The Fighting Peacocks – A Brief and Colourful History of Zouaves

"when France conquered Algiers in 1830, the invaders asked the Zouaoua to provide men for the conquest of the rest of the country. The tribe agreed and by 1833, two battalions of what the French were calling “Zouaves” were raised as colonial troops and sent into action throughout Algeria. By the late 1830s, a third battalion was formed. All three units were soon officially integrated into the French army as elite units. "