Mohamed Ben Hassan
| Mohammad ben Hassan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dey of Algiers | |||||
| 12th Dey of Algiers | |||||
| Reign | 1718–1724 | ||||
| Predecessor | Baba Ali Chaouch | ||||
| Successor | Curd Abdy | ||||
| Born | Around 1688 rural Eyalet of Egypt | ||||
| Died | 18 May 1724 Algiers, Regency of Algiers | ||||
| |||||
| Country | Regency of Algiers | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
| Occupation | Treasurer then Dey | ||||
Mohamed ben Hassan or Muhammad III was the 12th ruler and Dey of Algiers. He ruled five months after his predecessor Baba Ali Chaouch.
Early life
[edit]He was born around 1688. He was of Egyptian Arabic origins. He was an illiterate herder before he went to Algiers in his teenage years.[1]
Life in Algiers
[edit]He learned to read and write in Algiers, and was noted for his intelligence. He soon started working on more important jobs, before being appointed treasurer by Baba Ali Chaouch. He strongly supported Ali in his goals of independence from the Ottomans, and he was staunchly against the Odjak of Algiers. After an earthquake in 1716,[2][3] he helped rebuild the city.
After the death of Ali in 1718, the Divan of Algiers quickly elected him as the Dey as they were worried that without a staunch ruler the Odjak would take over the country.
Dey of Algiers
[edit]After his election he decided to continue the war against the Dutch Republic which Baba Ali started.[4] He heavily invested in barbary piracy and strengthened the country's navy. He continued recovering Algiers from the earthquake, mainly through money he salvaged from the barbary slave trade. He supported the Bey of Titteri's Ali Khodja goals of stabilizing Kabylia. He built a bordj (fort) in the valley of the Sebaou river in 1720, and another Bordj in Boghni in 1724.[5] He worked on weakening the power of the Turks over the Odjak of Algiers, and allowed more Kouloughlis and native Algerians to join the unit.[6] He further angered the Turks by keeping a distant relationship from the Ottoman Empire, and replacing Turks in important positions of power with his relatives[1] and well-skilled Algerians.
Death
[edit]On 18 May 1724 while he was performing routine inspections on the dock of Algiers and was attacked by five or six Turkish janissaries from the Odjak of Algiers. A Turk suddenly came out of a terras in a house and shot him with a flintlock pistol. Upon this signal several other Turks rushed out of their hiding places and attacked him. After killing him, the Turks rushed to Jenina palace to install a dey of their own, whom they decided would be the Agha of the sipahis. While barely putting the kaftan on him, the Noubagis (guards) of the palace shot them with their muskets.[1] The Turkish conspirators retreated, and a new Dey was elected by the Divan of Algiers, Cur Abdy, whom was also heavily against the Odjak.[7][8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Morgan, J. (1750). A Compleat History of the Piratical States of Barbary: Viz. Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and Morocco. Containing the Origin, Revolutions, and Present State of These Kingdoms, Their Forces, Revenues, Policy, and Commerce. Illustrated with a Plan of Algiers, and a Map of Barbary. R. Griffiths.
- ^ Ganse, Robert A.; Nelson, John B.; Geophysics, World Data Center A. for Solid Earth (1981). Catalog of Significant Earthquakes: 2000 B.C.-1979 Including Quantitative Casualties and Damage. World Data Center A for Solid Earth Geophysics.
- ^ Voyage to Algiers and Tunis, for the Redemption of Captives, etc. 1735.
- ^ Ressel, Magnus (2015-06-01). "The Dutch-Algerian War and the Rise of British Shipping to Southern Europe (1715-1726)". Cahiers de la Méditerranée (in French) (90): 237–255. doi:10.4000/cdlm.8011. ISSN 0395-9317.
- ^ Roberts, Hugh (2014-08-19). Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85773-689-5.
- ^ Shuval, Tal (2013-09-30), "Chapitre II. La caste dominante", La ville d’Alger vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle : Population et cadre urbain, Connaissance du Monde Arabe, Paris: CNRS Éditions, pp. 57–117, ISBN 978-2-271-07836-0, retrieved 2021-04-11
- ^ Correspondance des deys d'Alger avec la cour de France (in French). F. Alcan. 1889.
- ^ Voyage to Algiers and Tunis, for the Redemption of Captives, etc. 1735.
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