Khizer Khair Uddin Barbarossa
- Musleh Saadi
- 10 hours ago
- 5 min read
Khairuddin Barbarossa was the great naval commander of the 16th century who turned the Mediterranean into a lake under the Ottoman flag. The Western world calls him “Barbarossa” because of his red beard, but Muslim history writes of him as Khairuddin Pasha, the captain of the sea, and the savior of thousands of oppressed people. His life is a story that apparently begins with piracy but ends with the naval supremacy of a great empire and the service of humanity.
His real name was Khizr bin Yaqub bin Arghun. Some historians also write him as Khizr Rayis. The exact date of birth is unknown, but researchers consider 1478 to be the most reliable. Place of birth: Palaiopoli or Palaios Fakis, a village on Lesbos. Father Yaqub Agha was a soldier in the Ottoman army who was either Albanian or Turkmen, and according to some traditions, converted from Christianity to Islam. Mother Catalina was a Greek Christian woman who was possibly the widow of a priest. That is, in Khizr's veins flowed Greek, Albanian and Turkish blood. This blood later spread to every corner of the Mediterranean.
Khizr, the youngest of the four brothers, was connected to the sea from the beginning. As a child, he sold pottery, then became a sailor on small ships. The elder brother, Urooj, was already engaged in maritime trade. An event between 1504 and 1510 changed his life. Urooj's ship was plundered by the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes, his brother Elias was killed, and Urooj himself was captured and imprisoned. When they were released, the two brothers swore revenge. Now the ships they plundered were not only goods, but also the pride of Christian Europe. During this period, Khizr's beard turned red, perhaps because of hyenas or the sun and sea breezes. Europe began to call him "Barba Rossa" - the red-bearded one.
The period from 1510 to 1518 was the golden age of his piracy. The ruler of Tunisia, Sultan Muhammad al-Hafsi, gave him the port of Halq al-Wadi, the fortress of Djerba, and agreed to take a tenth of his ships as a reward. It was here that he built his main fleet. His ships were light, fast, and capable of sailing in shallow water. Each ship had benches with eighteen to twenty-two rowers, and on each bench sat three slaves or mujahids. The bow of the ship was pointed so that it could rip apart enemy ships. Khair al-Din himself made maps, read the direction of the wind, and attacked in the dark of night. His strategy was to never give the enemy a direct battle, to cut off his supply lines, tire him out, and then attack all at once.
The conquest of Algeria in 1516 was the greatest turning point in his life. At that time, Algeria was ruled by the Spanish-backed Banu Zayan dynasty. Urooj and Khizr attacked the city with a few thousand mujahids, killed the ruler, and took the title of sultan himself. But the Spanish did not remain silent. In 1518, Urooj was martyred in the Battle of Tlemcen. His body was dismembered by the Spanish army and salted and sent to Cartagena. Khizr was left alone but he did not give up. He returned to Algeria, gathered his people and wrote a letter to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent saying, “I am your slave, Algeria is yours, I only need your sword.” Suleiman immediately sent him the position of Beglarbeg, the Ottoman flag and four thousand Janissaries. Khizr’s name was now Khair al-Din Pasha, meaning the one who is good at religion. When he was made a sea captain in 1534, he was welcomed in Istanbul by the Sultan himself. Khairuddin completely transformed the old dockyards in the Golden Horn of Constantinople. He built more than two hundred new galleys in a single year. The specialty of his ships was that the number of skippers was from fifty to sixty, with five men on each skipper, meaning that a ship was propelled by the force of three hundred men. In front of the ship was a heavy ram-like pole that would rip apart enemy ships. Khairuddin also changed the position of the cannons, now the cannons were not installed in the front of the ship but on both sides so that they could fire from all sides in the event of a siege.
The Battle of Preveza was fought on September 27, 1538. Andrea Doria had an allied fleet of 602 ships, including 157 large warships and more than 2,500 cannons. Khairuddin had only 122 ships and 600 cannons. Doria invited a battle in the open sea, far from the coast, so that he could take advantage of his heavy cannons, but Khairuddin refused. They set up an ambush near the coast. When the European fleet approached, the wind suddenly changed direction. Khairuddin immediately attacked. His ships broke through the enemy lines, surrounded and drove the European fleet away in a few hours. Doria's personal galley was also sunk. After this battle, Venice had to make peace with the Ottomans and the western part of the Mediterranean Sea also came under Ottoman control.
The story of the Andalusian refugees is particularly touching. From 1502 to 1520, the Spanish Inquisition either exiled or killed millions of Muslims and Jews. Many families fled by sea. Khairuddin began sending his ships to the southern coast of Spain. From the ports of Malaga, Almeria, Algiers, and Cartagena, they would pick up refugees in the dark of night and take them to Algeria. Some historians write that they saved from seventy thousand to one hundred and sixty thousand people. These refugees included scholars, artisans, merchants, and farmers. The population of Algeria suddenly increased and the city became a cultural center. Even today, many Algerian families call themselves “Andalusians” and their descendants are saved because of Khair al-Din.
The French alliance of 1543 was the most astonishing political maneuver of the era. The French king Francis I and the Sultan Suleiman together planned to surround the Spanish king Charles V. Khair al-Din arrived in Marseille with more than two hundred ships. The French handed over the entire port of Toulon to him. The Ottoman fleet stayed there for eight months. The French saw for the first time how a Muslim admiral led his soldiers in prayer and how he prepared his ships. During this time, the city of Nice was conquered, the Italian coast was devastated, and Spanish ports were burned. When Khairuddin returned to Istanbul, he was accompanied by the French ambassador and a gift of millions of gold coins.
He spent his last years in a small house in the Beşiktaş neighborhood of Istanbul. Every morning he would sit by the sea, watch the ships go by, and pray. On Thursday, July 4, 1546, after the dawn prayer, his soul departed. Sultan Suleiman himself attended the funeral and led his funeral prayer in the hands of Ayyub Sultan. The tomb is still there today, on the shores of Beşiktaş. The traditional rule of the Turkish Navy was that whenever a warship left Istanbul, it would salute three times as it passed in front of Barbarossa's shrine, and the crew would silently pray. This tradition continued until 1950.
Khairuddin Barbarossa was not a single man. He was a promise, a thought, a determination. He taught that the sea was not conquered by the sword, but by the mind. They proved that the use of force to help the oppressed is not only permissible, but also necessary. The slings they made, the strategies they taught, the maps they made were used for centuries. Today, when a Turkish child sees the sea, he is told stories that once upon a time there was a red-bearded Pasha who drowned all the kings of Europe in the sea and carried the children of Andalusia in his arms and brought them home.
it is history. And history is a witness that as long as the waves rise in the sea, the red beard of Khairuddin Barbarossa will continue to wave in those waves.
[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayreddin_Barbarossa)
[3](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barbarossa)
[4](https://www.dailysabah.com/portrait/2019/10/17/hayreddin-barbarossa-lion-of-the-mediterranean)
[5](https://sevenswords.uk/hayreddin-barbarossa-pirate/)
[6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC3cKVKe0_c)
[7](https://islamicchronicles.com/islamic-history/ottoman-empire/hayreddin-barbarossa-or-khayreddin-barbaros-a-short-biography/)
[8](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Hayreddin_Barbarossa)
[9](https://www.thecollector.com/barbarossa-ottoman-corsair-ruled-mediterranean/)
[10](https://www.facebook.com/groups/383070700051854/posts/479806957044894/)
[11](https://www.scribd.com/doc/25098433/The-Life-Of-Khaireddin-Barbarossa-HIZIR-RE%C4%B0S)
Awesome ⭐
Well said 👍
Impressive 👌