| Hussein Dey | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dey-Pasha | |||||
 Portrait of Hussein Dey,Royal Collection | |||||
| Reign | 1 March 1818 – 5 July 1830 | ||||
| Predecessor | Ali Khodja | ||||
| Successor | Title abolished | ||||
| Born | Hüseyin bin Hüseyin 1764/65 Urla orSmyrne,Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Died | 1838 Alexandria,Egypt Eyalet, Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Spouse | Lella Fatma bent Hassan-Pacha | ||||
| Issue | Nafissa Hanem El Hadj Omar Amina Hanem unnamed daughter | ||||
| |||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
| Occupation | Khodjet al-khil (minister) | ||||
Hussein Dey (real nameHüseyin bin Hüseyin; 1765–1838;Arabic:حسين داي) was the lastDey of theDeylik of Algiers.
He was born either inİzmir orUrla in theOttoman Empire. He went toIstanbul and joined theCanoneers (Topçular inTurkish), and quickly rose to the rank of Odabaşı, but thanks to his character and rivalries, he was forced to flee the Ottoman Empire. He fled to theDeylik of Algiers, a country which wasde facto independent from the Ottoman Empire, similar to the other countries of theBarbary Coast.[1][2] Algiers was well known for accepting fugitives of different countries.[3] There, he joined theOdjak of Algiers and became aJanissary.[4] In 1815 he was appointedKhodjet al-khil, a minister tasked with raising and commanding the cavalry of the Dey and raising taxes.[5] He commanded the cavalry as a quick relief force during thebombardment of Algiers in 1816.
In 1818 following the death of the previous Dey, theDivan of Algiers elected Hussein as the next ruler.
Husseyn Dey succeededAli V ben Ahmed asdey of Algiers in March 1818. He enacted some measures such as freeing hostages and ensuring freedom of religion for theJews.[6]
In an attempt byCharles X of France to increase his popularity amongst the French, he sought to bolster patriotic sentiment, and turn eyes away from his domestic policies, by "skirmishing against the dey".[7] This eventually led to the French conquest of Algeria.
In the 1790s, France had contracted to purchase wheat for the French army from two Jewish merchants in Algiers, Messrs.Bakri-Busnach, and was in arrears paying them. The merchants had their own debts to the dey and claimed inability to pay those until France paid its debts to them. The dey had unsuccessfully negotiated withPierre Deval, the French consul, to rectify this situation, and he suspected Deval of collaborating with the merchants against him, especially when the French government made no provisions to repay the merchants in 1820. Deval's nephew Alexandre, the consul inAnnaba, further angered the dey by fortifying French storehouses inAnnaba andEl Kala against the terms of prior agreements.[8]
After a contentious meeting in which Deval refused to provide satisfactory answers on 29 April 1827, the dey struck him with hisfly whisk.Charles X used this slight against his diplomatic representative to first demand an apology from the dey, and then to initiate a blockade against the port of Algiers. When the dey responded to a demand to send an ambassador to France to resolve the incident by firing cannons toward one of the blockading ships, the French determined that more forceful action was required.[9]
34,000 French soldiers landed atSidi Fredj 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Algiers on 14 June 1830 and entered Algiers on 5 July after a three-week campaign against the Dey. Hussein Dey agreed to surrender in exchange for his freedom and the offer to retain possession of his personal wealth. This marked the end of the Deylik and the start ofFrench rule in Algeria.
On 15 July 1830, five days after his surrender to the French, Husseyn Dey left Algiers with his family, hisharem and his personal fortune on the French shipJeanne d'Arc. His request for permission to live in France having been refused by Charles X, he settled inNaples.[10] He stayed in Italy for three years and died inAlexandria in 1838.
Asuburb of the city of Algiers has been named after Hussein Dey and thedistrict that surrounds it bears the same name. The football clubNA Hussein Dey is based here.
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