State institution

The establishment of the Regency of Algiers by the Barbarossa brothers gave the Muslim corso a solid territorial base, which was organized in its beginnings as self-defence as well as a holy war; described as al-jihad fi'l-bahr (holy war at sea) against the Spanish Empire and the Christian Knights who continued the work of the crusades.^[1] In the days of Hayreddin Barbarossa and his immediate successors, the raïs were an integral part of the Ottoman navy, but in the 17th century they had become a distinct group.^[2] Unlike in Ottoman Tunisia, where privateers were allowed to equip their own piratical ships, piracy in Ottoman Algeria was a monopoly of the state. The Kapudan-raïs (admiral, hierarchical chief of all the reïs), or captain of vessels, was often, after the Pasha, the most important person in the Diwan of Algiers.^[3] Thus, the corso became a permanent institution in the Regency of Algiers, and its main income was included in the state budget. Enriching those who cared for it and returning to the treasury one-fifth of the catch, the corso effectively created the state of Algiers,^[4] and was essential to its existence, which all the efforts of the government tended to develop. It was also the activity upon which the economical and political prosperity of the Odjak as well as its religious prestige to a great extent depended.^[5]

Legal status

European authors continued to view the Ottoman Regencies as 'dens of pirates' and their actions as "African banditry", but France, the Dutch Republic and England all concluded peace treaties with the North African Regencies in the 17th century. These treaties prompted legal theorists in Europe to change their views about the general status of the regencies. Hugo Grotius would implicitly admit that Algiers exercised the Jus ad bellum of a sovereign power through its corsairs. The treaties were also influential in the development of the law of the sea and The Law of Nations.^[6]

Irish lawyer Charles Molloy wrote in 1682 regarding those shifts in dealing with : "Pirates that have reduced themselves into a Government of State, as those of Algier, Sally, Tripoli, Tunis, and the like" and should not "obtain the rights of solemnities of war." He added:^[6]

Tunis and Tripoli and their Sister Algier do at this day (though Nests of Pirates) obtain the right of Legation' demonstrated by the treaties concluded by Britain with Tunis and Tripoli. This makes them not Pirates (enemies of mankind) but gives them the status of enemies (in war): So that now (though indeed Pirates) yet having acquired the reputation of a Government, they cannot properly be esteemed Pirates but Enemies.

In 1737, Dutch jurist and legal theorist Cornelius van Bynkershoek wrote:

The peoples of Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, and Salee are not pirates, but rather organized states, which have a fixed territory in which there is an established government, and with which, as with other nations, we [i.e. the Staten-General] are now at peace, now at war. Hence they seem to be entitled to the rights of independent states.

Thus, corsaing acquired both religious and legitimate dimentions which in turn gave it an international dimention that negated the faithless and lawless nature of piracy upon Algerian and other barbary corsairs.^[7]

French historian Dianel Panzac, although admitting that the barbary corsairs hardly differed in their methods from pirates that were still distinguishable by their "black flag, an uncertain nationality, the vandalising of the ship, and especially the killing of the crew in order to leave no trace", nevertheless respected the administrative and diplomatic frameworks that North African regencies were bounded with, which is why the barbary warships were classified as privateering vessels and not pirate ships.^[8]

General characteristics

The Ottoman sultan issued a firman ('royal decree') appointing a ruler to govern Algiers. This governor might held the rank of Beylerbey, then Pasha, and his initial appointment was usually for three years, after which it could be extended or cancelled. The sultan expected obedience from the ruler, particularly in matters of foreign policy; an annual financial tribute to Istanbul; and to be provided with ships and men for his fleets when they were demanded. Otherwise the ruler was given a free hand to govern as he saw fit.^[9] In practice, the Rais and the Odjak acted autonomously and the Pasha gradually lost his power.^[10] After the Odjak revolution in 1659, the ruler would be elected and the sultan would only confirm this election as a sign of legitimacy, without however having any effective rule over Algiers.^[11]

