Hadj Ahmed Chabane

Last updated
Hadj Ahmed Chabane
Dey
Battle of Moulouya - Bataille de la Moulouya (1691 Maroc and Algeria).jpg
Map shows Algeria, Morocco, and Tunis in 1692. Constantine is located east-southeast of Bejaia.
4th Dey of Algiers
Reign1688– 14 August 1695
Predecessor Mezzo Morto Hüseyin Pasha
SuccessorHadj Ahmed
BornAhmed Chabane Cogia
1628 – 1633
Anatolia, Ottoman Empire
Died15 August or 10 September 1695
Algiers, Regency of Algiers
Religion Islam

Dey Hadj Ahmed Chabane (d. 1695) was the fourth Dey of Algiers. He ruled from 1688 to 1695, [1] and was the first member of the Algerian Janissary Odjak to ever assume this position. [2] Under his leadership, Algeria enjoyed good relations with France. His military campaigns against Morocco and Tunis were successful. However, his enemies turned his Eastern army against him; he was removed from power and executed.

Contents

Rule

Biography

Dey Hadj Ahmed Chabane was of Turkish origin, born in Anatolia and aged 55 to 60 when he was elected by the Divan of Algiers. He was described by a Christian observer as a "man of spirit, joyful, discreet, promptly taking a resolution and executing it with vigor. He was known for his bravery, he was said to keep his word, he was enterprising, exact in following the practices of his false religion [false, that is, to a Christian], bold and even insolent towards those who put up any resistance to him. But good and gentle towards the officers; it was even to this benevolence that he was indebted for his fortune." [3] French orientalist Pétis de la Croix, who knew Algiers and wrote a memorandum on the city in 1695, described him by saying, “He is a man characterized by wisdom, cheerfulness, and modesty. He is committed to the rulings of Sharia law and adheres to his Islamic faith. He preferred a life of austerity, as he was content with his annual salary, which was estimated at 106 écus." [4]

Quotes

Our State is the Boulevard of North Africa and our city is the Cornerstone.

— Hadj Ahmed Chabane, 1689, [5]

Relations with France

On 24 March 1690, a ceremony took place in Algiers where René Lemaire was officially welcomed as the French consul in the embassy with Algiers. Dey Chabane held him in high regard. In July 1690, Lemaire successfully organized the sending of an Algerian Embassy to the court of Versailles, which attracted a lot of interest. Hadj Chabane ensured that he maintained good relations with the French, [6] and a peace treaty was signed between the two. [7]

Most Illustrious and Magnificent Lord, We have learned, through the letter you have written to us, of your disposition to maintain peace, which was established by Commissioner Marcel with the Pasha and the Divan of Algiers. As the treaty presented to us aligns with our intentions, we hereby ratify, through this letter, the articles agreed upon. We instruct the Commanders of our vessels and Mr. Vaudré, Intendant of the Marine at the port of Toulon, to execute them immediately, hoping that you, on your part, will ensure that the conditions of a solemn treaty are not violated by any contravention.

—  Louis XIV To Ahmed Chabane, 1688, [3] [8]

Memoirs

One day, Dey Chabane caught a corsair hiding something under his burnouse at the Divan. When the dey asked the corsair to reveal what he was hiding, he showed him a plum, claiming he had bought it from a merchant from Marseille. The dey remarked, "If you can afford such fine fruit, you must have stolen it, as you would have prioritized buying fresh bread for your family instead. You deserve 100 strokes of the bastinado for causing your family to suffer due to your glutony." The dey then took the corsair to the merchant he claimed to have bought the plum from. The merchant recognized the plum basket as the one stolen from him. This proved that the corsair had lied; the corsair's sentence was increased to 500 lashes for theft and lying about it. [9]

Military Campaigns

Battle of Moulouya (1692)

