Ahmad, Bey of Tunis, 1806-1855

Ahmad I ibn Mustafa (Arabic: أحمد الأول بن مصطفى), commonly referred to as Ahmed I Bey (Arabic: أحمد باي الأول ; 2 December 1805 – 30 May 1855) was the tenth Husainid Bey of Tunis, ruling from 1837 until his death. He was responsible for the abolition of slavery in Tunisia in 1846. He succeeded his father Mustafa Bey on 10 October 1837. He had grand ambitions - to expand his army and create a modern navy; to build a new royal residence (Mohamedia Palace), a mint and modern institutions of education but neither he nor his brother-in-law the young Mustapha Khaznadar who served as his finance minister, had a clear idea of what such initiatives would cost. As a result, many of his projects became expensive failures which damaged the financial health of the country.