The Regency government, which quickly became a naval power, turned its main activities towards the sea. From the 16th century, the growing volume of international trade, the succession of political crises leading to armed conflicts, the territorial appetites of certain States and the tendencies towards hegemony in the Mediterranean made the constitution and maintenance of an active navy essential, capable of defending a determined policy, which could be comprised as maintaining the following:^[4]

• Defense of the territory, particularly the coastline,
• Support for the Muslims of Spain attacked by the religious fanaticism of their conquerors,
• Presence alongside the Ottoman Sultan in face of his adversaries,
• Control of the navigation to know friends from enemies,
• Leading the corso war against Europe.

Chain of command

Inside the Palais des Rais (Palace of the Corsair captains community) in Algiers

The ruler would be guided by a Divan - a council of government - while another council known as a "tai'fa" was charged with naval or privateering matters. This tai'fa consisted of the port's senior privateering captains, led by the regency's Kapudan Rais or local admiral (also known as the 'Rais al bahriyya' or Captain of the Marine').^[9] Direct access to the Pasha gave the privateering captains considerable influence in the regency. The ruler was also advised by an Agha, or the commander in chief of the Algieran janissary Odjak, whose duties included the annual collection of taxes and ensuring the security of the regency. The Agha also controlled the administration of the city of Algiers and its surroundings (known as Dar-Es-sultan), and also presided over deliberations of the Divan.^[12] Meanwhile, the Kapudan Rais supervised foreign affairs, and also administed the port of Algiers. Other lesser officials oversaw various aspects of the regency's administration, including the operation of the slave-markets, trade within the regency and the policing of the city. As the regency's legal framework was based on the Sharia, the Pasha was advised by two muftis, and justice was usually swift and severe.^[9] In theory the same draconian system applied on the regency's ships and privateers when they were at sea; but in practice, the Kapudan Rais, the tai'fa and individual captains were largely left to govern their own affairs.^[13]

Admiralty of Algiers in 1880, seat of Captain Raïs, harbor master and Wakil al-kharadj (minister of the navy)

While the original holders of the title of Kapudan Rais were usually Turks or leading local privateers, by the 17th century the post was frequently held by a European renegade.^[14] The Kapudan Rais had a headquarters building near the harbour, and from there he and a small staff of clerks supervised the movement of all merchant shipping, as well as the activities of privateers and any regency warships. Before a privateering captain could put to sea he had to obtain permission to sail from the Kapudan Rais, and collect a renewed 'letter of marque' from the tai'fa. This council established cruising areas in advance, and often the duration of cruises. If the vessel was a galley or galiot, however, the lack of space for water, provisions, captives or plunder naturally meant that cruises were of fairly short duration. Once these permissions were granted the captain hoisted a green flag at his masthead to indicate that he was about to sail on a corso, and his crew would embark, accompanied in many cases by a detachment of the regency's janissaries.^[15]

Earlier flotilla

At the beginning of the 17th century, Algiers' pirate fleet numbered 100 ships and employed 8,000 to 10,000 men. The piracy "industry" accounted for 25 percent of the workforce of the city, not counting other activities related directly to the port. The fleet averaged 25 ships in the 1680s, but these were larger vessels than had been used the 1620s, thus the fleet still employed some 7,000 men.^[25]

The introduction of round ships by the Flemish corsair Zymen Danseker and the arrival of expelled Moriscos from Spain contributed strongly to the development of the fleet of Algiers,^[2] which would have been modernized and enlarged,^[26] it numbered as follows:

