Hasan Agha

Hasan Agha or Hadım Hassan Ağa, also Hassan the eunuch, was a Sardinian renegade and effective ruler of the Regency of Algiers from 1533 to 1545. He was the deputy of Hayreddin Barbarossa, who left him in command when he had to leave for Constantinople in 1533.[1][2]

Hasan Agha
Born
Sardinia
Died
Algeria
NationalitySardinian, Ottoman
Other namesHadım Hasan Agha, Assan Begus, Maurius Alexandrinus
OccupationGovernor of Ottoman Algeria
Years active1532-1544
Known forDefence of Algeria against Charles V and Andrea Doria
Hasan Agha led the defense of Algiers during the Siege of Algiers in 1541. Engraving of 1555.

In 1534 also, Hasan Agha continued to be left in command of Algiers when Barbarossa waged his campaigns in Tunisia.[2] Hasan Agha ruled Algiers until 1545, as Barbarossa continued to be based in Istanbul as Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman fleet.

Hasan Agha was the commander of Algiers during the Algiers expedition (1541), in which Barbarossa was absent, and which ended with catastrophic results for Charles V.[2][3]

In 1542, he besieged the tribe of the Zaouaoua, who had supplied Charles V with 2,000 troops.[3]

Upon the retirement of Barbarossa in 1544, the son of Barbarossa Hasan Pasha was appointed Governor of Algiers to replace his father, and thus also replace Hasan Agha in the position of effective ruler.[2]

Notes
  1. A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period by Jamil M. Abun-Nasr p.151ff
  2. "Leaving the government of Algiers to his khalifa, Hasan Agha, Barbarossa entered Tunisia, seized La Goulette (Aug. 16, 1534) and from there advanced on Tunis." in E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936 by M. Th. Houtsma p.872
  3. Handbook for travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine ... by John Murray (Firm),Sir Robert Lambert Playfair p.38
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