Abdelkader

Algerian protonationalist leader

• Born: September 6, 1808
• Birthplace: Guetna of the Wadi al-Hammām, near Mascara, Ottoman Empire (now in Algeria)
• Died: May 25 or 26, 1883
• Place of death: Damascus, Ottoman Empire (now in Syria)

Now remembered as an Algerian national hero, Abdelkader carved a semiautonomous state out of the remnants of the former Turkish possessions after the French landed in Algiers in 1830. He achieved lasting fame for his various campaigns against the French, whom he fought until his surrender in 1847.

Early Life

The first son of Zurah, the second wife of the Islamic holy man Muhi al-Din, who traced his ancestry as far back as the Prophet Muḥammad, Abdelkader (ahb-dehl-KAH-dehr) was born in a small town near Mascara in what is now Algeria. There his grandfather had founded a religious school of the Sufi Order, and Muhi al-Din had followed him as leader and himself taught his son reading, writing, and the Qur՚ān. Abdelkader’s mother was learned and venerated by the people as a marabout, or holy person, as well; for a woman to accomplish this was quite extraordinary and could have helped Abdelkader to surpass his half brother, the son of his father’s first wife, in the affection of his father.

As a boy, Abdelkader’s handsome features and his remarkable intellectual gifts endeared him to his parents and to the people of Guetna. Throughout his life, Abdelkader would be quite aware of the potential impressiveness of his well-made body and keep himself in condition so as to command maximum respect. His dark eyes, together with the clear features of his well-formed face and full beard, conveyed an image of Oriental nobility that would prove to affect friend and foe alike.

A fine horseman and a quick learner, Abdelkader soon developed the qualities of a leader. When his father sent him to the coastal city of Oran as a student of religion in 1821, the boy became a classmate of the scions of the ruling Turks. He observed at first hand how even while the country suffered from famine and plague its Turkish masters continued to levy taxes and luxuriate in a life of debauchery and neglect of Islamic moral principles. In reaction, Arabs gathered around their holy men and led several unsuccessful revolts during the 1820’s against the Turks, who repressed upheaval and summarily executed suspicious subjects. As a marabout, Muhi al-din was spared execution and placed under house arrest with his son in Oran for two years, before the two set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1826. Traveling further widened Abdelkader’s experience.

Two years after Abdelkader’s return to Guetna, the French captured Algiers on July 5, 1830, thus ending three hundred years of Turkish rule. When the neighboring Moroccans tried to assume power in Algeria, Muhi al-Din accepted their mandate and became the leader of a jiḥad, or holy war, against the French, whom they regarded as infidels. The Moroccans withdrew, but Abdelkader commanded a force of ten thousand men for his father and, in the Battle of Oran from May 3 to 8, 1832, fought courageously but was defeated.

Life’s Work

On November 22, 1832, tribes of the Oran Province gathered to witness the proclamation of Abdelkader as emir al-mu’minin, or commander of the believers, on the plain of Eghris. Thus, the twenty-four-year-old man was made leader of a movement to scourge the land of the French. Rather than fighting in open attacks, which his weak forces were sure to lose, Abdelkader began his jiḥad with a boycott against French-held Oran; Arabs who traded with the infidels were mutilated or hanged.

In his dealings with Muslim tribes, Abdelkader soon strove for political recognition as emir and even tried to win the support of the sultan of Morocco. As emir, Abdelkader wielded a power that was legitimated by religion and used it to the fullest. From the believers, he collected both new and traditional taxes to finance the jiḥad and used these monies to build a strong force of his own. Thus, from 1832 to 1834, he was able to subjugate most people in the Oran Province, and the sporadic French attacks were too limited to threaten seriously his nascent power; further, French blunders such as the humiliation of Turks and local leaders played into his hands.

In January, 1834, the French general Louis Alexis Desmichels, whose troops had defeated Abdelkader’s without achieving a lasting effect, negotiated a bilingual treaty, complete with a secret codicil. Officially, Abdelkader would rule the Oran Province under the French, with the exception of three coastal cities; however, both Desmichels and Abdelkader told their people that the other had completely submitted to him.

For more than a year, Abdelkader enjoyed the valuable support of Desmichels, who helped him to build an army with which to defeat his indigenous enemies. The replacement of the general brought new fighting with the French, who prevented Abdelkader from forcefully relocating two tribes who had placed themselves under French protection. At the onset of his second jiḥad in June, 1835, Abdelkader ambushed a French force at Macta and killed 210 of their men; however, the French were able to occupy temporarily two of his cities.

While the blockade of Oran continued, General Thomas Robert Bugeaud organized a mobile French force and delivered Abdelkader a stinging blow at the Battle of Sikkak on July 6, 1836. However, Bugeaud knew that he could not occupy the whole country. In the Treaty of Tafna, ratified on June 21, 1837, Bugeaud conceded and placed most of Algeria under Abdelkader’s immediate rule. In return, Abdelkader promised peace, free trade, and, secretly, 180,000 gold francs for Bugeaud; however, only 25,000 francs were delivered, as the clause was discovered. Now, Abdelkader could even buy rifles through the French, and he established a firm rule over two-thirds of Algeria. There, he established an Islamic government and consolidated his rule by placing strong emphasis on the one factor that united his subjects against the Europeans: the Muslim religion.