• In 1625, the corsair fleet included six Galleasses, a large number of brigantines and a hundred Galleyes, more than sixty of them were equipped with 24 to 40 guns.^[27]
• In 1630, there were about 70 ships in the port of the capital, with what the Algerians owned from the French years prior, and
• in 1632, 13 galleys were found in the port, all of which were driven by oars, and 70 others with sails, and 23 boats of 30 to 50 cannons.
• In 1634, Algerian fleet consisted of 70 pieces, each of which was armed with between 25 and 40 cannons.
• In 1657, the number decreased to 23 ship, and each ship included 30 to 50 cannons.
• In 1662, there were 22 barges and nine galleys in the capital, and in 1681 there were only 17 barges in the port of Algiers and two large ships with heavy weapons of 112 cannons. These 17 ships were mentioned by their names in the report of sieur hayet, among them: the Golden Mare, the Rose, the little Rose, the city of Algiers, the Marzouk, the Canaria.^[28]
• On the consul's Fiolle report, He says that in 1686: "The ship called "the Golden Rose" was armed with 40 cannons, the "Seven Stars" with 30 cannons, the "Golden Lion" equipped with 32 cannons, and that there were also on this date, 10 ships with two bridges, each containing 30 cannons, and 10 single-barreled ships, each containing 14 cannons, sometimes reaching 20. There were also two ships with two bridges containing 45 cannons and a fire equipped with 20 cannons, and five other ships, two of them with 50 cannons, two with 30 cannons, and besides that, there were 39 ships for transport and trade".
• It came in the report of Dr. Duke de Grafton dated on October 14, 1687, that the number of Algerian ships in the diversity of their forms and the difference in weight and their cargo amounted to 60 ships, which had 570 cannons in total.^[28]

Later navy

Rais Hamidou's Algerian flagship "Mashuda" in the battle off Cape Gata (1815) against Stephan Decatur's "USS Constitution"

In the 18th century the number of Algerian ships diminished and was varying from 20 to 30 ships and were mostly Xebecs armed with 12 to 32 cannons.

• During the Barbary Wars the said number increased in 1802 to 66 barges, each with between 25 and 80 long-range cannons
• In 1815, the number decreased to 41 ships, and there were only five battleships, the General Consul of the United States of America William Shaler tells about the Algerian Navy in 1815: "The Algerian fleet was composed of five frigates with 38 to 50 cannons and five corvettes".
• In 1816, four barges and 30 ships, Gouthrot says on that date only two battleships of 50 to 60 cannons, two corvettes with five cannons, two barges of 80 cannons, four galleys of 15 to 26 cannons, and one ship of 20 cannon type "polacre", and 35 ship.
• In 1820, 32 ships numbering 368 cannons.^[29]

Among these ships were the well-known "Al-Marikana", the famous "Mashouda" and the 44 cannon captured vessel "Portuguesa", the latter was captured by Rais Hamidou from the Portuguese navy in May 1802 and there were 282 prisoners on its deck, then it was lost and others were burned when Lord admiral Exmouth attacked Algiers in 1816. There are also names for other ships, such as Miftah al-Salam, Dik al-Marsa, Guide to Alexandria, and others from what the Algerian Navy seized, so it left them with the names known by them before.^[28]

Jihad against Spain: Barbary galleys in the Mediterranean

Barbary Galleys

During the greater part of the 16th century; maritime wars were undertaken with fleets of thirty to forty galleys.^[30] The Barbary galleys formed the Western Naval Division of the Ottoman fleets. Their special function was to harm the hereditary enemy, Spain, by ravaging its coasts, landing unexpectedly in enemy territory, sacking villages and towns like in Lipari, Naples and Genoa^[31] and carrying off their inhabitants into captivity. The Spanish watch towers and syndicats of defense could not hold off the corsairs in Cullera and Villajoyosa, and so the tierras maritimas (coastal lands) were deserted.^[32]

Attacks on Christian and especially Catholic shipping, with slavery for the captured, became prevalent in Algiers and were actually the main industry and source of revenues of the Regency.^[33] The corsairs targeted the Spanish commerce, they cut maritime communications with spanish domains in Italy by boarding christian vessels, capturing crews and cargoes and taking the whole lot back to Algiers, thus enriching it at the expanse of Spanish trade.^[32]

