The ta'ifa of raïs (, community of corsair captains) or the Raïs for short, were Barbary pirates based in Regency of Algiers who were involved in piracy and the slave trade in the Mediterranean Sea from the 16th to the 19th century. They were an ethnically mixed group of seafarers, including mostly "renegades" from European provinces of the Mediterranean and the North Sea, along with a minority of Turks and Moors. Such crews were experienced in naval combat, making Algiers a formidable pirate base. Its activity was directed against the Spanish empire, but it did not neglect the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, Naples or Provence. It was the taifa which, through its seizures, maintained the prosperity of Algiers and its finances.
The corsair taifa of Algiers reached the zenith of its power in the first half of the seventeenth century as an Ottoman military elite, theoritically. Up until 1626, the Algerian corsair admiral (Kapudan-rais) was invested by the Ottoman sultan and subordinate to the Kapudan Pasha of the Ottoman empire. Often former Christian slaves were promoted up the ta'ifa chain of command, the admirals and their corsairs were a powerful military and political force in the regency of Algiers, and could even challenge the authority of the Pasha and the Odjak Janissary corps.
Pirates or Privateers ?
State institution The establishment of the Regency of Algiers by the Barbarossa brothers gave the Muslim corso a solid territorial base, which was organized in its beginnings for self-defence as well as holy war; described as al-jihad fi'l-bahr (holy war at sea) against the Spanish Empire and the Christian Knights who continued the work of the crusades. In the days of Hayreddin Barbarossa and his immediate successors, the raïs were an integral part of the Ottoman navy, but by the 17th century they had become a distinct group. Unlike in Ottoman Tunisia, where privateers were allowed to equip their own pirate ships, piracy in Ottoman Algeria was a monopoly of the state. The Kapudan-raïs (admiral, hierarchical chief of all the reïs), or captain of vessels, was often, after the Pasha, the most important person in the Diwan of Algiers. Thus, the corso became a permanent institution in the Regency of Algiers, and its main income was included in the state budget. Enriching those who cared for it and returning to the treasury one-fifth of its takings, the corso effectively created the state of Algiers, and was essential to its existence, which all the efforts of the government tended to develop. It was also the activity upon which the economical and political prosperity of the Odjak as well as its religious prestige to a great extent depended.
Legal status European authors continued to view the Ottoman regencies as 'dens of pirates' and their actions as "African banditry", but France, the Dutch Republic and England all concluded peace treaties with the North African regencies in the 17th century. These treaties prompted legal theorists in Europe to change their views about the general status of the regencies. Hugo Grotius implicitly admitted that Algiers exercised the Jus ad bellum of a sovereign power through its corsairs. The treaties were also influential in the development of the law of the sea and the Law of Nations.
Irish lawyer Charles Molloy wrote in 1682 regarding those shifts in dealing with: "Pirates that have reduced themselves into a Government of State, as those of Algier, Sally, Tripoli, Tunis, and the like" and should not "obtain the rights of solemnities of war." He added:
In 1737, Dutch jurist and legal theorist Cornelius van Bynkershoek wrote:
Thus, the corso acquired both religious and legitimate dimensions, which in turn gave it an international dimension that negated the faithless and lawless nature of piracy upon Algerian and other barbary corsairs.
French historian Dianel Panzac, although admitting that the Barbary corsairs hardly differed in their methods from pirates that were still distinguishable by their "black flag, uncertain nationality, the vandalising of the ship, and especially the killing of the crew in order to leave no trace", nevertheless respected the administrative and diplomatic frameworks that North African regencies were bounded with, which is why the Barbary warships were classified as privateering vessels and not pirate ships.
Corsair state of Algiers
General characteristics The Ottoman sultan issued a firman (royal decree) appointing a ruler to govern Algiers. This governor might hold the rank of beylerbey, then pasha, and his initial appointment was usually for three years, after which it could be extended or cancelled. The sultan expected obedience from the ruler, particularly in matters of foreign policy; an annual financial tribute to Istanbul; and ships and men for his fleets when they were demanded. Otherwise the ruler was given a free hand to govern as he saw fit. In practice, the rais and the Odjak acted autonomously and the pasha gradually lost his power. After the Odjak revolution in 1659, the ruler was elected and the sultan only confirmed this election as a sign of its legitimacy, without however having any effective rule over Algiers.
The Regency government became a naval power, and turned its main activities towards the sea. From the 16th century on, the growing volume of international trade, the succession of political crises leading to armed conflicts, the territorial appetites of certain states and the tendencies towards hegemony in the Mediterranean made the constitution and maintenance of an active navy essential, capable of defending a determined policy, which could be comprised as maintaining the following:
Defense of the territory, particularly the coastline, Support for the Muslims of Spain attacked by the religious fanaticism of their conquerors, Presence alongside the Ottoman Sultan in face of his adversaries, Control of the navigation to know friends from enemies, Leading the corso war against Europe.
