Abd al-Qadir

The early years

Abd al-Qadir came from a very ancient and noble Marabut (priestly) family, rooted in Oran . Father Muhyiddin (died in July 1833) came from the Fatimids (St. Fatima, daughter of Mohammed). Mother is his third wife Lalla Sorga. In the scientific community, it is believed that the ancestors of Abd al-Qadir are the Arabized Berbers of the Banu Ifren tribe ^{[5] [6]} .

Abd al-Qadir studied in Mascara , at the Hetna Theological School, under the guidance of his father, the highly respected marabut Sidi El Magiddin. Thanks to his extraordinary abilities, piety, scholarship and the art of owning weapons, Abd al-Qadir gained wide popularity in his youth. In 1822, he married the daughter of his uncle, 14-year-old Leila Heire ^[7] .

To get rid of the persecution of the suspicious Algerian dey, he fled to Egypt , where he first had to meet with European civilization. From here he made a hajj to Mecca and returned to his homeland with the honorary title of El Haji (pilgrim) . At this time, the French conquered Algeria , expelling the Turks , and at the same time, however, many Arab tribes rebelled against the French.

According to other sources, in October 1823 he went on a hajj, but was detained by his father from Iran due to suspicions of rebellion and spent 2 years in the position of honorary captives with his father. Only in 1825 they were able to continue the pilgrimage and through Tunisia arrived in Arabia ( Mecca , Medina , Baghdad ) ^[8] .

At the head of the anti-colonial struggle

In 1828, Muhyiddin and Abd al-Qadir returned to Getna. Under the French colonial occupation, the fragmentation of various Algerian tribes was overcome, and Muhyiddin called on Arabs to jihad. In November 1832, at the council of tribal sheikhs in Mascara, he was offered to accept the title of sultan, but he refused and offered the candidacy of his son. On November 25, the 24-year-old Abd al-Qadir was elected by the tribes of western Algeria (Hashim, Beni Abbas, Garaba, Beni Medzhahar) as an emir (in order not to spoil relations with Morocco , he renounced the title of Sultan). Thus, he created an independent state ( emirate ) with a capital in Mascara ^[9] , formally recognizing himself as a vassal and governor of the Moroccan sultan Abd ar-Rahman. Took the title of Emir al-Muminin ("Lord of the Faithful").

In May 1832, an extremely stubborn and bloody war began with the French, in which Abd al-Qadir repeatedly emerged victorious. The French suffered a series of defeats and were forced to conclude a peace treaty in February 1834 . At the same time, Abd al-Kadir increased his holdings by seizing the port city of Arzev (Qadi Ahmet Ben-Tahir, who ruled here, was accused of trading with enemies, sent to Maskara and executed), and then Tlemcen (Pasha Ben-Nun refused to obey him and fled) . ^[10] According to the treaty, his authority was recognized throughout Orania.

In 1835, after the change of French leaders (General Demischel was replaced by the "hawk" Trezel, Druz d'Erlon was appointed governor of Algeria ) the war resumed. The Duire and Zmala tribes sided with the French. But in June 1835 the French were again defeated in the forest of Moulay-Ismail and on the Makte River. The new French leadership (General d'Arlange and Governor Clauzel) succeeded in delivering a counterattack, capturing the capital of Abd al-Qadir Mascara and blowing up the fortress. However, the campaign against Constantine in November 1836 ended in a shameful defeat, and on May 30, 1837, another peace treaty was concluded in Tafn, by which France recognized the power of Abd al-Qadir in most of Western Algeria (Oran, Titteri and part of the province of Algeria). Moreover, General Bujo agreed to sell the emir guns and gunpowder.

The years 1837-1838 became the highest peak of the emirate of Abd al-Qadir. The economy of the emirate was militaristic because of the need to resist the further invasion of the French. The military industry was developing rapidly: saber, gun, foundry, cannon and gunpowder enterprises were created. In the emirate, along with tribal militias , a regular Europeanized army was organized, several lines of defense were created. During the truce, Abd al-Qadir carried out reforms : administrative, dividing the emirate into several areas; economic, aimed at the redistribution of income in society; judicial and tax. The state of Abd al-Qadir issued its own currency . Legislative power was exercised by the High Council of 11 Ulema under the leadership of Supreme Kadi Ahmed al-Hashimi. Executive - A sofa of 8 viziers led by Muhammad al-Jailani. By the beginning of 1839, the emir managed to subjugate the lands of the Islamic brotherhood of Tijniya, after a long siege of the capital Ain Mahdi. Marabut al-Tijini signed the peace and retired.