Algerine Xebec near Gibraltar, by Dominic Serres (1722-1793)

The severe discipline and care, made the Algiers galley an instrument of war of the first order; the damage that the rais caused to the enemies of the ottoman sultan was so important that spanish benedictin and historian Diego de Haëdo (1555-1613) would say:^[34]

Sailing without any fear, they travel the sea from east to west, making fun of our galleys, whose crews, meanwhile, enjoy banqueting in the ports. Knowing well that when their galiotes, so well equipped, so light, encounter the Christian galleys, so heavy and so crowded, the latter cannot think of giving chase, and preventing them from pillaging and stealing at will. They have the habit, to mock them, of tacking, and showing them the stern... They are so careful about the order, cleanliness and layout of their ships, that they do not think about something else, focusing especially on good tie-down, to be able to line and tack well. It is for this reason that they do not have rumbalières... Finally, for this same reason, it is not permitted for anyone, even the son of the pasha himself, to change places, nor to move from where he is.

— Diego de Haedo, Topographia e Historia general de Argel

Algerian corsairs provided much needed help to the attempted rebellion of the Moriscos. In this long war, the raïs of Algiers had no rivals; They showed incessant ardor and temerity almost always crowned with success. At a signal from the Sultan, they were seen running forward and fighting in the front ranks, as in Bejaïa, Malta, Lepanto and Tunis, where they acquired the well-deserved reputation of being the best and bravest sailors in the Mediterranean.^[35] French publicist Louis-Joseph Collette de Baudicour wrote:^[36]

Algiers had become the firmest support of the Sultans of Constantinople. No event took place in the Mediterranean basin without the Algerian corsairs taking part in it. The main force of the entire Ottoman Navy rested on them.

Atlantic razzias: Hunt for enemy merchant ships

Xebec types, by Jacob Hägg (1839–1931)

The legendary heroes of Ottoman Algeria were Ra'ises (captains of corsair ships) such as Murat Rais the Elder in the 1580s and Hamidou Raïs at the turn of the 19th century. These were men who distinguished themselves through audacious attacks on Christian ships and bringing important prizes to Algiers.^[37]

The Mediterranean was at first the main objective of the action of the corsairs, the raïs rose in the ocean as soon as they had adopted the use of round vessels. Exploring then the roads of India and America, they disturbed the commerce of all enemy nations. In 1616, Rais Mourad the Younger (Jan Janszoon) plundered the coasts of Iceland, from where he brought back to Algiers 400 captives. In 1619 the corsairs ravaged Madeira. In 1631, they sacked Irish Baltimore, blocked the English Channel, and would make catches in the North Sea towards the 1650s.^[38][26] Algerian pirates naval warfare was intelligent and flexible, but its countermeasures were incredibly clumsy. The Algerians used Xebecs, fast-sailed galleys, to attack individual merchant ships when there was no wind. Algerians usually hid five to seven Xebecs behind a large cliff near the coast, each with at least 100 soldier. A clifftop lookout spotted the European ships and signaled them to approach. Europeans usually surrender quickly when faced with a much superior attacking force. In the case of defense, they usually expected only the death of many sailors and certain defeat.^[39]

The raïs pushed the audacity so far as to found in Livorno,^[2] with the authorization of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, to whom they paid high royalties, a penal colony warehouse, where they came to deposit under the guard of the soldiers of the Grand Duke, the Christian slaves likely to obtain their freedom by means of a ransom. They still had a station at Cape Verde in order to be nearer to stopping the Indian galleons. The Republic of Genoa tolerated for a very long time the traffic in its ports of goods coming from the looting of the rais.^[38]

