Samson Rowlie

Last updated
Portrait of Samson Rowlie/Hassan Aga Samson Rowlie.jpg
Portrait of Samson Rowlie/Hassan Aga

Samson Rowlie (died after 1588) was Chief Eunuch and Treasurer of Algiers during Ottoman rule. Born in Norfolk, England, the son of a Bristol merchant, Francis Rowlie, he was captured aboard of the Swallow [1] and castrated by the Ottomans in 1577. [2] He converted from Christianity to Islam and took the name Hassan Aga. [3] He served the Beylerbey of Algiers, Uluç Ali Pasha.

Richard Hakluyt's 1589 collection, The Principal Navigations, included a 1586 letter from William Harborne, England's ambassador to the Ottoman court, addressed to Hassan Aga, for the purpose of negotiating prisoner release. [4] A 1588 watercolor portrait depicts Hassan Aga with white skin and rosy cheeks, wearing a large turban. He was reported to have been murdered. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algiers</span> Capital and largest city of Algeria

Algiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, located in the north-central part of the country. The city's population at the 2008 census was 2,988,145 and in 2020 was estimated to be around 4,500,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1554</span> Calendar year

Year 1554 (MDLIV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hakluyt</span> English author, editor and translator (1553–1616)

Richard Hakluyt was an English writer. He is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America (1582) and The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589–1600).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aga Khan</span> Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias

Aga Khan is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini, Aga Khan IV. Aga Khan claims to be a direct descendant of Muhammad, the last prophet according to the religion of Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbary pirates</span> Pirates based in North Africa

The Barbary pirates, Barbary corsairs, or Ottoman corsairs were mainly Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from the Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, in reference to the Berbers. Slaves in Barbary could be of many ethnicities, and of many different religions, such as Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. Their predation extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa's Atlantic seaboard and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland, but they primarily operated in the western Mediterranean. In addition to seizing merchant ships, they engaged in razzias, raids on European coastal towns and villages, mainly in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, but also in the British Isles, the Netherlands, and Iceland.

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

Occhiali was an Italian farmer, then Ottoman privateer and admiral, who later became beylerbey of the Regency of Algiers, and finally Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet in the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi</span> Moroccan Saadi Dynasty ruler from 1576 to 1578

Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I, often simply Abd al-Malik or Mulay Abdelmalek, was the Saadian Sultan of Morocco from 1576 until his death right after the Battle of al-Kasr al-Kabir against Portugal in 1578.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmad al-Mansur</span> 7th Ruler of Saadi Dynasty

Ahmad al-Mansur was the Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1578 to his death in 1603, the sixth and most famous of all rulers of the Saadis. Ahmad al-Mansur was an important figure in both Europe and Africa in the sixteenth century. His powerful army and strategic location made him an important power player in the late Renaissance period. He has been described as "a man of profound Islamic learning, a lover of books, calligraphy and mathematics, as well as a connoisseur of mystical texts and a lover of scholarly discussions."

<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, and later a sovereign military republic that plundered and waged maritime holy war against Christian powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aruj Barbarossa</span> Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers

Aruj Barbarossa, known as Oruç Reis to the Turks, was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli and died in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in England</span> Overview of the role of Islam in England

Islam in England is the second largest religion after Christianity. Most Muslims are immigrants from South Asia or descendants of immigrants from that region. Many others are from Muslim-dominated regions such as the Middle East, Afghanistan, Malaysia and Somalia, and other parts of African countries such as Nigeria, Uganda and Sierra Leone. There are also many White Muslims in the country, of which most have Slavic and Balkan backgrounds, as well as some ethnic English converts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbary slave trade</span> Slave markets in North Africa

The Barbary slave trade involved the capture and selling of European slaves at slave markets in the Barbary states. European slaves were captured by Barbary pirates in slave raids on ships and by raids on coastal towns from Italy to the Netherlands, Ireland and the southwest of Britain, as far north as Iceland and into the Eastern Mediterranean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reception of Islam in Early Modern Europe</span> European-Islamic cultural contact

There was cultural contact between Europe and the Islamic world from the Renaissance to Early Modern period.

Protestantism and Islam entered into contact during the early-16th century when the Ottoman Empire, expanding in the Balkans, first encountered Calvinist Protestants in present-day Hungary and Transylvania. As both parties opposed the Austrian Holy Roman Emperor and his Roman Catholic allies, numerous exchanges occurred, exploring religious similarities and the possibility of trade and military alliances.

The Expedition of Mostaganem occurred in 1558, when Spanish forces attempted to capture the city of Mostaganem. The expedition was supposed to be a decisive step in the conquest of the Ottoman base of Algiers, but it ended in failure, and has been called a "disaster".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasan Agha</span>

Hasan Agha or Hadım Hassan Ağa, also Hassan the eunuch, was a Sardinian renegade and effective ruler of the Regency of Algiers from 1533 to 1545. He was the deputy of Hayreddin Barbarossa, who left him in command when he had to leave for Constantinople in 1533.

The Campaign of Tlemcen or Tlemcen campaign was a military operation led by the Saadians of Mohammed ash-Sheikh against Tlemcen in 1557, then under the domination of the Regency of Algiers, a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. Mohammed ash-Sheikh, who wanted to conquer Algeria, occupied the city but failed to seize the Mechouar Palace, which was defended by a garrison of 500 men under the command of Caïd Saffa.

<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.

References

  1. Maclean, G. (2007-09-05). Looking East: English Writing and the Ottoman Empire Before 1800. Springer. ISBN   9780230591844.
  2. "The first Muslims in England - BBC News". BBC News. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  3. Matar, Nabil (1998-10-13). Islam in Britain, 1558-1685. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521622332.
  4. Das, Nandini. "Richard Hakluyt and Early English Travel". The Public Domain Review. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  5. Bamford, Daniel. "The life & death of Samson Rowlie, alias Hassan Agha. London, Nov. 2016". Academia.edu. Retrieved 9 May 2018.