The countries lying on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, and
usually denominated the Barbary States, have for many ages been almost
forgotten by the christian world, or only remembered as the abode of
pirates and ruffians. The maritime powers of Europe seem however at
length to have recollected, that at a short distance from them, are
territories of great extent and fertility, capable of producing most of
the articles now obtained, by means of long and dangerous voyages, from
the East and West Indies, and offering every facility for commercial
intercourse, with the countless nations inhabiting the vast continent
of Africa. These territories are, it is true, already inhabited by
people living under acknowledged governments; but a continued course of
misconduct, which experience has shewn to be incorrigible, has caused
them to be regarded as completely out of the pale of civilization; and
if they retain their independence much longer, it will be rather from
jealousy among their powerful neighbors than from any respect for their
claims to nationality.
The French have already set the example, by the conquest of the
principal places on the coast of Algiers, and although they have as yet
penetrated but a short distance into the interior, there can be no
doubt that steady and well directed efforts, such as they are now
pursuing, must eventually secure to them the possession of a large and
valuable tract. The British have indeed protested strongly against the
retention of these conquests, but never, that we have heard, on the
grounds of injustice to the vanquished party.
Tunis, the next in power as in situation to Algiers, would be even a
more important acquisition in a political or commercial point of view,
than Algiers; but it would not probably be reduced without an immense
expenditure of blood and treasure; for its resources are comparatively
great, and its government efficient and well organised. Besides which,
it has not of late afforded any cause for dissatisfaction, having
yielded with a good grace to the necessity of abandoning piracy, and
evinced a disposition to seek for wealth, by the surer means of
industry and commerce.
Tripoli, the other and least important of the States of Barbary, had,
until lately, pursued a course similar to that of Tunis, and its
condition was highly prosperous; it was in fact the first to desist
from piratical cruises, for which the world is indebted in a great
measure to the efforts of the United States, during the years 1803 and
4. But dissensions in the family of the sovereign have at length
produced a civil war, in which the foreign residents suffer as well as
the natives; and thus have motives, at least specious, for foreign
interference, been given to the two powers which divide between them
the empire of the Mediterranean. The French, as usual, took the lead,
by sending a squadron to Tripoli, which in 1828 dictated the terms of
the redress to be made to their citizens; and they have since that
period, by the aid given indirectly to one of the contending parties,
obtained a degree of ascendancy which has excited the jealousy of Great
Britain.
These circumstances induced inquiries into the present condition of
Tripoli, which naturally led to others respecting its past history and
that of the neighboring states; and the results being considered
interesting, have been thrown together in the following form.
* * * * *
The north-western part of the African continent is traversed by a lofty
and extensive mountain range, which is known to us by its classic name
of ATLAS. On the northern and western sides, these ridges extend to the
sea, forming by their projections numerous capes and promontories,
which have been the dread of navigators in every age. On the south,
they in many places disappear as abruptly in the great ocean of sand
called _Zahara_, or the Desert, which stretches across the continent,
from the Atlantic to the valley of the Nile, and the shores of the
Mediterranean; the descent is, however, generally gradual, leaving
tracts of productive soil between the steeps and the desert; these
tracts, though not adapted for the growth of grain, are so highly
favorable to the Palm, that they are known by the name of
Bilad-oul-jerrid, or the Country of Dates.
The mountains are highest and most continuous in the west; towards the
east they become gradually lower, and there are many breaks in the
chain, through which the sand makes its way from the desert; at length
they disappear entirely beyond the great bend which the coast of the
Mediterranean makes to the southward near Tripoli; and the sand having
no barrier to check its advances, is rolled by the prevailing southerly
winds to the shores of the sea.
Thus bounded and cut off from other habitable countries by sea and by
sand, the region of the Atlas may be considered as one vast island; and
these circumstances of its situation should ever be borne in mind, in
moral or political speculations concerning it. Hence it was, that
civilization did not gradually overspread it from the east, and that it
could only be colonized by maritime powers; that neither the Egyptians,
the Persians, nor the Macedonians effected its conquest, as they
neither possessed adequate fleets, nor troops accustomed to the
peculiar difficulties and dangers of the desert; and that the Arabs
alone, a people bred among trackless wastes of sand, ventured to invade
it without assistance from the sea. Indeed the little that is known of
the geology of northern Africa, encourages the supposition that at some
past period this country was encircled by water; and ingenious attempts
have been made to prove that it was in reality the famed island of
Atlantis, which was vainly sought by the ancient navigators in the
ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules.
