Barbarossa Khair ad Din Pasha

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Barbarossa Khair ad Din Pasha (circa 1475-1546) was an Ottoman-Turkish admiral and privateer who served in the Ottoman Empire and in the Barbary Coast. He was born on the island of Lesbos, in today's Greece. He died in Beşiktaş in Istanbul, in modern-day Turkey.

He was known as Barbarossa from Baba Aruj, his brother's name, after Aruj was killed by the Spanish in Tunisia, coincidentally also "Red Beard" to Europeans. Barbaros Hayrettin (خير الدين Khair ad Din) Pasha in Turkish. His original name in Turkish was Hızır bin Yakup, from the Arabic Khidhr 'ibn Ya'qub.

Early career

Khair ad Din (Khairuddin Abdul Rahman) was one of four brothers: Ishaq, 'Aruj, Ilias and Khidr, who were born in the 1470s on the island of Lesbos (Λέσβος) to their father, Yakub Aga, and a Christian Greek mother, Katalina (Katerina), said to be the widow of a Christian priest. Some sources make Yakup a Sipahi, i.e. a feudal cavalry 'knight', while others make him a Janissary from Vardar, near Thessaloniki.

The four brothers initially worked as sailors, and privateers in the Mediterranean to counteract the privateering of the Knights of St. John of the Island of Rhodes. Ilias was killed during a trading expedition, and 'Aruj was captured and imprisoned in Rhodes to be sold as a slave. 'Aruj later escaped from captivity, and went to Italy and from there to Egypt. There he managed to get an audience with the Sultan Qansoh al-Ghuri, who was preparing a fleet of ships to send to India. He gave him a ship, which 'Aruj manned with sailors and started attacking the islands of the Mediterranean that are controlled by Christians, from their base in Alexandria.

Around 1505 'Aruj managed to seize three more ships and made the island of Djerba his base, thus moving his operations to the Western Mediterranean. His fame increased when between 1504 and 1510 he transported Muslim Moriscos from Christian Spain to North Africa. He was now known as Baba Aruj, or Baba Oruc, meaning Father Aruj, for his fatherly care of Muslims in need, in Spain and France Baba Aruj became Barbarossa. In 1516, Aruj captured Algiers, then Tlemcen, causing Abu Hamo Musa III to flee. Abu Zayan conspired against him, so he had him killed, and declared himself ruler over Algiers. He became known for attaching sails to cannons for transport through the deserts of North Africa. The best protection against Spain for Algiers and North Africa was joining The Ottoman Empire, Spain's main rival. For this he had to relinquish his title of Sultan of Algiers to the Ottomans. Befitting his name of Baba Aruj, he did this and stepped down. In response, the Ottomans appointed him governor of Algiers, Chief Sea Governor of the Western Mediterranean, and promised to support him. In 1518 'Aruj was killed in a battle with the Spaniards, attempting to retake Tlemcen. He died at the age of 55, and Khair ad Din took his place, his name (Barbarossa) and his mission.

Khair ad Din defeated the Spanish army that tried to capture Algiers in 1529. In 1531, he captured Tunisia, causing the Hafsid king al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Hafsi to flee.

A statue in Barbaros Park near the ferry stop in Beşiktaş

Admiral-in-Chief of the Ottoman Empire

In 1533 Khair ad Din was made Admiral-in-Chief by the Ottoman Sultan.

In 1535, al-Hasan asked the Spaniards for assistance, and Charles V prepared a campaign and recaptured Tunisia in that year.

In 1538, the fleet of Charles V was defeated at the Battle of Preveza by Khair ad Din, securing the eastern Mediterranean for the Turks for 33 years.

In 1541, Ahmed Ibn al-Hasan al-Hafsi took over Tunisia from his father, because of his father's status of servitude to the Spaniards.

In 1544, when Spain declared war on France, the French king Francois I, asked the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I for help. The latter sent a fleet headed by Khair ad Din who is victorious over the Spaniards, and manages to retake Naples from them.

Like his brother 'Aruj, Khaid ad Din managed to coordinate a fleet of 36 ships, and in 7 voyages successfully transferred 70,000 Muslim Morisco, and settled them in Algiers, making it a stronger base against Spain.

Due to all these achievements, the Ottoman Sultan bestowed on him the title of Beylerbey: Commander General.

With the orders of the Suleiman the Magnificent he dictated his memoirs to Muradi Sinan Reis. They consist of 5 volumes of hand writings known as "Gazavat-ı Hayrettin Paşa" (Memories of Khair ad Din Pasha). Today they are exhibited at the Topkapi Palace and Istanbul University Library. They are fictionalised as "Akdeniz Bizimdi" (Mediterranean was Ours) by M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ.

Khair ad Din died aged 65 in his palace on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. After his death, his son, Hasan Pacha succeeded him in Algiers.

His mausoleum is in Besiktas, Istanbul in the same square where his statute is located.

External links

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