Regency of Algiers | |
---|---|
1516–1830 | |
Coat of arms of Algiers
(1516–1830) | |
Motto: دار الجهاد | |
Status | Autonomous eyalet (Client state) of the Ottoman Empire[5][6] De facto independent since mid-17th century[7][8][9] |
Capital | Algiers |
Official languages | Ottoman Turkish and Arabic (since 1671)[10] |
Common languages | Algerian Arabic Berber Sabir (used in trade) |
Religion | Official, and majority: Sunni Islam (Maliki and Hanafi) Minorities: Ibadi Islam Shia Islam Judaism Christianity |
Demonym(s) | Algerian or Algerine |
Government | 1516–1519: Sultanate 1519–1659: Regency 1659–1830: Stratocracy[11] (Political status) |
Pasha | |
• 1516–1518 | Aruj Barbarossa |
• 1710–1718 | Baba Ali Chaouch |
• 1818–1830 | Hussein Dey |
Historical era | Early modern period |
1509 | |
1516 | |
1521–1791 | |
1541 | |
1550–1795 | |
1580–1640 | |
1627 | |
1659 | |
1681–1688 | |
1699–1702 | |
1775–1785 | |
1785–1816 | |
1830 | |
Population | |
• 1830 | 3,000,000–5,000,000 |
Currency | Major coins: mahboub (sultani) budju aspre Minor coins: saïme pataque-chique |
Today part of | Algeria |
The Regency of Algiers[a] (Arabic: دولة الجزائر, romanized: Dawlat al-Jaza'ir, Ottoman Turkish: ایالت جزایر غرب, romanized: Eyalet-i Cezâyir-i Garp) was a largely independent early modern Ottoman tributary state on the Barbary Coast of North Africa between 1516 and 1830 established by the corsair brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Oruç and Khayr ad-Din. The Regency was an infamous and formidable pirate base that plundered and waged maritime holy war on European Christian powers. Ottoman regents ruled it as heads of a military oligarchy of janissaries and corsairs.
The Regency emerged in the 16th-century Ottoman–Habsburg wars as a unique corsair state that drew revenues and political power from its maritime strength. In the early 17th century when the war ended between the Habsburg and Ottoman empires, the Barbary corsairs were capturing merchant ships with their crews and goods from the Spanish Empire, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of England and Dutch Republic. When the Ottomans could not prevent these attacks, European powers negotiated directly with Algiers and took military action against it.
The Regency held significant naval power in the 16th and 17th century well until the end of the Napoleonic wars despite European naval superiority. This made the wealth of Algiers dependent on a corsair economy, which took the shape of a notorious institutionalised privateering that dealt substantial damage on European shipping, taking captives for ransom, booty from plunder, ships to be rearmed and later regular tribute payments to the bustling rich city of Algiers, where the Barbary slave trade reached an apex. After the janissary coup in 1659, the Regency of Algiers became a sovereign military republic[b] whose rulers were thenceforth elected by the council known as the Diwân, rather than appointed by the Ottoman sultan as before.
Wars with Maghrebi states and Spain followed in the 18th century over territory. Mediterranean trade and diplomatic relations with European states increased since Algiers gained political stability. The American Revolution meant that U.S. shipping traffic in the Mediterranean was no longer covered by the British tribute payments, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars allowed large outbreaks of Algerian privateering. Increased demands from Algiers for tribute caused the Barbary Wars, in which American, British and Dutch navies engaged the Barbary corsairs at the beginning of the 19th century, and decisively defeated Algiers for the first time. Internal central authority weakened due to political intrigue, failed harvests and the decline of privateering. Violent tribal revolts ensued, mainly led by maraboutic orders such as the Darqawis and Tijanis. In 1830, France took advantage of this domestic turmoil to invade. The resulting French conquest of Algeria led to French colonial rule until 1962.
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