Life and achievements of Hayreddin Barbarossa, the admiral Ottoman navy, and Barbarossa Kapudan Pasha

 

Barbarossa Kapudan Pasha

Barbarossa is a term of the Greek language which means “Red Beard” brothers. Hayreddin went through many names during their lifetime; Khizir, Hayreddin Pasha, “The Pirates of Algiers,” and the “King of the Sea”. The Barbarossa brothers, both Oruc (Aruj) and Hayreddin (Khair ad-din), were the most famous and successful corsairs or pirates of the time; in Turkish Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha or Hizir Hayrettin Pasha, before being promoted to the rank of Pasha he was simply known as ‘Hizir Reis,’ was served for the Ottoman Navy during the time of Ottoman sultans; Selim I (1512-1520) and Suleman the Magnificent (1520-1566) who controlled the Mediterranean for the many decades. In 1533, sultan Suleman the Magnificent or Sultan the Qanuni appointed the Hayreddin Pasha as the Kaptan-i-Derya (the admiral of Ottoman Navy) during his reign.

Background

Khair ad-Din was born in 1478 A.D on the Island of Midilli, Lesbos (modern days in Greece), was one of four brothers and his father’s name was Yakup who was a Sipahi (cavalryman) he was from the Balkans working as a volunteer of Vardar Yenice he participated in the conquest of Lesbos 1462, later he married with a local Greek Woman (daughter of a Christian) whose name was Katerina, as a result where Yakup found more opportunities on the Island. He had four sons; Ishak, Oruc, Hizir, Ilyas, and two daughters. In the initial stage, Yakup Agha established their potter and purchased a boat to sell his goods around the Island and beyond. During the early time, Oruc was joined with his brother Ilyas, Khair ad-Din bought a separate ship for himself and started his career at sea. Initially, he started his career as sailing as a part of their family business, and then he turned to the privateering of the knights of St. John of the Island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean Sea. The leader of the Barbarossa corsairs was Oruc, sometimes called “Baba Oruc.” Brothers Oruc and Ilyas working in the Levant in between Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt, while Khair ad-Din was working in the Aegean Sea, and mostly his operations were based in the Thessaloniki region. Being the eldest among the brothers, Ishak was involved with the family’s financial business affairs. And Oruc was engaged in privateering against Rhodes, who was sent by Bayezid II’s son Korkud, but unfortunately, Korkud lost the war of succession against the Selim I than, in 1513, Khair ad-Din and Oruc went to Vicinity of Tunis where they established a base. Hayreddin Pasha was died in Istanbul, Turkey on 4 July 1546 AD.  

Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and his achievements

Christine Isom-Verhaaren stated that “In addition to narratives recounting Hayreddin’s exploits, one source reveals Hayreddin’s self-identification, an inscription found in the mosque he built in Algiers. In this inscription dating to April 1520, he stated he was: “al-sultan almudjahid mawlana Khayr Din ibn al-amir al-shahir al-mudjahid Abi Yusuf Ya’kub al-Turki.” By placing this inscription on the mosque, he proclaimed to the inhabitants of Algiers that he was a ruler, a fighter for Islam and that his father was a “Turk.”

According to the above inscription dating back to one year, Piri Reis wrote a book, “Kitab-i-Bahriyye,” since both Piri and Khair ad-din regularly used the term Turk in the context of Ottoman Admiral during the campaigns in the western Mediterranean. While many Greeks served in the Ottoman Navy, but Barbarossa brothers have an important place in the history of the Ottoman Naval hierarchy because they extended the Empire’s borders to North Africa by their fierce less and instrumental skills. They began the associates with Ottomans under Korkud, the son of Bayezid II (1481-1512), during his execution. He fled to the western Mediterranean, and then they went towards North Africa. The above historical inscription proved that the Algiers campaign of Khair ad-din was feeble and uncertain than Sultan Selim I sent 2000 Janissaries with artillery on the requesting of Khair ad-din Pasha in September 1520 AD. Khair ad-din pasha, much impressed by this great assistance of Sultan, placed the name of Sultan on the coins, and he read the Khutba (religious ceremony during prayer) in his greatness and kindheartedness. Sultan Selim I officially recognized him as the Ottoman governor, and Khair ad-din Pasha declared himself publicly as a Turk descendent in the western Mediterranean region. Khair ad-din began to start the work under the mentorship of Kemal and Piri Reis, where the seafarers were leading expansion resistance of eastern Ottoman lands to Habsburg towards North Africa.

As mentioned above that they had to fled the western Mediterranean, where the Barbarossa brothers found a new opportunity for themselves by the religious hostility between the Spanish Army and tiny kingdoms of North Africa. Also, with the defeat of the Muslim kingdom of Granada in 1492, now any Muslim political control is ended in the Iberian Peninsula, and the Christian Army threatened the Muslim rulers of North Africa. All the Muslim rulers of the Iberian Peninsula, along with thousands of refugees looking for Ottoman assistance, but the Ottoman sultan did not take any interest to involved himself. Thus Barbarossa brothers set out their new target and continued their privateer activities with the help of local Spanish rulers. As a result, they prevented Spain from conquering North Africa and quickly gained their domination. In 1516, Oruc captured the Algiers.

Now Barbarossa brothers had to need political support, and the Ottomans were more willing able to check the situation and expand their boundaries to North Africa. The Ottoman government immediately appointed Oruc the Beylerbeyi (governor) of Algiers, while Khizir was named the chief sea governor of western Mediterranean. In 1518, Oruc was killed during the fighting against Spaniards, and Khair ad-Din settled and claimed himself both the beylik of Algiers and the Barbarossa’s title also, in 1531 he conquered the Tunis for the Ottomans. It was the time when westerners calling him by the name of Barbarossa, and also he had claimed the honorific title ‘Hayreddin’ (Khair ad-Din) in that year.   

