Battle of Kef (1705)

The Battle of Kef was a military engagement fought between the forces of the Beylik of Tunis and the Regency of Algiers. The battle took place following the aftermath of the Maghrebi War, leading to years of growing animosity between the two powers, which finally came to a boiling point in 1705.

The Algerian army entered Tunisian territory on 8 July and set their camps close to Kef in Oued el-Tin (probably Oued-Mellègue). Unfortunately for the Tunisians, when the Algerians set their camps, one of the Banu Hilal Arab tribes of Tunis, called the Ouled Saïd, defected to the Algerians. This event created a domino effect of Arab tribes defecting to the Algerian side, with the powerful Drid also defecting.^[1] A part of Ibrahim's regular troops also changed sides.^[1] Dey Mustapha then proceeded to send officers to Ibrahim to ask peace terms, such as: Demanding Tunis pay war reparations, send a delivery of 1,000 camels, and hand over one of his children to the Dey to serve as a hostage.^[1]

Ibrahim took this as a provocation and entered El Kef soon after with his Agha Al-Husayn I ibn Ali. Despite Ibrahim possessing the initial battlefield advantage, the Algerians would encircle his army, turning the tide of the battle and surrounding the city, leaving the Tunisians trapped and worried to be attacked from all sides. After a long fight, Ibrahim would eventually surrender with the small number of soldiers he had. Getting imprisoned and sent to Algiers.^[1] After this, the rest of the Tunisian troops retreated to Tunis in the head of their Agha. The most influential one of them, Al-Husayn I ibn Ali, proclaimed himself Dey and founded the Husainid dynasty on 15 July 1705, putting an end to the Muradid War of Succession.^[1]

After the battle, the Algerian army eventually arrived at the city of Tunis and took position in Ben-Medjous with an army of 40,000 soldiers,^[2] counting also among them 10,000 rebels and put the city under siege. The Tunisians, 18,000 strong (including civilian militias),^[3] pressured Husayn to accept Moustapha’s terms for peace, requiring Husayn to pay a ransom of 150,000 Piastres to lift the siege. The Dey then noted that food and ammunition were becoming increasingly short and that winter was approaching, leaving Mustapha no choice but to abandon the siege and go back to Algiers.^[4]