The climate and soil of these countries are various, as may be
suspected from their situation and the inequalities of their surface.
Of the interior we know but little, and deductions from facts must
supply the place of observation. On some of the mountains the snow
remains during nearly the whole year, while the valleys and plains have
yielded sugar, coffee and other productions, which require regular and
intense heat. Grain is raised abundantly in the west, and the olives,
grapes and figs of Barbary have been celebrated at all times. Of its
general fertility, the immense population which it formerly supported
is a sufficient evidence, while the athletic forms of the inhabitants
prove its salubrity. But few rivers flow from the interior into the
sea, and the largest streams are said to proceed from the southern
sides of the mountains, whence they are discharged into lakes or
dispersed in the sand.
The coasts, as already observed, are precipitous and dangerous,
particularly in autumn, during the prevalence of northerly winds; they
are however free from shoals and other hidden difficulties, and have
many ports which are safe and easy of access, while others might be
rendered so by art. It is likewise certain, that many of the existing
obstacles to the navigation would disappear, if a proper survey were
made, and lighthouses were established where requisite; for the charts
now in use are very defective, and no provisions whatever are made by
the governments of the country; this, however, there is reason to
believe, will ere long be corrected.
The superficial extent of Barbary cannot be as yet calculated; we know
that it has coasts of five or six hundred miles on the Atlantic, and of
about fifteen hundred on the Mediterranean; but the breadth between the
sea and the desert varies considerably, and is no where correctly laid
down. It is probably greatest in the vicinity of the Atlantic and in
Tunis, where it may be one hundred and fifty miles; in Algiers, Shaler
considers it generally to be about sixty miles; but Tripoli is merely a
narrow strip of soil, on the Mediterranean, in many places traversed by
rocky spurs from the mountains, and tracts of sand from the desert.
The materials for the early history of this country are very imperfect;
we possess no works of ancient native writers, and the accounts from
which all our information must be drawn, appear in the form of episode,
in those of Greek and Roman historians. It seems to have been
originally inhabited by fierce and intractable tribes, of which those
most advanced in civilization, had only reached the pastoral state.
Herodotus gives us the names of many of these tribes, which it is now
useless to enumerate; those of the eastern part were comprehended by
the Greeks under the general name of _Nomades_, or wanderers, which,
unknown among themselves, was afterwards converted by the Romans into
_Numidians_, and became their distinctive national appellation; the
_Mauri_ occupied the western part, and this term, (in English,
_Moors_,) is now applied by Europeans to all the natives of Barbary.
The enterprising Greeks and Phoenicians did not allow the advantages
offered by northern Africa to be neglected, and they established
colonies on its coast, which attained a high degree of prosperity. The
Greeks made their settlements on the sterile shore now forming the
eastern part of Tripoli, and lying immediately south of Peloponnesus,
where the Mediterranean forms a gulf anciently called the Great Syrtis.
As the surrounding country is by no means productive, these colonies
could only have been supported by trade with the interior of Africa;
and were probably the resort of caravans bringing gold, gums, spices,
ivory and other precious articles, to be exchanged for the manufactures
of Greece and Asia. Such a traffic, we know from the accounts of late
travellers, is still carried on from Tripoli; and the part of the
desert lying south of it is better adapted than any other for that
purpose, on account of the many _oases_, or islands of cultivable soil,
which are scattered through it, offering rest, and a supply of food and
water to the caravans while on their march. By these means, the Greek
cities acquired great wealth, and became the seats of luxury,
refinement and science; and stupendous ruins, the haunt of the jackal
and hyæna, still remain to attest the former splendor of Cyrene and
Apollonia.
The more adventurous Phoenicians made their settlements farther
westward, in the fertile region now composing the states of Algiers,
Tunis and a small part of Tripoli; they flourished even more than those
of the Greeks, and became the principal seats of commerce in the
western Mediterranean. Of many of these colonies, history has preserved
to us the names, and nothing more; one of them, however, far outshone
the rest, and its struggle for supremacy with Rome, forms the subject
of one of the most interesting portions of ancient history. Of
Carthage, perhaps it might be as Sallust conceived, "_melius silere
quam parum dicere_," better to say nothing, than only a little; yet a
few remarks on its political system and the results of that system,
will serve to illustrate the condition of northern Africa during this
early period.
