Emir Abdelkader

1830–1833: French invasion, election of Abdelkader

In 1830, Algeria was invaded by France; French colonial domination over Algeria eventually supplanted domination by the Ottoman Empire and the Kouloughlis. Western Algeria had already been the hotbed of numerous anti-Ottoman revolts, leading to little in the way of coordinated resistance to the French.

When the French Africa Army reached Oran in January 1831, Abdelkader's father was asked to lead a resistance campaign against them;^[5] Muhieddine called for jihad and he and his son were among those involved in early attacks below the walls of the city,^[3] however these did not involve a broad coalition of tribes.^[7]

It was at this point that Abdelkader came to the fore. At a meeting of the western tribes in the autumn of 1832, he was elected Amir al-Mu'minin (typically abbreviated to "Emir"). Following his father's refusal of the position on the grounds that he was too old.^[8]

Abdelkader was seen as an appropriate candidate not only because of his age but also because of his own learning, devoutness and saintly bloodline.^[7] The appointment was confirmed five days later at the Great Mosque of Mascara where a proclamation was read^[7] calling in deeply religious terms on tribal leaders to join him.

'To the communities of the Arabs and Berbers: Know that the affairs of Islamic princely authority and of the upholding of the religious duties of the Muhammadan community have now passed into the hands of the Protector of Religion, the Lord Abdelkeder ibn Muhy al-Din. And the declaration of allegiance has been made to him in recognition thereof, by the 'ulama, the sharifs, and the notables at Mascara. And he has become our emir and guarantor of the upholding of the bounds of God's law. He does not follow in the footsteps of any other, nor imitate their example. He does not take a surplus of riches for his own share, as others may have done. He does not burden his subjects in anything save that in which he is commanded by the immaculate shari'a, and he disposes of nothing save in the proper manner. And he has unfurled the banner of jihad, and bared his forearm to the task, for the welfare of the servants of God, and the prosperity of the land'^[7]

1834–1835: Desmichels Treaty, Battle of La Macta

But within a year, through a combination of punitive raids and careful politics, Abdelkader had succeeded in uniting the tribes in the region and in establishing security – his area of influence now covered the entire Province of Oran.^[3] The local French commander-in-chief, General Louis Alexis Desmichels, saw Abdelkader as the principal representative of the area during peace negotiations, and in 1834 they signed the Desmichels Treaty, which ceded near-total control of Oran Province to Abdelkader.^[5] For the French, this was a way of establishing peace in the region while also confining Abdelkader to the west; but his status as a co-signatory also did much to elevate him in the eyes of the Berbers and of the French.^[3]

Using this treaty as a start, he imposed his rule on the tribes of the Chelif, Miliana, and Médéa.^[5] The French high command, unhappy with what they now saw as the unfavourable terms of the Desmichels Treaty, recalled General Desmichels and replaced him with General Camille Alphonse Trézel, which caused a resumption of hostilities. Abdelkader's tribal warriors met the French forces in July 1834 at the Battle of Macta, where the French suffered an unexpected defeat.^[3]

1836–1837: General Bugeaud, Treaty of Tafna

France's response was to step up its military campaign, and under new commanders the French won several important encounters including the 1836 Battle of Sikkak. But political opinion in France was becoming ambivalent towards Algeria, with a political desire to end the conflict General Thomas Robert Bugeaud was "authorized to use all means to induce Abd el-Kader to make overtures of peace".^[9] The result, after protracted negotiations, was the Treaty of Tafna, signed on 30 May 1837. This treaty gave even more control of interior portions of Algeria to Abdelkader. Abdelkader thus won control of all of Oran Province and extended his reach to the neighbouring province of Titteri and beyond.^[5]

1837–1839: Period of peace, formation of a State

The period of peace following the Treaty of Tafna benefited both sides, and the Emir Abdelkader took the opportunity to consolidate a new functional state, with a capital in Tagdemt. He played down his political power, however, repeatedly declining the title of sultan and striving to concentrate on his spiritual authority, through obtaining a fatwa which gave him firm authority to call for Jihad and made tax avoidance a "crime against the Muslim community as a whole".^[7][10] The state he created was broadly theocratic, and most positions of authority were held by members of the religious aristocracy; even the main unit of currency was named the muhammadiyya, after the Prophet.^[11]

His first military action was to move south into the Sahara and al-Tijani, where Sidi Muhammad al-Tijani refused to recognise Abd al-Qadir's rule. Abdelkader attempted to enter the town of Aïn Madhi but was beaten back and instead he laid siege until when December 1839 Sidi Muhammad al-Tijani accepted exile.

