Barqa

Barqa was the coastal region of Cyrenaica, named after its town of Barce and inhabited largely by Banu Sulaym tribes. In 1337 the Mamluks held suzerainty through alliances with local Bedouins rather than direct rule.

After conquering Egypt in 1517, the Ottomans inherited that suzerainty; they took Benghazi in 1578. From 1711 the Karamanli dynasty ruled the port from Tripoli. In 1817 Yusuf Karamanli summoned leaders of the Al-Jawazi tribe to his castle in Benghazi and had them killed after a dispute over tribute. Ottoman direct rule returned in 1835.