The situation of this celebrated city near the narrow streight which
separates Sicily from Africa, was admirably adapted for commerce with
either division of the Mediterranean; its rivals, Agrigentum and
Syracuse, possessed indeed the same advantages of site; but Carthage,
besides a soil equally fertile, had the superiority in her intercourse
with the central parts of the continent. Of her constitution we know
too little to be able to judge what share her government may have had
in her advancement; there is every probability, however, that wealth
had great influence in her councils, and that its acquisition was at
first the great end of individual and national enterprise. The first
object of her statesmen seems to have been, to extend her dominion over
the territory at home; this was attempted by means of colonies
judiciously placed, which by amalgamation with the native tribes, and
by the example of the advantages to be derived from fixed habits, and a
respect for rights to landed property, were gradually subduing and
civilizing the rude aboriginals; these could not from their habits be
easily extirpated, as they might retire to the mountains, or if there
pressed, find a safe retreat in the _land of dates_ behind; they were
moreover valuable as soldiers, and as carriers across the desert. The
other Phoenician colonies, though many of them were never subject to
Carthage, yet all acknowledged her as the head of their league, and she
relied upon their support, in case of invasion from abroad. But they
too were to be reduced, and gradually incorporated into the
Carthaginian empire; things were rapidly advancing towards this
consummation when Carthage fell.
The other grand object of their policy was the subjection of the whole
country surrounding the western half of the Mediterranean, which was to
be carried on by the quiet and sure means of trading colonies,
established at convenient places on the coast. Thus, was the African
shore to the streights of Gibraltar, that of Spain, the south of Gaul
and the neighboring islands, dotted with colonies from Carthage, each
of which had a territory behind, constantly increasing in extent. To
support these establishments fleets were necessary, which could be
easily manned by a nation having so extensive a trade by sea, while the
native tribes of the interior furnished the hardiest soldiers.
Yet with all this apparent strength, the feet of the Carthaginian
colossus were of clay; the wealth which enabled her to carry on this
system made offices venal, narrowed the minds of her citizens and
debased their character, while it excited the cupidity of her
neighbors. Mercenary troops she could hire, and was sure of their
fidelity while she paid them punctually; and with such, a general who
should succeed in gaining their confidence, might effect immense
results; but a succession of generals capable of doing this was not to
be expected; and a single defeat was likely to be attended by
depression and disorganization. She had, comparatively speaking, but
few citizens in her armies; but few persons who could be urged by
patriotism or interest in the public glory; and without such a class,
no nation can long sustain itself against extraordinary difficulties.
These defects would have ceased in time, when her possessions at home
had been consolidated, and the other cities had been reduced under her
government; but she was not destined to arrive at this point.
The prosperity of the north African nations, did not fail to excite the
jealousy and cupidity of surrounding powers, and accordingly we find
that all the great conquerors of the East formed plans for their
subjection. The Persians after conquering Egypt sent an army which took
and plundered Cyrene, but retired without proceeding farther. But
another project was formed against their independence by a conqueror
the most sagacious and successful who has ever yet appeared. Among the
commentaries left by Alexander of Macedon, as recorded by Diodorus
Siculus, (_Book_ xviii. _Chap._ 1.) was found a project for the
"invasion and subjection of the Carthaginians, and others dwelling on
the coasts of Africa, Spain and the adjacent islands; for which a
thousand ships were to be built, in the ports of Phoenicia, Syria,
Cilicia and Cyprus, larger than those of three tiers of oars; with
directions for carrying a straight and easy road along the shore of the
Mediterranean, from Egypt to the Pillars of Hercules." With such an
armament, and such a leader, it is highly probable that the project
could have been carried into effect; the Grecian colonies already
acknowledged his power, he was therefore secure of finding friends in
the most difficult part of the country, either for naval or land
operations; and the efficiency of his political arrangements in all
other cases, does not permit us to doubt, that he would have founded in
north Africa, a permanent and substantial empire. But this was not to
be; Alexander died in the early summer of life, and of those who shared
his dominions, no one was alone able to carry such a project into
effect, and each was too much engaged in securing his own part, for any
operation to have been conducted in concert.
