[1] This network of families dominated the high offices of state, the leadership of the army and the positions of rank and power in the regions outside the capital.
Originally the term 'makhzen' denoted specifically the escort attached to the ruler or to his deputy while they were outside the capital, particularly on "mahalla" tours gathering taxes.
Under Hussein Bey the term also came to include tribes who provided contingents of men to escort the mahalla column who received privileges in return.
The composition of this escort evolved over time depending on changes in administration and military organisation, even after the term “makhzen” had taken on a much wider meaning than this original use.
In 1864 the makhzen corps accompanying the mahalla of General Zarrouk consisted of a household force responsible for lighting the lamps in the camp and guarding prisoners and horses as well as the treasure itself, while the Zouaouas and the tribal contingents were assigned to other units.
During the Ottoman period the Tunisian state proceeded to consolidate itself without seeking any significant foundation either in ideological legitimation or in representing the interests of the community of the governed.
One notorious example was Qacim Ben Soultana, self-made man, who took advantage of his official position to amass a colossal fortune by devoting himself to foreign trade and arming privateers as well as by exploiting his urban and agricultural properties.
French rule deprived the makhzen families of their positions and led to a much higher rate of marriage with daughters of wealthy merchants in Tunis.
[16] An important crisis point was in 1952, when Lamine Bey refused to accept as Prime Minister Slaheddine Baccouche, from a makhzen family, whom the French Resident fr:Jean de Hauteclocque was trying to force on him.
Eventually however the Bey gave way to the wishes of the French, and this marked the end of any support for him from the nationalist movement led by the Neo-Destour party.
In November the Neo-Destour Interior Mongi Slim dismissed the caïds of Souassi, Tozeur, Neffat, Aradh and the kahias of Nabeul, Thala and Ksour Essef.
[16] A law of June 21, 1956 reorganized regional administration in Tunisia and abolished in a single move many of the lower-level positions that had traditionally been filled by the makhzen families, and removed their serving postholders.
[16] The particular targets of these laws and campaigns were the ministers who had served in the cabinets of Salaheddine Baccouche (1952–1954) and Mohamed Salah Mzali (1954) because the new republican government believed that they had actively thwarted the national independence movement.
The members of the two former cabinets, gathered in the same room at the central prison, joined the son of the deposed bey, the former director of Sadiki College and a few professors from the University of Ez-Zitouna.
[20] The “makhzen tribes” were those loyal groups that originally provided troops to accompany the mahalla and supported the government in other ways, receiving privileges in return.
[24]: 4 Initially the focus of this strategy was the Beni Zid but after this proved unsuccessful negotiations were eventually concluded with the Ouderna, Haouia, and the Touazine in October 1884.