Naval spoils

Rais Hamidou; Famous Algerian Corsair from the 18th century

The spoils of the Corsairs multiplied in the first period of the regency, then began to decrease until they almost disappeared in the eighteenth century, then by the end of the deys period they witnessed a remarkable growth with the attempt to develop the navy and increase its military activity, especially during the period of Europe's preoccupation with the wars of the French Revolution and the conquests of Napoleon. The renewed activity of the Algerian Navy was linked to the efforts of famous sailors, led by Rais Hamidou (1790-1815). the aquittance to the development of the naval spoils from which the state used to take the fifth and distribute the rest to the shipowners who contributed to equipping the fleet is got by reviewing the number of spoils according to the following years:^[40][41]

• 1556 : 28 ships were captured near Malaga and 50 others near Gibraltar strait
• 1608 - 1621 : Nearly 1000 European ships were captured, among them 447 of Dutch nationality, 193 were French, 120 were Spanish, 60 English vessels, and 50 ships from various German principalities, and more than 12,000 people were enslaved.^[42]
• 1619 - 1627 : More than 20,000 people were captured by the corsairs
• 1628 - 1634 : 80 ships were captured during the war against France comprising 1331 people, which made the value of the total spoils in that war rise to about 4,752,000 pounds. Pere dan estimated the value of seazed cargos around 20,000,000 francs, while one million people were enslaved in Algiers.
• 1737 - 1799 : the rais took over 376 ships. In 1785, some Genoese, Venetian and Neapolitan ships were captured, their spoils estimated at 75,000,000 francs. In 1793, 11 American ships were captued and 100 American sailors were enslaved, then 16 Portuguese ships were captured by Rais Hamidou in 1797 along with 118 prisoners.
• 1800 - 1802 : The number of spoils was estimated at 575,152 francs, and 20 ships were seized, of which 19 were Neapolitan, in addition to another Portuguese ship seized by Rais Hamidou, equipped with 44 cannons, and its value was estimated at 194,231.25 francs.
• 1805 - 1815 : The value of spoils was estimated at 8 million francs, of which 1800 were prisoner with 30 ships. A truce in 1810 was followed by the treaty of 1813 with Portugal, in which 541 Portuguese prisoners were ransomed for 850,000 Algerian doro
• 1825 : The number of spoils reached eight ships, mostly Dutch, Spanish and English, with an estimated value of about 770415.74 francs.
• 1817 - 1827 : the value of spoils was approximately 700,000 francs, with 26 greek ships seazed.

Defences

Algiers in one of the plans of cities and fortresses in the Atlante Neroni of 1602

In 1529, Hayreddin Barbarossa seized the Peñon facing the city of Algiers from the Spanish and linked the rock to the port by building the pier.^[43] This allowed Algiers to become a secure port for naval and corsair companies in the Mediterranean. The city quickly became the main base for corsairs in the Mediterranean.^[44] This domination enabled him to repel several attacks from a certain number of European countries, in particular, in October 1541, that of Charles V, whose troops were defeated by the forces of the regency under the command of Hassan Agha, well aided by the storm which destroyed a good part of the enemy fleet.

The Consulaire cannon (a.k.a. Baba Merzoug), in Brest arsenal.

In response Hassan Agha ordered the construction of a large artillery piece which was designed in the foundries of Dar Ennahas, near the Bab El Oued gate in 1542, by a Venetian master builder in the pay of the beylerbey of Algiers, Hassan Agha. The cannon was placed during the completion of the "Kheir Eddine pier" at the end, on the Bordj Amar.^[45]

Oruç Barbarossa built a new kasbah A little above the former Berber Kasbah. was Hayreddin and his successors reconstructed the wall surrounding the town of 36 to 42 feet high and some one and a half miles in length, which were constructed of unbaked brick bonded with good mortar and resting on a substructure of concrete. The sea-front, though thick and high, was not solid enough to resist massive assaults. The wall had accordingly been protected by a moat some 20 to 26 feet deep and 37 to 48 feet across, and had been reinforced by square towers and slightly projecting bastions.^[46] Two more important works protected Khair al-Din's The breakwater and the Fishery Arsenal were protected by the parapet which was crenellated and pierced with embrasures for muskets and cannon. Access to the town was by five main gates. The Bab Jdid or New Gate was to the south-west and at the foot of the kasbah, and Bab Azoun was to the south, the most important since people came in by it from the countryside and it was linked by a long mercantile street with the Bab al-Oued to the north. The 'Island' or 'Holy War' gate (Bāb al-Jazira or Bab al-Jihad), through which the raïs passed, opened on to the mole, and finally the 'Fish', 'Fishery' or 'Customs' Gate (Bab Es-serdin), opened on to the road leading up from the harbour.^[46]