While the designs of Carthage were advancing towards fulfilment, she
was gradually becoming a military state. Her fleets covered the sea,
often transporting a hundred and fifty thousand combatants, and her
armies of mercenary troops, led on by one of the most persevering and
ingenious leaders of whom we have any account, overran an immense
extent of territory, surmounting natural obstacles of the most
appalling character, and overthrowing enemies celebrated for their
skill and courage. But her commerce suffered, and the expenses of the
war exhausted her treasury. Of the other African cities, many had
declared and acted in favor of her enemies, while others were ready to
desert her when a favorable opportunity should offer. The native tribes
had acquired civilization sufficient to unite them, and to make them
aware of their own importance; their chieftains had become ambitious,
and Rome made offers to them which Carthage could never have advanced.
In this conjuncture, her long absent and long victorious army was
recalled, to meet the enemy on her own shore; but Hannibal had grown
old, and was routed at Zama; during his absence a generation had arisen
which knew him not, and banishment succeeded his defeat. The once proud
republic had lost all, and consented to a treaty, the ruinous terms of
which she was forced to receive as a boon, and did not dare infringe.
Her navy being destroyed, Spain and her other conquests soon fell into
the hands of the Romans, and at length the decree went forth "Carthago
delenda est." The fate of this renowned city is well known. Within a
century from the day on which Hannibal sent home the spoils taken at
Cannæ, the banished Roman Marius sought refuge among the desolate ruins
of Carthage.
The other Phoenician as well as the Greek colonies, submitted to the
conquerors on favorable terms; the chieftains of the wandering tribes
who had adhered to Rome, were rewarded by the titles of kings; and
enjoying the semblance of sovereignty over territories named by a
majority of the Roman Senate, served to keep each other, and the
cities, in check. In process of time, even this last shew of
independence disappeared, and the region of the Atlas finally became
one Roman province, under the appellation of Africa.
As a part of the Roman dominions, Africa reached its highest state of
civilization; the cultivation of the land was carried to so great an
extent, that it was considered the granary of the Mediterranean, and
the cities on its coast were the depots of a most extensive trade with
the interior of the continent. Carthage arose with additional splendor
from her ruins, and for more than eight hundred years continued to be
the capital of the province. The inhabitants retained their former
characters; those of the coast were ingenious and industrious; fond of
luxury and not celebrated for their good faith or moral character; the
mountaineers kept up their reputation for courage, and we read of few
battles gained by the Roman arms without the assistance of Numidian
archers, or Mauritanian cavalry. Nor were the Africans excluded from
office, for we find three of them successively filling the Imperial
throne. They embraced christianity with the rest of the empire under
Constantine, and churches innumerable marked the fervor of their
devotion. Their religious zeal was farther shown in the bloody
controversy between the orthodox and the Donatists, which desolated the
country during the fifth and sixth centuries of our æra, and nearly
extinguished the light of civilization. The invasion of the Vandals
soon after inflicted another blow upon its prosperity; these barbarians
were however soon reduced to submission by Belisarius, and Africa
continued under the government of the emperors of Constantinople, until
the commencement of the eighth century. At this period the followers of
Mahomet every where successful in the East, turned their arms towards
the setting sun, and traversing the Desert which separated the Roman
province from Egypt, appeared before the frontier cities, presenting to
their astounded inhabitants the alternative of the Koran or the sword.
Tripoli was the first country in the African province invaded by the
Saracens,[1] and in order that its subsequent history may be better
understood, it will be necessary to make a few observations on its
ancient condition, which could not well have been introduced before.
[Footnote 1: It should here be noticed that the followers of Mahomet
were at first merely termed Arabians, but when their conquests extended
over Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and other adjacent countries, they were
known by the more general name of Saracens, or _people of the East_,
from the Arabic and _Sharak_--meaning _East_. Africa was and still is
called by Asiatics, _El Magrab_, or the West; though in Barbary the
term is strictly confined to the Empire of Morocco. When Africa had
been overrun, and the same conquerors had passed into Spain, they were
termed Moors by Europeans, as coming from the ancient country of the
Mauri, although the generals, and probably the greater part of the
troops, were natives of Arabia.]
