Regency of Algiers

Regency of Algiers دولة الجزائر (Arabic)
1516–1830
Flag (1516–1830) Coat of arms of Algiers (1516–1830)
Motto: دار الجهاد Bulwark of the Holy War[2][3]
Overall territorial extent of the Regency of Algiers in the late 17th to 19th centuries[4]
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
• Spanish conquest of Oran	1509
• Capture of Algiers	1516
• Ottoman–Habsburg wars	1521–1791
• Algiers expedition	1541
• Algerian-Sherifian conflicts	1550–1795
• Golden Age of the Barbary slave trade	1580–1640
• Turkish abductions	1627
• Janissary Revolution	1659
• Franco-Algerian war	1681–1688
• Maghrebi war	1699–1702
• Spanish–Algerian war	1775–1785
• Barbary Wars	1785–1816
• Invasion of Algiers	1830
Population
• 1830	3,000,000–5,000,000
Currency	Major coins: mahboub (sultani) budju aspre Minor coins: saïme pataque-chique
Preceded by Succeeded by Hafsids of Béjaïa Kingdom of Tlemcen French Algeria Beylik of Titteri Beylik of Constantine Western Beylik Emirate of Abdelkader Igawawen Kingdom of Beni Abbas Sultanate of Tuggurt Awlad Sidi Shaykh
Today part of	Algeria

The Regency of Algiers^[a] (Arabic: دولة الجزائر, romanized: Dawlat al-Jaza'ir) was a largely independent tributary state of the Ottoman Empire during the early modern period, located on the Barbary Coast of North Africa from 1516 to 1830. Founded by the corsair brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa (Also known as Oruç and Khayr ad-Din), the Regency was a formidable pirate base infamous for its corsairs. First ruled by Ottoman regents, it later became a sovereign military republic^[b] that plundered and waged maritime holy war against European Christian powers.

The regency emerged during the 16th-century Ottoman–Habsburg wars, a unique military oligarchy of janissaries and corsairs that drew its revenues and political power from its maritime strength. When the war between the two empires ended in the early 17th century, merchant ships and goods belonging to France, England and the Netherlands were being captured and their crews and passengers enslaved. The Ottoman sultan could not stop these attacks so the European powers negotiated with the Regency directly and conducted vigorous sea operations against it, but the pirates expanded across the Atlantic and the Barbary slave trade reached its apex in Algiers. After the janissary coup in 1659, elected local rulers emerged.

Wars with France, Maghrebi states and Spain followed in the 18th century over consolidation of territory, diplomatic relations with European states and Mediterranean trade. The American war of independence led to U.S. shipping to the Mediterranean, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars allowed large bursts 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. France took advantage of this domestic turmoil to invade in 1830. The French conquest of Algeria eventually led to French colonial rule until 1962.

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