Siege of Jijel

Siege of Jijel
Date1514
Location
Jijel, Algeria
Result Republic of Genoa defeat
Belligerents
Barbarossa brothers
Flag of Kingdom of Kuku Kingdom of Kuku		 Republic of Genoa
Commanders and leaders
Oruç Reis
Ahmad al-Kadi		 Unknown
Units involved
2,000 Kabyles Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Garrison destroyed

The siege of Jijel was a joint operation by the Barbarossa brothers and Ahmad al-Kadi against a Genoese garrison in the city of Jijel.[1]

The Barbarossa brothers had previously attempted to liberate Bougie from its Spanish yoke, however failed on both occasions.[2] On the second occasion Arudj Reis and his ally Ahmad al-Kadi were initially successful, managing to capture the outer castle, however due to the unanswered request for gunpowder from the Hafsid sultan by Arudj Reis, the pair were forced to abandon the operation.[2] Following this event, the inhabitants of Jijel, a city recently captured and garrisoned by the Genoese, requested help from Arudj Reis.[3][4]

In 1514 Arudj Reis settled in Jijel, he gathered a force of 2,000 Kabyles and with his ally Ahmad al-Kadi, the King of Kuku, he set himself to free Jijel from Genoese occupation.[5] Arudj Reis and Ahmad al-Kadi annihilated the Genoese garrison freeing the city from Genoese occupation and proceeded to fortify it for their benefit.[1][4][3] Arudj Reis was thanked by the inhabitants of Jijel and received the title “Sultan of Jijel”.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b Salama, Pierre. "Djidjelli.(Igilgili, Jijel)." Encyclopédie berbère 16 (1995): 2469-2476.
  2. ^ a b Gürkan, Emrah Safa. "Ottoman Corsairs in The Western Mediterranean and their Place in The Ottoman-Habsburg Rivalry (1505-1535)." PhD diss., Bilkent Universitesi (Turkey), 2005.
  3. ^ a b c ACHOUR, Amira, and Naila LEHTIHET. "Etude onomastique des noms de rues de la ville de Jijel." PhD diss., université de jijel,, 2019. p.40.
  4. ^ a b c Safri, Said, and Belkacem Labii. "Renouvellement urbain d'un centre ancien en déclin. Cas du centre-ville de Jijel." (2017).
  5. ^ BOUSSAID, Fatma, and Souhila CHERIFI. "Le lignage des At Lqadi: Étude anthropologique et historique." PhD diss., Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi-Ouzou, 2021. p.15.