Next, he moved east to the valley of the Chelif and Titteri, but was resisted by the Bey of Constantine Province, Hajj Ahmed. In other actions, he demanded punishment of the Kouloughlis of Zouatna for supporting the French. By the end of 1838, his rule extended east to Kabylie, and south to Biskra, and to the Moroccan border.^[5] He continued to fight al-Tijani and besieged his capital at Aïn Madhi for six months, eventually destroying it.

Another aspect of Abdelkader that helped him lead his fledgling nation was his ability to find and use good talent regardless of its nationality. He would employ Jews and Christians on his way to building his nation. One of these was Léon Roches.^[5] His approach to the military was to have a standing army of 2000 men supported by volunteers from the local tribes. He placed, in the interior towns, arsenals, warehouses, and workshops, where he stored items to be sold for arms purchases from England. Through his frugal living (he lived in a tent), he taught his people the need for austerity and through education he taught them concepts such as nationality and independence.^[5]

1839–1841: Resumption of hostilities

The peace ended when the Duc d'Orléans, ignoring the terms of the Treaty of Tafna, headed an expeditionary force that breached the Iron Gates. On 15 October 1839, Abd al-Qadir attacked the French as they were colonizing the Plains of Mitidja and routed the invaders. In response the French officially declared war on 18 November 1839.^[12] The fighting bogged down until General Thomas Robert Bugeaud returned to Algeria, this time as governor-general, in February 1841. Abdelkader was originally encouraged to hear that Bugeaud, the promoter of the Treaty of Tafna, was returning; but this time Bugeaud's strategy would be radically different. This time, his approach was one of annihilation, with the conquest of Algeria as the endgame:^[5]

I will enter into your mountains, I will burn your villages and your harvests, I will cut down your fruit trees.

Abdelkader was effective at using guerrilla warfare and for a decade, up until 1842, scored many victories. He often signed tactical truces with the French, but these did not last. His power base was in the western part of Algeria, where he was successful in uniting the tribes against the French. He was noted for his chivalry; on one occasion he released his French captives simply because he had insufficient food to feed them. Throughout this period, Abdelkader demonstrated political and military leadership and acted as a capable administrator and a persuasive orator. His fervent faith in the doctrines of Islam was unquestioned.

Until the beginning of 1842 the struggle went in his favour; however, the resistance was put down by Marshal Bugeaud, due to Bugeaud's adaptation to the guerilla tactics employed by Abdelkader. Abdelkader would strike fast and disappear into the terrain with light infantry; however the French increased their mobility. The French armies brutally suppressed the native population and practiced a scorched earth policy in the countryside to force the residents to starve so as to desert their leader. By 1841, his fortifications had all but been destroyed and he was forced to wander the interior of the Oran. In 1842, he had lost control of Tlemcen and his lines of communications with Morocco were not effective. He was able to cross the border into Morocco for a respite, but the French defeated the Moroccans at the Battle of Isly.^[5] He left Morocco, and was able to keep up the fight to the French by taking the Sidi Brahim at the Battle of Sidi-Brahim.^[5]

1842–1844: Capture of the smala, retreat to Morocco

In 1842, besieged on all sides and with his financial resources at an all-time low, he saw many of his followers forced, often for the sake of their survival, to submit to the French. He lost control of Tlemcen and, in his absence, his itinerant capital — his smala, consisting of several thousand tents housing tens of thousands of inhabitants — was discovered on 16 May 1843 at Taguine and ransacked by the troops of the Duke of Aumale, the fifth son of Louis Philippe.^{[13][note 2]}

This event was followed by further significant setbacks for the Algerian side and, by the end of the year, Abdelkader withdrew with his troops and supporters to Morocco, which was ruled by Sultan Abd al-Rahman ben Hicham, who supported him. Infuriated in particular by Morocco’s support for their enemy, the French bombarded, in August 1844, Tangier, then Mogador, whilst Bugeaud, promoted to marshal, crossed the border with 11,000 men and defeated the Moroccan army at the Battle of Isly. Under the Treaty of Tangier, signed on 10 September 1844, France forced Abd al-Rahman to banish the Emir from his territory.^[16]

