Who is Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, the Legendary Name of Turkish Maritime? Born Khizr, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha was an Ottoman admiral whose naval prowess and strategic brilliance secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean in the 16th century. Known for his red beard and formidable naval campaigns, he played a pivotal role in shaping maritime history. His victories against European powers not only expanded the Ottoman Empire’s influence but also established him as a legendary figure in Turkish maritime lore.
Although it is difficult to determine exactly when the Turks became interested in the seas, it is possible to say that this process began when the Seljuk Turks reached the Aegean coast after the Battle of Malazgirt in 1071 and Çaka Bey established a principality centered in İzmir. Çaka Bey, who thought that the Aegean islands close to the Anatolian coast should be seized in order to have a permanent presence on the conquered coasts, took the islands of Chios, Samos and Rhodes under his rule, but after his death in 1096, these islands were lost again. After these initial naval activities of Çaka Bey, the Karesi, Saruhan, Menteşe and Aydınoğulları principalities, which established dominance around the Aegean Sea, took their maritime activities one step further by establishing small navies.
Early Life and Rise to Prominence
The Ottoman State, which emerged as an important land power in its foundation, began its maritime activities with the navy it seized from the Karesi Principality after annexing them. During the reign of Orhan Bey (1326-1362), military activities towards Rumelia gained momentum with the capture of Çimpe by his son Süleyman Pasha in 1352. As a result of these activities, the control of the Dardanelles was transferred to Ottoman rule, and the only sea transportation route between the Mediterranean and the Byzantine capital of Istanbul was taken under control. In addition, an important and strategic location was seized for the conquest of Rumelia.
Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha was born on the Greek island of Metelin (Lesbos), formerly known as Lesbos.
“ When Fatih Sultan Mehmed Khan conquered Midilli from the hands of the infidels, he ordered the Turks to settle on the island. My father was among the first settlers. My father, Yakub Ağa, was the son of a sipahi and he was also a sipahi. He had a fief in Vardar Yenicesi, near Selanik. When he settled in Midilli, he was given a fief on the island by the order of the glorious Fatih Sultan Mehmed Khan. In this way, my father, who had regained his life, married a girl from the people of the island. My father was a handsome brave man. My mother bore him four sons. Ishak was the eldest of the four sons. Then my brother Oruç, then I Hızır, then İlyas were born. God Almighty granted each of us long lives, many battles and victories.” (Memories of Barbaros Hayreddin’s Pasha)
Naval Strategies and Tactics
Hayreddin’s brother Oruç was the first person known as Barbarossa. Oruç’s nickname, barba rossa, means red beard in Italian, because Oruç’s beard was red; this nickname was given to Hayreddin when he died. Instead of his name Hızır, “Hayreddin”, meaning “the good of religion”, was given by Yavuz Sultan Selim for his services to the Ottoman Empire. López de Gómara, a Spanish historian, describes Barbaros as follows: ” When he was not fat, he had a cheerful disposition; he had very long eyelashes. He spoke with a lisp, knew many languages and was very cruel in both senses, he loved luxury .”
The children of mother Katerina, a native of the island of Lesbos, and father Yakup, a potter, named Oruç, Hızır (Barbaros), and İshak, began trading in the Mediterranean with the ships they owned. The brothers discovered their talents in piracy. In 1504, the brothers came to the island of Djerba, southeast of Tunisia, and established a naval base there. Looking for a more suitable place for their naval activities, the Barbaros brothers made an agreement with the Hafsi Sultan of Tunisia at the time, Mutawakkil Alallah Abu Abdullah Muhammed, and were settled in the castle of Halkülvadi (La Goletta) on the condition that they would give the sultan one-fifth of the spoils they would obtain at sea.
Their attacks on Christian ships, especially Spanish ships, brought them a large amount of spoils and attracted the attention of the emir of Algiers, with whom they joined forces. Soon after, they commanded a fleet of about a dozen ships, which they used to launch daring attacks on Spanish fortresses in North Africa. The only time when Oruç Reis behaved like a pirate was during this period when he made an agreement with the Sultan of Tunis, gave him a portion of the plunder revenues and promised not to attack Tunisian flagged ships, and received permission to use a Tunisian port.
