Hamdan ben Othman Khodja (1773–1842) was an Algerian dignitary and scholar. He wrote the book "''Le Miroir''" in which he denounced the encroachments by French soldiers in Algiers, thus becoming the first essayist on this subject..

Biography

Khodja was born in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, Algeria, in 1773 to a family of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

origin belonging to the high administration of the regency.. His father was a

scholar, an

alim Alim (''ʿAlīm'' , also anglicized as ''Aleem'') is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "''All-knowing one''". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "''Servant of the All-Knowing''": Given name * Alim ad-Din A ...

and also the defterdar of the

dey Dey (Arabic: داي), from the Turkish honorific title ''dayı'', literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Ottoman Algeria, Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Ottoman Tu ...

lik. His mother was a local woman from Algiers. He was thus a "

kouloughli Kouloughlis, also spelled Koulouglis, Cologhlis and Qulaughlis (from Turkish ''Kuloğlu'' "Children of The Empire Servants" from ''Kul'' "soldier" or "servant/slave" + '' Oğlu'' "son of"), but the translation of the word "kul" as slave is mislead ...

".. Hamdan received an excellent education and was well travelled. He was thought religious sciences by his father, and succeeded greatly academically. As a reward, in 1784, when his uncle had the responsibility of taking the dey’s gift to Constantinople, he was also present. After his father’s death, his uncle brought him into his business and sent him in his stead to cities such as Tunis,

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, London and

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, thereby giving him the opportunity to learn

, French and English.. Khodja became known as one of the most important merchants and richest men in Algiers, where he was in very great demand from colleagues desiring to participate in his commercial operations which extended to the Ottoman Empire as well as to Europe. When he became a victim of the French conquest of 1830, he sent a petition to

King Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

to complain about the atrocities committed against him by the French Army. Furthermore, Khodja wrote the book "''Le Miroir''" in which he denounced the encroachments by French soldiers in Algiers, thus becoming the first essayist on this subject; it was translated into

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and printed in Paris in 1833.

References

Bibliography

*. *. *. * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Khodja, Hamdan Muftis of Algiers Algerian essayists Algerian people of Turkish descent Businesspeople from Algiers 1773 births 1842 deaths