Algerie, Colonie Francaise

Title

Algerie, Colonie Francaise

Description

Map shows the whole of Algeria and parts of Morocco and Tunisia, with splendid border with motifs of the country and its people.

ca. 1850

Artist

Lemercier / Levasseur (1838-1875)

Huge Parisian firm of lithographic printers founded by Joseph Rose Lemercier (1803-1887), who began as the foreman for Langlumé in 1825. Working on his own account from 1827, 1829-36 in partnership with Bénard association formed in 1837 according to IFF catalogue for Joseph Lemercier. The firm was still active in 1841.

Historical Description

The area of today's Algeria was originally inhabited by Berber tribes, in the east of Tuareg. From the 12th century BC The Phoenicians established trading bases on the coast and founded it in 814 BC. BC the commercial city of Carthage in what is now Tunisia, which subsequently developed into a major power in the western Mediterranean. Around the middle of the 7th century, the Arabs advanced into the Maghreb. In 697 they conquered much of today's Algeria. The population was largely Islamized. In the 11th century, the Berber dynasty of the Almoravids prevailed in what is now Algeria; it ruled the country for almost 100 years until it was replaced by the Almohads in 1147. This dynasty subsequently conquered the Maghreb and southern Spain; the empire then fell apart in the second half of the 13th century. Eastern Algeria became part of a Tunisian principality. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Spaniards tried to gain a foothold on the Algerian coast. The country then submitted to the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire in 1519 and became its vassal; Algeria, the Eyâlet Cezayir was converted to a Vilâyet within the Ottoman Empire and later. It remained under Ottoman sovereignty until 1830, but was effectively independent from 1711. Until the 19th century, Algeria successfully defended itself against attempts by the Spanish, Dutch, British and French to curb piracy.