The article examines the period of rule of Yusuf Pasha, Governor of Tripoli, a province of the Ottoman Empire. During the thirty-seven years of his rule, the Pasha seemed to have taken the right steps, consistent with his era and the state of the country, aimed at strengthening the sovereignty, centralizing power and strengthening the military potential of Tripoli. However, it was his rule that led to a crisis in the 1830s, culminating in the restoration of direct rule by the Ottoman Empire. The contradictory results of Yusuf Pasha’s rule are related both to the rivalry within the dynasty itself, which led to two stages of civil war, and to increased international intervention in the internal situation in Tripoli. © 2020, Rossiiskaya Akademiya Nauk, Institut Istorii (Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of General Hist. All rights reserved.