1845–1846: War crimes

In June 1845, more than 500 men, women and children from the Oulad Riah tribe, pursued by Lieutenant-Colonel Pélissier’s column, took refuge in a cave in the Dahra Range. After unsuccessfully ordering them to surrender, the soldiers blocked the entrance with branches, which they set alight, filling the cave with smoke and using up the oxygen; only 40 of them survived.^[17] This smoking out had been preceded a year earlier by one carried out by Colonel Cavaignac against members of the Sbehas tribe, who were accused of murdering settlers and French-appointed qaids; hunted down, they took refuge in a cave where they all perished.^[18] In August 1845, Colonel Leroy de Saint-Arnaud discovered 500 Algerians hiding in a cave; as they refused to surrender, he had the entrance blocked until they all perished.^[19]

A month later, Abdelkader defeated the French at the Battle of Sidi-Brahim, taking around a hundred prisoners. A few days later, he captured without a fight a French column of 200 soldiers who had been called up as reinforcements at Aïn Témouchent. Continuing the offensive, the Emir reached the Hautes Plaines and asked a lieutenant to escort these 300 prisoners to his deira (former smala), his mobile capital encamped in Moroccan territory on the banks of the Moulouya River, near the Algerian border. Exposed to both French and Moroccan troops and running short of food, the deira, comprising some 200 tents, regarded these prisoners as an excessive burden. Abdelkader made repeated proposals for an exchange, but Bugeaud refused, banking on a release which he believed the Emir would be compelled to grant in order to alleviate the hardships of his community. But on 24 April 1846, whilst Abdelkader was away fighting 300 miles away, one of his lieutenants, after consulting with the other camp authorities, ordered their execution. He spared 11 officers, confident that their presence would prevent French reprisals. The Emir heard the news, but due to the fighting, he did not return to his deira until three months later. He proposed to Bugeaud that the 11 prisoners be exchanged. As this offer came to nothing, he planned to propose their release in exchange for a ransom, but his officers believed that their own safety depended on the hostages’ continued presence and would only agree to his plan on condition that the Emir took responsibility for the crime. Abdelkader agreed and wrote to King Louis Philippe to this effect. The prisoners were returned in exchange for 33,000 francs. As far as France was concerned, the Emir had discredited himself through this massacre, even though certain authorities in the country, having cross-checked the evidence, concluded that he was innocent.^[20][21]

1847: End of the resistance

In January 1847, in order to drive the Algerians from his territory, Sultan Abd al-Rahman ordered the Moroccan tribes neighbouring Abdelkader’s deira to stop selling it food, and to harass those who attempted to obtain supplies. Abdelkader endured this situation for six months, then went on the offensive, which had the effect of rallying several Moroccan tribes to his cause and facilitating the supply of his camp.^[22]

Following this failure by the Moroccans, an assassin was sent to kill Emir Abdelkader. One evening, while he was reading, a tall, burly man entered his tent, a dagger in his hand. Abdelkader looked up, and the man immediately threw himself at his feet: "I was going to strike you, but the sight of you disarmed me. I thought I saw the halo of the Prophet around your head."^[23]

In July 1847, the nephew of Abd al-Rahman, Moulay Hashim, was sent along with the governor of the Rif, El Hamra, in command of a Moroccan army to attack the Emir and his deira in Oued Aslaf. The Moroccans were defeated, El Hamra killed, and Moulay Hashim had barely escaped with his life.^[24] The Emir then sent his deputy Bou Hamedi to negotiate with the Moroccan sultan. Abd al-Rahman refused to see him, threw him in prison, where he died of poisoning.^[25]

Early December, two of Abd al-Rahman’s sons, commanding 50,000 soldiers, were defeated at the Battle of Agueddin by Abdelkader’s army, consisting of 1,200 cavalrymen and 800 infantrymen. Soon after, Abdelkader made the choice to withdraw from Morocco. Whilst he and his men were repelling a new battalion of Moroccan soldiers sent in his pursuit, his deira, comprising some 5,000 people, managed to safely cross the River Kis, and enter French territory.^[26]

