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.Salama, Pierre. "Djidjelli.(Igilgili, Jijel)." Encyclopédie berbère 16 (1995): 2469-2476.
The Barbarossa brothers had previously attempted to liberate Bougie from its Spanish yoke, however failed on both occasions.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. On the second occasion Aruj 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 Aruj Reis, the pair were forced to abandon the operation. Following this event, the inhabitants of Jijel, a city recently captured and garrisoned by the Genoese, requested help from Aruj Reis.ACHOUR, Amira, and Naila LEHTIHET. "Etude onomastique des noms de rues de la ville de Jijel." PhD diss., université de jijel,, 2019. p.40.Safri, Said, and Belkacem Labii. "Renouvellement urbain d'un centre ancien en déclin. Cas du centre-ville de Jijel." (2017).
In 1514 Aruj 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.BOUSSAID, Fatma, and Souhila CHERIFI. "Le lignage des At Lqadi: Étude anthropologique et historique." PhD diss., Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi-Ouzou, 2021. p.15. Aruj Reis and Ahmad al-Kadi annihilated the Genoese garrison freeing the city from Genoese occupation and proceeded to fortify it for their benefit. Aruj Reis was thanked by the inhabitants of Jijel and received the title “Sultan of Jijel”.
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