Sinan Reis, known as the Magnificent Jew, and Barbaros Hayreddin, whose flag in the navy bears the six-point Seal of Solomon symbol, known to the Jews as the Star of David, 1535
Major Battles and Victories
With his effort and ambition, Oruç Reis, who contributed the most to the Ottomanization of the Maghreb, was not content with being a pirate, but intended to become a king by uniting the lands of North Africa. In 1516, the brothers sent a ship they captured as a gift to the sultan of the period, Yavuz Sultan Selim, and with the support of the Ottomans, they began to acquire lands in North Africa. In the same year, the Algerian ruler called the Barbaros brothers to his aid in order to escape the taxes he had to pay to King Fernando. Oruç Reis and his brothers first laid siege to Becaye upon the Algerians’ request for help. Oruç Reis lost an arm while fighting there. The Algerians, who came under the rule of Hızır and Oruç Reis in order to protect themselves from Spanish attacks, effectively came under Ottoman rule as of 1516. The Barbaros brothers’ capture of Algeria and their subsequent subordination to the Ottoman Empire caused uneasiness both to the local dynasties in North Africa and to the Spanish, who had occupied many places in the region at the time. After Oruç Reis entered the sultan’s service, he would leave the protection of the Sultan of Tunisia, Hafsı, and begin his conquests.
From here, the successful sea voyages they launched on their own behalf and especially the victories they won against the Spanish caused their fame and reputation to be heard and increase both in Maghreb and Europe. Oruç Reis, who took the cities of Cicel and Algeria from the Spanish, took the Shershel Castle in the west of Algeria in 1518 and, leaving his brother Hayreddin in Algeria, advanced towards Tlemsen, the most important city of Algeria at that time. Oruç Reis took this place in 1518 and overthrew the ruler Ebu Hammu, who was a puppet of the Spanish. When Tlemsen was captured, the Spanish became alarmed because Tlemsen was one of the most important cities at the time. A significant blow was dealt to Spanish expansion in North Africa. However, the Spanish launched a counter-attack with a large army. During these struggles, both Oruç Reis and his older brother İshak Reis were martyred in 1518. Oruç Reis’ head was cut off and taken to Oran, then to Madrid, where it was displayed. His body was buried in a temporary tomb by the local people and perhaps by the king of Morocco.
Barbaros now takes over the leadership. When he is defeated by Spanish pressure; in 1519, he sends four ships full of captives and gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Yavuz Sultan Selim, declaring his and his country’s loyalty to the Ottoman Empire. Yavuz Sultan Selim, who welcomes this request, sends Barbaros a sultanate certificate, a sword decorated with jewels, a flag and a robe. He also sends 2,000 janissaries, several cannons and four ships, and allows him to recruit as many soldiers as he wants from Anatolia. After the conquest of Egypt in 1517, the Ottoman Empire’s dominance in North Africa reaches a consolidated level with the inclusion of Algeria in Ottoman territory. After this date, sermons are recited in Algeria in the name of the Ottoman Sultan and coins are minted. Thus, the Ottoman Empire’s dominance in North Africa, which will last for centuries, officially begins.
Barbaros’ fame now spread throughout the Islamic world. Sinan Reis and Seydi Ali Reis, nicknamed “The Magnificent Jew” because he was a member of a Jewish family that left Spain and came to Ottoman lands in 1492, also came to Algeria.
The reign of Suleiman the Magnificent was a period when Ottoman naval power reached a level that would make itself felt all over the Mediterranean. During this time, the aim was to continue the conquest activities carried out on land against Spain, the largest and most powerful state in Europe, at sea and to eliminate the Spanish pressure on the Andalusian Muslims. To this end, Suleiman invited Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, who knew the seas well and who knew them well because he had fought against Spain both at sea and in North Africa for many years, to Istanbul.
