The turbeh, known as " Tourbet el-Bey" is the largest and most imposing royal mausoleum pertaining to the Husainid dynasty which reigned over Tunisia from AD 1705 to 1957. This emblematic funerary monument in the Medina of Tunis was established in the southern part of the city near Balb el-Jazira at the crossroads of several important thoroughfares and inspired the name of the residential area that once housed the Husainid family residence in Sabat Ajam, as well as the Smaller Husseinite Madrasa and the first mausoleum which were built in 1710 by the founder of the Husainid dynasty, Hussain ben Alliel-Turki (1705 - 1735/40).
The early core of the mausoleum was founded by order of the fourth Husainid monarch, Ali Bey II (1172-1196h / 1759 - 1782), son of Husain ibn Ali, in the second half of the 18th century, at an undetermined date. However, the construction of the royal burial ground and the adjoining madrasa of Ali Bey began in 1184h / 1770 under the supervision of Sheikh el-Medina Kacem el-Rassa, according to beylical accounting records. The construction work lasted until 1191H/ 1778 C.E.when the mausoleum hosted the first cenotaph belonging to the Marabout Sidi Hassen al-Sharif with the aim of providing it with protection and render it inviolable, as well as the first tomb, that of Princess Jannet, daughter of Ali bey, who deceased in 1191H/ 1777/78.
The dynastic necropolis of the Beys is composed of eight funerary rooms laid out around two patios and contains 165 tombs, those of fourteen ( out of the nineteen Husainid rulers), of princes and princesses of the Beys family, as well as the remains of their favorite ministers, their slaves (Mamluks) and faithful servants.
The founder Ali Bey Il and his successors had dedicated extensive land and real estate as waqf, the income from which was allocated for the maintenance of the royal necropolis and its neighboring quranic school, the Larger Husainid madrasa, as well as for the salaries of the staff (turbeh superintendent or wakil and daily Quran recitors) and the organization of religious celebrations that took place inside the «Tourbet el-Bey».
Source: Museum, wall text