Outside the wall several forts supplemented the seafront fortifications. The 'Eulj 'Ali burj, built in 1568-1569 and known as the 'fort of the twenty-four hours', guarded the Bab al-Oued beach. On the landward side the approaches to the town were defended by the fort known as the 'Star', built above the kasbah in 1568, and the Emperor Fort (Sultan Kalassi) built facing south between 1545 and 1580 on the site of the camp of Charles V.^[47]

Urban area

City of Algiers, 17th century

In the confined space enclosed within the walls white houses were grouped closely together with terraces rising in tiers, their overhangs supported on beams jutting so far out over the narrow streets as sometimes to join those across the way, thus forming a ceiling of corduroy or of groined vaulting. It was not until the end of the fifteenth century that the rais built their costly dwellings in the lower town.^[47] In Algiers, as in the other Barbary ports, the captains tended to maintain houses in the western part of the city, close to the kasbah, with their crews quartered close by. This was a precaution against any attack by political or domestic opponents, and it helped to ensure that the community of privateers formed an identifiable political and social bloc in the city.^[15] These new constructions modified the outward aspect of the town, which remained a Maghribi city, although the greater part of the inhabitants were not of the Maghrib. Likewise, the interior arrangement of some rich houses was no longer of a Maghribi style. According to Diego de Haëdo, about the year 1580 there were a hundred mosques, chapels or zawiyas, not one of which survives. There were 'prayer halls with parallel naves and pitched tile roofs'.^[48]

Share and use of slaves

Purchase of Christian slaves by French friars (Religieux de la Mercy de France) in Algiers in 1662

When a corsair ship returned to Algiers towing its booty, goods and captives were landed. The pasha would begin to take his share, or a fifth, in addition to the body and tackle of the captured ship, then, the cargo is sold. The slaves not chosen by the pasha were led into the Badestan, a long street closed at its ends, located at the site of the current street of Mahon square in Algiers. There, brokers ran the captives naked, so that the buyers could make their choice. Half of the proceeds from these sales belonged to the outfitting of the capturing vessel: individual, company, rais himself; the other half was divided into shares, of which forty went to the captain, thirty to the Agha of the Janissaries on board, ten to the officers, the rest to the sailors and the soldiers.^[49]

Until the use of round vessels in the 17th century, which did away with oars, the rais composed the crews of their galleys, which were generally very low on water, with slaves whom they bought for this purpose, or whom they were procured by capture at sea, or by descent on the Christian coast. The rowers were tied to their benches; there were as many as 300 on a single vessel. When, at the beginning of the 17th century, navigation was practiced entirely by sail, the employment of slaves on corso ships diminished in notable proportions; but the raïs always employed some for the works of strength: turning with the capstan, the towing of the boats, care of cleanliness of the ships, etc.^[16]

Number of slaves

The slave market of Algiers in the early 17th century.

