{{short description|Ruler of Algiers (d. 1718)}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Baba Ali Chaouch | title = Dey | image = Portrait de Baba Ali, Dey d'Alger.jpg | caption = Baba Ali Chaouche, by Pierre Duflos | reign = 15 August 1710 – 4 April 1718 | predecessor = Dely Ibrahim Dey | successor = Mohamed Ben Hassan | birth_place = Algiers | death_date = 4 April 1718 | death_place = {{flagicon image|Flag of Algiers.jpg}} Algiers, Regency of Algiers | regnal name = Ali I | house = {{flagicon image|Flag of Algiers.jpg}} Regency of Algiers | house-type = Country | occupation = Corsair | religion = Sunni Islam | native_lang1 = Arabic | native_lang1_name1 = بابا علي شاوش | module = {{Infobox military person |embed=yes | battles = Dutch-Algerian War (1716-1726)}} }}
'''Baba Ali Chaouch''', also known as '''Ali Soukali''', or simply '''Ali I''', was a ruler of the Deylik of Algiers from 1710 to 1718.<ref name="baba ali 1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWIJAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA2|title=Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne|date=1834|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Nick|first=Newlin|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1154567563|title=Henry V|date=2020|publisher=Nicolo Whimsey Press|isbn=978-1-935550-40-2|oclc=1154567563}}</ref> He was the first dey of Algiers to be invested with the title of dey-pacha. The Sultan Ahmed III had Ali Chaouch's envoy given the caftan and the three tails, a sign of the dignity of a "pasha". This title was attributed to all his successors until 1830.
Algiers once again experienced prosperity thanks to corsairing and expeditions to the European coasts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hassan-Bey |first=Mustapha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHNiEAAAQBAJ |title=De Constantinopole à El-Djazaïr: L'héritage turc |trans-title=Constantinople to El-Djazaïr: The Turkish Heritage | date=2022-03-03 |publisher=Chihab |isbn=978-9947-39-466-3 |pages=43 |language=fr}}</ref>
== Background == Not much is known about the origins of Ali. Some sources describe him as a Basche-Chaouch,<ref name="baba ali 1" /> (which would explain the name) a title usually held by Kouloughlis, which would mean that he was most likely of mixed Algerian-Turkish descent, albeit it's up for debate.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Veronne|first1=La|last2=De|first2=Chantal|date=1980|title=Abdeijalil Temimi. Le Beylik de Constantine et Hādj Ahmed Bey (1830- 1837). Tunis, 1978. In-8°, 300 pages, 24 planches hors texte. (Publications de la Revue d'histoire maghrébine, 1.)|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/bec_0373-6237_1980_num_138_1_450192_t1_0131_0000_2|journal=Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes |volume=138|issue=1|pages=131–132 |trans-title=Abdeijalil Temimi. The Beylik of Constantine and Hādj Ahmed Bey (1830- 1837). Tunis, 1978. (Publications of the ''Revue d'histoire maghrébine'', 1.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Allioui|first=Youcef|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k0FpLfAhVoYC|title=Les Archs, tribus berbères de Kabylie: histoire, résistance, culture et démocratie|trans-title=The Arch, Berber Tribes of Kabylia: History, Resistance, culture and Democracy |date=2006|publisher=L'Harmattan|isbn=978-2-296-01363-6 |language=fr}}</ref>
== Rule ==
=== Ending unrest === He made major political reforms, succeeding Dely Ibrahim Dey in a period of great unrest. He was described as “an honest and very reasonable man” by French consul Clairambault. The insurrections which, for more than twenty years, had bloodied the city of Algiers, had brought all sorts of brigands; Ali administered severe justice, and, in the first months of his reign, executed more than 1500 janissaries; it was to these necessary rigors that he owed his ability to impose order and govern in peace.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=محمد |first=جيلالي، عبد الرحمن بن |url=https://archive.org/details/tarikh.-eljazayer.-3/page/217/mode/2up?view=theater |title=تاريخ الجزائر العام |date=1994 |publisher=ع. م. جيلالي، |pages=218 |language=ar}}</ref>
=== Government reforms === He had seen that the pashas sent by the Porte, although not enjoying any effective power, were a permanent cause of unrest, constantly intriguing in the hope of seeing their past authority return, or at least serving as a flag for the agitators; he decided to suppress them by banishing Pasha Charkan Ibrahim, appointed by the Ottoman Empire;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piesse |first=Louis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XpICOuErZ4C&pg=PR147-IA10 |title=Itinéraire de l'Algérie, de la Tunisie et de Tanger |trans-title=Itinerary of Algeria, Tunisia, and Tangiers |date=1882 |publisher=Hachette |language=fr}}</ref> In 1711 he refused to allow the pasha who had just been sent there to enter Algiers, and had him threatened with death if he insisted on disembarking. The pasha withdrew to Collo, then died shortly after of illness. At the same