Yakup Ağa (father) Katerina (mother) Ishak (brother) Oruç Reis (brother) Ilyas (brother)
Hayreddin Barbarossa (Arabic:خير الدين بربروس,romanized: Khayr al-Dīn Barbarūs;Turkish:Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known asHayreddin Pasha,Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simplyHızır Reis (c. 1466/1483[1] – 4 July 1546), was anOttomancorsair and lateradmiral of theOttoman Navy.[2][3][4][5] Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid-16th century.
Born onLesbos, Khizr began his naval career as a corsair under his elder brotherOruç Reis. In 1516, the brotherscaptured Algiers from Spain, with Oruç declaring himself Sultan. Following Oruç's death in 1518, Khizr inherited his brother's nickname, "Barbarossa" ("Redbeard" in Italian). He also received the honorary nameHayreddin (from ArabicKhayr ad-Din, "goodness of the faith" or "best of the faith"). In 1529, Barbarossatook the Peñón of Algiers from the Spaniards.
Khizr[6] was born sometime between 1466 and 1483[1] in Palaiokipos, Midilini, in the Ottoman Empire (nowGera, Lesbos), a son of an Ottomansipahi father,Yakup Ağa,[7] ofTurkish[8][9][10][11][12][13] orAlbanian[14][15][16] origin fromGiannitsa (now inCentral Macedonia, Greece), and aGreek Orthodox mother ofGreek origin, Katerina, also from Lesbos,[8][16][17] the widow of a Greek Orthodox priest.[7][15][18] The workGazavat-ı Hayreddin Pasha states that his father's ethnic origin was among the Turks who migrated from Anatolia to Greece.[19][20] The couple married[8] and had two daughters and four sons: Ishak,Oruç, Khizr and Ilyas. Yakup had taken part in theOttoman conquest of Lesbos in 1462 from theRepublic of Genoa's House ofGattilusio, which held the hereditary title of Lord of Lesbos between 1355 and 1462, and as a reward was granted the fief of the village of Bonova on the island. He became an established potter and purchased a boat to trade his products with.
The four sons helped their father with his business, but not much is known about the daughters. At first Oruç helped with the boat, while Khizr helped with the pottery.[citation needed]
All four brothers became seamen, engaged in marine affairs and international sea trade. The first brother to become involved in seamanship was Oruç, who was joined by his brother Ilyas. Later, obtaining his own ship, Khizr also began his career at sea. The brothers initially worked as sailors, but then turnedprivateers in the Mediterranean to counteract the privateering of theKnights Hospitaller (Knights of St. John) who were based on the island ofRhodes (until 1522). Oruç and Ilyas operated in theLevant, betweenAnatolia, Syria, and Egypt. Khizr operated in theAegean Sea and based his operations mostly inThessaloniki. Ishak, the eldest, remained onMytilene and was involved with the financial affairs of the family business.[citation needed]
Oruç was a very successful seaman. He also learned to speak Italian, Spanish, French, Greek, and Arabic early in his career. While returning from a trading expedition inTripoli, Lebanon, with his younger brother, Ilyas, they were attacked by the Knights Hospitaller. Ilyas was killed in the fight, and Oruç was wounded. Oruç rowed as agalley slave for theOrder of Saint John for four years, until his father paid the ransom to release him.[21]
Oruç later went toAntalya, where he was given 18 galleys byŞehzade Korkut, an Ottoman prince and governor of the city, and charged with fighting against the Knights of St John, who were inflicting serious damage on Ottoman shipping and trade.[6] In the following years, when Korkut became governor ofManisa, he gave Oruç a larger fleet of 24 galleys at the port ofİzmir and ordered him to participate in the Ottoman naval expedition toApulia in Italy, where Oruç bombarded several coastal castles and captured two ships.[citation needed]
On his way back to Lesbos, he stopped atEuboea and captured three galleons and another ship. ReachingMytilene with these captured vessels, Oruç learned that Korkut, who was the brother of the new Ottoman sultanSelim I, had fled to Egypt to avoid being killed because of succession disputes – a common practice at that time.[citation needed]
Fearing trouble due to his well-known association with the exiled Ottoman prince, Oruç sailed to Egypt, where he met Korkut inCairo and managed to get an audience with theMamluk SultanQansuh al-Ghawri, who gave him another ship and entrusted him with the task of raiding the coasts of Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean that were controlled by Christians.[citation needed] After spending the winter in Cairo, he set sail fromAlexandria and frequently operated along the coasts ofLiguria andSicily.[citation needed]
Western depiction of Hayreddin Barbarossa. Histrident is meant as an allegory of sea-power. (Anon, 16th century).
