Page "History of Libya" Paragraph 26

Under the Ottomans, the Maghreb was divided into three provinces, Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis.

After 1565, administrative authority in a pasha appointed by the sultan in Constantinople.

The sultan provided the pasha with a corps of janissaries, which was in turn divided into a number of companies under the command of a junior officer or bey.

The janissaries quickly became the dominant force in Ottoman Libya.