In the narrow tract between the Mediterranean and the desert, westward
of the celebrated gulf called the Great Syrtis, and adjoining the
proper territory of their republic, the Carthaginians had at an early
period established several colonies, of which three, Leptis, Oea and
Sabrata acquired great importance as commercial stations under the
Romans, and the district containing them was called Tripolis, or the
Three Cities. Of these Leptis was the most eastern; and extensive ruins
still remain as evidences of its former greatness, in the little town
of Lebda, about seventy miles from Tripoli. Sabrata was at the western
extremity of the district, on the spot now occupied by a village called
Old Tripoli.
Oea was situated between these two, on the western side of a small bay,
formed by the projection of a rocky point of land into the sea. A
triumphal arch dedicated to the emperors Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius
Verus, and considered the finest monument of that kind remaining, with
several other ancient relics, give reason to suppose that it may have
been a splendid city; and it is mentioned as such by Pliny, Strabo, and
some other writers of the latter days of the Roman empire. We however
learn nothing from them respecting its history; and in the year 647 of
the Christian æra, when the Saracens invaded Africa, Leptis and Sabrata
had sunk into comparative insignificance, while Oea had appropriated to
itself the name of the whole district, and was a large, wealthy and
strong city. The seat of government of the Roman, or rather Greek
dominions in Africa, continued to be Carthage, where resided the
emperor's Prefect or lieutenant; Utica, Hippo, and other ancient places
were still flourishing, and several had grown up to importance, whose
names do not appear in the pages of Roman history; of these the
principal were Sufetala, Bugia, and Tingi or Tangiers.
The Saracens appeared before Tripoli in number forty thousand, under
Abdallah, governor of Egypt, and Zobeir a distinguished soldier; but
the strength of its walls baffled the attempts of enemies totally
unacquainted with the art of besieging, and enabled its inhabitants to
remain secure, until an immense army had been collected by the Prefect
for its relief. It at length appeared, and actions daily took place, in
which nothing was decided in favor of either party. Gregory the Prefect
fought with gallantry, attended in the field by his daughter; yet this
example was not sufficient to encourage his troops, although they far
outnumbered their enemies; and as a last effort, he proclaimed that his
daughter's hand with a hundred thousand pieces of gold, should be the
reward for the head of the Saracen general. Thus excited, the African
youths took courage, and Abdallah considering his own person as too
important to be exposed to such dangers, remained during the ensuing
action in his tent; but he was soon shamed from this retreat by the
fiery Zobeir, who insisted upon his replying to Gregory's proclamation,
by promising the lady and a similar reward for the head of the Prefect.
This promise restored to the Saracens their former courage and vigor,
and in another action Gregory was slain by Zobeir, in his daughter's
presence, and she herself became a prisoner. Thus far we have materials
for the commencement of a romance, but the sequel throws a doubt over
the charms of the lady, or the gallantry of the hero; for Zobeir
received her and her dowry with ascetic coldness, declaring that "he
labored for a recompense far above the charms of beauty or the riches
of this transitory life." The Africans dispirited by these losses, at
length gladly purchased a precarious peace and the retreat of the
Arabs, at the price of a sum equal to about six millions of dollars.
This act of submission on their part, brought upon them the ire of
their despotic masters at Constantinople, who instead of assisting them
to repair their forces in anticipation of another attack, loaded them
with taxes, as a penalty for their pusillanimity. By such treatment
they were reduced to despair; and when in 668 the Arabs again crossed
the Desert under Bashar, they were hailed as deliverers; and the great
mass of the inhabitants threw off not only the government, but the
religion of their Greek oppressors, and submitted to those of the
Caliph of Damascus. Africa had suffered severely in the religious wars
occasioned by the schism of Donatus; and since those sectarians had
been put down, or rather extirpated, the utmost tyranny had been
exercised in affairs of religion by the haughty and unrelenting
hierarchy. From this circumstance perhaps, their creed hung but lightly
on the lower orders, being associated in their minds with stripes and
fines; otherwise it is difficult to account for so sudden and extensive
a change, of which history no where else offers an example. Thus
favored, the march of the Saracens was a continued triumph: a
reinforcement arrived, and under the command of the energetic Akbah,
nearly the whole country was subdued. Carthage was besieged, they
having by this time learnt the use of engines and the art of mining;
Tripoli, Utica, Sufetala, Bugia and the wealthy Tangiers were stormed
and plundered; and the fierce conqueror rushed into the Atlantic,
crying, "This sea alone arrests my progress."
