Actors and procedures of identification: Mamluks serving the Bey of Tunis
Acteurs et objets de procédures d’identification : les mamelouks au service des beys de Tunis (xviie - xixe
Abstract
Focusing on the Mamluks who served the Tunisian beys between the XVIIth and the XIXth centuries, this study emphasizes three questions: to what extent did servants and masters use Mamluk categorizations and distinctions, the extent of individuation revealed by such practices and the extent of normative practices imposed for administrative purposes. Up to the 1860s, the beys succeeded in shaping the Mamluks group and in making distinctions between its members. After that period, began an era of reforms in which Mamluks at the head of the new military and judicial institutions played a greater role in the generalization and reform of the means of identification. At the same time, because of the end of slavery, the recruitment of Mamluks became impossible and the beys no longer controlled their servants' bodies and identities.