Kapudan-i Pasha or Kaptan-i-Derya of the Ottoman Navy     

In 1533, he was called by the Sultan Suleman the Magnificent (1520-1566) to the Istanbul Palace and elected as Kaptan-i-Dariya (an admiral in chief of the Ottoman Navy). It was a great appreciation for him, but soon after this grand ceremony Ottoman navy suffered and lost the battle against the admiral of Hubsburg’s Charles V and the Genoese Andria Doria. With the immediate effect, Khair ad-din successfully recovered his reputation and moving towards the heartland of the Ottoman Empire in late 1533 AD and occupied the main arsenal of Galata. In 1538 he defeated the Spanish Navy at the Battle of Preveza (now in Greece) and secured the eastern Mediterranean for the Ottoman Empire. Once more, he was honored by the Sultan with his captains and rewarded the salary; in other words, he became the official servant of the Ottoman Empire. His last campaign was in 1543-44, in which he assisted France against the Habsburgs. Khair ad-din has received the former admiral’s official residence in Istanbul and was also promoted from governor to head of the Ottoman Naval Forces. He fulfilled all these responsibilities with an ordinary curiosity to victory after victory for the next twelve years, and he was died on July 5, 1546 AD, after one year of his resign from the admiral post in 1545 AD, leaving his son Hasan Pasha as his successor in Algiers. On his death, the Ottomans announced that “the leader of the sea is dead.” Also, later historians are called Hayreddin Barbarossa the “Lion of Mediterranean.”

According to Christine Isom-Verhaaren, these were the Süleyman’s words for Hayreddin in his imperial order that “You are my useful and trusted servant. I rely on your piety and sound judgment in all matters. In the past, you attacked those areas in the course of holy war. You know everything about the infidels and their lands. Because I rely on you completely, I placed you in command over all aspects of the imperial fleet.”  

Role of Kemal Reis and Piri Reis

In 1495 Bayezid II recruited both Kemal and Piri for his service as part of official Ottoman naval forces. Kemal was the uncle of Piri Reis. His significant contribution of Kemal Reis to Ottoman maritime power was that he successfully overcame Venetians in the Mediterranean and stimulating the Iberian powers of Spain and Portugal’s naval expansion. His most decisive service happened during the Ottoman war with Venice from 1499 to 1503. Kemal helped the Ottoman Navy to capture numerous ports in southern Greece: Lepanto in 1499, Coron and Modon in 1500, and Navarino in 1501. Kemal continued to sail to western Mediterranean waters to aid Muslims, who faced persecution in Spain after the Spanish conquest of Granada in 1492. In 1507 Bayezid II sent Kemal with materials to assist the Mamluks of Egypt in constructing a fleet to stop Portuguese expansion in the Indian Ocean. The uncle and his nephew divided their time between sailing the Mediterranean and shore-based activities in Gallipoli, the chief Ottoman naval arsenal, until 1518.

A Venetian report claimed that Kemal was killed by Admiral Iskender when he was sending to sail in an unsound ship, which was sunk in a storm in 1511. Thus Piri lost his uncle, mentor, and influence at court, therefore after the death of his uncle, Piri had commanded a ship during the Ottoman- Venetian war of 1499-1502, and he had served as a subordinate of his uncle. After 1511. He continued to sail in western Mediterranean waters under the leadership of Hayreddin, later Kapudan (grand admiral), during the reign of Süleyman (1520-1566). In contrast to Hayreddin, Piri Reis earned much fame in the twentieth century not because of his Gaza (holy war) activities at sea but because of his cartography. In 1513, he produced a map that included America, his next masterpiece, and a portolan, the “Kitab-ı Bahriye” or “Book of Seafaring.” Piri presented his map to Selim I (1512-20) at Cairo in the summer of 1517 after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt.

Conclusion

So many questions come in mind when the people are getting know about the Barbarossa brothers life and history that what is the importance of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha in the history of Ottoman Empire? And who was the Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha? How Hayreddin Pasha became so strongest commander of the Ottoman Naval forces? How he defeated the combined forces of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the republic of Venice? Here we have tried to discussed in more details about the life of Hayreddin Pasha and his family’s background.

The life of Barbarossa Hayreddin pasha is an inspiration for the Ottoman Navy during the 16^th century. Sultan had more trust in Khair ad-din’s outstanding admiral capabilities. He was impressed by his skills during the campaign of France in 1543-44, in which he assisted the French against the Habsburg. In the correspondence of both Piri Reis and Khair ad-din Pasha’s role and contribution to the foundation of Ottoman naval power in the western and eastern Mediterranean Sea who extending the Ottoman rule to North Africa. Also, he protected the Ottoman principality’s Sea borders from any type of foreign invasions through their water campaigns. Khair ad-din Pasha became the outstanding seafarer due to their naval successes. Also, he overcame his elite opposition, emerged as the model of Ottoman seafarer in the history of the Empire. His tomb becomes the launching site for all future admirals as a symbol of his outstanding attainments in the water expeditions against the frontier enemies; next to his tomb in Besiktas, a majestic statue stands facing the seaside. Piri Reis found his grave in Cairo, far from the location of his major achievements as a cartographer at Gallipoli, and he also waited until the 20^th century for his posthumous gratitude and widespread notability.  

References

Ágoston, G., & Masters, B. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Facts On File, Inc.

Verhaaren, C. I. (2014). Was there Room in Rum for Corsairs?: Who Was an Ottoman in the Naval Forces of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th and 16th Centuries? The Journal of Ottoman Studies, 235-264.