Chain of command The ruler would be guided by a Divan - a council of government - while another council known as a tai'fa was charged with naval or privateering matters. The tai'fa consisted of the port's senior privateering captains, led by the regency's Kapudan Rais or local admiral (also known as the rais al bahriyya or Captain of the Marine). Direct access to the pasha gave the privateering captains considerable influence in the regency. The ruler was also advised by an Agha, or commander-in- chief of the Algerian Janissary Odjak, whose duties included the annual collection of taxes and ensuring the security of the regency. The Agha also controlled the administration of the city of Algiers and its surroundings (known as Dar-Es-sultan), and presided over deliberations of the Divan. Meanwhile, the Kapudan Rais supervised foreign affairs, and also administered the port of Algiers. Other lesser officials oversaw various aspects of the regency's administration, including the operation of the slave-markets, trade within the regency and the policing of the city. As the regency's legal framework was based on the sharia, the pasha was advised by two muftis, and justice was usually swift and severe. In theory the same draconian system applied to the regency's ships and privateers when they were at sea; but in practice, the Kapudan Rais, the tai'fa, and individual captains were largely left to govern their own affairs.
While the original holders of the title of Kapudan Rais were usually Turks or leading local privateers, by the 17th century the post was frequently held by a European renegade. The Kapudan Rais had a headquarters building near the harbour, and from there he and a small staff of clerks supervised the movement of all merchant shipping, as well as the activities of privateers and any regency warships. Before a privateering captain could put to sea he had to obtain permission to sail from the Kapudan Rais, and collect a renewed letter of marque from the ' tai'fa. This council established cruising areas in advance, and often the duration of cruises. If the vessel was a galley] or galiot, however, the lack of space for water, provisions, captives or plunder meant that cruises were of fairly short duration. Once these permissions were granted the captain hoisted a green flag to indicate that he was about to sail on a corso, and his crew would embark, accompanied in many cases by a detachment of the regency's Janissaries.
Christian renegade corsairs The corsair captains were joined by adventurers from many parts of the Mediterranean. Non-Turks who came to Algiers as captives of Algerian corsairs gained admittance to the ta'ifa of raïs through conversion to Islam and by virtue of their knowledge of the areas the corsairs raided. The rank of raïs or commander of a corso vessel, was obtained only after an examination passed before the council of raïs, chaired by the captain (admiral) and reserved for the oldest of the raïs, who no longer sailed. Another captain chosen by the council commanded the fleet. A rais was the absolute master on board, where the most rigorous discipline reigned.
The influx of "tenegades", or converts of European origin who brought their knowledge of European coasts and navigation, as well as the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain, who also imported valuable knowledge in the construction of frigates and brigantines, were important factors in the growth of the fleet and the corso. Based in Cherchell, they knew the Spanish coastline, and around the 1570s, the corso took on the aspect of a private enterprise, even if public investments were allocated to arsenals and ports under pressure from the community and the privateers. According to Diego de Haedo, the fleet of Algiers (including the vessels based at Cherchell) consisted, in 1581, of 35 galiots - including two with 24 benches, one with 23 benches, 11 of 22 benches, 8 of 20 benches, 10 of 18 benches, one with 19 benches, and two with 15 benches — and about 25 frigates (small rowing and undecked vessels), from 8 to 13 benches. More than two thirds of the Algiers galiots were commanded by European renegades (six Genoese, two Venetians, two Albanians, three Greeks, two Spaniards, one Frenchman, one Hungarian, one Sicilian, one Neapolitan, one Corsican and three of their sons).Albert Devoulx, "La marine de la régence d'Alger" {The Fleet.of the Regency of Algiers}, Revue africaine, no 77, September 1869, p390 All these renegades occupied key positions. After the founder of the regency of Algiers, Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Sardinian renegade Hasan Agha (1535-1543), the Corsican Hassan Corso (1549-1556), the Calabrian Uluj Ali Pasha (1568-1571) ended up with the title of admiral of the fleet, then the Venetian Hassan Veneziano (1577-1580 and 1582-1583).Pierre Boyer, "Les renégats et la marine de la Régence d'Alger".(Renegades and the Fleet of the Regency of Algiers), Revue de l'Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée, vol. 39, no 1, 1985, p94DOI10.3406/remmm.1985.2066 They also took part in the armies of occupation of the subjected zones like local governments before the creation of the three beyliks; of the 23 territorial bosses, 13 were renegades or sons of renegades. Haedo would be able to say :Pierre Boyer, "Les renégats et la marine de la Régence d'Alger", Revue de l'Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée, vol. 39, no 1, 1985, p95DOI10.3406/remmm.1985.2066