Algeria Becomes Vassal State

In the early sixteenth century the central Maghreb was contested between an expanding Spain, which had seized several coastal strongholds, and Muslim corsair captains operating along the Barbary Coast. The brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa, originally from the Aegean, established themselves as powerful sea raiders based in the region.

After Aruj was killed fighting the Spanish, his brother Hayreddin Barbarossa placed himself and the city of Algiers under the protection of the Ottoman sultan, securing recognition and military support. With Ottoman backing, the corsairs pressed the Spanish, and Algiers became a vassal territory of the Ottoman Empire.

Hayreddin captured the Spanish fortress on the Penon of Algiers in 1529, consolidating control of the city, and went on to serve as the Ottoman grand admiral. Algiers became the seat of an Ottoman regency that, though nominally subject to Constantinople, grew increasingly autonomous under its deys. It remained the centre of the Barbary corsairs until the French invasion of 1830.