In 1503, Oruç managed to seize three more ships and made the island ofDjerba his new base, thus moving his operations to the Western Mediterranean. Khizr joined Oruç at Djerba. In 1504, the brothers contactedAbu Abdallah Muhammad IV al-Mutawakkil, ruler ofTunis, and asked permission to use the strategically located port ofLa Goulette for their operations.[citation needed]
They were granted the right to do so on the condition of giving one-third of their spoils to the sultan. Oruç, in command of smallgaliots, captured two much largerpapalgalleys near the island ofElba. Later, nearLipari, the two brothers captured aSicilian warship, theCavalleria, with 380 Spanish soldiers and 60 Spanish knights fromAragon on board, who were on their way from Spain toNaples. In 1505, they raided the coasts ofCalabria.[citation needed] These exploits increased their fame, and they were joined by several other well-known Muslim corsairs, includingKurtoğlu (known in the West as Curtogoli). In 1508, they raided the coasts of Liguria, particularlyDiano Marina.[citation needed]
In 1509, Ishak also left Mytilene and joined his brothers at La Goulette. The fame of Oruç increased when, between 1504 and 1510, he transported MuslimMudéjars from Christian Spain to North Africa. His efforts of helping the Muslims of Spain in need and transporting them to safer lands earned him the honorific name Baba Oruç (Father Oruç), which eventually – due to the similarity in sound – evolved in Spain, France, and Italy into Barbarossa (meaning "Redbeard" in Italian).[citation needed]
In 1510, the three brothers raidedCapo Passero in Sicily and repulsed Spanish attacks onBougie,Oran andAlgiers. In August 1511, they raided the areas aroundReggio Calabria in southern Italy. In August 1512, the exiled ruler of Bougie invited the brothers to drive out the Spaniards, and during the battle Oruç lost his left arm. This incident earned him the nicknameGümüş Kol ("Silver Arm" in Turkish), in reference to the silver prosthetic device that he used in place of his missing limb.[citation needed]
Later that same year, the brothers raided the coasts ofAndalusia, capturing a galliot of the Lomellini family ofGenoa, which ownedTabarca island. They subsequently landed atMenorca and captured a coastal castle and then headed towards Liguria, where they captured four Genoese galleys near Genoa. The Genoese sent a fleet to liberate their ships, but the brothers captured their flagship as well.[citation needed] After capturing a total of 23 ships in less than a month, the brothers sailed back to La Goulette, where they built three more galliots and a gunpowder production facility.[citation needed]
In 1513, they launched a raid onValencia, where they captured four ships, and then headed forAlicante and captured a Spanish galley nearMálaga. In 1513–14, the brothers engaged the Spanish fleet on several other occasions and moved to their new base toCherchell, east of Algiers. In 1514, with 12 galliots and 1,000 Turks, they destroyed two Spanish fortresses at Bougie, and when the Spanish fleet under the command of Miguel de Gurrea, viceroy ofMajorca, arrived as reinforcement, they headed towardsCeuta and raided that city before capturingJijel in Algeria, which was under Genoese control.[citation needed] They later capturedMahdiya in Tunisia. Afterwards they raided the coasts of Sicily,Sardinia, theBalearic Islands and the Spanish mainland, capturing three large ships there.[citation needed]
In 1515, they captured several galleons, a galley and three barques atMajorca. Still in 1515, Oruç sent precious gifts to the Ottoman SultanSelim I, who, in return, sent him two galleys and two swords encrusted with diamonds. In 1516, joined byKurtoğlu (Curtogoli), the brothers besieged the Castle of Elba, before heading once more towards Liguria, where they captured 12 ships and damaged 28 others.[citation needed]
Bird's-eye view ofAlgiers in the 16th century, showing thePeñón attached to the city by a dam.
