Salah Rais


Salah Rais was the 7th King of Algiers, an Ottoman privateer. He is alternatively referred to as Sala Reis, Salih Rais, Salek Rais and Cale Arraez in several European sources, particularly in Spain, France and Italy.
In 1529, together with Aydın Reis, he took part in the Turkish-Spanish battle near the Isle of Formentera, during which the Ottoman forces destroyed the Spanish fleet, whose commander,, died in combat.
In 1538 he commanded the right wing of the Turkish fleet at the naval Battle of Preveza, where the Ottoman forces under Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha defeated the Holy League of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria.
In 1551, due to his success in the conquest of Tripoli together with Turgut Reis and Sinan Pasha, he was promoted to the rank of Pasha and became the Beylerbeyi of Algiers and the Bahriye Beylerbeyi of the Ottoman West Mediterranean Fleet.

Background and early career

Salah Reis was born in Alexandria in Ottoman Egypt or Kazdağ near Çanakkale and was of Turkish, Egyptian, Arab or Moorish origin.
At a very young age he joined the fleet of Oruç Reis, the most famous of the Ottoman corsairs and privateers from Anatolia who sought fortune in the West Mediterranean by operating from their bases on the Barbary Coast. He gained experience in seamanship as a crew member of the Barbarossa brothers, Oruç Reis and Hızır Reis, and soon became one of their chief lieutenants.
Salah Rais was around 30 years old when Oruç Reis died in 1518 during a battle against the Spaniards in Algeria. From 1518 onwards, he joined the fleet of Hızır Reis, who inherited the title of Barbarossa from his older brother, Baba Oruç.
In 1520 he went to Djerba together with Hızır Reis and Turgut Reis, and later that year assaulted Bône, which was under Spanish control.

Career in the Ottoman Navy

In 1529, commanding a force of 14 galliots, Salah Rais assaulted the Gulf of Valencia before joining the fleet of Aydın Reis which took part in the Turkish-Spanish War near the Isle of Formentera, where the Ottoman forces destroyed the Spanish fleet, whose commander, Rodrigo de Portuondo, died in combat. During the war, Salah Rais captured the galley of Captain Tortosa and took the son of Admiral Portundo, the Spanish commander, as a prisoner of war.
The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent summoned Barbarossa to Constantinople, who set sail in August 1532, with Salah Rais as an officer in his fleet. Having raided Sardinia, Bonifacio in Corsica, the Islands of Montecristo, Elba and Lampedusa, the fleet captured 18 galleys near Messina and learned from the captured prisoners that Andrea Doria, the Genoese admiral in the service of the Emperor Charles V, was on his way to Preveza. Barbarossa proceeded to raid the nearby coasts of Calabria and then sailed towards Preveza. Doria's forces fled after a short battle, but only after Barbarossa, accompanied by Salah Rais and Murat Reis, had captured seven of their galleys. Barbarossa arrived at Preveza with a total of 44 galleys, but sent 25 of them back to Algiers and headed to Constantinople with 19 ships, one of which was commanded by Salah Rais, who, along with Murat Reis, was one of the 19 men received by Suleiman the Magnificent at Topkapı Palace. Suleiman appointed Barbarossa Kaptan-ı Derya of the Ottoman Navy and Beylerbeyi of North Africa. Barbarossa was also given the government of the Sanjak of Rhodes and those of Euboea and Chios in the Aegean Sea. Salah Rais, on the other hand, was promoted to the rank of Commodore.
In 1533 Barbarossa and Salah Rais operated together against the Spanish-controlled ports in the Mediterranean Sea.
In July 1535 Salah Rais was appointed by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha for the task of defending Tunis. Accompanied by Cafer Reis and very few Turkish soldiers, Salah Rais encountered the forces of Girolamo Tuttavilla, Count of Sarno, whose fortress was near the city walls of La Goulette. Salah Rais pretended to retreat and eventually routed and trapped the forces of Tuttavilla, who followed him. Tuttavilla was killed in combat, and his fortress was captured by the Turks. Still in July 1535, Salah Rais assisted Hasan Reis, the son of Barbarossa, in governing Algiers. In 1536 Barbarossa and Salah Rais were called back to Constantinople to take command of the Ottoman naval attack on the Habsburg Kingdom of Naples. In July 1537 the Turks landed at Otranto and captured the city, as well as the Fortress of Castro and the city of Ugento in Apulia.
In August 1537, Lütfi Pasha and Barbarossa led a huge Ottoman force, in which Salah Rais also took part, that captured the Aegean and Ionian islands belonging to the Republic of Venice, namely Syros, Aegina, Ios, Paros, Tinos, Karpathos, Kasos and Naxos. In the same year Barbarossa captured Corfu from Venice and once again raided Calabria. These losses caused Venice to ask Pope Paul III to organize a Holy League against the Ottomans.

