Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

Penon. The failure of the cannonade caused more damage to relations between
the local inhabitants and the Turk corsairs than to the Spanish fortress. Dissent
among disgruntled Arabs was crashed; the Turks pillaged the city, executed its
notables, and terrorized its population. In the course of those dramatic events,
El-Tumi was assassinated and Arruj, with the support of the Turkish soldiery,
proclaimed himself king which led to the establishment of corsairs’ rule at
Algiers. 66 On the lands he controlled Arruj founded a new kingdom: El-Jaza’ir.
From there, he pushed conquest to Ténès and Tlemcen and challenged the
Spanish occupants of the presidios. In 1518, in the battle for the control of
Tlemcen, he was killed but his kingdom survived under the leadership of his
brother Khayreddin.
The Barbarossa are considered the true founders of modern Algeria. 67
Even though Arruj was killed not long after his arrival to Algiers, he had
achieved a lot against the Spaniards. His brother Khayreddin continued the
work of consolidation and gave Algiers lasting institutions. At the beginning,
Khayreddin faced serious problems. Squeezed between two kingdoms, the
Hafsid kingdom in the east and Zayanid in the west, the kingdom of El-Jaza’ir
was viewed unfavorably to the point that some of the rulers leagued against it
with Spain. More, his rule was hardly accepted by the local population;
tensions grew and the brutal conduct of the Turkish corsairs worsened
66 Generally, it is assumed that Arruj himself strangled El-Tumi. The foundation of the kingdom of El-
Jaza’ir is subject to diverse, sometimes controversial, accounts of romance, intrigues, treason,
assassinations, cowardice, and brutality of the Turk soldiery towards the local population. For a
detailed account, see Tassy, Royaume d’Alger, pp. 9-31.
67 Kaddache, L’Algérie Ottomane, p. 12.
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