Aruj

Arudsch, Turkish Oruç, called Baba Arudsch or by the Europeans Barbarossa, (* 1473 in Mytilene on Lesbos; † at Tlemcen 1518) was a major Ottoman corsair in the western Mediterranean and ruler of Algiers.

The name Barbarossa, actually Barberousse, derives not - as with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa - of a reddish beard, but is a French corruption of the Turkish honorary title Baba Oruç, German " father Arudsch ", he recalled that in rescue of, by Inquisition pursued, acquired Spanish Jews and Muslims and their subsequent settlement in North Africa and in coastal areas around Constantine Opel.

Arudsch was born in 1473 in Mytilene on Lesbos, the son of a Turkish cavalry officer and his Greek wife. After a few commands in the Ottoman and Egyptian fleet of the Mamluks in 1504 he came to the western Mediterranean, where he successfully as a corsair with fast Fustas ( small galleys ) in alliance with the Hafsids of Tunis attacked the Christian trade (see: Barbary States ).

The Emir of Algiers asked Arudsch 1515 to help in the fight against the Spaniards. Arudsch drove the Spaniards out of Algeria, assassinated shortly after the Emir and appointed himself as the new ruler of Algeria. He also subdued the neighboring areas, where he clashed with Spain in the battle for Tlemcen, as the reigning there Abdalwadiden the Spanish sovereignty recognized. Arudsch fell in front of Tlemcen in 1518 against the Spanish. Successor in Algiers was his brother Khair ad-Din Barbarossa.

Arudsch lost his left hand in August 1512 in a battle with the Spaniards at Bougie (Algeria) and then wore a silver prosthesis, causing him to surnamed Braqo de Prata (Turkish: Gümüş Kol ) helped.