Editing Tunis (section)

===Foundation and early Islamic period===
[[File:Tunis Zitouna-Moschee Minarett.JPG|thumb|Courtyard of [[Al-Zaytuna Mosque|Zaytuna Mosque]], founded in the late 7th century by the Umayyad dynasty]]
In the late 7th century, the Arab Muslims conquered the region, and in 698 a commune and a mosque were established at the outskirts of the ancient ruins, founded by [[Hassan ibn al-Nu'man]], which would become the city of Tunis and the [[Zaytuna Mosque]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lea |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROR1xreEJTsC |title=A Political Chronology of Africa |last2=Rowe |first2=Annamarie |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-85743-116-2 |page=437 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Medina of Tunis]], the oldest section of the city, dates from this period, during which the region was conquered by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. The city had the natural advantage of coastal access, via the [[Mediterranean]], to the major ports of southern Europe. Early on, Tunis played a military role; the Umayyads recognized the strategic importance of its proximity to the [[Strait of Sicily]], with a dockyard built upon the founding of the city by order of Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]]. From the beginning of the 8th century, Tunis was the ''[[chef-lieu]]'' of the area: it became the Umayyad, and later the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]]' [[navy|naval]] base in the western [[Mediterranean Sea]], and took on considerable military importance.<ref name="Renate"/> Under the [[Aghlabid]]s, the city gained significance and benefited from economic improvements and became one of the most important in the caliphate,<ref name="Renate"/> and was briefly the national capital from the end of the reign of [[Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya|Ibrahim II]], from 902 until 909,<ref>{{harvp|Sebag|1998|p=87}}</ref> when control over [[Ifriqiya]] was handed to the newly founded [[Fatimid Caliphate]].

Local opposition to the authorities began to intensify in September 945, when [[Kharijites|Kharijite]] [[Insurgency|insurgents]] occupied Tunis, resulting in general pillaging.<ref name="Renate"/><ref name="Sebag88">{{harvp|Sebag|1998|p=88}}</ref> With the rise of the Fatimid-viceregal [[Zirid dynasty]] the [[Sunni]] population tolerated Shi'ite rule less and less, and carried out massacres against the Shi'ite community.<ref name="Sebag88"/> In 1048 the Zirid ruler [[Al-Muizz ibn Badis]] rejected his city's obedience to the Fatimids and re-established Sunni rites throughout all of Ifriqiya. This decision infuriated the Fatimid Caliph [[Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah|Al-Mustansir Billah]]. To punish the Zirids, he unleashed the [[Banu Hilal]] Arab tribe on Ifriqiya; a large part of the country was set to the torch, the Zirid capital [[Kairouan]] was razed in 1057, and only a few coastal towns, including Tunis and [[Mahdia]], escaped destruction.

Exposed to violence from the hostile tribes that settled around the city, the population of Tunis repudiated the authority of the Zirids and swore allegiance to the [[Hammadid]] prince [[Nasir ibn Alnas|El Nacer ibn Alennas]], who was based in [[Béjaïa]], in 1059. The governor appointed by Béjaïa, having reestablished order in the country, did not hesitate to free himself from the Hammadids to found the [[Khurasanid dynasty]] with Tunis as its capital. This small independent kingdom picked up the threads of trade and commerce with other nations and brought the region back to peace and prosperity.<ref>M. Th Houtsma, First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913–1936, BRILL, 1987 p.839</ref>

[[File:Piri Reis - Map of the Tunisian Coast with the Ports of Bizerte and Tunis as Far as Kelibia - Walters W658279B - Full Page.jpg|thumb|Historic map of Tunis by [[Piri Reis]]. [[The Walters Art Museum]].]]