Hadj Chabane took the lead in his first campaign during the Battle of Moulouya, which was caused by persistent Moroccan incursions into sovereign territories. The delineation of borders between The Regency and Morocco was initially established along the Moulouya River After the Campaign of Tlemcen in 1551 [10] The campaign proved successful resulting in the defeat of the Moroccan king, Ismael Ben Cherif [11] though it did not prevent further Moroccan incursions. [12]

Revolt in Algiers (1692)

Upon arriving in Algiers back from the Moulouya campaign, he found the city in full rebellion. The Kabyle people, incited by the Bey of Tunis, had conspired with the Baldi tribe to plot the expulsion of the Loldach tribe, and had hidden in large numbers in the houses, waiting for an opportune moment. They hoped that the Moroccans would be victorious, and that they would then only have to close the city gates to the fleeing Algerians and hand them over to the Moroccans. Upon the victorious return of Chabane, a bloody battle broke out in the streets. The revolt was crushed; four or five hundred of the insurgents were beheaded, and their tribes were subjected to an exorbitant war tax. The massacre took place on the same day that Ramadan ended. [13]

Battle of Djidioua

In 1692, following the Algerian occupation of the eastern side of the Moulouya River, Ismail Ibn Sharif endeavored to reclaim it in 1693, but was stopped by Algerian Arab tribes, who with the Spanish, drove them out of Oran. Ismail Ben Sharif recognized the strategic value of the river's eastern flank, which encompassed cities such as Oujda, Fguig, Berkane, and others. This territory also held significant economic and historical importance for the Moroccan state. [14] Ismail Ibn Sherif commissioned an army to traverse the terrain of the Moulouya River, penetrating deeper into Algerian territory. The confrontation persisted until the Moroccan army reached the crucial location of Relizane, where they encountered formidable resistance from a well-prepared Algerian army. They ultimately succumbed once more to the forces led by Chabane. [12] [15]

Campaign In Tunisia

In 1694, Hadj Chabane, supported by the Tripolitans, resolved to chastise Mohamed Bey El Mouradi and declined the tribute offered as a gesture of submission. The two armies converged at El Kef on 24 June 1694. On the same day, Mohamed Bey El Mouradi launched an attack against the Algerians, only to be defeated. Subsequently, he initiated a new assault the following day, met with no greater success. On 26 June, Chabane assumed the offensive, breached the enemy lines, and pursued them to Tunis, ultimately capturing the city, making Tunisia an Algerian vassal and tributary state. [16]

Death

Chabane returned to Algiers on 16 February 1695, dragging behind him the captured cannons, 120 mules loaded with gold and silver, and a large number of slaves. On 25 February, he narrowly escaped assassination at the mosque while he was praying; the culprit denounced his accomplices, who were executed alongside him. These executions heightened the discontent among the Loldach tribe, who complained of being sacrificed for the sake of the favorite. The latter had just been expelled by the people of Tunis, and Mohamed Bey El Mouradi, returning from Chios, had won over the garrison of Constantine with gifts, which rallied to his cause. The spirit of sedition spread to the Eastern army; it turned back and arrived in front of Algiers on 5 August, demanding loudly the head of Chabane. Despite his efforts to defend himself, Chabane was imprisoned and tortured for ten days, without the cruelty of his tormentors being able to make him reveal the whereabouts of his treasures. On 13 August, he received more than eight hundred blows with a stick, he was officially put out of power on 14 August and Chabane was strangled the next day on 15 August 1695. [13] [17] Another source wrote that he died on 10 September 1695. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dey</span> Ottoman title

Dey, from the Turkish honorific title dayı, literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli, and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards. Twenty-nine deys held office from the establishment of the deylicate in Algeria until the French conquest in 1830.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regency of Algiers</span> 1516–1830 Autonomous Ottoman State in North Africa

The Regency of Algiers was an early modern tributary state of the Ottoman Empire on the Barbary Coast of North Africa from 1516 to 1830. Founded by the corsair brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Regency was a formidable pirate base infamous for its corsairs, first ruled by Ottoman viceroys, which later became a sovereign military republic that plundered and waged maritime holy war against European Christian powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasion of Algiers (1830)</span> Taking of Algiers in 1830 by the kingdom of France

The invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Deylik of Algiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Bey El Mouradi</span> Bey of Tunis

Mohamed Bey El Mouradi was a Muradid leader and Bey of Tunis from 1675 until his death in 1696. He was the eldest son of Murad II Bey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutions of Tunis</span> 1675–1705 period of civil wars in Ottoman Tunisia

The Revolutions of Tunis or the Muradid War of Succession was a period of troubles and civil wars in Ottoman Tunisia. It ran from the death of the Muradid sovereign Murad II Bey in 1675 until the seizure of power by the Husainid sovereign Al-Husayn I ibn Ali at-Turki in 1705. The belligerents were Ali Bey al-Muradi and Muhammad Bey al-Muradi, their uncle Muhammad al-Hafsi al-Muradi, several Deys of Tunis, the Turkish militia in Tunis and the Dey of Algiers.

Baba Mohammed ben-Osman or Muhammad V ben Osman was Dey of the Deylik of Algiers from 1766 to 1791. The adoptive father of Baba Hassan Pacha and the grandfather of Mustapha Pacha. Under his rule he declared war against Denmark-Norway because he demanded that an annual payment to stave off piracy by Denmark-Norway should be increased, and he should receive new gifts. Denmark-Norway refused the demands, beginning the Danish-Algerian War. He also declared war against the United States in 1785 and captured several American ships. The war ended in 1795 when the U.S concluded a treaty with his successor that paid $21,600 annually to Algiers.

The Battle of Chelif or Battle of Djidouia took place on 28 April 1701 on the banks of the Chelif River. It was fought between the armies of the Alaouite Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif and those of the Regency of Algiers commanded by the Bey of Mascara, Mustapha Bouchelaghem. It took place in the context of an attempt by the Alaouites to conquer the west of the Regency of Algiers, coordinated with an offensive by Tunis on the east of the Regency of Algiers in 1700 and 1701.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Moulouya</span>

The Battle of Moulouya took place in May 1692 at a ford on the Moulouya river in Morocco. It was fought between the armies of the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail and those of the Dey of Algiers Hadj Chabane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco-Algerian war (1681–1688)</span>

The French-Algerian War of 1681–1688 was part of a wider campaign by France against the Barbary Pirates in the 1680s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odjak of Algiers</span> 1518–1830 unit of the Algerine army

The Odjak of Algiers was a unit of the Algerian army. It was a highly autonomous part of the Janissary Corps, acting completely independently from the rest of the corps, similar to the relationship between Algiers and the Sublime Porte. Led by an Agha, they also took part in the country's internal administration and politics, ruling the country for several years. They acted as a defense unit, a Praetorian Guard, and an instrument of repression until 1817.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baba Ali Chaouch</span> Dey

Baba Ali Chaouch, also known as Ali Soukali, or simply Ali I, was a ruler of the Deylik of Algiers who ruled from 1710 to 1718. He was the first dey of Algiers to be invested with the title of dey-pacha. The Sultan Ahmed III had Ali Chaouch's envoy given the caftan and the three tails, a sign of the dignity of a "pasha". This title was attributed to all his successors until 1830.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beylik of Constantine</span> Governorate (Beylik) in the Regency of Algiers

The Beylik of Constantine, Beylik of the Sunrise or Beylik of the East as was its official designation, was one of the three Beyliks of the Regency of Algiers . The region liberated itself from the Hafsid Emirate of Béjaïa in the early 16th century, and constituted itself around Constantine in the mid to late 16th century. The Beylik collapsed in the 1837 siege of Constantine during the French conquest of Algeria. The Constantine department was formed upon the bases of the Beylik in 1848.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunisian–Algerian War (1694)</span> Conflict between Regency of Tunis and Deylik of Algiers (1694)

The Tunisian–Algerian war of 1694 was a conflict between the Deylik of Algiers, and the Regency of Tunis.

