Murad III Bey

Murad III Bey (, 1680–9 June 1702) was the last bey of Ottoman Tunisia to rule from the Muradid dynasty from 1699 until his assassination in 1702, during the Revolutions of Tunis, a period of crisis that preceded the rise to power of Husayn I Bey.

Biography Murad was born to Ali Bey, son of Murad II Bey, and a Bedouin woman. After his father was murdered by his uncle Mohamed Bey El Mouradi, Murad was adopted by Mohamed and then later by his other uncle, Ramadan Bey. Ramadan suspected him of plotting to overthrow him and had Murad arrested and demanded that the young prince have his eyes gouged out.

Having come to power, he eliminated his enemies who tried to remove him from power. Because of his great cruelty, illustrated by the multiple executions he instigated, the Tunisians nicknamed him Mourad bou bala, bala being a large Turkish sabre. On his return to Tunis, Sharif assassinated all the remaining princes of the Muradid dynasty in order to seize power for himself - the two young sons of Muhammad al-Hafsi al-Muradi, second son of Hammouda Pacha Bey, along with Hussein Bey, the third son of Hammouda Pacha Bey and his son who was only four years old.