By the end of 1847, Abdelkader deemed the situation hopeless and, preferring to fall into the hands of those who had fought him—whom he considered loyal—rather than into those of Moulay Abd al-Rahman, who had betrayed him,^[27] on December 22 he proposed to General Louis Juchault de Lamoricière the laying down of his arms in exchange for a safe conduct to Alexandria or Acre.^[5][28] His proposal was accepted, and the following day, his surrender and its counterpart were officialized by the new Governor-General, the Duke of Aumale, to whom Abdelkader symbolically handed over his warhorse.^[29] His British biographer Charles Henry Churchill later wrote: "His military career had ended. Hitherto his life had been devoted to God and his country. Henceforth it was to be devoted to God alone".^[30]

1860: Massacre of Christians in Damascus

In February 1856, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdülmecid I, under pressure from his European allies, signed the Hatt-i Hümayun. This decree abolished the dominance of Muslims and Druze over non-Muslim populations, who were thus granted the same civil, professional, political, judicial and military rights as Muslims. In Lebanon, an Ottoman territory, this reform fuelled rivalries between Druze and Maronite Christians, with the former feeling belittled and the latter holding their heads high with a certain ostentation. The Ottoman authorities, under pressure from Muslims, did nothing—quite the contrary—to contain the nascent conflict. The conflict reached its peak in June 1860, when around 10,000 Christians were massacred by the Druze and around 2,000 Druze by the Christians. Between 3,000 and 6,000 (sources vary) Christians of all denominations sought refuge in Damascus, the capital of Ottoman Syria.^[39]

In Damascus, the Lebanese conflict had exacerbated anti-Christian sentiment.^{[note 3]} Muslim dignitaries, alongside Abdelkader’s companions, attempted to ease tensions, whilst the Emir warned the French consul of an imminent risk of unrest and requested weapons, which he was granted. Against this agitated backdrop, a group of Muslim teenagers committed acts of vandalism directed at Christian symbols. Arrested by Ottoman guards, the latter were attacked by a group of young fanatics, who stirred up the crowds.^[40][41]

From 9 July onwards, a majority of Druze, but also Kurdish militiamen and other Muslims –tens of thousands of men in total– poured in from all directions and attacked the Christian quarter, massacring men, women and children, and looting and setting fire to houses. The soldiers of the Pasha were unable to quell the riot; some even joined the mob. Abdelkader and his comrades-in-arms swept through the neighbourhood, urging the survivors to take refuge in his home and those of his compatriots, thereby saving thousands of lives. Among them were the heads of several foreign consulates as well as the Daughters of Charity and the Lazarists, along with the 400 children in the care of these two religious orders.^[12] During a lull, the Emir spread the word throughout the city that anyone who brought him a living Christian would receive 50 piastres. The lure of money thus enabled him to save a large number of additional Christians. They all finally found refuge in the citadel, which the Pasha, ashamed of his role, agreed to make available to them. Accounts of the death toll vary widely: between 3,000 and 15,000.^[42][43][44]

A French doctor reports:

[W]e were in consternation, all of us quite convinced that our last hour had arrived [...]. In that expectation of death, in those indescribable moments of anguish, heaven, however, sent us a savior! Abd el-Kader appeared, surrounded by his Algerians, around forty of them. He was on horseback and without arms: his handsome figure calm and imposing made a strange contrast with the noise and disorder that reigned everywhere.

Reports coming out of Syria as the rioting subsided stressed the prominent role of Abdelkader, and considerable international recognition followed. The French government increased his pension to 150,000 francs and presented him with the grand cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour.^[32] He also received the grand cross of the Order of the Redeemer from the Kingdom of Greece, the grand cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus from the Kingdom of Italy, the grand cross of the Order of the White Eagle from the Russian Empire, the medal of knighthood of the Order of the Black Eagle from the Kingdom of Prussia, the First Class Medjidie from the Ottoman Empire, the grand cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX from the Vatican, and a Blazing Star from the Masonic obedience Grand Orient de France. Abraham Lincoln sent him a pair of gold-inlaid pistols (now on display in the Algiers museum) and Great Britain sent him a likewise gold-inlaid hunting rifle.^[12]