The Maghrebi war (1699–1702) was a conflict involving a Tunisian, Tripolitanian, and Moroccan coalition, and the Deylik of Algiers. It was an important milestone in the further weakening of the already fragile Ottoman grip over the Maghreb, as both sides utterly ignored the Ottoman sultan's pleas to sign a peace treaty. This war also led to the renewal of the Muradid infighting, which would later lead to the establishment of the Beylik of Tunis, and the Husainid dynasty in 1705.

The siege of Tunis was a siege fought in 1694, between the Deylik of Algiers, and Muradid Tunis, during the Tunisian-Algerian War of 1694.

The Constantine campaign was launched by Bey of Tunis Murad III Bey in 1699 to capture the Beylik of Constantine, situated in the east of the Deylik of Algiers.

The Battle of Kef was fought in 1694, between the Deylik of Algiers, and Muradid Tunis, during the Tunisian-Algerian War of 1694.

The Tunisian–Algerian War of 1705 was a conflict between the Regency of Algiers and the Regency of Tunis.

The Battle of Djidiouïa took place in 1694 between the Deylik of Algiers and the Sultanate of Morocco.

References

  1. ↑ Mahfoud Kaddache, L'Algérie des Algériens. p. 411.
  2. ↑ Wolf, John B. (1982). The Barbary Coast: Algeria Under the Turks. Norton. p. 271. ISBN   978-0-393-95201-8.
  3. 1 2 Memoires Dela Congregation Dela Mission (in French). 1864. p. 474.
  4. ↑ مروش, حنان (2016). هيبة الجزائر الدولية في عهد الداي شعبان 1689-1695 (الحروب مع تونس والمغرب) [Algeria's international prestige during the reign of Dey Shaaban 1689-1695 (wars with Tunisia and Morocco)](PDF) (in Arabic). Université Mohammed Boudiaf. p. 16.
  5. ↑ William Spencer (1969-01-01). The land and people of Algeria (Portraits of the nations series). Internet Archive. Lippincott Co. p. 52.
  6. ↑ nord, Société de géographie d'Alger et de l'Afrique du (1903). Bulletin provisoire (in French). Société de géographie d'Alger.
  7. ↑ Kaddache, Mahfoud (1998). L'Algérie durant la période ottomane (in French). Office des publications universitaires. ISBN   978-9961-0-0099-1.
  8. ↑ "Relations entre la France et la Régence d'Alger". algeroisementvotre.free.fr. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  9. ↑ Spencer, William (1976). Algiers in the age of the corsairs. Internet Archive. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press. p. 95. ISBN   978-0-8061-1334-0.
  10. ↑ Berthier, Pierre (1985). La bataille de l'Oued el-Makhâzen: dite bataille des Trois Rois (4 aout 1578) (in French). Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique. ISBN   978-2-222-03785-9.
  11. ↑ Galibert, Léon (1854). L'Algérie ancienne et moderne: depuis les premiers établissements des Carthaginois jusqu'à l'expédition du général Randon en 1853 (in French). Furne.
  12. 1 2 Bernard, Augustin (1911). Les confins algéro-marocains (in French). É. Larose.
  13. 1 2 "Les Deys 2". exode1962.fr. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  14. ↑ Hamet 1923, p. 350.
  15. ↑ "La politique des deys d'Alger à la veille de la conquête française (1730-1830)." Al-Mawaqif (Revue des études et des recherches sur la société et l'histoire). Gheziel, Abla. 2011. p. 1.
  16. ↑ Grammont, H.-D. de Auteur du texte (1887). Histoire d'Alger sous la domination turque (1515-1830), par H.-D. de Grammont. (5 juin 1886.).
  17. ↑ Memoires Dela Congregation Dela Mission (in French). 1864. p. 500.
  18. ↑ Playfair, Sir Robert Lambert (1884). The Scourge of Christendom: Annals of British Relations with Algiers Prior to the French Conquest. Smith, Elder & Company.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.