Raïs Hamidou
Raïs Hamidou ben Ali | |
|---|---|
| رايس حميدو بن علي | |
Statue of Hamidou in the Central museum of the Army in Algiers | |
| Born | 1770 |
| Died | 1815 Cape Gata, Near of Spain |
| Resting place | Mediterranean Sea |
| Nationality | Algerian |
| Piratical career | |
| Nickname | ʾAmīr al-biḥār (commander of the seas) |
| Other names | Amidon Hamuda |
| Type | Corsair |
| Allegiance | Deylik of Algiers |
| Years active | 1795 - 1815 |
| Rank | Captain, then Admiral |
| Base of operations | Oran, Algiers |
| Commands | Meshuda Portuguesa |
| Battles/wars | American-Algerian War (1785-1795) French campaign in Egypt and Syria Algerian-Tunisian naval war (1811) Barbary–Portuguese conflicts |
Hamidou ben Ali, known as Raïs Hamidou (Arabic: الرايس حميدو), or Amidon in American literature (c. 1770 – June 17, 1815), was an Algerian corsair. He captured up to 200 ships during his career. Hamidou ensured the prosperity of the Deylik of Algiers, and gave it its last glory before the French invasion. His biography is relatively well known because the French archivist Albert Devoulx found documents that told of this charismatic character.