Reflexiones históricas acerca de los documentos árabes inéditos del siglo XVI del Archivo General de Simancas

Abstract

This contribution presents various handwritten Arabic documents
from the Algerian and Tunisian territories during the first half of
the sixteenth century, which were written by several political authorities
of the Algerian and Tunisian territories of the time (heads of tribes,
Emirate of Tlemcen) as well as Moulay al-Hasan and the King of Tunis,
among others. They were directed to the Spanish authorities established
in these territories, especially to the character known by the name of El
Zagal.
I would dare to affirm that we have a poor and bad knowledge about all
the Algerian and Tunisian sixteenth century. As we know, the history of
these two Mediterranean areas just started to rise to the surface with the
Ottoman Turkish Empire. This large gap turns our documentation into a
source that may not be unique, but it is certainly essential for the study
and analysis of the historical, and even linguistic, aspects of Tunisia and
Algeria during the modern period, and above all, the early sixteenth century.