Soon after his accession, Ahmad Bey received the traditional Firman from the Sublime Porte which formally invested him with authority to rule from the Ottoman Empire and furnished him with the insignia of office. The Ottoman envoy, Osman Bey, arrived in la Goulette on 15 May 1838 on board a frigate.Khalifa Chater, Dépendance et mutations précoloniales. La régence de Tunis de 1815 à 1857, ed. Université de Tunis, Tunis, 1984, p. 502 The following day, Osman Bey made his official entry into Tunis on horseback, preceded by all the ministers of the beylical cabinet who went before him until he was two leagues from the city. Before him were carried the sword of honour and the caftan to be presented to the Bey. He was escorted by spahis and followed by a large contingent of regular troops an Arab cavalry. Three days after his official entry into the city, the envoy presented himself at the Bardo Palace to formally invest Ahmad Bey with his insignia of office and present gifts. Named as a Divisional General in the Ottoman army in May 1838, he was later promoted by the Sultan to the rank of Marshal on 14 August 1840.Ibn Abi Dhiaf, op. cit., p. 55 This was the first time that a Bey of Tunis had held a rank higher than Divisional General. The purpose of these honours was to emphasise the supremacy of the Ottoman Empire over the Regency of Tunis.Ibn Abi Dhiaf, op. cit., p. 56