Impact on the Ottoman Empire
There were other reasons for Suleiman the Magnificent to invite Barbaros to Istanbul. Andrea Doria, known as the greatest admiral of 16th century Europe, who left the French ranks in return for large sums of money, and who went over to the Spanish side, and the balance in the Mediterranean that had been disrupted in favor of Spain, was tried to be balanced by the Ottoman Empire by inviting Barbaros to Istanbul. Although this offer made by Suleiman to Barbaros could be interpreted as a move by the Ottomans towards dominating North Africa, Barbaros Hayreddin evaluates this invitation in his memoirs as a favor from the Ottoman Sultan.
In 1534, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha set out to present hundreds of chosen prisoners, noblemen captured from different nations, large amounts of gold, silver, fabrics, etc. to Kanuni. When the Pasha arrived in Istanbul, Kanuni Sultan Suleiman was in Aleppo for the Eastern Campaign. He first reached Mudanya on a 22-day journey with a ship allocated by the Sultan and then reached Aleppo by land. After the welcoming ceremony, he was appointed as the Governor of Algiers by the Grand Vizier. Barbaros, who returned to Istanbul, was appointed as the Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy by Kanuni upon the proposal of Grand Vizier İbrahim Pasha. Although some narrations state that he was appointed as the Grand Admiral two and a half years after his appointment as the Governor of Algiers, the fact that Barbaros settled in the Haliç Shipyard upon his return from Aleppo and began building a new fleet indicates that he was appointed to this position in the same year.
In the spring of 1538, the largest fleet in history was being formed; this large Crusader fleet, consisting of 600 ships belonging to European states such as Spain, Germany, Venice, Portugal, Genoa, the Vatican, Florence and Malta, was commanded by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles Quint (Charles V) and the Genoese Andrea Doria was appointed as the leader. The main purpose of this large fleet was to eliminate the Ottoman fleet under the command of the Algerian Governor, Kaptanıderya Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha. The fleet posed a great threat to European countries in the Mediterranean waters. In early September 1538, the ships belonging to the Crusader fleet began to gather in the Ionian Sea for a major attack. The bad news soon reached the Imperial Council in Istanbul and from there to Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha in Euboea. The Ottoman navy bombarded Preveza in Greek waters, known as the most important naval base of the Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean, and some of the ships anchored in the harbour were submerged.
Thereupon, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha sent a fleet consisting of twenty pieces to the command of Turgut Reis, one of the naval commanders, to the Adriatic Sea for reconnaissance. When Turgut Reis reached the open seas of Zanta Island, south of the Ionian Islands, he saw the fleet consisting of forty pieces belonging to the Crusader fleet and informed Barbaros of the enemy’s position. The Ottoman fleet left Euboea, followed the coast of Mora and arrived at the Modon base in the south. Learning of its approach, Andrea Doria ended the siege of Preveza and withdrew his fleet towards Corfu in the north. Thereupon, the Ottoman fleet entered the Preveza naval base, which was located at the northwestern end of the Gulf of Arta and had a narrow entrance, and dropped anchor. This was also what Admiral Andrea Doria wanted. According to his plan, the Turkish navy would remain imprisoned in Preveza, fearing to engage in an open sea war against the Crusader fleet, which was superior in terms of power. The Crusader fleet was three times stronger than the Turkish fleet. Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, after gathering his admirals around him on Friday, September 27, suggested that they should leave Preveza and attack this powerful armada, considering the enemy’s strategy and superiority in weapons. According to him, the greatest advantages
were the superior mobility of the Turkish ships and the superior range of the Turkish guns. That night, the entire fleet prepared, left the Preveza Strait before sunrise on Saturday, September 28, and left the base, and a few hours after sunrise, the two fleets lined up opposite each other.
Legacy and Cultural Significance
The Ottoman fleet was divided into three wings. The ships in the middle wing were commanded by Kaptanıderya Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, the ships in the right wing were commanded by Salih Reis, and the ships in the left wing were commanded by Seydi Ali Reis. Turgut Reis was in charge of the reserve forces in the rear. The Ottoman fleet launched a massive attack by firing cannon fire from three wings at the Crusader ships gathered in front of them and buried half of the ships in the waters of the Mediterranean within a few hours. Admiral Andrea Doria quickly left the battlefield in order not to suffer any more losses in this unexpected situation, gathered his remaining intact ships and sailed away from the Gulf of Arta. The Battle of Preveza, considered one of the greatest battles in naval history, thus ended with the victory of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha.
