Hasan Agha al-Tushi

حسن آغا الطوشي

1544 CE · 951 AH

Khayr al-Din Barbarossa's deputy over Algiers — 'wise, pious, of wide learning' in al-Salabi's phrase. He secured Mostaganem and took Biskra, raided the southern Spanish coast in 949/1539 with 1,300 men on thirteen ships, and in October 1541 defended Algiers against Charles V's armada, answering the emperor's threat-letter: 'I am the servant of Sultan Süleyman… this land gives an invader only death.' The storm broke the fleet; the sultan made him pasha. He died in 951/1544 ¹.

Summary

Khayr al-Din Barbarossa's deputy over Algiers and governor after him — 'wise, pious, of wide learning' in al-Salabi's phrase ².

Securing the interior

He set to consolidating security and gathering the country's ends round the central authority: subjecting Mostaganem, then taking Biskra, capital of the Zab, where he built a fort and garrison ³.

The 949 raid

In Jumada I 949/September 1539 the Ottoman force — 1,300 men on thirteen ships — landed and took the town, ranging over the southern Spanish coast; on the return a large Spanish fleet barred the way and the battle was fierce, ships of both sides sunk, the Spanish losses great ⁴.

The defence of 1541

When Charles V anchored off Algiers on 15 October 1541 he gathered the city's notables and summoned them to jihad, answering the emperor's threat-letter: 'I am the servant of Sultan Süleyman… this land gives an invader only death.' In the author's account the victory owed to wise leadership, the people's rallying, and the God-sent storm; the sultan rewarded him with the rank of pasha ⁵.

Death

He served until his death in 951/1544; the diwan made al-Hajj Bakir interim governor until the Porte appointed Hasan b. Khayr al-Din ⁶.

Sources

al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 216-229

al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 216

al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 223

al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 223-224

al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 224-227

al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 229

Algiers

Algiers, which Ibn Battuta passed through on his way from the Maghrib to the East. According to Ibn Khaldun, Bulughin ibn Zirí ibn Manad al-Sanhaji founded it at his father's order and in his time; it is the one attributed to Banu Mazghanna on the sea coast, in the days of the Ubaydids at al-Qayrawan. It was the capital of naval jihad in North Africa in the sixteenth century; the brothers Aruj and Khayr al-Din Barbarossa entered it and governed it, and from it Khayr al-Din joined the Ottoman state after strengthening its fortifications

Hasan Agha al-Tushi

At a glance

Life in time