In the summer of 1839, it became clear that France and Abdelkader would soon clash over Algeria. On July 3, Abdelkader declared a conditional jiḥad, which became fully effective November 3, after the French crown prince had marched through Abdelkader’s territory. The warriors of the jiḥad scored a first victory when they attacked a European settlement on the Mitidja plains near Algiers on November 20 and succeeded in massacring or chasing away its colonists. Until the return of Bugeaud, Abdelkader maintained the military initiative.

In May, 1841, however, Tagdempt, Abdelkader’s capital, fell to Bugeaud, whose forces had razed most of his cities by October 12. In turn, Abdelkader moved to a tent city, the Zmalah, and continued to harass the enemy throughout the next year. However, on May 16, 1843, a surprise attack on the Zmalah led to its destruction, the capture of three thousand of Abdelkader’s people, and the loss of his treasury. With the French following on his heels and devastating the land of his tribes after the fashion of local warfare, Abdelkader was forced to flee into Morocco late in 1843.

From his exile, Abdelkader saw Bugeaud’s defeat of the Moroccan army at the Battle of Isly in August, 1844, and the French military begin to control Algeria. However, the harshness of their rule led to a popular uprising and agitation for a new jiḥad. Until he returned in September, 1845, Abdelkader had wielded no influence, but now people followed him. However, his renewed campaign culminated in a failed attempt at capturing Algiers in January, 1846; thereafter, Abdelkader was again chased into Morocco. While the war wound down with heavy civilian casualties, Morocco grew hostile to Abdelkader. On December 21, 1847, he surrendered himself to General Christophe de Lamoricière, who had promised that he could stay in Africa. Instead, the French government kept the rebel leader under arrest in France for four years before Napoleon III released him in 1852.

From 1855 on, Abdelkader stayed in Damascus as a philosopher and religious man. During an uprising there in 1860, he saved the lives of thousands of Christians, and, when unrest returned to Algeria in 1871, he disowned one of his sons who took sides with the rebels. Abdelkader died in Damascus on May 25 or 26, 1883. In 1968, his remains were returned to Algeria.

Significance

As an exile in Damascus, Abdelkader was seen by the French as a prime example of the beneficial effects of their rule, which had transformed a fiery Muslim fanatic and hero of desert warfare into an elder statesman of the French empire; the French government even had plans to establish a throne for him somewhere in the Middle East. With the coming of another bitter war in Algeria after 1945, Algerian interest turned to Abdelkader, who was idolized as an early protagonist of independence; the French quickly discovered that his legend had been kept alive. In 1962, after independence, Abdelkader was declared a national hero, and in Algiers his statue soon replaced the toppled one of Bugeaud.

A final historical assessment can only stress the charisma of Abdelkader and his profound impact on the history of two countries. Abdelkader’s qualities as a leader of men who venerated him for his religious conviction enabled him to build an indigenous state in defiance of the French-controlled cities on the coast. When open warfare erupted, Abdelkader achieved lasting fame through his never-ending zeal and military prowess, a combination that led him into battle as long as there was a chance to reverse fortunes and prevent French rule over Algeria.

Bibliography

Abun-Nasr, Jamil N. “The Emergence of French Algeria.” In A History of the Maghrib. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Briefly describes Abdelkader’s accomplishments and places him in the context of the overall history of the region. Presents an Arab point of view.

Alby, François Antoine. The Prisoners of Abd-el-Kader: Or, Five Months’ Captivity Among the Arabs in the Autumn of 1836. Translated by R. F. Porter. London: Smith, Elder, 1838. An account of the ordeal of a French sailor who was captured in Algeria in 1836, delivered to Abdelkader, and released five months later. An intimate description of Abdelkader, his people, and their actions; shows what the common person in Paris or London believed about Arabs.

Blunt, Wilfrid. Desert Hawk: Abd el Kader and the French Conquest of Algeria. London: Methuen, 1947. A descriptive account of Abdelkader’s life and military campaigns. A readable and interesting work that admires Abdelkader’s position against the French.

Churchill, Charles Henry. The Life of Abdelkader: Ex-Sultan of the Arabs of Algeria. London: Chapman and Hall, 1867. This is the oldest biography of Abdelkader in English. Invaluable because it exemplifies the popular European reaction to Abdelkader during his lifetime.

Clancy-Smith, Julia A. Rebel and Saint: Muslim Notables, Populist Protest, Colonial Encounters (Algeria and Tunisia, 1800-1904). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Abdelkader is included in this examination of the religious beliefs and political actions of prominent Muslims and their followers. Analyzes Algerian resistance to, and accommodation with, French colonists.

Clayton, Vista. The Phantom: Or, Abd el Kader, Emir of Algeria, 1808-1883. Hicksville, N.Y.: Exposition Press, 1975. An analysis of the life and warfare strategies of Abdelkader. Presents Abdelkader’s life against the background of his region and gives a detailed account of his military exploits.

Danziger, Raphael. Abd al-Qadir and the Algerians: Resistance to the French and Internal Consolidation. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1977. A detailed account of Abdelkader’s struggle for power, the consolidation of his rule, and dealings with the French. Deals primarily with the time period before 1839. This is a sympathetic view, written for both a scholarly and a general audience. Sources.

Sullivan, Antony Thrall. Thomas-Robert Bugeaud, France, and Algeria 1784-1849: Politics, Power, and the Good Society. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1983. A fascinating portrait of Abdelkader’s great adversary, and a description of the two men’s relationship. Illuminates the historical background of the actions of Abdelkader’s enemies by providing an explanation for the French interest in Algeria and the methods of warfare employed. For a general audience.