In 1516, the three brothers succeeded in capturingJijel and Algiers from the Spaniards and eventually assumed control over the city and surrounding region, forcing the previous ruler, Abu Hamo Musa III of the Beni Ziyad dynasty, to flee.[citation needed]
For Oruç, the best protection against Spain was to join the Ottoman Empire, his homeland and Spain's main rival. For this, he had to relinquish his title of Sultan of Algiers to the Ottomans. He did this in 1517 and offered Algiers to the Ottoman SultanSelim I. The Sultan accepted Algiers as an Ottomansanjak ("province"), appointed Oruç Governor of Algiers and Chief Sea Governor of the Western Mediterranean, and promised to support him withJanissaries, galleys andcannons.[citation needed]
The Spaniards ordered Abu Zayan, whom they had appointed the new ruler ofTlemcen andOran, to attack Oruç Reis overland, but Oruç learned of the plan and pre-emptively attacked Tlemcen, capturing the city and executing Abu Zayan in thefall of Tlemcen. The only survivor of Abu Zayan's dynasty was Sheikh Buhammud, who escaped to Oran and called for Spain's assistance.[citation needed]
After consolidating his power and declaring himself Sultan of Algiers, Oruç sought to expand his territory inland and tookMiliana,Medea andTénès. He became known for fitting sails to cannons for transport through the deserts of North Africa. In 1517, the brothers raided Capo Limiti, and, later,Capo Rizzuto, Calabria.[citation needed]
In May 1518, EmperorCharles V arrived atOran and was received at the port by Sheikh Buhammud and the Spanish governor of the city,Diego de Córdoba, marquis of Comares, who commanded a force of 10,000 Spanish soldiers. Joined by thousands of localBedouins, the Spaniards marched overland towards Tlemcen. Oruç and Ishak awaited them in the city with 1,500 Turkish and 5,000 Moorish soldiers. They defended Tlemcen for 20 days, but were eventually killed in combat by the forces of Garcia de Tineo.[citation needed]
After the death of his older brother and feeling that his position was under threat, Khizr contactedSelim I, offered his allegiance and obtained Ottoman assistance in 1519.[22] Given the title ofBeylerbey by Sultan Selim I, along with janissaries, galleys and cannons, he inherited his brother's position, his name (Barbarossa) and his mission.[23]
With a fresh force of Turkish soldiers sent by theOttoman sultan, Barbarossa recapturedTlemcen in December 1518. He continued the policy of bringingmudéjars from Spain to North Africa, thereby assuring himself of a sizable following of grateful and loyal Muslims who harbored an intense hatred for Spain. He capturedBône, and in 1519, he defeated a Spanish-Italian army that tried to recapture Algiers. In a separate incident, he sank a Spanish ship and captured eight others. Still in 1519, he raidedProvence,Toulon and theÎles d'Hyères in southern France. In 1521, he raided theBalearic Islands and later captured several Spanish ships returning from theNew World off the coast ofCádiz.[citation needed]
In 1522, he sent his ships, under the command ofKurtoğlu, to participate in the Ottoman conquest ofRhodes, which resulted in the departure of theKnights of St John from that island on 1 January 1523.[citation needed]
In June 1525, he raided the coasts ofSardinia. In May 1526, he landed atCrotone inCalabria and sacked the city, sank a Spanish galley and a Spanishfusta in the harbor, then assaultedCastignano in Marche on theAdriatic Sea and later landed at Cape Spartivento. In June 1526, he landed atReggio Calabria and later destroyed the fort at the port ofMessina. He then appeared on the coasts ofTuscany, but retreated after seeing the fleet ofAndrea Doria and the Knights of St John off the coast ofPiombino.[citation needed]
In July 1526, Barbarossa appeared once again in Messina and raided the coasts ofCampania. In 1527, he raided many ports and castles on the coasts of Italy and Spain. In May 1529, he captured the Spanish fort on the island ofPeñón of Algiers. In August 1529, he attacked theMediterranean coasts of Spain, and later, answering Andalusia's requests for help in crossing theStrait of Gibraltar, he transported 70,000mudéjars to Algiers in seven consecutive journeys.[24]