In France, the episode represented the culmination of a remarkable turnaround, from being considered as an enemy of France during the first half of the 19th century, to becoming a "friend of France" after having intervened in favour of persecuted Christians.^[46][47] "What I did," the Emir replied to Imam Shamil, "I had to do in the name of Islam and respect for human rights".^[48]

Last decades

When he has no other commitments, Abdelkader devotes his day to his religious and spiritual vocation. According to his British biographer Charles Henry Churchill, who knew him well in Bursa and Damascus, the Emir rises two hours before sunrise to meditate and pray at home and at the mosque, has breakfast, then works in his office until midday. He then goes to the mosque for the midday prayer (dhuhr), followed by three hours of religious instruction for his group of pupils. After the afternoon prayer (asr), he returns home and spends a good hour with his eight sons. He has dinner and then returns to the mosque for the last two prayers of the day, between which he teaches again. He then spends about two hours in his study, before going to bed.^[49] Every month he distributes at least the equivalent of 4,000 francs to the needy.^[50]

In January 1863, Abdelkader left Damascus for the Hejaz. He performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, spent three months in Taif, and returned to Mecca, where he joined the Darqawi sheikh Muhammad al-Fasi al-Shadhilî. He remained there for eight months and then spent three months in Medina.^[51]

On 18 June 1864, after leaving Medina to return to Damascus, Abdelkader was initiated into Freemasonry by the "Les pyramides d’Égypte" lodge in Alexandria, acting on behalf of the Parisian "Henri IV" lodge. His first contact with Freemasonry dates back to September 1860, following the rescue of the Christians of Damascus, when he was approached by Freemasons from the Henri IV lodge, affiliated to the Grand Orient de France. Keen to forge humanitarian ties, the Emir welcomed the principles and ideals of the GOF: the existence of God ("Great Architect of the Universe"), the immortality of the soul, the love of humanity, the practice of tolerance, and universal brotherhood. But already a year after his initiation —which was confirmed at the Henri IV lodge in Paris in 1865— he observed among his Masonic "brothers" a gradual erosion of belief in the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. Unable to accept this relativisation of what he regarded as immutable, he left Freemasonry.^{[52][53][54][note 4]}

In 1865, he travelled to Constantinople, London and Paris.^[56] In 1867, on the occasion of the Paris Exposition, he returned to France at the invitation of Napoleon III.^[57]

He was invited to the opening of the Suez Canal on 17 November 1869 because of his connections with the Viceroy of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, and with Ferdinand de Lesseps, the promoter and director of the canal project, of whom he had been one of the most active supporters.^[58][59] That same year, whilst still in Egypt, he met Imam Shamil, whose life story —in the North Caucasus, a region coveted and subsequently annexed by the Russians—mirrored that of the Emir (Sufi, elected leader of the jihad, surrender after years of struggle, imprisonment in the occupier’s country).^[60]

Death and burial

Abdelkader died in Damascus on 26 May 1883. After receiving military honours, in the presence of his "brothers in God", the city authorities, consular representatives and a vast crowd, he was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Ibn Arabi, whose teachings he embodied six centuries later.^[61] This spiritual connection between Ibn Arabi and Abdelkader is evident both in the commentaries transcribed by his Damascene listeners and in those written in his own hand, which form the voluminous Kitab al-Mawaqif, the "Book of Halts", the Emir's major work that bears witness to his spiritual insight.^{[62][note 5]}

In 1965, in an effort to strengthen national unity, the Algerian authorities asked the Emir’s descendants for permission to repatriate his remains. The family agreed on condition that the Emir’s great-grandson, Abder Razak Abdelkader, who was being held by the Algerian government, be released. Following his release and deportation to France, the Emir’s remains were transferred from Damascus to the El Alia Cemetery on the outskirts of Algiers^[64]

Relatives

His great grandson Khaldoun Al-Hasani Al-Jazaeri was among those found to have been tortured and killed in Syrian Sednaya Prison in 2015. He was an Islamic scholar and one of the few people to have memorised all 10 readings of the Quran. He was a specialist in Maliki law and was a fully qualified dentist.^[75]

In popular media

In 2013, the US film director Oliver Stone announced the pending production of a filmed biopic called The Emir Abd el-Kader, to be directed by Charles Burnett.^[76] To date the film has not been made.