Ali Khodja
Ali V Ben Ahmed, nicknamed Ali Khodja, Ali-Meguer, or Ali Loco (the mad) (Arabic: علي ابن أحمد خوجة) was a Kouloughli of partial Georgian (Mengrelian) and Native Algerian origins born in Algeria.[1][2] He was the dey of the Deylik of Algiers from September 1817, just after the assassination of his predecessor Omar Agha the 8th. He remained so until his death in February 1818. His sobriquet Ali-Meguer may indicate his Mingrelian background.
| Ali Khodja | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dey | |||||||||
.jpg.webp) Ali Khodja, surrounded by the severed heads of vanquished enemies after the bombardment of 1816 | |||||||||
| Reign | 1817-1818 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Omar Agha | ||||||||
| Successor | Hussein Dey | ||||||||
| Born | Ali Ben Ahmed c. 1764 | ||||||||
| Died | March 1, 1818 (aged 53–54) Algiers, Algeria | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Arabic | علي ابن أحمد خوجة | ||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
Origins
He was a Kouloughli. His mother was an Algerian Kabyle, most likely from the Zwawa tribal confederation.[2] He was Mingrelian from his father's side.[1]
Early life
He was complicit in the assassination of Ahmed bin Ali Khodja in 1808, and the assassination of Omar agha (1817).[3] He served in various important positions before being elected Dey in 1817.
Rule
A few days after his arrival, and to better ensure his safety, he left the Djenina Palace located in the lower part of the city of Algiers and offering small defenses to move to the casbah, where he put the treasury safe.
Using his connections to the Kabyles, he signed an alliance with the Zwawas, and the Kouloughlis.[4]
After they attempted to rebel against his rule he at one point had more than 1,500 Turkish janissaries executed.[5]
Death
He died of the plague on February 28, 1818.[6]
After his death in 1818, he was buried in the Thaalibia Cemetery of the Casbah of Algiers.
References
- Temimi, Abdeljelil (1978). Le Beylik de Constantine et Ḣadj 'Ahmed Bey (1830-1837). Tunis: Publications de la Revue d’histoire maghrébine, Vol. 1. p. 32.
- Allioui, Youcef (2006). Les Archs, tribus berbères de Kabylie: histoire, résistance, culture et démocratie (in French). L'Harmattan. ISBN 978-2-296-01363-6.
- Murray (Firm), John; Playfair, Sir Robert Lambert (1887). Handbook for Travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Carthage, Etc. J. Murray.
- Roberts, Hugh (2014-08-19). Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85772-420-5.
- Georges Fleury, Comment l'Algérie devint française (1830-1848), Perrin, 2008, pp. 25-26, ISBN 978-2-262-02914-2
- Camille Rousset, La Conquête d'Alger, Paris, E. Plon et Cie, 1879, pp. 7-10 online version