time, the ''dey'' sent an embassy to Ahmed III, representing to him the serious disadvantages of the multiplicity of powers; the good reasons he gave, combined with the gifts he had sent, were enough to convince the sultan, and the two dignities were united on the same person; He was the first dey to incorporate the title of pasha into his own. He thus formalized the status of Algiers as an independent political entity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ferreiro |first=Miguel Ángel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqKVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT789 |title=La segunda columna: Lo que dejamos en África |date=2022-10-18 |publisher=EDAF |isbn=978-84-414-4198-9 |language=es}}</ref> Algerian historian {{Interlanguage link|Abderrahmane Djilali|fr}} compared Algerian relations with the Ottoman Empire at this point to the states belonging to the Commonwealth realm.<ref name=":0" /> thumb|Gate of Lions (Bab sboua) topped by a poem in Arabic mentioning Baba Ali's reconstruction of the gate From that moment on, the ''deys'' gained considerably in strength, and the Divan of Algiers no longer had the same power as before.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Grammont |first=H. D. de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1wUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA276 |title=Histoire d'Alger sous la domination turque (1515-1830) |date=1887 |publisher=E. Leroux |pages=277 |trans-title=History of Algiers under Turkish Domination (1515-1830) |language=fr}}</ref> Baba Ali Chaouch consolidated his authority; He reformed the Divan of Algiers, dissolved it and then recomposed it, eliminated the rebellious elements of the Odjak of Algiers, relied on the ''tai'fa'' of ''raïs'' to revive privateering in the Mediterranean and brought much income into the city.<ref>{{harvsp|Kaddache|2011|p=432}}</ref> Because of his position, he was popular with the people of Algiers and is famous in historiography.<ref name="baba ali 1" />
=== International policy === {{Main|Dutch-Algerian War (1716-1726)}} During the first three years of his reign, Ali was sued for peace by the Dutch Republic, Sicilians, Great Britain and the Holy Roman Empire; everyone made enormous presents to obtain it. He declared war on the Dutch in 1715, and planned to do the same to Britain, albeit he abandoned these plans after they paid tribute.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Playfair |first=Robert Lambert |author-link=Lambert Playfair |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MhIoAAAAYAAJ&q=1716&pg=RA1-PA265 |title=A Bibliography of Algeria: From the Expedition of Charles V in 1541 to 1887 |date=1888 |publisher=J. Murray |language=fr}}</ref> In 1716, war was declared against him again as the Swedes and Danes were no happier, and the ''corso'' received a great boost, because the ''dey'', instructed by the example of his predecessors, saw that this was the only way to ensure the pay of the militia.<ref name=":1" />
A violent earthquake hit Algiers under his rule in 1716.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ganse|first1=Robert A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=heYKAQAAIAAJ&q=1716&pg=PP26|title=Catalog of Significant Earthquakes: 2000 B.C.-1979 Including Quantitative Casualties and Damage|last2=Nelson|first2=John B.|last3=Geophysics|first3=World Data Center A. for Solid Earth|date=1981|publisher=World Data Center A for Solid Earth Geophysics|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ib7ehJrjctIC&q=1716&pg=PA12|title=Voyage to Algiers and Tunis, for the Redemption of Captives, etc|date=1735|language=en}}</ref> To repair their losses, the corsairs ravaged the coasts of the Mediterranean and those of Portugal more than ever. They made such considerable captures from Dutch and British merchant shipping that maritime insurance went from the rate of 1.5% to 45%. European states decreed, under penalty of heavy fines, that all commercial ships only leave port well armed with cannons, manned by a crew capable of usefully defending itself.<ref name=":1" />
== Death == Despite many conspiracies and assassination attempts, notably in 1713 then in 1716, he died a natural death in 1718.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Les Deys 3|url=https://exode1962.fr/exode1962/en-savoir-plus/histoire-ancienne/turcs/deys3.html|access-date=2021-02-12|website=exode1962.fr}}</ref>
== See also ==
* List of governors and rulers of the Regency of Algiers * Barbary Coast
== References == <references />
===Sources=== * {{cite book |first=Mahfoud |last=Kaddache |author-link=Mahfoud Kaddache |title=L'Algérie des Algériens |publisher={{ill|Société nationale d'édition et de diffusion|fr}} |location=Alger |year=2011 |isbn=978-9961-9-6621-1}}
Much of this Wikipedia page was translate from the French version.
Category:Deys of Algiers Category:1718 deaths Category:18th-century Algerian people Category:17th-century Algerian people Category:Year of birth missing Category:18th-century monarchs in Africa Category:Arab slave owners Category:Turks from the Ottoman Empire