The christian powers of Europe beheld the conquests of the Mahometans
with dread, and a combination was formed among them for the recovery of
Africa. Expeditions were sent from Constantinople, Sicily and Spain,
which united under the command of John the Patrician, a renowned
Captain, proceeded to the relief of Carthage. Before they arrived, that
city had fallen; they however recovered it, and instantly gave battle
to the enemy, under the walls of Utica. The christians were totally
defeated, and the small remains of their army took refuge in the ships,
and abandoned the country. The Roman power was every where overthrown;
Carthage, retaken by the Arabs, was razed to the ground; and fifty
miles south of it was founded a new city, called Kairuan, which was
long the capital of Africa, the seat of Mahometan splendor and learning
in that quarter.
But the invaders received a new check from a direction whence it was
least to be expected. The sea coast as we have observed, although much
reduced in point of wealth and refinement, by the excesses of the
Vandals and the religious wars, was still a cultivated region,
supporting a numerous population, the descendants of the Greeks,
Phoenicians and Romans. But the mountains and the country behind them
remained in possession of the aboriginal race, who under the name of
Berbers, retained their old pastoral and predatory habits, and were a
constant source of trouble to the foreign rulers of the province. Among
these people appeared a female named Cahina, of extraordinary courage
and address, who persuaded them that she was inspired, and that an
opportunity was offered for regaining possession of the country. An
immense multitude were thus speedily assembled under her banner,
equally daring and enthusiastic with the Saracens, who were attacked
with an impetuosity never before displayed against them in Africa.
Success encouraged the mountaineers, and in an incredibly short space
of time the invaders were driven into Egypt. This being effected, the
prophetess proposed to take away all inducement for their return, by
laying waste the country. Her proposal was readily assented to by
persons who had no property but their tents, flocks and horses; and
dreadful were the consequences of this determination. The fertile
territory was made desolate, and the splendor of civilization, already
much dimmed by the fury of Vandals and religionists, was entirely
obscured. The unfortunate inhabitants of the coast, thus pressed on all
sides, in their despair, invited the Saracens to return, and aided by
them, made head against their savage destroyers. In the first battle
the Berbers were totally routed, and their queen slain; this bond of
union being destroyed, they were soon dispersed, or reduced to slavery.
The Arab power was now undisputed; in a very short period there were no
more christians to be taxed. The few remaining churches became mosques;
all traces of former manners and institutions disappeared; and a
torrent of Asiatics overflowed the country, establishing in every part
their own customs and language. Of the Arabs many betook themselves to
the Desert, where their descendants still wander, scarcely
distinguishable from their brethren of the Arabian sands. The others
gradually amalgamated with the natives, and at the present day, the
fixed inhabitants of Barbary form one race, differing but little among
themselves in appearance, habits or language, and known to Europeans by
the general name of Moors. The mountains and the borders of the Desert
are still possessed by tribes speaking a language totally distinct from
all others known--nominally professing the Mahometan religion, but
regardless of its precepts--dwelling in tents, and wandering from
pasture to pasture with their flocks and herds--displaying the same
fierce and indomitable character which distinguished the aboriginals,
from whom they are in all probability descended. The most powerful of
these tribes are the Kabyles, who principally inhabit the territory of
Algiers, where by their impetuous inroads, they present the greatest
bar to the establishment of the French.
Africa was scarcely possessed by the Saracens, ere those restless
conquerors passed over to Spain. Their character seems however to have
been already softened; for we no longer find among the Moorish invaders
of the peninsula, the fierce barbarism of the early followers of
Mahomet; and the kingdoms which they founded in that delightful land,
were celebrated for the industry, ingenuity and cultivation of their
inhabitants. The Moors of Spain soon threw off their allegiance to the
Caliphs in the East; and two independent kingdoms were also founded in
Atlantic Barbary. In 790, Edris-ben Abdallah, governor of Almagrab, _or
the West_, which name was applied to the ancient Mauritania, assumed
the title of Sultan of Fez, from his capital city; his successors ruled
supreme over Western Africa, until the middle of the eleventh century,
when the Almoravides, a fanatic sect, obtained possession of the
southern part, and established the kingdom of Maraksh, or Morocco.