In January 1530, he again raided the coasts of Sicily and, in March and June of that year, the Balearic Islands and Marseilles. In July 1530, he appeared along the coasts of the Provence andLiguria, capturing two Genoese ships. In August 1530, he raided the coasts of Sardinia and, in October, appeared atPiombino, capturing abarque fromViareggio and three Frenchgalleons before capturing two more ships off Calabria. In December 1530, he captured the Castle ofCabrera, in the Balearic Islands, and began to use the island as a logistic base for his operations on the area.[citation needed]
In 1531, he encounteredAndrea Doria, who had been appointed byCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor to recaptureJijel and thePeñón of Algiers, and repulsed a Spanish-Genoese fleet of 40 galleys. Still in 1531, he raided the island ofFavignana, where the flagship of the Maltese Knights under the command of Francesco Touchebeuf unsuccessfully attacked his fleet. Barbarossa then sailed eastwards and landed in Calabria and Apulia. On the way back to Algiers, he sank a ship of theMaltese Knights near Messina before assaultingTripoli, which had been given to the Knights of St John by Charles V in 1530. In October 1531, he again raided the coasts of Spain.[citation needed] He also pillaged theÎles d'Hyères during the same year.[25]
In 1532, duringSuleiman I's expedition toHabsburg Austria, Andrea Doria capturedCoron,Patras andLepanto on the coasts of theMorea (Peloponnese). In response, Suleiman sent the forces of Yahya Pashazade Mehmed Bey, who recaptured these cities, but the event made Suleiman realize the importance of having a powerful commander at sea. He summoned Barbarossa to Istanbul, who set sail in August 1532. Having raided Sardinia,Bonifacio in Corsica, and the islands ofMontecristo, Elba andLampedusa, he captured 18 galleys near Messina and learned from the captured prisoners that Doria was headed toPreveza.[citation needed]
Barbarossa proceeded to raid the nearby coasts of Calabria and then sailed towards Preveza. Doria's forces fled after a short battle, but only after Barbarossa had captured seven of their galleys. He arrived at Preveza with a total of 44 galleys, but sent 25 of them back to Algiers and headed to Constantinople with 19 ships. There, he was received by Sultan Suleiman atTopkapı Palace. Suleiman appointed BarbarossaKapudan-i Derya ("Grand Admiral") of the Ottoman Navy andBeylerbey ("Chief Governor") of North Africa. Barbarossa was also given the government of thesanjak ("province") ofRhodes and those ofEuboea andChios in theAegean Sea.[citation needed]
"Jehan de la Forest, whom the King sends to meet with the Grand Signor [Suleiman the Magnificent], will first go fromMarseilles toTunis, inBarbary, to meet sirHaradin, king ofAlgiers, who will direct him to the Grand Signor. To this objective, next summer, he [the King of France] will send the military force he is preparing to recover what it unjustly occupied by theDuke of Savoy, and from there, to attack theGenoese. This kingFrancis I strongly prays sirHaradin, who has a powerful naval force as well as a convenient location [Tunisia], to attack the island ofCorsica and other lands, locations, cities, ships and subjects ofGenoa, and not to stop until they have accepted and recognized the king of France. The King, besides the above land force, will additionally help with his naval force, which will comprise at least 50 vessels, of which 30galleys, and the restgaleasses and other vessels, accompanied by one of the largest and most beautiful carracks that ever was on the sea. This fleet will accompany and escort the army of sirHaradin, which will also be refreshed and supplied with food and ammunition by the King, who, by these actions, will be able to achieve his aims, for which he will be highly grateful to sirHaradin".