The Ottoman Empire, which established its dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean with the conquest of Rhodes in 1522 and in the Central Mediterranean with the conquest of Tripoli in 1551, also made its presence felt with the campaigns it launched in the Western Mediterranean. Undoubtedly, the greatest share in this success and the Ottoman Empire‘s struggle for Mediterranean dominance belongs to Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha. He is known as the most famous admiral of the Ottoman Empire. In his time, the Ottoman navy became the greatest naval power in the Mediterranean. The foundations of the deep-rooted structuring in Turkish maritime were also laid with him.
Who is Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha
One of Barbaros’ greatest victories was the victory over France, his last voyage in his maritime career, when he was 70 years old. Barbaros Hayreddin set sail with allied French ships on August 5, 1543 and arrived in Nice, capturing the city from the Holy German Emperor Charles Quint with a successful siege and surrendering it to the Kingdom of France on August 20. A few centuries after this event, a magnificent painting depicting the Ottoman fleet anchored in the Port of Toulon was hung in the town hall of Toulon, where one of the most important naval bases of the French Navy was located. The last line of the poem under this painting, which keeps Barbaros’ memory alive, is as follows: “ What you see is Barbaros and his army, who came to the aid of us all.”
After this date, Barbaros Hayreddin, who was the chief admiral (naval minister and commander of the naval forces) of the Ottoman World State and was considered the great national hero of his time, dictated his memoirs to his friend Murad Çelebi (Muradi) who was a sailor, poet and writer, upon the order of Suleiman the Magnificent. This book, named Gazavat-ı Hayreddin Paşa (The Gazas of Hayreddin Paşa), is the most valuable of the genre called gazavatname in Ottoman literature in terms of the originality of the information it provides. It was written in both prose and verse. Various manuscript copies can be found in the libraries of Istanbul, the Vatican, Berlin, Stuttgart, Cairo, Madrid, Paris and London. The oldest is the Vatican copy written during Barbaros’s lifetime.
Extra History Of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha
“ These Arabs are a people who do not know the art of war. They think that plundering in the desert and fighting as an army are the same thing. While even the Spanish infidels who know the art of war have always been defeated by the Turkish soldiers, for some unknown reason, these Arab tribes come out against the Turks in every place and are devastated. Because human life is extremely worthless among them. Instead of knowing their duty and taking precautions, they die foolishly by saying, “Everything is from Allah.” Of course, they ride horses well and there are brave ones among them. However, even the harness of their horses is very primitive. They do not have good weapons. Even if they did, they cannot use them. They are not good with firearms. Then, their biggest reason for defeat is that they never know the rules of fighting in masses .” (Yımaz Öztuna, Memoirs of Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa)
Tomb of Barbaros HayreddinItalian sources write that Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha first married an Algerian woman in his youth, and his second marriage was to 18-year-old Italian Maria in his old age. Barbaroszade Hasan Pasha or Kara Hasan Pasha, who served as the Governor of Algeria three times at different times, is the son of Barbaros Hayreddin.
The tomb of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha
The tomb of Barbaros, who passed away on July 4, 1546, in Beşiktaş was built by Mimar Sinan. For many years, no Turkish ship left Istanbul without paying an honorary salute to the tomb of this great sailor.
The great poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, in his poem “Eid Morning in Süleymaniye”, makes Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha an epic with the following lines:
“ Where do these cannon sounds come from on the sea horizon?
Barbaros, perhaps, is coming from an expedition with his fleet!..
From the Islands? From Tunisia or Algeria?
Two hundred ships equipped on free horizons
Are coming from where they look at the new-born moon;
From which dawn do those blessed ships come? “
Conclusion
In conclusion, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, the Legendary Name of Turkish Maritime, remains an enduring symbol of naval excellence and strategic genius. His contributions to the Ottoman naval supremacy and his legendary status continue to inspire maritime enthusiasts and historians alike. His legacy is a testament to the power and influence of the Ottoman navy during its golden age.