These two principalities now form the empire of Morocco. Eastern
Barbary in the gradual dismemberment of the Arabian dominions, first
became one kingdom under a family of sovereigns called the Aglabites,
who for some time reigned with great splendor at Kairuan, they were
overthrown in 909, by an expedition from Sicily, then a Saracen
province, and the country was for nearly six hundred years after, ruled
or ravaged by various dynasties.
At length, towards the commencement of the sixteenth century, the
Moorish kingdoms in Spain were overthrown, and a rage for conquests in
Africa pervaded the Peninsula. Eastward of Morocco and Fez, Barbary was
at that time divided into a number of small principalities, each
consisting of a strong town with as much of the surrounding country as
it could keep in subjection; the principal of them were Algiers, Bugia,
Oran, Tunis, Telemsen and Tripoli. Against these places numerous
expeditions were sent out from Spain which generally proved fruitless;
however, some places on the coast were taken, among which was Tripoli,
or Trablis, as it was then called. It fell into the hands of Ferdinand,
the Catholic, in 1510; but his more politic successor, the emperor
Charles the Fifth, probably not knowing what else to do with places so
inconvenient, surrendered it twelve years afterwards, with the adjacent
island of Malta, to the knights of St. John, who had just then been
expelled from Rhodes by the mighty Sultan Solyman. Malta was a barren
rock, and Tripoli had sunk from its former greatness, little remaining
but its walls, its castle and its port. Both places were however
capable of being strongly fortified, and the knights required nothing
else; they therefore accepted the assignments, and applied all their
energies to render their new habitations capable of resisting the
shocks to which they would soon inevitably be exposed.
The Turkish power was at this period in the zenith of its prosperity,
and Europe again trembled as in the days of the immediate successors of
Mahomet. The Mediterranean was swept by innumerable cruisers under its
flag, commanded by daring and ferocious captains, who completely
destroyed the commerce of christians in that sea, and made frequent
descents on the coasts of Italy, Spain and the islands, which they
plundered, carrying off the inhabitants for the purpose of extorting a
ransom. Of these the most famous were Urudsch or Horuc, and his brother
Chaireddin, successively dreaded in their day by the appellation of
Barbarossa, or the _red beard_.
Urudsch being anxious to have some port in the Western Mediterranean,
to which he could at intervals retire with his booty and prisoners,
offered his assistance to the prince of Algiers, who was endeavoring to
regain his possessions from the Spaniards; and no sooner had he
effected this, than he seized upon the city, murdered his confiding
ally, and declared the country subject to the Porte. On his death,
which soon after happened, his brother Chaireddin assumed the command
and succeeded in expelling the Spaniards from a small island, close to
the city called Algesr or _the island_ which they had for some time
held; he then connected it with the main land by a causeway, and thus
formed the present port of Algiers, which takes its name from the
island. He was afterwards regularly invested by the Porte, with the
title and powers of a Pasha, or viceroy; and obtaining large additions
to his army, composed entirely of foreigners, he reduced the country to
subjection.
This being effected Chaireddin turned his attention to the neighboring
state of Tunis, against which he prepared a powerful armament,
nominally for the purpose of reinstating its exiled prince Alraschid;
under this pretence, he easily gained the capital, which he instantly
declared to form a part of the Turkish empire. Alraschid died a
prisoner in Constantinople; but Muley Hascem, whom Barbarossa had
driven out, applied for assistance to Charles the fifth, which was
readily granted, and that emperor himself commanded the expedition
against Tunis. It appeared before the city on the 19th of July, 1535,
consisting of five hundred vessels, bearing thirty thousand veteran
troops. Barbarossa was not taken unawares, and the conflict was
terrible; the celebrated fortress of the Goletta, which commands the
entrance into the bay of Tunis, was defended with great bravery, by
Sinan a renegade Jew, but it soon fell before the artillery of the
fleet, and Tunis lay exposed. Chaireddin assembled his forces, and gave
battle to the invaders; but he was totally defeated, and the outbreak
of ten thousand christian captives from the prisons of the city,
increased the confusion; the Turkish army fled to Bona, and Tunis was
instantly stormed by the imperial troops. Muley Hascem was restored to
his throne, on terms most favorable to the christians; but in a few
years more, we find the Turkish power again established, and this
country continued to be governed by Pashas, from Constantinople, until
1684, when a certain Hassan-ben-Ali obtained sovereign possession, and
his family have ever since held the crown under the title of Bey,
paying however a tribute to the Sultan.
