Aruj Barbarossa

Aruj Barbarossa
Aruj Barbarossa
Born	c. 1474; Midilli, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Lesbos, Greece)
Died	May 1518 (aged 43–44); Tlemcen (in modern-day Algeria)
	Piratical career
Nickname	Barbarossa; Red Beard; Baba Aruj
Years active	c. 1495 – 1518
Rank	Sultan of Algiers
Base of operations	Mediterranean
Battles/wars	Siege of Jijel; Expedition to Cherchell; Capture of Algiers (1516); Algiers expedition (1516); Battle of Oued Djer; Expedition to the Moulouya; Fall of Tlemcen (1518);

Aruj Barbarossa (c. 1474 – 1518), known as Oruç Reis (Arabic: عروج بربروس) to the Turks, was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli (Lesbos in present-day Greece) and died in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen.

He became known as Baba Aruj (Father Aruj) when he transported large numbers of Morisco, Muslim and Jewish refugees from Spain to North Africa; folk etymology in Europe transformed that name into Barbarossa (which means Redbeard in Italian).

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