Odjak of Algiers

The Odjak of Algiers((efn|also spelled Ujaq was a unit of the

Algiers was governed, from the beginning of the 16th century, by a foreign militia, commonly called by Europeans "the Odjak" or "the Turkish militia". The denomination "Turk", referred to the geographical and ethnic origin of most members of this militia, to their language, and to their belonging to a culture distinct from that of other Algerians.[6] The Odjak of Algiers was a faction in the country which encompassed all Janissaries. They also often controlled the country, for example during the period of Aghas from 1659 to 1671.^[7]

Background

When

The Odjak militia constituted both the government and the army of the regency, and the distinction between the two is not always obvious.^[12] Thus, it is from the same corps of Janissaries that the civil servants of the state were drawn, and the holders of the highest ranks indeed have political or administrative roles. This was the case, for example, of the oldest bölükbashi from whom ambassadors to foreign courts were chosen.^[13] It was within combat units, at sea or on land, that the Khodja corps trained its men, and it was this corps that ensured the administration of the Regency as well as that of the army. Even former corsair captains found roles in state service as dragomans to European consuls.^[14] Since the pashas sent from Istanbul had lost all effective influence on the decisions of the odjak, towards the 1660s, it was always the elected member of the militia who held power, and who then became both the political and military leader of the Regency.

Janissary Diwan

The composition of the private Diwan

The Janissary bolukbachi, or senior officers are those that form the private Divan. It is made up of sixty Janissary bolukbasis, who meet every morning at daybreak in a room intended for their deliberations to report to themselves on the acts of the administration by virtue of the powers conferred on them, as forming a superior body composed of the chiefs of the army. One can only be part of the divan after having fulfilled certain conditions required by the regulations, including a must have given proof of experience and capacity and having served in the army and navy; almost all those who belong to the divan are of advanced age and married to natives.^[15]

The head of this divan is called "

A list of all the officers whose seniority could bring them to the position of agha was presented to the janissaries, who either approved the appointment of the oldest or chose one of the following. To prevent the agha from clinging to power, the duration of his presidency was made very limited; The office of president of the divan lasts only two months; each member is president in turn by order of seniority.^[17] Other additional precautions were added; At the end of his command, he was admitted to retirement, lost the quality of janissary and could no longer attend the assembly. The agha could also be suspended by the assembly, the interim being then provided by the Kahia. The hierarchy also included:^[17]

• Bach-bolukbachi; First of the officers by the right of seniority.
• Around 20 Yabachis; Officers recognizable by their white plume, attached to the pasha and escorting him to the mosque on Friday.
• Maaloukbachi; Spokesperson of the janissaries, who reported to the Pasha on the requests and grievances of the militia.
• 4 Soldachis; Officers who played the role of advisors to the agha, "They were allowed to be close to the pasha and ate in his table"
• Around 30 officers commanding the camps, each camp comprising between 300 and 400 janissaries.

The tasks of the private Diwan

All that relates to the high external or internal policy of the regency is decided by the members of the Divan. When there is some disorder in the interior, for example: a revolt among a tribe, or when a road is intercepted, they take information on this subject and give their opinion on the means that one should take to restore order.^[16] The payment of soldiers is made only in the presence of this president or chief. For in Algiers the state treasury is only opened in the presence of the Khoja or state notary and a special commission, of which each member holds a key; each of the members of this commission presents himself with his register to note the entry and exit of funds from the treasury. The dey himself cannot dispose of the public treasury; he presents himself as a simple soldier to receive his pay, or civil list.^[18]

It is within the powers of the President of the Diwan to administer justice in his locality on the Turks and Koulouglis who have failed in discipline or who have broken the laws. Therefore they cannot enter any prison, except that of the diwan. In cases falling within the ambit of military usages and regulations, the judges of any criminal or correctional litigious dispute, may contact the "Qadi" for his opinion and for the application of the laws; If there is some penalty to be inflicted, it is the president of the diwan who orders its execution, which must take place in the room of the diwan. This gives compulsory force to the decisions of the Qadi, who addresses himself to the diwan to have his judgments executed, since regular soldiers were never judged by civil laws like the moors, but by military laws.^[19]