Charles the fifth was so much elated by his success at Tunis, that he
led another expedition in 1541, against Algiers, which was governed by
Hascen Aga, Barbarossa having been elevated to the office of Capoudan
Pasha, or High Admiral. The imperial troops landed at a short distance
east of the city; but immediately after there arose one of those
terrific storms of wind and rain, to which that coast is subject in the
autumn; the troops unprovided as yet with tents, were drenched in rain,
their ammunition was spoiled, and they were thrown into confusion at
the first onset of the Turks. The ships were many of them lost, others
dismasted or driven on shore, and the Emperor, after great personal
hardships, made his escape with a small remnant of his gallant force.
The unfortunate issue of this attack probably contributed more than any
other circumstance to the long impunity enjoyed by Algiers, which
continued until within a few years past to insult the rest of the world
by its piracies, and had come to be considered as absolutely
impregnable. It was governed at first by a Pasha, appointed from
Constantinople in the same manner with other parts of the empire; but
in time, the garrison were permitted to elect their own chief, subject
however to the confirmation of the Porte, which was never refused as
the request was always accompanied by a present. The garrison and all
the officers of the government were foreigners; no native even though
the son of Turkish parents, being eligible to any; and no where else
probably in the world would have been found such a collection of
abandoned miscreants. The chief was in reality a Pasha of three tails,
or viceroy of almost unlimited powers--his peculiar appellation being
derived from his enjoying the right of having three horse-tails borne
before him in public. In the christian world he was usually known by
the appellation of _Dey_, which word however means _uncle_ in Moorish,
and was perhaps originally a nickname; it was never applied in Algiers.
No prince or officer ever held his place by a more precarious tenure;
seldom has one died a natural death, and it is certain that the ex-Dey,
Hussein, who surrendered the city to the French, is the only one who
could have said "I was once Pasha of Algiers."
Tripoli remained in possession of the knights of St. John until 1551,
when they were attacked by a Turkish army under the command of the same
Sinan, who had defended the Goletta against Charles the fifth, aided by
the squadron of Dragut a noted captain, in character similar to the
Barbarossas. The besieged conducted their defence with great gallantry,
but the town being burnt, they were forced to take refuge in the
castle, which they continued to hold out in hopes of relief from
Europe. But none came; the Seigneur d'Aramont, while on his way as
ambassador to Constantinople from Henry the second of France, stopped
at Tripoli and endeavored to obtain a suspension of the siege, until
some arrangement could be made with the Porte; but this proposition was
rejected by Sinan, who was sure of his prey; and all, that the
ambassador succeeded in procuring, was a capitulation on more favorable
terms, which being accepted, the governor John de Vallier surrendered
the castle, on the 16th of August, 1651, and retired to Malta. Dragut
took possession of the place which he rebuilt and strengthened; and
having been declared Pasha, established a system of government, similar
to that of Algiers; it was however more dependant on the Porte, the
chief being always appointed from Constantinople.
The states of Barbary thus became reduced in number to four, viz: the
independent empire of Morocco in the west, and the regencies, as they
are termed, of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, under the suzerainty of the
Sultan. Several places were taken and held at different periods by
Spain; for instance Oran, which was surrendered to Algiers in 1792,
after having been held since its capture in 1510 by the famous cardinal
Ximenes; and Ceuta a strong place nearly opposite Gibraltar, which is
still subject to Spain, and serves chiefly as a place of imprisonment
for political delinquents.--These states occasionally carried on some
commerce among themselves, or with Europe and Asia; but their principal
support was derived from piracy. Their cruisers were generally small
vessels, crowded with desperate ruffians, who succeeded chiefly by
boarding, either directly from the decks, or by the aid of boats; thus
their prizes were but little injured, and were sold profitably in
Barbary, whilst the crews were retained in slavery, unless redeemed at
a high ransom. To preserve their citizens from this horrible fate, many
commercial nations were obliged to pay enormous sums as presents to the
governments of these countries, which regarded no treaties while this
was neglected. It is, however, to the honor of the United States, that
our government opposed these demands, as soon as it was in a condition
to render resistance effectual; and it was while successfully employed
in humbling these audacious pirates, that our cannon were first heard
in the Mediterranean.
The length of this article renders its entire insertion in this number
impossible,--it will however be concluded in our next.
For the Southern Literary Messenger.