between 1805 and 1808, he had been chief customs collector, one of the most lucrative concessionary posts; he was also a prominent figure at the bey's court under Hammuda Pasha (ruler of Tunisia, 1777–1814). Muhammad ran the qiyada of Sfax for a number of years. In 1829, the Jallulis saved the government of Husayn Bey from bankruptcy. In 1864, Hassuna gained the qiyada of Sfax. Following the insurrection of 1864, the family was regarded by Muhammad al-Sadiq Bey as a stabilizing force.
The Jallulis' tradition of state service continued into the twentieth century. Many Jallulis are prominent in Tunisia's commercial and political elite.
see also muhammad al-sadiq; sfax.
Bibliography
Brown, L. Carl. The Tunisia of Ahmad Bey, 1837–1855. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1974.
Perkins, Kenneth J. Historical Dictionary of Tunisia, 2d edition. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997.
larry a. barrie