— Military instructions to Jehan de la Forest, by ChancellorAntoine Duprat, 11 February 1534.
In 1534, Barbarossa set sail from Constantinople with 80 galleys, and in April, he recapturedCoron,Patras andLepanto from the Spaniards. In July 1534, he crossed theStrait of Messina and raided the Calabrian coasts, capturing a substantial number of ships around Reggio Calabria as well as the Castle ofSan Lucido. He later destroyed the port ofCetraro and the ships harbored there.[citation needed]
Also in July 1534, he appeared inCampania and sacked the islands of Capri andProcida before bombarding the ports in the Gulf ofNaples, where 7,800 captives were taken.[27] He then appeared atFondi, then part of theSpanish-ruled Kingdom of Naples, causing the church bells in Rome to sound the alarm. InSperlonga, also part of the Kingdom of Naples, he took 10,000 captives and when he arrived in Fondi the janissaries entered the city through the main gates and completely ransacked the palace of Giulia Gonzaga.[27][28] He then sacked, torched and destroyedVallecorsa slaughtering some townspeople and taking others captive.[29] He sailed south, appearing atPonza, Sicily and Sardinia, beforecapturing Tunis in August 1534 and sending theHafsid SultanMulay Hassan fleeing.
Charles dispatched an agent to offer Barbarossa "the lordship of North Africa" for his changed loyalty,[30] or if that failed, to assassinate him. However, upon rejecting the offer, Barbarossa decapitated the agent with ascimitar.[31]
Mulei Hassan asked Emperor Charles V for help in recovering his kingdom, and a Spanish-Italian force of 300 galleys and 24,000 soldiersrecaptured Tunis as well asBône andMahdiya in 1535. Recognizing the futility of armed resistance, Barbarossa had abandoned Tunis well before the arrival of the invaders, sailing away into theTyrrhenian Sea, where he bombarded ports, landed once again atCapri and reconstructed a fort (which still today carries his name) after largely destroying it during the siege of the island. He then sailed to Algiers, from where he raided the coastal towns of Spain, destroyed the ports ofMajorca andMenorca, captured several Spanish and Genoese galleys and liberated their Muslim oar slaves. In September 1535, he repulsed another Spanish attack onTlemcen.
In 1536, Barbarossa was called back to Constantinople to take command of 200 ships in a naval attack on theHabsburgKingdom of Naples. In July 1537, he landed atOtranto and captured the city, as well as the Fortress ofCastro and the city ofUgento in Apulia.[citation needed]
In August 1537,Lütfi Pasha and Barbarossa led a huge Ottoman force that captured theAegean andIonian islands belonging to theRepublic of Venice, namelySyros,Aegina,Ios,Paros,Tinos,Karpathos,Kasos,Kythira, andNaxos. In the same year, Barbarossa raidedCorfu and obliterated the agricultural cultivations of the island while enslaving nearly all the population of the countryside.[32] However, the Old Fortress of Corfu was well defended by a 4,000-strong Venetian garrison with 700 guns, and when several assaults failed to capture the fortifications, the Turks reluctantly re-embarked[33] and once again raidedCalabria. These losses prompted Venice to askPope Paul III to organize a "Holy League" against the Ottomans.[citation needed]
In February 1538, Pope Paul III succeeded in assembling a Holy League (composed of thePapacy, Spain, theHoly Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice and the Maltese Knights) against the Ottomans, but Barbarossa's forces led bySinan Reis defeated its combined fleet, commanded byAndrea Doria, at theBattle of Preveza in September 1538. This victory secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean for the next 33 years, until theBattle of Lepanto in 1571.[citation needed]
In the summer of 1539, Barbarossa captured the islands ofSkiathos,Skyros,Andros, andSerifos and recapturedCastelnuovo from the Spanish, who had taken it from the Ottomans after the battle of Preveza. He also captured the nearby Castle ofRisan, and with Sinan Reis, later assaulted the Venetian fortress ofCattaro and the Spanish fortress of Santa Veneranda nearPesaro. Barbarossa later took the remaining Christian outposts in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. Venice finally signed a peace treaty with Sultan Suleiman in October 1540, agreeing to recognize the Ottoman territorial gains and to pay 300,000 gold ducats.[citation needed]
In 1540 Barbarossa led a crew of 2,000 men and captured and ransacked the town ofGibraltar.[34][35] He left Gibraltar after taking 75 prisoners which removed a significant percent of Gibraltar's population, he ultimately eliminated the town of almost an entire generation of Gibraltarians.[34]
