Hafsid dynasty
Mahmoud Djellouli was born into the influential and patrician Djellouli family, which dated back to the Hafsid dynasty, according to historian Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf. They were Sfax nobility of Arab origin, merchants and shipowners at the end of the 16th century, and became farmers and qaids in the 17th century, then part of the Capital Tunis aristocracy at the beginning of the 19th century.