The number of european christians who fell into captivity in the city of Algiers alone was estimated at about one million people throughout the seventeenth century, equivalent to a quarter of the city's population, numbering at that time about 100,000 people. In the four Beylik prisons that were established specifically for this purpose since 1607, and most of these prisoners were released in exchange for a certain ransom, and some of them converted to Islam, a number of 8000 converted to Islam in 1634 out of a total of 35,000 prisoners, and some of them were integrated into the population and became an active element in society like many of the beleyrbeys who assumed power before the era of the pashas.^[50] As for the work that these prisoners carried out, they were divided into social services and economic tasks within the city of Algiers, and agricultural work in the city of Algiers. The number of prisoners varied from year to year. As evidenced by the following table extracted from European sources, which presents aggregate estimates for the city of Algiers according to the following years:^[51]

Among the most famous of these prisoners are:^[50]

Cervantes brought before Hassan Veneziano Pasha, the beylerbey of Algiers

1. French scientist Petrus Gyllius, captured in the year 1546 while traveling from France to Greece on a scientific mission at the request of King Francis I of France.
2. Dominique de Gourgues, the hero of Florida County, captured while traveling from Europe to America (1558).
3. Famous Italian painter Fra Filippo Lippi de Madone, imprisoned in 1435
4. Italian writer Emmanuel d'Aranda de Bruges, captured while traveling from France to Spain in 1640.
5. French comic poet, who wrote the story known as the beautiful Provençal, Jean-François Regnard, captured in 1678.
6. Famous Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (the author of the story of Don Quixote) and the author of the moriscan plays inspired by his memories in Algeria, he remained in captivity in Algeria from 1575 to 1580.
7. French scientist Jean Foy-Vaillant was captured in 1674, when he was on a scientific trip to study money, commissioned by King Louis XIV.
8. Italian cleric, the priest of the city of Catania, called Caraccioli, captured in 1561.
9. Italian poet Antonio Veneziano, captured along with Don Carlo Davagona in April 1578.
10. Writer Rene de Bois (Rene de Boys), captured in 1642.

Privateers and enslavement of Christians originating from Algiers were a major problem throughout the centuries, leading to regular punitive expeditions by European powers. Spain (1567, 1775, 1783), Denmark (1770), France (1661, 1665, 1682, 1683, 1688), England (1622, 1655, 1672), all led naval bombardments against Algiers.^[53] Abraham Duquesne fought the Barbary pirates in 1681 and bombarded Algiers between 1682 and 1683, to help Christian captives.^[54]

Works cited

• Garrot, Henri (1910). Histoire générale de l'Algérie. Impr. P. Crescenzo.
• Jamieson, Alan G. (2013). Lords of the Sea: A History of the Barbary Corsairs. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-946-0.
• Julien, Charles André (1970). History of North Africa: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, from the Arab Conquest to 1830. Routledge & K. Paul. ISBN 978-0-7100-6614-5.
• Kaddache, Mahfoud (2003). L'Algérie des Algériens de la préhistoire à 1954 [Algeria of the Algerians: Prehistory to 1954] (in French). Paris-Méditerranée. ISBN 978-2-84272-166-4.
• Konstam, Angus (2016). The Barbary Pirates. 15th–17th Centuries. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1543-9.
• Spencer, William (1976). Algiers in the Age of the Corsairs. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1334-0.
• Wolf, John Baptiste (1979). The Barbary Coast: Algiers Under the Turks, 1500 to 1830. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-01205-7.
• Belhamissi, Moulay (2003). Marine et Marins d'Alger (1518-1830) [Navy and Sailors of Algiers (1518-1830)]. Bibliothèque Nationale d'Algerie. ISBN 978-9961-901-12-0.
• بوعزيز, يحيى (2007). الموجز في تاريخ الجزائر - الجزء الثاني (Brief history of Algeria - Part Two) (in Arabic). الجزائر: ديوان المطبوعات الجامعية. ISBN 978-9961-0-1045-7.
• الجيلالي, عبد الرحمن (1994). تاريخ الجزائر العام للعلامة عبد الرحمن الجيلالي الجزء الثالث: الخاص بالفترة بين 1514 إلى 1830م [The General History of Algeria by Abd al-Rahman al-Jilali, Part Three: Concerning the period between 1514 and 1830 AD] (in Arabic). الجزائر: الشركة الوطنية للنشر والتوزيع.