TNT History Archives: Pirate-Admiral Barbarossa's Ottoman Family Tree Confirmed

Türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 27 October 2019)

Barbarossa's life click here for background.

//Ed. note: on the subject of pirates, Barbarossa's
"progeny", the English and French buccaneers who 
ravaged the Caribbean,  the west coast of South 
America and the Dutch West Indies from the 1680s, 
are thoroughly explained in "The Brethren of the 
Coast" by P.K. Kemp and Christopher Lloyd (1960).



In the book there is mention of on Alexander Selkirk,
who stayed on Juan Fernandez Island off the coast
of Chile for 4.5 years after an argument with his 
captain in 1705.  Selkirk is said to have been the 
inspiration for "Robinson Crusoe", written by Daniel 
Defoe and published in 1719.//




"Barbarossa" is Italian for "redbeard".

An inscription found on the island of Lesbos (Midilli) relating to
Barbarossa Hayrettin Paşa, one of the most famous commanders in
Turkish maritime history, has revealed previously unknown information
about his family tree.  According to the inscription, Barbarossa's father
was an Ottoman cavalryman named Yakub Ağa, who settled on Lesbos
at the direction of Sultan Fatih Mehmed II, the conqueror of Istanbul,
in 1462.

Dr. Mehmet Tütüncü, the head of the Research Center for the Turk-
Arab World, explained that "the inscription, which dates to 534 years
ago, was covered by shrubs.  It reveals that Barbarossa's grandfather
was named Adem."  Academician Ahmed Ameen from Egypt's
Fayyoum University has been conducting research on Lesbos
for two years around the 5-tower fortress there that sits on a 15-acre
plot.  Ameen found the inscription hidden in the brush at the tower
on the fortress's north side.



Lesvos (Lesbos/Midilli) Island, is south of Çanakkale.
Preveza was the site of Barbarossa's most famous naval
victory over combined Christian forces in 1538.

Ameen then sent word of his discovery to Dr. Tütüncü, who
determined that the inscription, bearing the date 1485, belonged to
Yakub Ağa, Barbarossa's father.  Dr. Tütüncü noted that Yakub Ağa
was born in Vardar-Yenice in Greece and he added that "this inscription
proves that Yakub Ağa participated in Fatih Sultan's conquest of the
island in 1462 and that he remained on Lesbos as its protector, based
on Fatih Sultan's wishes."

"Since there were no Turkish women on the island, Yakub Ağa got
permission from Fatih Sultan to marry a Greek woman.  The couple
had four sons: İshak, Oruç, Hızır (Barbarossa) and İlyas.  This
inscription's discovery is very important because Christian sources
assert that Barbarossa was a Lesbos Island Greek who became an
Ottoman subject.  From this inscription we now have proof that
Barbarossa came from an Ottoman Turkish family.  The fact that
Yakub Ağa's father's name was Adem confirms they were Moslems."

The inscription, written in Ottoman Turkish, reads as follows:
"This magnificent fortress was ordered to be built by Sultan Beyazid
II, the son of Sultan Fatih Mehmed II.  May God keep the sultanate
and the state safe forever.  Emir Yakub Ağa, son of Adem, built this
fortress in the year 890 (1485)."