In September 1540, EmperorCharles V contacted Barbarossa and offered him to become his Admiral-in-Chief as well as the ruler of Spain's territories in North Africa, but he refused. Unable to persuade Barbarossa to switch sides, in October 1541, Charles himselflaid siege to Algiers, seeking to end the corsair threat to the Spanish domains and Christian shipping in the western Mediterranean. The season was not ideal for such a campaign, and both Andrea Doria, who commanded the fleet, andHernán Cortés, who had been asked by Charles to participate in the campaign, attempted to change the Emperor's mind but failed.[citation needed]
Eventually, a violent storm disrupted Charles's landing operations. Andrea Doria took his fleet away into open waters to avoid being wrecked on the shore, but much of the Spanish fleet went aground. After some indecisive fighting on land, Charles had to abandon the effort and withdraw his severely battered force.[citation needed]
In 1543, Barbarossa headed towards Marseilles to assist France, then an ally of the Ottoman Empire, and cruised the western Mediterranean with a fleet of 210 ships (70 galleys, 40 galliots and 100 other warships carrying 14,000 Turkish soldiers, thus an overall total of 30,000 Ottoman troops). On his way, while passing through theStrait of Messina, he asked Diego Gaetani, governor of Reggio Calabria, to surrender his city. Gaetani responded with cannon fire, which killed three Turkish sailors.[citation needed]
The Ottoman captain later landed atAntibes and theÎle Sainte-Marguerite nearCannes before sacking the city ofSan Remo, other ports of Liguria, Monaco andLa Turbie. King Francis ordered the evacuation of Toulon and placed the city in the hands of Barbarossa. For the next six months Toulon was converted to a Turkish city which included its own mosque andslave market.[36]
Barbarossa then successfully repulsed further Spanish attacks on southern France, but was recalled to Istanbul after Charles V and Suleiman had agreed to a truce in 1544.[citation needed]
After leaving Provence from the port of Île Sainte-Marguerite in May 1544, Barbarossa assaulted San Remo for the third time, and when he appeared beforeVado Ligure, the Republic of Genoa sent him a substantial sum to save other Genoese cities from further attacks. In June 1544, Barbarossa appeared before Elba. Threatening to bombardPiombino unless the city's Lord released the son ofSinan Reis who had been captured and baptized 10 years earlier by the Spaniards in Tunis, he obtained his release.[31]
The Ottoman fleet then assaulted the coasts of Sardinia, before appearing atIschia and landing there in July 1544, capturing the city as well asForio and the island ofProcida, where he took 4,000 prisoners and enslaved some 2,000–7,000 inhabitants ofLipari;[37][38] after which, he threatenedPozzuoli. Encountering 30 galleys under Giannettino Doria, Barbarossa forced them to sail away towards Sicily and seek refuge in Messina. Due to strong winds, the Ottomans were unable to attackSalerno but managed to land atCape Palinuro nearby.[citation needed] Barbarossa then entered the Strait of Messina and landed atCatona,Fiumara andCalanna (near Reggio Calabria) and later atCariati and atLipari, which was his final landing on the Italian peninsula. There, he bombarded the citadel for 15 days after the city refused to surrender and eventually captured it.[citation needed]
He finally returned to Constantinople and, in 1545, left the city for his final naval expeditions, during which he bombarded the ports of the Spanish mainland and landed at Majorca and Menorca for the last time. He then sailed back to Constantinople and built a palace on theBosphorus, in the present-day quarter ofBüyükdere in theSarıyer district.[citation needed]
Barbarossa retired in Constantinople in 1545, leaving his sonHasan Pasha as his successor in Algiers. He then dictated his memoirs to Muradi Sinan Reis. They consist of five hand-written volumes known asGazavat-ı Hayreddin Paşa (Conquests of Hayreddin Pasha). Today, they are exhibited at theTopkapı Palace andIstanbul University Library. They are prepared and published byBabıali Kültür Yayıncılığı asKaptan Paşa'nın Seyir Defteri (The Logbook of the Captain Pasha) by Prof. Dr.Ahmet Şimşirgil, a Turkish academic. They are also fictionalised asAkdeniz Bizimdi (The Mediterranean was Ours) by M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ. Barbarossa is also one of the main characters inMika Waltari's bookThe Wanderer (1949).
Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha died in 1546 in his seaside palace in the Büyükdere neighbourhood of Istanbul, on the northwestern shores of theBosphorus. He is buried in the tallmausoleum (türbe) near the ferry port of the district ofBeşiktaş on the European side of Istanbul, which was built in 1541 by the famous architectMimar Sinan, at the site where his fleet used to assemble. His memorial was built in 1944, next to his mausoleum.
TheArabic calligraphy at the top of the standard reads, "نَصرٌ مِنَ اللَّـهِ وَفَتحٌ قَريبٌ وَبَشِّرِ المُؤمِنينَ يَا مُحَمَّد" (nasrun mina'llāhi wa fatḥhun qarībun wa bashshiri'l-mu’minīna yā muḥammad), translated as "Victory from Allah and an eminent conquest; and give good tidings to the believers, O Muhammad." The text comes from verse 61:13 of theQuran, with the addition of "O Muhammad", since the last part of the verse addresses the Islamic prophet,Muhammad.[39]
Within the four crescents are the names, from right to left, beginning at the top right, of the first four caliphs –Abu Bakr,Umar,Uthman, andAli – whose rule of the Islamic state after Muhammad is referred to as theRashidun Caliphate.
The two-bladed sword representsDhu'l-Fiqar, a famous sword in Islamic history, belonging first to Muhammad and then Ali. To the left of the sword's hilt is a small hand.[40]
Between the two blades of the sword is asix-pointed star. The star may be confused with theStar of David, a Jewish symbol. However, in medieval times, this star was a popular Islamic symbol known as theSeal of Solomon and was widely used by theBeyliks ofAnatolia. The seal was later used by the Ottomans in their mosque decorations, coins and the personal flags of thepashas, including Hayreddin Barbarossa.[41] One of the Turkish beyliks known to use the seal on its flag was theJandarids. According to theCatalan Atlas of 1375 byA. Cresques, the flag of theKaramanids, another Anatolian beylik, consisted of a blue six-edged star.
His mausoleum is in the Barbaros Park ofBeşiktaş, Istanbul, where his statue also stands, next to theIstanbul Naval Museum. On the back of the statue are verses by the Turkish poetYahya Kemal Beyatlı, which may be translated as follows:[42]
Whence on the sea's horizon comes that roar?
Can it be Barbarossa now returning From Tunis or Algiers or from the Isles?
Two hundred vessels ride upon the waves, Coming from lands the rising Crescent lights:
O blessed ships, from what seas are ye come?
Barbaros Boulevard starts from his mausoleum on the Bosphorus and runs up to theLevent andMaslak business districts and beyond.
In the centuries following his death, no fleet would clear theSerai Point without firing a salute at his mausoleum.[43] This practice disappeared during theTanzimat period and was revived by the Turkish navy in 2019.[44]
Several warships of theTurkish Navy and passenger ships have been named after him.