Political intrigues

The Janissaries were more turbulent than the corsairs, In 1713, they wanted to assassinate the dey Ali Chaouch, but the plotters were arrested and strangled.^[20] Nearly 1700 Janissaries perished. In 1728, the dey Kurd Abdi succeeded in breaking another plot hatched by the Agha and the militia.^[21] In 1754, following internal difficulties and a big explosion of powder magazine in Algiers in the middle of an epidemic of plague, seven Arnauts (Albanians) of the militia planned to kill the dey Baba Mohamed Torto and to install in his place their chief. Venture de Paradis tells that they succeeded in killing the dey and the khaznadji and in raising the leader of their conspiracy to the throne. But the new dey was killed by the great cook of the Djenina Palace, aided by slaves who had been supplied with arms. The seven conspirators were all eliminated. Ali Baba Bousbaa, Agha commander of the cavalry, was appointed dey and reigned for ten years.^[22]

In 1805, the Janissaries, following a popular riot, attacked the Jews. Busnach and Bacri's company had large stocks of wheat as the famine raged.

Algiers has known the hightest number of troops during the first half of the 17th century, this was demonstrated through the construction of two barracks (Eski and Yine Barracks in Algiers in 1627 and 1637 respectively), However, the number of the Janissaries went on a steady decline from the mid 18th century onwards; New recruits were insufficient to recover the military might of Algiers that was known a century prior, though efforts were made to compensate this void by recruiting local militias from the "Koulouglis", Zwawas and Arab tribes.^[25]

From the Ottoman Empire

The Odjak was initially mainly composed of foreigners,

In early 19th century, the naval power of Algiers could fill some fourteen percent of the full size of the odjak infantry, the mehallas numbered around 2,500 janissaries, while the navy used 800 to 900 men. Thus, it was mandaory to serve on board of a corsair ship for the militia in the Algerian odjak. The ratio of janissaries aboard was not known though, it could be guessed that one janissary for three navy crews were aboard the Algerian corsair ships if the total number of sailors in this period was about 2500 men. A document on the Algerian navy in 1820 states: “each complement of ship’s personnel includes, in addition to its crew of sailors, a garrison of infantry formed from the Turkish militia, of not more than a hundred men for the frigates, and not less than forty men for the schooners and polaccas.”[35]

These soldiers assigned during the year for service at sea were taken aboard vessels that belonged to private individuals as well as those that belonged to the state. It was the new recruits who were assigned to serve at sea. They took their rifles, pistols, swords, and a blanket for sleeping; their entire equipment. The beylik provided neither bunk nor hammock nor mattress; he supplied old sheets for binding up wounds and a medicine chest . . . [They] were not involved in ship manoeuvres; they were assigned to the musketry and to be the first to make boardings with knives and swords. Their stations were on the quarter-deck, where soldiers could not go without permission, except to serve them.

— Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis, Tunis et Alger au XVIIIe siècle

Barracks

Living commonly in large barracks just like professional armies around the world, the Janissaries of Algiers were lodged in seven or eight such barracks in Algiers, each housing around 700 and 800 all the way up to 2,000 men. As it was usual for Odjak officers to own slaves, the work required to keep the barracks in good condition was largely performed by these slaves. Hense why the Barracks had a notoriety for being nicely built, ideally organized and cleaned.^[36]

The janissaries enjoyed many advantages; they bought their food at a special price, lower than that set for the population; single ones were allowed four loaves of bread per day. They could own their barracks; those who were not married stayed in houses built on the type of Moorish house, with one room per odjak and small rooms for the boulouk bachi. In Algiers, there were eight barracks, some of which were very pretty. These barracks were much more comfortable and pleasant than anywhere else in Europe at the time. In each there was, as in the mehala, at each section, a wakil and an atchi (cook). Married janissaries lived with their families; in the 16th century, there were nearly eight hundred households in Algiers. They were also subject to a special justice, that of their officers; it included severe penalties (imprisonment, caning and even death penalty), but inflicted in private, so that the Turks would not be humiliated in front of the natives.^[37]

The Janissary pay registers kept at the National Library of Algiers mention eight barracks:^[38]

