Salah Rais
Salah Rais | |
---|---|
7th King of Algiers | |
Reign | 1552–1556 |
Predecessor | Hasan Pasha |
Successor | Muhammad Kurdogli |
Born | c. 1488 Egypt |
Died | c. 1568 Algiers, Algeria |
Issue | |
Kingdom | Algiers |
Religion | Islam |
Salah Rais (
In 1529, together with
In 1538 he commanded the right wing of the Turkish fleet at the naval
.In 1551, due to his success in the conquest of
Background and early career
Salah Reis was born in
At a very young age he joined the fleet of
Salah Rais was around 30 years old when Oruç Reis died in 1518 during a battle against the Spaniards in Algeria. From 1518 onwards, he joined the fleet of Hızır Reis, who inherited the title of Barbarossa from his older brother, Baba Oruç (Father Aruj).
In 1520 he went to
In 1529, commanding a force of 14
The Ottoman Sultan
In 1533 Barbarossa and Salah Rais operated together against the Spanish-controlled ports in the Mediterranean Sea.
In July 1535 Salah Rais was appointed by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha for the task of defending Tunis. Accompanied by Cafer Reis and very few Turkish soldiers, Salah Rais encountered the forces of Girolamo Tuttavilla, Count of Sarno, whose fortress was near the city walls of La Goulette. Salah Rais pretended to retreat and eventually routed and trapped the forces of Tuttavilla, who followed him. Tuttavilla was killed in combat, and his fortress was captured by the Turks. Still in July 1535, Salah Rais assisted Hasan Reis (later Hasan Pasha), the son of Barbarossa, in governing Algiers. In 1536 Barbarossa and Salah Rais were called back to Constantinople to take command of the Ottoman naval attack on the Habsburg Kingdom of Naples. In July 1537 the Turks landed at Otranto and captured the city, as well as the Fortress of Castro and the city of Ugento in Apulia.
In August 1537, Lütfi Pasha and Barbarossa led a huge Ottoman force, in which Salah Rais also took part, that captured the Aegean and Ionian islands belonging to the
Battle of Preveza
In February 1538, Pope Paul III succeeded in assembling a Holy League (comprising the Papacy, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice and the Maltese Knights) against the Ottomans, which was to be commanded by Andrea Doria, the chief admiral of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Salah Rais, now a Bahriye Sancakbeyi (Rear Admiral, Upper Half) commanded the 24 galleys which formed the right wing of the Ottoman fleet during the
Recapture of Castelnuovo and the conquest of Venetian islands in the Aegean
In June 1539 Salah Rais set sail from Constantinople with 20 galleys, and near Cape Maleo joined the fleet of Barbarossa which was appointed with the mission of recapturing Castelnuovo (
Operations on the French coast and Catalonia
According to some Turkish resources, in 1540, Salah Rais was together with
French, Italian and Spanish sources, however, acknowledge the captivity (1540) and liberation (1544) of Turgut Reis, but make no mention of the captivity of Salah Rais. It is probable that the close friendship between Salah Rais and Turgut Reis and their numerous joint operations may have possibly caused a confusion.
In fact, according to French, Italian and Spanish sources, Salah Rais took part in the Franco-Ottoman conquest of Nice (Nizza) on 5 August 1543, which was commanded by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha. According to the same sources, following the conquest of Nice, Salah Rais commanded the Ottoman force of 20 galleys and 3 fustas which assaulted the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, in that same year. In early October 1543, Salah Rais landed his troops at Rosas and sacked the city. The following day, Salah Rais appeared at the Medas Islands (Illes Medes) about 1 km off the coast of L'Estartit, before proceeding to Palafrugell and Palamós, the latter being severely sacked following a fierce battle for its capture. From there Salah Rais proceeded to the nearby San Juan de Palamós, which was likewise sacked, and captured the Spanish galley Bribona off the coast of Calelh, a fishing village in the area. He later landed his troops at Empúries (Ampurias) and Cadaqués, capturing and sacking both cities, before sailing to Algiers. He was spotted sailing together with Barbarossa in the spring of 1544.
Operations in Sicily, Malta and the West Mediterranean
In mid June 1548 Salah Rais appeared at Capo Passero in Sicily with a force of 18 ships, before appearing at Gozo in Malta with 12 ships – having sent 6 of his ships to Algiers where they would join Turgut Reis, upon the order that he received from Hüseyin Çelebi.
In the Autumn of 1550 Andrea Doria contacted Salah Rais and attempted to convince him for serving Spain instead of the Ottoman Empire, but failed.