Outside Turkey, or the widerIslamic world, the prolific British historian of naval military history,Edward Keble Chatterton, considered him "the greatest pirate that has ever lived, and one of the cleverest tacticians and strategists the Mediterranean ever bore on its waters"; noting that "his death was received byChristian Europe with a sigh of the greatest relief."[45]
Hayreddin Barbarossa has been the subject of many Turkish films.[46] In the 2021 Turkish TV seriesBarbaros: Sword of the Mediterranean, Hayreddin Barbarossa is portrayed by actorUlas Tuna Astepe. In the 2022 Turkish TV seriesBarbaros Hayreddin: Sultan's Edict, Hayreddin Barbarossa is portrayed by actorTolgahan Sayışman.
^Jamieson, Alan G. (2013).Lords of the Sea: A History of the Barbary Corsairs. Canada: Reaktion Books. p. 59.ISBN978-1861899460.Desperate to find some explanation for the sudden resurgence of Muslim sea power in the Mediterranean after centuries of Christian dominance, Christian commentators in the sixth century (and later) pointed to the supposed Christian roots of the greatest Barbary corsair commanders. It was a strange kind of comfort. The Barbarossas certainly had a Greek Christian mother, but it now seems certain their father was a Muslim Turk.
^İsmail Hâmi Danişmend,Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, pp. 172 ff. Türkiye Yayınevi (Istanbul), 1971.
^Khiḍr was one of four sons of a Turk from the island of Lesbos., "Barbarossa",Encyclopædia Britannica, 1963, p. 147.
^Angus Konstam,Piracy: The Complete History, Osprey Publishing, 2008,ISBN978-1-84603-240-0, p. 80.
^Öztuna, Yılmaz.Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa'nın Hatıraları. Ötüken Neşriyat.
^Heers, Jacques (2003).I barbareschi: corsari del Mediterraneo (in Italian). Translated by Maria Alessandra Panzanelli Fratoni. Salerno. p. 68.ISBN8884024021.Il padre dei Barbarossa, Jacob, un Albanese fatto prigioniero e convertitosi all'Islam, s'era stabilito a Mitilene;
^abBozbora, Nuray (1997).Osmanlı yönetiminde Arnavutluk ve Arnavut ulusçuluğu'nun gelişimi. p. 16.[need quotation to verify]
^abHolm, Bent; Rasmussen, Mikael Bøgh (2021).Imagined, Embodied and Actual Turks in Early Modern Europe. Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag. p. 16.ISBN978-3-99012-125-2.Hisir was the later Ottoman Chief Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa. His profile almost exactly matches that of the numerous anonymous Christian and convert sailors just mentioned. His mother was Greek, and his father was a convert from the Albanian lands who had fought in the Sultan's armies.
^Aksan, Virginia H.; Goffman, Daniel (2007).The Early Modern Ottomans: Remapping the Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 106.ISBN978-0-521-81764-6.Hayreddin Barbarossa, who would rise to become the ruler of Algiers, and later admiral of the Ottoman fleet, was of Greek origin and got his start raiding the southern and western shores of Anatolia on behalf of Korkud, son of Bayezid II.
^Aldo Gallotta, "Le Gazavat di Hayreddin Barbarossa", Studi Magrebini, III, Napoli 1970, pp. 79–160 (Türkçesi: "Ġazavāt-ı Hayreddīn Pāşā" [trc. Salih Akdeniz], TTK Belleten, XLV/180 [1981], p. 473).
^Gazavât-ı Hayreddin Paşa, TSMK, Revan Köşkü, nr. 1291, 1292; İÜ Ktp., TY, nr. 2475; Bibliothèque Nationale, MS, Supplément Turc, nr. 1186.
^Quran61:13–13(Translated by Sahih International). "And [you will obtain] another [favor] that you love – victory from Allah and an imminent conquest; and give good tidings to the believers."
^Translation by John Freely inStrolling through Istanbul, p. 467, Sev Yayıncılık, 1997
^Syed Z. Ahmed (2001).The Zenith of an Empire: The Glory of the Suleiman the Magnificent and the Law Giver. A.E.R. Publications. p. 109.ISBN978-0-9715873-0-4.
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