On November 18, 1839, in view of the constant violation by the French of the terms of the peace treaty of 1837, Abd al-Qadir announced the resumption of war. The French army defeated the Arabs in the Muzan Gorge and the Moulay Ismail Forest in 1840, and sheikh Ben Gan from Biskra, who bribed them, destroys the army of the caliph (governor) Bu Azuz. The French took Medea and Miliana, May 26, 1841 - Takedempt, May 30 - Mascara, February 1, 1842 - Tlemcen, and by 1843 they seized most of the territory of the emirate, weakened by treason of large feudal lords . On November 11, near Sidi Yaiah, the army of Abd al-Qadir was finally defeated, and he took refuge in the territory of neighboring Morocco , whose authorities also participated in resistance to French troops. However, they, too, were defeated on August 14, 1844 on the Isli River and were forced to expel Abd al-Qadir from the country. In 1845, a new uprising began in Algeria, led by Abd al-Qadir, who returned from exile.

But in the end, the rebels were defeated. In early 1847, the Kabilean caliph Ben Salem surrendered to the French, then the brothers of the Emir Sidi Mustafa and Sidi Said. On December 22, 1847, under pressure from Moroccan troops, Abd al-Qadir crossed the Algerian border and surrendered to General Lamorisiere and the Governor-General, Duke of Omalsky, and was sent to France .

Far from Algeria

Having broken promises to ensure free travel to Arabia, the French detained him in Toulon , in fact, under “honorable arrest” along with relatives. After the Revolution of 1848, he was transferred to the Chateau de Pau prison castle on April 23, and to Amboise in November 1849. In prisons, his son, daughter, nephew died of illnesses. Only President Napoleon III October 16, 1852 during a personal visit to Amboise announced the release of Abd al-Qadir, appointing a pension. After a visit to Paris , a personal audience and participation in a plebiscite on the restoration of the empire, he moved to Bursa on December 21, 1852 , then Istanbul , wrote philosophical treatises and poems. In 1856 he settled in Damascus , taught theology in one of the mosques. In the summer of 1860, during the Damascus massacre, he stood up for the local Maronite Christians who were brutally persecuted by the Druze . The Russian vice consulate was attacked, and the vice consul Makeev was saved from imminent death due to the intervention and intercession of Abd al-Qadir. His actions to rescue Syrian Christians and European consuls increased his international authority. He was promoted to the Knights of the French Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, Greece awarded the Savior with the Great Cross, Russia the Order of the White Eagle, the Ottoman Empire , England , Prussia and the Pope were awarded orders, and Abraham Lincoln sent him a couple of pistols as a gift.

Since then, his quiet, contemplative life has been interrupted only by the pilgrimage wanderings undertaken by him at times. In 1863, he once again made a hajj to Mecca, visited the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867 , and was present at the opening of the Suez Canal on November 17, 1869 .

Abd al-Qadir wrote a very interesting religious and philosophical work, which Gustave Duga translated from Arabic into French under the title: “Rappel à l'intelligent; avis à l'indifférent ”(Paris, 1858).

Abd al-Qadir died on May 26, 1883 in Damascus and was buried next to the tomb of Ibn Arabi . In 1965, his ashes were transferred to the Al Aliya cemetery in Algeria, which caused controversy, because Abd al-Qadir clearly expressed his desire to be laid to rest near the tomb of Ibn Arabi, whom he considered his teacher.

From the very beginning, Abd al-Qadir aroused admiration not only among Algerians, but also among Europeans, even when he fought with the French troops. The “generous care, gentle sympathy” that he showed to prisoners of war “had practically no analogues in the history of wars” ^[11] , and he always showed respect for the beliefs of prisoners. In 1843, French Marshal Nicolas Soult named Abd al-Qadir one of the three greatest living people, the other two - Shamil and Muhammad Ali of Egypt ^[12] .

The city of Elkadir in Iowa , USA is named after Abd al-Qadir. The founders Timothy Davis, John Thompson and Chester Sage were impressed by the emir’s struggle with the French colonial troops and decided to name him a new settlement in 1846 ^[13] .

In 2013, Oliver Stone announced the start of the production of the film- biopic “Emir Abd al-Qadir,” directed by Charles Burnett ^[14] .

In Algeria, Abd al-Qadir is revered as a national hero and " Yugurt of the New Age" ^[15] .

• The rebellion of Abd al-Qadir

• Belmar "A., sa vie politique et militaire" (Paris, 1863).
• Damier V.V. Abd al-Kader // Around the World
• Lamener "Vie, aventures, combats et prise d'A." (Paris, 1848)
• Oganisyan Yu. , Abd al-Qadir (ZhZL). Moscow, 1968;
• Bu Aziz Yahya, Battle al-kifah al-Amir Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi (Combat hero Emir Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi), Tunisia, 1957.
• Abd-el-Kader // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.