Conquest of Tripoli (Libya) and subsequent promotion to the rank of Bahriye Beylerbeyi of Algiers
In June–August 1551, Salah Rais joined the fleet of
In April 1552 he reached Algiers, and later set sail towards
Marching overland to the Sahara Desert (1552)
From Majorca he sailed back to Algiers, where he prepared his troops to march overland to the Sahara Desert and expand the Ottoman Vilayet (Province) of Algeria inwards. The troops advanced south and captured the city of Touggourt, built around an oasis in southern Algeria. From there the Turks marched towards Ouargla, finding a ghost city whose inhabitants fled upon hearing their arrival.
Reestablishment of the Wattassid King in Fes
In 1549, the new ruler of
Return to Algeria
In 1555 the French Navy, then allied with the
Later that year, Salah Rais conquered Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera from the Spaniards, before sailing to Constantinople where he was received by the Sultan.
Sieges of Oran, 1556 and 1563
In 1556 he left Constantinople and set sail towards the Spanish stronghold of Oran in Algeria, which he assaulted with a force of 30 galleys. He destroyed the Spanish forts defending the entrance of the port, but could not capture the city itself due to the fierce resistance by the local population as well as the Spanish army garrison. He then retreated his fleet to Algiers.
In April 1563, commanding a force of 10,000 soldiers, he once again laid siege to Oran and
Siege of Malta, 1565
In August 1565 Salah Rais took part in the Turkish
Death in Algiers, 1568
The Siege of Malta was also the final mission of Salah Rais, who was around 77 years old at that time. He died in
Legacy
Salah Rais was from the generation of great Turkish seamen in the 16th century such as
He played an important role in the
He vastly enlarged the Ottoman territories in northwestern Africa and extended them to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean.
Several warships of the
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-2-912946-04-1.
- ^ Bono, Salvatore: Corsari nel Mediterraneo (Corsairs in the Mediterranean), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993.
- ISBN 978-2-35676-055-5.
- Brogini, Anne (15 March 2011). 1565, Malte dans la tourmente: Le Grand Siège de l'île par les Turcs [Malta in Torment: The Great Siege of the Island by the Turks] (in French). Editions Bouchène. ISBN 978-2-35676-065-4.
- Brogini, Anne (15 March 2011). 1565, Malte dans la tourmente: Le Grand Siège de l'île par les Turcs [Malta in Torment: The Great Siege of the Island by the Turks] (in French). Editions Bouchène.
- ^ Sarı, İbrahim (15 June 2018). Türk Şahsiyetleri: Dededen Toruna Miras Eser... (in Turkish). noktaekitap.
- Çanakkale 1973 il yıllığı (in Turkish). İtimat Matbaası. 1973.
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- Archivum Ottomanicum. Mouton. 2003.
- ^ Strahan, Lisbeth Gooch Séguin (1878). Walks in Algiers and Its Surrounding. Daldy, Isbister & Company.
- Cave, Laurence Trent (1859). The French in Africa. C. J. Skeet.
- Country Life. Country Life, Limited. November 1975.
- ^ C. Naylor, Phillip. (2015). Historical Dictionary of Algeria. p. 458.
- ^ Mac-Carthey, M. O. (1855). Revue de l'orient et de l'Algerie, recueil consacre a la discussion des interets de tous les etats orientaux et des colonies francaises de l'Afrique, de l'Inde et de l'Occanie. Redakteuren chef: M. O. Mac Carthy (in French). Just Rouvier.
- Guyon, Jean Louis Geneviève (1855). Histoire chronologique des epidemies du Nord de l'Afrique, depuis les temps les plus recules jusqu'a nos jours (in French). Impr. du Gouvernement.
- Playfair, Sir Robert Lambert; Murray (Firm), John (1891). Handbook for Travellers in Algeria and Tunis: Algiers, Oran, Tlemcen, Bougie, Constantine, Tebessa, Biskra, Tunis, Carthage, Etc. J. Murray.
- ^ ISBN 9781558761124.
- ^ "Corsari nel Mediterraneo: Salah Rais". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
Sources
- E. Hamilton Currey, Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean, London, 1910
- Bono, Salvatore: Corsari nel Mediterraneo (Corsairs in the Mediterranean), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993.
- Corsari nel Mediterraneo: Condottieri di ventura. Online database in Italian, based on Salvatore Bono's book.
- Bradford, Ernle, The Sultan's Admiral: The life of Barbarossa, London, 1968.
- Wolf, John B., The Barbary Coast: Algeria under the Turks, New York, 1979; ISBN 0-393-01205-0
- The Ottomans: Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in English.
- Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in Turkish. Archived 5 December 2012 at archive.today
- Turkish Navy official website: Historic heritage of the Turkish Navy (in Turkish)