• Mouqarrir barracks (reader barracks: the muqarrir is the one who makes a communication, a presentation). It was located in the old rue Macaron. It consisted of 27 rooms, housing 899 men, trained in 48 odjak (section).
• Bab-Azoun barracks included 28 rooms and housed 1661 men trained in 63 odjak.
• Salih Pasha and Ali Pasha barracks were neighboring each other, each comprising a spacious courtyard surrounded by arcades, and dominated the port rampart. Sometimes they were designated by the name "kapılar" (the doors); also known as "Yechil Qapouda Ali Pasha" and "Yechil Qapouda Salih Pasha". They were located between rue Boza and rue de l'Aigle near Azoun. The Salih Pasha barracks included 26 rooms, where 1,266 men comprising 60 odjak were housed; that of Ali Pasha had 24 with 1516 men forming 55 odjak.
• Ousta Moussa barracks, in rue de la Marine (the French actually have the Lemercier barracks). It included 31 rooms occupied by 72 odjak with a workforce of 1833 men.
• Yali barracks, or “Bord de la Mer” located opposite the Ousta Moussa barracks, also called "Dar ed-droudj" (Stairs barracks), with 15 rooms housing 602 men divided between 27 odjak.
• Eski (old) barracks, in rue Médée, with 31 rooms bred for 60 odjak, or 1089 men.
• Yeni (new) barracks, in the same street, had only 19 rooms, with 38 odjak or 856 men.

Command structure of the Odjak

Janissary bolukbasi (Senior officer) (left), Janissary Agha (right)

Leadership, and commanders

The command structure of the Odjak relied on several tiers of military commanders. Initially based on basic Janissary structures, after the 17th century it was slightly changed to better fit the local warfare styles and politics. The main ranks of the Odjak were:^[39]

• Agha, or marshall of the Odjak. Elected by the Odjak until 1817, after which the Dey appointed the Aghas.^[40]
• Aghabashi, which was equal to the rank of General in western armies
• Bulukbashi, or senior officer
• Odabashi, or officer
• Wakil al-Kharj, a non-commissioned officer or supply clerk
• Yoldash, or regular soldier

Main units

The army was divided into 4 regions, the exact same regions as the administrational ones (Beyliks).^{[citation needed]}

• Western Army, headed by the Beys of Mascara/Oran
• Central Army, headed by the Bey of Titteri
• Eastern Army, headed by the Bey of Constantine
• Dar as-Soltan army, headed by the Dey and the Agha.

These troops were headed by the Beys, and a Khalifa (general) appointed by them. The supreme commander of the army was the Agha al-Mahalla Levying these troops was the job of the Bey. The Odjak was headed by an Agha elected by the Odjak itself. When Algiers came under attack, the Beyliks would send their troops to help the besieged city, such as in

Not much is known about the spahis of Algiers, other than the fact that they were a regular standing unit, mainly composed of locals, although there were Turks amongst them.^[39] They differed greatly from the traditional Ottoman sipahis, in both military equipment and organization, and hardly had anything in common with them other than their names, and both being cavalry units. The Dey also periodically had several thousand spahis in his service acting as a personal guard.^[41] Other than the Dey's guard, Spahis were not recruited or stationed in Algiers, instead being usually recruited by the Beys.^[43] They were usually more organized than the irregular tribal cavalry, although far less numerous.

The French Spahi units were based on the Algerian spahis,^[44] and they were both mainly light cavalry.

Levy warriors

The levy militia composed from

Algiers hardly possessed units based on Napoleonic or post-Napoleonic warfare, and many of their units, including the Odjak of Algiers were organized on outdated 17th and 18th century Ottoman standards. The only two main units which existed as Modern-style units were the small Zwawa guard established by Ali Khodja Dey in 1817 to counter-balance the influence of the Odjak, and the small army of Ahmed Bey ben Mohamed Chérif, the last Bey of Constantine, who organized his army on the lines of Muhammad Ali's Egyptian Army. Ahmed Bey's army was composed of 2,000 infantry, and 1,500 cavalry. His entire army was composed of native Algerians,^[49] and he also built a complex system of manufactories to support the army and invited several foreigners to train technicians and other specialists.^[50]

References