Battle of Preveza

In February 1538, Pope Paul III succeeded in assembling a Holy League against the Ottomans, which was to be commanded by Andrea Doria, the chief admiral of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Salah Rais, now a Bahriye Sancakbeyi commanded the 24 galleys which formed the right wing of the Ottoman fleet during the Battle of Preveza in September 1538, in which the numerically inferior Turkish forces of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha won an overwhelming victory over the Holy League under the command of Andrea Doria. In one of the most famous incidents of the battle, Salah Rais and his men boarded and assaulted the Galeone di Venezia, the huge Venetian flagship under the command of Alessandro Condalmiero, together with two other Venetian galleys which were drifted away from the rest of the Venetian fleet due to the heavy loss of oarsmen which resulted from the bitter fighting.

Recapture of Castelnuovo and the conquest of Venetian islands in the Aegean

In June 1539 Salah Rais set sail from Constantinople with 20 galleys, and near Cape Maleo joined the fleet of Barbarossa which was appointed with the mission of recapturing Castelnuovo from the Venetians. On the way to Castelnuovo their combined fleet captured the islands of Skiathos, Skyros, Andros and Serifos from the Venetians. In August 1539 Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, Turgut Reis and Salah Rais laid siege to Castelnuovo and took the city back. They also captured the nearby Castle of Risan and later assaulted the Venetian fortress of Cattaro and the Spanish fortress of Santa Veneranda near Pesaro. The Turkish fleet later took the remaining Christian outposts in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. Venice finally signed a peace treaty with Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in October 1540, agreeing to recognize the Turkish territorial gains and to pay 300,000 gold ducats.

Operations on the French coast and Catalonia

According to some Turkish resources, in 1540, Salah Rais was together with Turgut Reis in Girolata, Corsica, where the two were captured by the combined forces of Giannettino Doria, Giorgio Doria and Gentile Virginio Orsini while repairing their ships at the harbour. These sources also mention that Salah Rais and Turgut Reis were both forced to become oar slaves in Genoese ships until they were liberated by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha in 1544, who threatened to attack the port of Genoa with his massive fleet of 210 ships.
French, Italian and Spanish sources, however, acknowledge the captivity and liberation of Turgut Reis, but make no mention of the captivity of Salah Rais. It is probable that the close friendship between Salah Rais and Turgut Reis and their numerous joint operations may have possibly caused a confusion.
In fact, according to French, Italian and Spanish sources, Salah Rais took part in the Franco-Ottoman conquest of Nice on 5 August 1543, which was commanded by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha. According to the same sources, following the conquest of Nice, Salah Rais commanded the Ottoman force of 20 galleys and 3 fustas which assaulted the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, in that same year. In early October 1543, Salah Rais landed his troops at Rosas and sacked the city. The following day, Salah Rais appeared at the Medas Islands about 1 km off the coast of L'Estartit, before proceeding to Palafrugell and Palamós, the latter being severely sacked following a fierce battle for its capture. From there Salah Rais proceeded to the nearby San Juan de Palamós, which was likewise sacked, and captured the Spanish galley Bribona off the coast of Calelh, a fishing village in the area. He later landed his troops at Empúries and Cadaqués, capturing and sacking both cities, before sailing to Algiers. He was spotted sailing together with Barbarossa in the spring of 1544.

Operations in Sicily, Malta and the West Mediterranean

In mid June 1548 Salah Rais appeared at Capo Passero in Sicily with a force of 18 ships, before appearing at Gozo in Malta with 12 ships – having sent 6 of his ships to Algiers where they would join Turgut Reis, upon the order that he received from Hüseyin Çelebi.
In the Autumn of 1550 Andrea Doria contacted Salah Rais and attempted to convince him for serving Spain instead of the Ottoman Empire, but failed.

Conquest of Tripoli (Libya) and subsequent promotion to the rank of Bahriye Beylerbeyi of Algiers

In June–August 1551, Salah Rais joined the fleet of Sinan Pasha and Turgut Reis, and played an important role in the conquest of Tripoli, which had been a possession of the Knights of St. John since 1530, when it was given to them by Charles V of Spain. He bombarded the fortress of the Knights from a distance of approximately 150 steps, eventually forcing Gaspare de Villers, their commander, to surrender. Salah Rais returned to Constantinople, where, due to his success in the conquest of Tripoli, he was promoted to the rank of Bahriye Beylerbeyi of the Ottoman West Mediterranean Fleet and was appointed as the Beylerbeyi of Algiers in 1551.
In April 1552 he reached Algiers, and later set sail towards Sicily, where he captured a Maltese ship. In the summer of 1552, he joined the forces of Turgut Reis who landed at the Gulf of Naples, and together with him later assaulted the coasts of Lazio and Tuscany. From there Salah Rais sailed to Marseille, before capturing and sacking the Island of Majorca.
In 1552 or 1553 he defeated a Portuguese fleet in the Battle of Velez and seized the Penon de Velez. Following this victory, he agreed to help the Wattasid ruler reconquer Fez.