HASSAN III PACHA

On 12 July 1791 Muhammad Ben Othman Pacha died after a reign of twenty-five years. Within a short time the political institutions of Algiers elevated his adopted son and long-serving minister, Sidi Hassan, to the dignity of Dey. He took the name Hassan Pacha.

The succession was remarkable for its relative calm. In a political system that had often seen violence accompany changes of ruler, Hassan’s accession was noted by contemporary observers as unusually orderly.

The Political Inheritance

Muhammad Ben Othman had governed the Regency with competence and austerity. Under his long rule Algiers had successfully resisted major European expeditions, maintained the system of maritime tribute, and preserved internal order. The institutions of the Regency—the Divan, the Odjak, and the senior administrative offices—had grown accustomed to a degree of continuity rare in the eighteenth-century Mediterranean.

Hassan was no outsider to this system. For years he had served as Wakil al-Kharadj, the official responsible for important aspects of foreign relations and maritime affairs. In 1789 he was appointed Khaznadji, the chief minister and treasurer—one of the highest positions in the government. American diplomatic correspondence of the early 1790s still referred to him as the former hasnagi.

He knew the workings of the Divan, the expectations of the militia, and the representatives of European powers. When the moment of succession arrived, he was already the most experienced candidate.

The Manner of Succession

The choice of a new Dey was made within Algiers itself. The Ottoman Sultan remained the nominal sovereign, and the formal symbols of investiture—the kaftan, the aigrette, and the sabre—would later arrive from Istanbul. Yet the effective decision rested with the political elite of the Regency.

French observers of the time remarked on the smoothness of the transition. One journal noted that this was the second Dey to take office “without the need of a sword,” describing it as a step toward greater stability. Louis XVI himself sent a letter of congratulation in September 1791, praising Hassan’s qualities and expressing hope for continued good relations with France.

The accession of 1791 demonstrated that the Regency could transfer power according to its own internal logic.

Immediate Business: Oran and Spain

Hassan inherited unfinished diplomatic business of the highest importance. Spain still held Oran and Mers el-Kébir, the last major European footholds on the Algerian coast. Negotiations had already been under way in the final months of Muhammad Ben Othman’s life.

In September 1791, only weeks after his accession, Hassan concluded a convention with Spain. The Spanish garrison would evacuate the two cities. In return Spain received limited commercial privileges. The evacuation was completed in February and March 1792. Hassan conferred on the Bey of the West, Mohamed el-Kebir, the title of Bey of Oran and the prestigious insignia of the plume.

The recovery of Oran was one of the most significant territorial achievements of the late Regency. It was accomplished not by a distant imperial command from Istanbul, but by the government of Algiers acting in its own name.

Character and Reputation

Contemporary accounts describe Hassan as temperate and experienced. He was known for a relatively mild approach to justice and for efforts to improve the conditions of captives. American agents who had dealt with him before his accession hoped that his elevation would facilitate peace negotiations.

These qualities shaped the early years of his reign. Diplomacy, rather than dramatic military confrontation, became the hallmark of his government.

A Seamless Transition

The accession of Hassan III Pacha was not a dramatic rupture. It was the orderly continuation of a political system that had already developed substantial autonomy.

The new Dey stepped into an office whose authority rested primarily on the institutions of Algiers. The formal link with the Ottoman world remained, but the practical government of the Regency continued without interruption.

In the calm transfer of power of July 1791, the character of the late-eighteenth-century Regency was clearly visible.